A0, A1 or A2?
Picking the right print size

Decoding the paper sizes

The A-series doubles in area at each step. A4 is 21 × 29.7cm — a magazine page. A3 is 29.7 × 42cm. A2 is 42 × 59.4cm, roughly a movie poster. A1 is 59.4 × 84.1cm. A0 is 84.1 × 118.9cm, and it's the size people usually mean when they say they want "a big print". The prints in the collection are available across this range — most from A4 all the way up to A0.

Keep one thing in mind through all of this: framing adds size. A matted, framed A1 print becomes roughly 80 × 105cm on the wall. If you're comparing against a space you've measured, compare the framed size, not the paper size. I covered framing in detail in the A0 framing guide; this article is about choosing the paper size in the first place.

Viewing distance decides, not wall size

The rule that professionals use and almost nobody else does: a print should be viewed from about 1.5 to 2 times its diagonal. Work it backwards from your room. A sofa three metres from the wall points you at the biggest size going — A0, with its 146cm diagonal. A hallway viewed from a metre and a half wants an A2 (diagonal 73cm) or A1 (diagonal 103cm). The A1 suits the two-to-two-and-a-half-metre distances most living rooms actually provide.

This is why the same print feels overwhelming in a study and lost above a staircase void. Nothing about the print changed. The viewing distance did.

Where each size belongs

Two honest warnings

First, measure with tape on the wall before you order. Mark out the framed dimensions in painter's tape and live with it for a day. Every person who has done this has thanked me; several discovered their "perfect wall" had a light switch in it.

Second, don't size down to save money on a wall that needs the bigger print. An undersized print on a large wall doesn't read as economical, it reads as an error, and you'll notice it every day. If the right size is out of budget now, wait — a print that fits beats two that don't.

Still unsure? Email me a photo of the wall with the ceiling height and viewing distance, and I'll tell you which size fits, including "none, that wall's wrong for it" when that's the truth.

What these terms mean

A2

A2 is 420 × 594mm (42 × 59.4cm), roughly a movie poster, with a 73cm diagonal. It is the most flexible size on a wall: corridors, home offices, and the wall at the foot of a bed. It is one step on the ISO 216 A-series, where each size is half the area of the one above it.

A1

A1 is 594 × 841mm (59.4 × 84.1cm), with a 103cm diagonal. It is the size recommended most often for living rooms: above a sofa, sideboard or bed it anchors the wall without dominating the room.

A0

A0 is 841 × 1189mm (84.1 × 118.9cm), the largest standard A-series size, with a 146cm diagonal. It is a genuine large-format print that wants a dedicated wall and two to three metres of viewing distance.

Giclée print

A giclée print is a print made with pigment-based inks rather than dyes, laid down by a large-format printer at high resolution. Pigment inks sit in the paper instead of soaking through it and are rated for well over a century of colourfastness, which is the difference between a fine art print and a poster-shop print that fades visibly in years.

Common questions

What size print should I buy?

Viewing distance decides it, not wall size. A print should be viewed from about 1.5 to 2 times its diagonal, so work backwards from the room. A sofa three metres from the wall points to A0 and its 146cm diagonal; a hallway viewed from a metre and a half wants an A2 (73cm diagonal) or A1 (103cm).

How big is an A0 print?

A0 is 84.1 × 118.9cm — the size people usually mean by "a big print". The A-series doubles in area at each step down: A1 is 59.4 × 84.1cm, A2 is 42 × 59.4cm, A3 is 29.7 × 42cm, and A4 is 21 × 29.7cm, about a magazine page.

Does framing change the size on the wall?

Yes, and it is the most common measuring mistake. A matted, framed A1 print becomes roughly 80 × 105cm on the wall. If you are comparing against a space you have measured, compare the framed size rather than the paper size.

Should I choose A1 or A2 for a living room?

A1 is the sweet spot for most homes. Above a sofa, sideboard, or bed it anchors the wall without dominating the room, and at that scale the aerial detail starts working — individual boats on Albert Park Lake, individual windows in the CBD grid. If you are torn between the two, go A1: regret runs small-to-large, never the reverse.