A notice for a fair, a fete, a carol service, a raffle or a school play. The heading reads Christmas Fair until you type over it, and it is set as large as the width allows, so a short heading comes out enormous and a long one steps down to fit. Under it are three detail lines and up to six more.
The heading does the work
A poster is read from six feet away or it is not read. The heading takes the biggest size that fits the frame on one line, up to about 64 point on A4 and half again on A3, and it drops only as far as it has to for a longer wording. That is why Christmas Fair reads clearly across a corridor and a nine word heading does not.
Keep it to two or three words and put the rest on the lines underneath. Christmas Fair, Carol Service, Santa's Grotto, Nativity Play, Winter Market, Raffle Draw.
The three lines that are already there
Under the heading and its rule are three fields in descending importance: a line in italic serif for a short phrase, a bold line for the date and time, and a plain line for the place. On screen they show the grey words Everyone welcome, Saturday 12 December, 2pm and The village hall. Those are prompts rather than content: unlike the heading, they do not print unless you type over them.
Each one sits over a thin rule, and the rule stays whether you type or not, so a poster printed with only the heading filled in still works as something to complete with a marker at the door. Whatever space is left under the last line is filled with one large grey motif from the design you picked.
Lines, and when to use none
The Lines control runs from None to six and opens on four. Those are the ruled lines under the three detail fields, and they are where a stall list, a programme, ticket prices or a contact goes.
Set it to None for a poster that is only a heading and a date, which is the strongest version of the sheet and the one to print at A3. Six lines is a lot of text for a notice and is better suited to a sheet pinned on a noticeboard and read close up.
A4, Letter or A3
A3 is the setting that makes this worth printing. The frame goes to about 265mm by 382mm and every piece of type scales up with it, so the whole poster is bigger rather than the same poster with a wider margin.
Most home printers do not take A3. Save the PDF at A3 and take it to a print shop, or print the A4 version and have it enlarged, which is safe because everything on the sheet is vector and will not soften when it is scaled.
Questions
- Can I type my own heading on the poster?
- Yes. The Heading box above the sheet starts as Christmas Fair and replaces the printed heading as you type. The size adjusts so a longer heading still fits on one line inside the frame.
- What sizes does the poster print at?
- A4, US Letter and A3. On A3 the frame is about 265mm by 382mm and every piece of type scales up with it, so you get a bigger poster rather than a wider margin.
- What are the extra lines for?
- A stall list, a short programme, ticket prices or a contact. The control runs from None to six and opens on four. Set it to None for a poster that is just a heading and a date.
- Can I print the A3 poster at home?
- Most home printers will not take A3. Save the PDF at the A3 setting and take it to a print shop, or print A4 and have it enlarged, which works cleanly because the artwork is vector.
- Do I have to fill in the detail lines on screen?
- No. Every field prints as a thin rule if you leave it empty, so a poster with only the heading typed still works as something to complete with a marker at the door.