It can be confusing to navigate the world of posters with all the different sizes, formats and other details. In this blog we take an in depth look at the famous one sheet and the British Quad. These two are the most common types of posters that we sell.
Quad Movie Posters
What is the UK Quad Poster Size?
A UK quad poster size is 30 inches x 40 inches or 76cm x 101.6cm. They are in a landscape format compared to the US one sheet which is portrait.
What is the history of the quad movie poster?
The quad movie poster used to be called the 'quad crown' as it was four times the size of the crown (measuring 15 inches x 20 inches). Prior to the quad crown being introduced, there were many different poster sizes that were being used, though none of them were standardised. For example, up until World War One, a common size used was the vertical quad crown and the three sheet but this is not 100% conclusive. After the First World War and up until World War Two, it was the crown, double crown and three sheet that were predominately used.
There was not a standard poster size that was adhered to until World War Two. The beginning of the war meant enormous paper shortages which had to be used for the war effort. Therefore, the maximum size that could be printed was 30 x 40 inches or the quad crown. It was since then that the 'quad' really took off and it's never changed since. The 20 years preceding the end of World War Two also saw the explosion in cinema popularity and more and more theatres began buying posters to advertise their screenings. The movie poster became an important part of the experience and highly established artists were brought in to create some fascinating works of arts. It was in the 1980s that quad movie posters started to be print double sided for use in cinema light boxes. This gave much greater perceived contrast and colour for passers by, gaining far more attention for advertising movies.
Us One Sheet Posters
The one sheet is the most widely used poster format in the world. It has been used since 1909 and the sizing has remained nearly identical since then. We delve into the details on the most common format type found below.
What is the US one sheet poster size?
The size of one sheets depends on when the poster was made:
Up until the mid 1980s, the one sheet poster size was 27 inches x 41 inches.
After the mid 1980s, the one sheet poster size was 27 inches x 40 inches.
Why did the one sheet poster size change?
This was partly due to the change in the mid 1980s of posters being sent rolled instead of folded. It was around this time that instead of folding movie posters and sending them in envelopes to the theatres to display, they began rolling them and sending them in cardboard tubes. This is why you see no fold lines in modern day posters and we discuss more about this in another of our blogs.
It was also around then that they began eliminating the borders from the posters that up until the 1980s was a common feature. This change allowed them to use more space on the poster and did not require as much space.
There is not a huge amount of evidence to demonstrate exactly why the size dropped an inch but it does appear to coincide with some other rather major changes to the format.
What is the history of the one sheet movie poster size?
The one sheet movie poster was first established and standardized and used by none other than Thomas Edison. His motion pictures patent company was setup in 1908 and standardised the one sheet movie poster size but was only printed by a select few lithographers. The earliest posters were printed by stone lithography but like we mentioned with the quad poster earlier, war brought this to a halt. World War One meant there were shortages of stone in the US so printers had to resort to limestone which changed the look of the posters.
By the 1930s though, offset printing was commonplace and most posters were printed in this way. Offset printing was much quicker, faster and cheaper than other printing methods and is still used today! The offset printers use the colours cyan, magenta, yellow and black and each colour is printed separately which helps give posters a rich palette of colours. It is this printing process that started all the way back in the 1930s that helps prevent fakes. Offset printing requires highly calibrated machinery and colour proofs are used ensure consistency. As each run of poster is usually only printed as a one off, it means the exact colour palette is extremely difficult for bootleggers to recreate. Although bootleggers are becoming more sophisticated, it is still extremely difficult to replicate the exact colour, contrast and printing techniques used by the official printers.
The one sheet didn't see much change again until the 1970s when heavier, better quality, clay coated paper was being used. You can really tell the clay coated posters apart due to their fantastically smooth finish, whereas the non clay coated posters have a much coarser feel.
The next big change was the mid 1980s which we have discussed a little before. This is when the one sheet poster size changed to 27 x 40 inches, potentially for some of the reasons we previously listed. Perhaps the biggest change in the history of the one sheet poster format was the stopping of folding movie posters. Sending posters rolled, instead of flat completely eradicated the fold lines. The border around the poster was completely eradicated around this time too.
The other introduction around this time was the increasing use of printing on both sides of the poster. This increased the cost of production greatly but allowed cinemas to display them in backlit boxes, giving far greater contrast than would otherwise be afforded.
The one sheet movie poster retains the crown for the most common poster size to this day and often (but not always) commands a premium price compared to their counterparts such as quads. Due to this, the majority of the posters we list for sale are one sheets, sourced from collectors and our contacts all over the world.
So what are the main differences between quads and one sheets?
Quite simply, the main difference between the two different poster formats are the orientation (landscape Vs portrait) and the size (27 x 40/41 inches Vs 30 x 40 inches).
So there you have it! A breakdown on the differences and histories of each respective size. Remember, we sell all kinds of movie posters on our site and every single one of our posters available is 100% original as we never sell reproductions!
