How to Print Poster Size on a Home Printer

Printing poster-size images on a home printer can be annoying if you aren’t sure how to print the poster properly. You will need to set the printer up to print tiled images to do this.

This article teaches you how to use your high-quality printer for a quick and simple way to get poster-sized prints from the printer sitting next to your desk at home. Keep reading to learn more.

Everything You Need to Know About Poster-Sized Prints at Home

Printing poster-sized images isn’t always the most affordable, especially when you factor in the cost of professional printing services or invest in a large printer or printer that specializes in certain materials, like a card stock printer.

However, you can avoid the print shop altogether and print posters at home if you have the time and supplies on hand.

Another cost-saving hack is printing black and white without color ink, but only on select printers, and there is a risk of damaging your printer.

Printing A Poster Steps

Follow these steps to print a poster-sized image at home:

STEP 1 Prepare Your Printing Supplies

Before starting a large print job, you’ll want to ensure you have all the appropriate supplies. Nothing is worse than a print job stopping halfway through because you ran out of ink.

This is important as posters are much larger than standard pages and, depending on your poster, may use a lot of ink.

Take a quick inventory of what you have on hand and make a trip to the supermarket to restock your paper or ink supply if necessary.

STEP 2Find and Download the Proper Software

While most operating systems offer very robust printing functionality, they also tend to lack the one feature required to print posters at home: tiled printing.

Some of the best programs to offer this feature include Adobe Acrobat Reader and a website called the Rasterbator. Both of these programs are free to use.

STEP 3 Enable Tiled Printing

After setting up a program with tiled printing, it’s time to get started with the print job.

Upload the image you want to use, and then initiate the print. If you’re using the Rasterbator, the interface will walk you through every step.

If you’re using a program like Adobe Acrobat, you’ll find tiled printing options under the Page Scaling menu. Select the paper dimensions for the paper you’re using and the number of tiles you want to print.

We always recommend double-checking your settings to ensure everything is set up in the desired manner before pressing the print button.

STEP 4 Print Your Pictures

Now that your settings are all configured properly, you simply need to hit the print button and watch your printer do the work.

Or, if you need to print a different type of document, you can read our article on how to create a tabloid paper size. In addition, pick up printers that print 11×17, so your tabloid paper prints come out perfectly.

STEP 5 Arrange Your Pictures

After all the pictures have been printed, it’s up to you to arrange them in the proper format. If you’re planning on hanging the poster up, we recommend arranging the tiled images on your poster board to make the gluing or taping easier.

STEP 6Glue or Tape Your Poster to a Poster Board

Now that your poster is arranged in the correct manner, you can get to work securing the papers in place.

Use glue or tape on the back of the papers and then press them firmly onto the poster board. Let the glue dry for a while before hanging your poster, or you risk losing individual papers to gravity.

To protect your poster and increase its durability and longevity, you may want to consider laminating it. This will protect it from moisture and tearing if it is going to be displayed for an extended period.

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