Most poster and canvas sizes fall into a handful of ratio families: 2:3, 3:4, 4:5, the A-series and square. Design one master file in the tallest ratio you plan to sell, keep everything important inside the area the shortest ratio will keep, and every size can be cropped from it without losing a face, a word or a signature.
Wall art is where one round of design work can earn the most, because buyers want the same piece in several sizes. It is also where careless crops show the most: a quote that loses its last line at 8x10, or a portrait whose feet disappear on a 16x20 canvas. This guide is for sellers who list posters, canvas prints or printable art and want every size to look like it was planned that way.
The ratio families behind common print sizes
A ratio is the shape of the print, width to height. Sizes in the same family scale up and down without any crop. Sizes in different families need a crop, and that crop is where designs get damaged.
| Ratio family | Common sizes (inches) | Largest size here at 300 DPI | Same size at 150 DPI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2:3 | 4x6, 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36 | 7,200 x 10,800 px | 3,600 x 5,400 px |
| 3:4 | 6x8, 9x12, 12x16, 18x24 | 5,400 x 7,200 px | 2,700 x 3,600 px |
| 4:5 | 4x5, 8x10, 16x20 | 4,800 x 6,000 px | 2,400 x 3,000 px |
| A-series (about 1:1.41) | A4, A3, A2 | 4,961 x 7,016 px (A2) | 2,480 x 3,508 px (A2) |
| 11:14 | 11x14 | 3,300 x 4,200 px | 1,650 x 2,100 px |
| 1:1 | 8x8, 12x12, 20x20 | 6,000 x 6,000 px | 3,000 x 3,000 px |
The pixel columns are plain arithmetic: inches times DPI. Which column applies depends on your provider and the size. One large print provider recommends 300 DPI for JPEG and PNG files, and 120 to 150 DPI for large-format products, while another asks for files of 150 to 300 DPI, depending on the product. Check each product page before you settle on a file size. If DPI is new to you, start with what DPI means for print files.
Buyers in Türkiye and much of Europe often think in A sizes such as A4 and A3, while US buyers think in inches, so a plan that covers both systems makes your listings easier to shop.
Design the tallest ratio, protect the shortest
In portrait orientation, the families run from tall and narrow to short and wide: 2:3 is the tallest, then the A-series, then 3:4, then 11:14, and 4:5 is the shortest. If you compose on a 2:3 canvas and use its full width, every other family can be cut from it by trimming only the top and bottom.
A 4:5 crop of a 2:3 master keeps exactly five sixths of the height. That gives you a simple working rule:
Set up the master at 2:3, large enough for the biggest size you plan to sell.
Mark the 4:5 area in the middle: the full width and five sixths of the height. Faces, lettering, the focal point and your signature all go inside it.
Fill the strips above and below with background that can be lost without harm: sky, texture, pattern or plain colour.
Export each family as its own crop and look at it both at thumbnail size and at full size.
Square is the exception. A 1:1 crop from a 2:3 master keeps only two thirds of the height, so most designs need their own square layout rather than a crop. Landscape works the same way as portrait, turned on its side: compose wide at 3:2 and protect the central 5:4 area.
Text needs extra care. A quote set edge to edge on the master will lose letters in every crop, so keep lines of text comfortably inside the protected area and leave a margin from its sides as well.
Plan for canvas wrap and edges
Canvas adds a step that posters do not have. On a stretched canvas, the outer part of the image wraps around the wooden frame and ends up on the sides, not the front. Anything placed close to the edge of the file can turn the corner and disappear from view.
Keep important content well inside the edges of canvas files, and ask your provider how it handles the sides. Common options are wrapping the image itself around the frame, mirroring the edge of the image, or painting the sides a solid colour, and each one asks for a little extra background at the edges of your file. Our guide to bleed and safe area explains the terms, and posters or canvas prints compares the two products for your shop.
Resolution: start bigger than you think
The largest size you plan to sell sets the pixel count of the master. A 2:3 master for a 24x36 print at 300 DPI is 7,200 by 10,800 pixels. One provider accepts uploads of up to 200 MB and 20,000 x 20,000 px, while another caps JPEG and PNG uploads at 100 MB, so a very large file may need compression or the lower DPI that large formats allow.
Providers also advise that the file be sized to match the actual print dimensions so DPI is calculated correctly, and one recommends the sRGB IEC61966-2.1 colour profile for final print files. If your artwork is short of pixels, read how to upscale a low-resolution image for print before you stretch it. Flat artwork and lettering saved as vector avoid the problem, because they scale to any size without losing sharpness.
Selling several sizes in one listing
On Etsy, sizes usually live as a variation inside one listing. Etsy allows variations for up to 3 item attributes, and price can vary by variation, so one design can carry a size option with its own price for each size. Show the size in a room so buyers can judge it: see poster mockups that show size in a real room.
If you also sell the art as a printable download, the same planning pays off. Etsy lets you upload up to five digital files, with a maximum of 20MB each, so you can include up to five ratio families, for example the five you sell most, and point buyers to the right file in the description.
How Alomations prepares print-ready files
Every design in Alomations comes back print-ready at 12 inches and 300 DPI, which is 3,600 pixels on the long side, as a transparent PNG with an SVG alongside. That is enough for a 12-inch print at 300 DPI, or a 24-inch print at 150 DPI, so for the largest posters and canvases check what your provider accepts for large formats. For wall art, place the artwork on a background layer that fills the whole ratio, since a poster or canvas has no garment colour behind the design.
When a design has to grow or change shape, the Design Editor on paid plans helps: crop on image layers, fit to canvas, enlarge a photo that is short of pixels, and redraw flat art as vector so it scales cleanly. Canvas prints are part of our catalog, so the same design can go from the editor onto a canvas listing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best ratio for wall art on Etsy?
There is no single best ratio. A 2:3 master covers the most sizes, because the A-series, 3:4, 11:14 and 4:5 can all be cropped from it by trimming the top and bottom. Square needs its own layout.
Can I sell an 8x10 and a 16x20 from the same file?
Yes. Both are 4:5, so one scales to the other without a crop, as long as the file has enough pixels for the larger size: 4,800 by 6,000 at 300 DPI.
Why does my design get cut off at 8x10?
Because 8x10 is 4:5, the shortest of the common portrait ratios. Cropped from a taller master, it loses the top and bottom. Keep everything important inside the 4:5 area and the problem goes away.
Do canvas prints need a different file from posters?
Often, yes. The edges of a canvas wrap around the frame, so the canvas file needs extra background at the edges and its important content kept further in than on a poster.
You can get print-ready files for your own designs on the free plan, which needs no card.