I'm designing my first poster for a promoter for a local bar and.. well.. I don't know what size to make the poster! What is the standard size for an event poster (such as one for a band) in North America?
Is it 11" x 17" ?
I work at a local retail print shop and the "standard" sizes we have for posters are 11x17 in, 18x24 in and 24x36 in.
But posters have been printed in all sorts of combinations before and they can be cut to size. Those 3 sizes are just what the store has on display, so they are the ones that get chosen for posters most often.
There is no "standard" size.
Most laser printers/digital printers have set sizes of 8.5" x 11", 11" x 14", 11" x 17", 12"x 18", and 13"x 19". The last two are more rare, but possible. Posters can also be 16"x20", 20"x30", 36"x40"....
If you are designing for commercial ro digital press, there's no set size you must use. Often non"standard" sizes are more interesting - 10"x20", 15x8, etc. It all gets trimmed after it's off the press.
I own a printer in Vancouver we see the standard size as 8.5” x 11”, 11” x 17”, 18 “ x 24”, 24” x 36” and for movie posters oversize. You can see some guides here http://www.standardpostersizes.com
There are two other size specs to keep in mind and thats movie posters since Germany and USA have different standards.
Here is a resource with lots of standard poster size info: http://www.standardpostersize.net