A2 Paper Size: A Handy Format for Posters and More

A2 measures 420 x 594 mm (16.54 x 23.39 inches) and sits in the ISO 216 A-series between A3 and A1. Posters and framed art prints are the usual jobs for it, and technical drawings use it too. If A3 looks too small and A1 would swamp the wall, this is the size people land on.

Size charts often list the US ANSI C sheet as its equivalent, but it isn’t one. ANSI C measures 432 x 559 mm, which leaves it 35 mm shorter than the 594 mm edge of A2 (Markus Kuhn, University of Cambridge, 2025).

Arch C, at 18 x 24 inches, is the nearest US sheet that holds an A2 print.

What Is the A2 Paper Size in mm, cm and Inches?

420 x 594 mm, or 16.54 x 23.39 inches. In centimetres that’s 42 x 59.4, and it’s the large-format step between A3 and A1.

Width comes first in the standard, so 420 mm is the short edge. Turn the sheet sideways and the pair reads 594 x 420 mm.

One sheet covers 0.25 square metres at a ratio of 1:1.414. At 300 DPI that works out to 4961 x 7016 pixels, and at 80 gsm the sheet weighs 20 g.

Millimetre values follow the ISO 216 table as reproduced in Markus Kuhn’s reference at the University of Cambridge. Weight is area times grammage, so 0.25 x 80.

The standard states A-series sizes in whole millimetres, so inch values are conversions. That is why some sites print 16.5 x 23.4 and others 16.54 x 23.39.

Tolerance is a separate matter. The same reference lists plus or minus 2 mm for edges between 150 and 600 mm, which covers both A2 edges, while DIN 476 set a tighter 1.5 mm.

One naming trap. The US “A2” envelope measures about 5.75 x 4.37 inches (papersizes.io) and has nothing to do with the ISO sheet.

How A2 Fits Into the ISO 216 A-Series

Cut an A0 sheet in half twice and you get A2. A0 has an area of one square metre, so A1 holds half a square metre and A2 a quarter, with identical proportions at every step.

How the Halving Rule Works

Cut a sheet parallel to its short side and each half keeps the height-to-width ratio of the original. That ratio is the square root of two, about 1.414.

Each size borrows its long edge from the short edge of the size above. A2’s 594 mm edge matches A1’s short edge, and its 420 mm edge matches A3’s long edge.

Everything starts from the A0 sheet, and the standard rounds every halving down to a whole millimetre. Half of 841 mm is 420.5, so A2 ends up 420 mm wide, and its real ratio is 1.4143 rather than 1.4142.

Rounding down also guarantees that two A2 sheets never exceed one A1 sheet, as Kuhn points out.

Area and Sheet Counts

Two A3 sheets cover the same area as one A2, and so do four A4s. Eight A5 sheets do it as well.

Going the other way, two A2 sheets make one A1, and four make a full A0.

A clean quarter of a square metre also makes weight easy. An A2 sheet weighs a quarter of the paper’s gsm value in grams, so 25 g at 100 gsm.

From DIN 476 to ISO 216

The ratio is older than the standard. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg described it in a letter dated 25 October 1786, according to Kuhn’s history of the format.

The French “Loi sur le timbre” of 1798 went further and listed a “grand registre” sheet that matches today’s A2. The series faded quickly, per the same history.

DIN published DIN 476 on 18 August 1922, built on Walter Porstmann’s halving system. It became ISO 216 and the UN document format in 1975, and ISO 216:2007 replaced that edition, with another confirmation in 2021.

DIN’s 2022 anniversary release credits Porstmann with the one-square-metre base sheet and the halving series. ISO’s own catalogue lists the 2007 edition as current after its 2021 review.

Outside North America, nearly every country now works from these international paper sizes.

There’s a catch for A2 buyers, though. The ISO 216:2007 scope covers trimmed writing paper and printed matter such as forms and catalogues, and it says it does not necessarily apply to posters. Poster use of A2 follows the size, not the standard’s scope.

What Is A2 Size in Pixels at 72, 150 and 300 DPI?

At 300 DPI, A2 comes to 4961 x 7016 pixels. Drop to 150 DPI and it’s 2480 x 3508, and at 72 DPI it’s 1191 x 1684. The pixel count depends only on the resolution you pick.

Values and use cases come from Moda’s size guide, and they match the formula, which is millimetres divided by 25.4, times DPI.

For the width at 300 DPI, 420 / 25.4 x 300 gives 4960.6, which rounds to 4961. A millimetre to pixel converter runs the same sum for any other resolution.

Why Pixel Figures Differ Between Sites

If you’ve seen two different pixel counts for A2, one of these is probably the reason.

• Quill’s buying guide has a typo. It lists 1191 x 1638 at 72 DPI, while the formula and every other source give 1191 x 1684.
• papersizes.io prints 1191 x 1684 as points, which equal pixels only at 72 ppi.
• Moda’s table shows 1584 x 2246 at 96 DPI, where the formula gives 1587 x 2245.
• Printenbind lists 7016 x 4961 at 300 ppi, height first. Same sheet, turned around.

Trust the formula over any table, and check which edge a page lists first.

Which DPI to Use for A2

Doubling the DPI quadruples the pixels an A2 file needs, since DPI counts the dots per inch on the printed sheet. A 150 DPI file carries a quarter of the pixels of a 300 DPI one.

Send 300 DPI to a print shop unless its spec says otherwise, and keep 150 DPI for proofs. Upscaling a 72 DPI web image to 300 DPI adds pixels but no new detail.

Is A2 the Same as ANSI C, Arch C or 18 x 24 Inches?

No. ANSI C (17 x 22 inches) is too short to hold an A2 sheet, and Arch C (18 x 24 inches) is the nearest US size that can.

The widths nearly match (432 against 420 mm), which is probably why charts call the two “similar”. Height is where it breaks, since ANSI C is 35 mm shorter than A2’s 594 mm edge (ANSI/ASME Y14.1 sizes, as listed by Kuhn).

Proportions differ too. A2 runs 1:1.414, Arch C is 4:3 according to Canva’s North American guide, and ANSI sheets alternate between 1.294 and 1.545. Scaling a design from one family to the other always leaves margins.

Moda’s size guide calls A2 close to the 18 x 24 inch poster but not identical. Tabloid (11 x 17 inches) stands in for A3, and A2 has no exact US sheet at all.

On ANSI C stock you have to scale the artwork down, because A2 won’t fit. Arch C takes A2 with a trim. Tabloid is for A3 files only.

US drawing standards already make room for the ISO sizes. ASME Y14.1M-1995 specifies ISO A0 to A4 sheets for technical drawings in the US, per Kuhn’s reference.

What Is A2 Paper Used For?

Mostly posters and wall displays, plus technical drawings and art prints. These are the jobs that outgrow A3 but don’t need a full A1 sheet.

In Markus Kuhn’s application table A2 appears twice, once with A1 for flip charts and once with A3 for drawings, diagrams and large tables. That overlap is the size’s real role.

Moda’s size guide lists retail advertising and medium-format wall displays. Printenbind adds framed pieces and home or office decoration, while Quill names blueprints, architectural drawings and maps, along with sports coaching layouts and wall calendars.

Moda’s guide puts A2 between the A3 desktop poster and the A1 large poster. That makes it the middle step among the common poster sizes.

If A3 reads too small and an A1 sheet would swamp the wall or the printer, A2 is the size to pick.

How to Print on A2 Paper

You need a printer that takes a roll or sheet at least 420 mm wide, and a 300 DPI PDF with the printer’s bleed added.

Most desktop printers fail the first test, so the printer comes first.

Printer and Roll Width

Roll width decides everything. A roll prints A2 only if it is at least 420 mm wide, and the printer then cuts the length to 594 mm.

Figures come from HP’s specification page, Canon’s TC-21 specifications and Epson America’s P900 listing.

Epson’s footnote says roll handling is standard on the P700 and optional on the P900. The P700 takes rolls only up to 13 inches (330.2 mm), too narrow for A2.

That explains why sources disagree about desktop printers. Moda says some 17-inch models handle A2, and the Epson numbers back it, but only from roll paper, where a 431.8 mm roll clears the 420 mm edge by 11.8 mm.

Check the printable width before buying, because margins eat into that spare.

Bleed, Trimmed Size and Untrimmed Sheets

Requirements vary by printer. Where The Trade Buys asks for 3 mm bleed on its A2 poster template, in CMYK at 300 DPI or higher, as one PDF. Aura Print’s art print template wants 2 mm bleed, with text and logos kept 3 mm inside the cut line. In the US, a contributor in Adobe’s Community forum puts the standard at 0.125 inch.

Bleed keeps a white edge from showing after the cut, since the artwork runs past the trim line. At 3 mm per side an A2 file becomes 426 x 600 mm, and at 2 mm it is 424 x 598 mm.

Printers cut A2 from larger stock. ISO 217 defines the untrimmed RA and SRA series for this, with RA2 at 430 x 610 mm and SRA2 at 450 x 640 mm, according to Kuhn’s reference.

A 426 x 600 mm file with bleed fits inside RA2 with 4 mm and 10 mm to spare.

Paper Weight and Thickness

HP lists 60 to 280 gsm for the DesignJet T250, with media up to 0.3 mm thick.

At that 280 gsm ceiling, one A2 sheet weighs 70 g. Thickness is a separate limit, at 0.3 mm on the T250 and 0.28 mm on Canon’s TC-21.

Setting Up an A2 Print File

Printers publish their own templates, and the steps barely differ between them. Follow this order to build a print-ready file that passes the first check.

1. Set the document units to millimetres.
2. Create the page at 420 x 594 mm, or 594 x 420 mm for landscape.
3. Add the printer’s bleed on all four sides, 3 mm in most UK templates.
4. Switch to CMYK, since Where The Trade Buys converts RGB files.
5. Place images at 300 DPI or higher, at 100 per cent scale.
6. Embed the fonts or convert them to outlines.
7. Export one PDF with crop marks, in the PDF/X preset the printer names.

Presets differ by shop. Where The Trade Buys prefers PDF/X-1a, while Paperlust’s guide accepts PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4.

When A2 Is the Wrong Size for the Job

Problems tend to show up after the file is built, mostly around frames and source images, with filing as a smaller headache.

Framing Mismatches

A2 is slightly taller than the 3:4 ratio common in US framing, according to Moda’s size guide.

Framing a poster of this size in a US frame therefore depends on the frame you pick. A standard A2 frame needs no mat. An 18 x 24 inch frame does, to hide the gap.

Low-Resolution Source Images

A 300 DPI A2 file holds about 34.8 million pixels, and a 150 DPI file about 8.7 million.

A 72 DPI web export carries only 2.0 million. Any source image below the target count gets stretched, and the loss shows at this size.

Vector artwork is resolution-independent, as Paperlust’s print guide notes. Choosing vector over raster for print keeps logos and type sharp whatever the sheet size.

Filing and Storage

A2 sheets do not fit A4 folders flat.

DIN 824 describes folding large pages such as A0 and A1 down to A4 for filing, with a 20 mm single-layer margin left for filing holes (Kuhn).

A folded poster is a damaged poster, so plan flat or rolled storage for anything meant to be displayed.

A2 Paper Size FAQ

How much does A2 printing cost?

No single figure applies, because price depends on the stock, finish, quantity and whether the shop prints from a roll or a cut sheet.

Ask each printer for a quote on the finished 420 x 594 mm size, and confirm that bleed and trimming are included.

What is A2 size in feet?

About 1.38 x 1.95 feet, converted from 420 x 594 mm at 304.8 mm per foot.

The sheet stands just under 2 feet tall in portrait.

Is DIN A2 the same as ISO A2?

Yes. DIN 476 introduced the sizes in 1922, and DIN’s 2022 anniversary release states that the dimensions now sit in the international standard DIN EN ISO 216.

Both names describe the same 420 x 594 mm sheet.

How does A2 compare with B2?

B2 is the larger sheet at 500 x 707 mm, which is 80 mm wider and 113 mm taller than A2.

The ISO B-series sits at the geometric mean between neighbouring A sizes, so B2 falls between A2 and A1 (Markus Kuhn, University of Cambridge).

Can an A2 design be shrunk to A3 or A4 without cropping?

Yes, because every A-series sheet shares the 1:1.414 ratio. Scale to 71% for A3 or 50% for A4, per Kuhn’s magnification table, and nothing is cropped.

What to Check Before Choosing the A2 Paper Size

Check the printer first, because its roll or sheet width decides whether a 420 x 594 mm job runs at all. Image resolution comes second and frame availability third.

That order follows the cost of fixing each failure. A wrong printer stops the job, a weak image needs new source material, and a frame gap needs only a mat.

Margins tighten the first check. A 3 mm bleed makes the file 426 mm wide, which leaves just 5.8 mm on a 431.8 mm roll, so confirm the printer’s minimum margins before ordering.

Printer specifications cited here were verified in October 2026. New models can widen cut-sheet limits, so check the manufacturer’s page before buying.

With the sheet size settled, designing the poster itself is the next job.

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Bogdan Sandu

Bogdan Sandu is a seasoned designer who has been designing websites since 2008.

Renowned for his expertise in logo design and visual branding, Bogdan has developed a multitude of logos for various clients.

His skills extend to creating posters, vector illustrations, business cards, and brochures. Additionally, Bogdan's UI kits were featured on marketplaces like Visual Hierarchy and UI8.

He also wrote in the past years on sites like Design Your Way, WebDesignerDepot, WPDean, Designmodo, Speckyboy, Slider Revolution, and more.

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