Table Of Contents
- What Is a Digital Poster?
- Digital Posters vs Printed Posters
- Where Digital Posters Are Used
- What Makes a Good Digital Poster
- How to Make a Digital Poster for Free
- How to Display Your Digital Poster on a TV
- What Does It Cost?
- Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Digital Poster Content Ideas
- Digital Poster Sizes for Every Screen Type
- Updating Posters on a Schedule
- Digital Poster Design Checklist
- A Quick Real-World Example
- Frequently Asked Questions
A digital poster is a poster designed for a screen instead of paper: the same eye-catching mix of image, headline and message, but displayed on a TV or display where it can move, update and never curl at the corners. Shops, cafes, schools, gyms and offices use them to promote offers, events and announcements without printing a thing.
What Is a Digital Poster?
Take everything a printed poster does (grab attention, deliver one clear message, look good doing it) and put it on a screen. That is a digital poster. It might be a single still image, a short animated design, or one slide in a playlist of several posters rotating on the same TV.
The big difference is what happens after you "print" it: nothing. No print shop, no waiting, no Blu Tack. You design it, upload it, and it is on your wall in minutes. When the offer changes, the poster changes with it, and nobody has to peel anything off a window with a credit card ever again.
Digital Posters vs Printed Posters
| Printed poster | Digital poster | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per update | Reprint every time | Free |
| Time to update | Days | Minutes |
| Motion | None | Animation and video |
| Lifespan | Fades, tears, curls | Indefinite |
| Scheduling | One message per wall | Different posters by time of day |
| Typos | A reprint and a quiet cry | Fixed in seconds |
Where Digital Posters Are Used
- Retail shops: promotions, sales and new arrivals in the window
- Cafes and restaurants: daily specials and seasonal menus
- Gyms: class timetables, challenges and membership offers
- Schools: event announcements, achievements and reminders
- Offices: internal announcements, welcomes and celebrations
- Salons and clinics: price lists, offers and health messages
- Places of worship: service times, events and community news
What Makes a Good Digital Poster
- One message per poster. A poster that says everything says nothing.
- Readable in three seconds. People glance; they do not study.
- Huge headline, short supporting line, clear call to action. That is the whole recipe.
- High contrast. Light text on dark or dark text on light, never a polite murmur in between.
- Designed at 1920 by 1080 (or 1080 by 1920 for portrait screens) so it fills the TV perfectly.
- Gentle motion only. A slow zoom adds life; flashing text adds regret, and possibly a headache.
How to Make a Digital Poster for Free
- Open Canva or Google Slides (both free).
- Set the size to 1920 by 1080 pixels.
- Add your headline, one strong image and your call to action.
- Export as a PNG or JPG, or as a short video if you want motion.
- Done. You are now a poster designer, no art degree required.
How to Display Your Digital Poster on a TV
- Install the free PosterBooking app on a Fire TV Stick, Android TV, Windows PC, Chrome device or Raspberry Pi connected to your TV.
- Pair the screen with your PosterBooking dashboard using the code on the TV.
- Upload your poster.
- Show it on its own, or add it to a playlist that rotates several posters.
- Schedule different posters for different times of day: lunch offers at noon, happy hour at five.
What Does It Cost?
The cost of going digital is lower than most people expect, mostly because you already own the hardest part: a TV.
| Item | Typical Cost |
|---|---|
| TV (if you need one) | A few hundred dollars |
| Media player (Fire TV Stick, Android box, Raspberry Pi) | Roughly $30 to $60 |
| Design tool | Free (Canva, Google Slides) |
| Signage software | Free for the first 10 screens with PosterBooking |
Beyond the free tier, paid plans scale modestly per screen, which still works out far cheaper over a year than repeated print runs, laminating and the occasional emergency reprint because someone spelled the date wrong.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Too much text. If it takes longer than three seconds to read, it will not get read.
- Low-resolution images. Stretched logos look blurry on a big screen even if they looked fine on a phone.
- Forgetting the screen orientation. A landscape design squeezed onto a portrait screen looks like it is being squashed in a lift.
- Leaving one poster up for months. Rotate content regularly so regulars do not tune it out.
- No clear call to action. A pretty poster with no next step is just decoration.
Digital Poster Content Ideas
| Business Type | Poster Idea |
|---|---|
| Cafe | Today's special with a mouth-watering photo |
| Gym | This week's class timetable |
| Retail | Limited-time discount with a countdown |
| School | Upcoming events and achievement shout-outs |
| Salon | Seasonal treatment offers |
Digital Poster Design Checklist
- One clear message per poster
- Headline readable from across the room
- Correct resolution for the screen orientation
- High contrast colours
- Call to action included
- Scheduled to rotate or update regularly
Digital Poster Sizes for Every Screen Type
Getting the dimensions right the first time saves you from the dreaded "why does my poster have black bars around it" moment, which is a rite of passage for most new signage users.
| Screen Setup | Recommended Size | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Standard landscape TV | 1920 x 1080 px | Most common setup for shops and offices |
| Portrait-mounted TV | 1080 x 1920 px | Popular for narrow spaces like corridors |
| 4K display | 3840 x 2160 px | Sharper detail, larger file size |
| Tablet or small kiosk screen | 1280 x 800 px | Good for countertop displays |
If you are not sure which orientation your screen will end up in, design in landscape first; it is easier to crop a wide image for portrait than to stretch a portrait image wide and watch your logo turn into an unrecognisable smear.
Updating Posters on a Schedule
One advantage printed posters simply cannot offer is time-based scheduling. A cafe can run a breakfast poster from 7am to 11am, switch automatically to a lunch menu until 3pm, then show evening specials after that, all without anyone touching the screen. Set it up once, and the poster effectively does the night shift for you. Most people find once they start scheduling by time of day, they genuinely cannot go back to a single static sign.
A Quick Real-World Example
A small bakery used to print a new A2 poster every time it ran a weekend offer, then Blu Tack it to the window and hope it survived the rain. After switching to a TV in the window running PosterBooking, the owner now updates the offer from her phone between batches of bread, and the same screen quietly switches to opening hours overnight. No more soggy cardboard, no more drawing pins.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a digital poster the same thing as digital signage?
A digital poster is a single piece of content, while digital signage is the whole system of screens and software used to display it. Every digital poster counts as digital signage content, but signage also covers menus, dashboards, tickers and other formats beyond a single poster design.
Can a digital poster include video instead of a still image?
Yes, a digital poster can be a short looping video or a subtly animated design rather than a static image. Moving content often draws more attention on a screen than a still poster, as long as the motion stays gentle rather than distracting.
What resolution should a digital poster be designed at?
A digital poster should be designed at 1920 by 1080 pixels for a standard widescreen TV, or 1080 by 1920 pixels for a screen mounted in portrait. Matching the screen's orientation and resolution prevents the poster from looking stretched, cropped or blurry once displayed.
How long should a digital poster stay on screen before switching?
A digital poster should typically stay on screen for eight to fifteen seconds before the playlist moves to the next item. That is long enough for a passer-by to read the message but short enough to keep the display feeling active rather than static.
How do I create a digital poster without design experience?
You can create a digital poster without design experience using a free tool like Canva or Google Slides, setting the canvas to 1920 by 1080 pixels and adding a headline, one strong image and a call to action. Free templates make it possible to produce a professional-looking poster in a few minutes.
What is the cheapest way to show digital posters on a TV?
The cheapest way to show digital posters on a TV is to pair it with a low-cost media player such as a Fire TV Stick or Raspberry Pi and use free signage software like PosterBooking. This setup avoids expensive commercial signage players and keeps the first 10 screens free.
Do digital posters work without an internet connection?
Digital posters mostly work without a constant internet connection because content downloads to the player in advance and continues looping if Wi-Fi drops. An internet connection is only needed again when you want to upload a new poster or change the schedule.
Ready to put your first digital poster on a screen? Create your free account and your first 10 screens are free.