Describe the customer's situation before opening a template
A café poster beside the till and a shop-window poster do not have the same reading conditions. One may be studied by someone waiting to order; the other may receive a passing glance through reflections and other displays. Write down where the person will be, what they are likely to be doing and the single thing they should understand. This is more useful than choosing a fashionable font first. It tells you whether the design needs a short attention-getting offer, practical instructions or information that rewards a longer look.
Measure the real display position and note any obstructions. A coffee machine, queue, door handle, plant or product shelf can hide part of a poster even when the paper itself fits the space. Think about the angle of approach as well as the distance directly in front. An attractive full-screen preview does not reproduce those conditions. The following checks are practical design exercises, not guarantees of readability for every customer and not a certification that printed material meets any particular accessibility or advertising law.
Give the headline, explanation and action separate jobs
Treat the design as three decisions rather than one block of promotional text. The headline identifies the offer or purpose. Supporting wording explains what the customer actually receives. The action tells them what to do next. For an illustrative café promotion, that could mean a short breakfast headline, the precise included items underneath and an instruction to order at the counter. Keep the real price, availability and conditions accurate; a printer cannot establish whether a business's offer is true.
Adobe's poster-design guidance places hierarchy at the centre of the layout process. In practice, you can test hierarchy by asking someone to glance at a draft and tell you what they noticed first. If they remember a decorative slogan but miss the product or the price, the visual emphasis is working against the message. Do not make every element equally large in response. Decide which information deserves the first glance, then use spacing and placement to keep the supporting information connected to it.
Judge actual letterforms instead of trusting a point-size rule
Two fonts set to the same point size can have very different apparent size, weight and letter shapes. A condensed typeface may fit a longer line but make similar characters harder to distinguish. A decorative face may work for a short display word while becoming tiring in an instruction. Start with the exact words you intend to print, including currency signs, opening times and punctuation. Test the longest line rather than a convenient placeholder that will later be replaced with much denser copy.
Avoid solving a crowded layout by repeatedly shrinking everything. First remove unnecessary wording or move secondary information to another appropriate place. If a customer must understand an important restriction, leaving it as a tiny footnote defeats the practical purpose of the poster. Shortening the headline is often more effective than compressing its letters horizontally. There is no universal point size in this guide because the intended viewing position, chosen typeface, message length and physical print size must be considered together.
Use contrast across the complete line, not just one sampled spot
Text placed over a photograph can be clear on one side and disappear on the other. Check the whole line against the image beneath it, especially where bright highlights, patterned food, hair or reflections cross the letters. A plain area of colour behind the wording can be more dependable than a thin shadow. If a border or outline is needed just to rescue every word, reconsider the background or placement before adding further effects. The photograph should support the offer, not make its wording a puzzle.
Also inspect the poster in the lighting where it will be displayed. A surface that looks restrained at one angle may catch a bright reflection at another. Changing the paper does not compensate for text whose tone is already too close to its background. A greyscale draft can help reveal weak light-dark separation, but it is only a rough design check, not a substitute for seeing the actual colour print. Do not apply a web contrast score and present it as a legal approval of a physical café poster.
Make spacing protect meaning rather than fill empty areas
A price should remain visually attached to the product it describes. An expiry date should sit close enough to the offer that it is not mistaken for unrelated shop information. Leave enough room between separate messages that the eye can distinguish them, but do not scatter related details merely to make the page look evenly occupied. An empty area can be useful: it provides a pause around the information you want customers to notice.
Character spacing and line spacing require different judgements. Adobe describes kerning as adjusting individual letter pairs and tracking as changing spacing across a run of characters. Neither should be used indiscriminately to force a long sentence into a fixed box. Inspect combinations that can become ambiguous when crowded, and check that lines of supporting text do not appear to merge. For a short list of items, consistent alignment often makes the relationships clearer than several competing centred text blocks. Read the wording aloud as a further check on whether the intended grouping makes sense.
Build a physical reading test with a measured sample
You do not need a full-size commercial proof to discover that a headline is too small. Prepare a crop containing the actual headline and some supporting text at the intended physical scale, and print that crop on an ordinary small printer. Include a short labelled measurement line so you can check that the output has not been automatically reduced. Adobe Acrobat's Actual size option avoids scaling, whereas Fit changes the page to match the printable area; material outside a small page can be clipped.
Place the sample at the intended height and stand where customers will stand. Ask another person to read the message without coaching them about what it should say. Move to the side, repeat under typical room lighting and try a brief glance rather than unlimited study. Record which words were missed or confused. This exercise tests size, wording and layout relationships. It does not certify the final paper's colour, ink density or surface, because the small printer and its material are different from the production process.
Keep a QR code from becoming the only usable instruction
If the poster includes a QR code, treat it as a separate item that needs checking in the real layout. Use the actual final code, not a decorative placeholder. Test the exported file and a correctly scaled printed sample with a phone from the position you expect people to use. Check that the destination loads, that the destination is the intended one and that you control or trust the link. A successful scan from your editing screen does not demonstrate the performance of a much smaller printed code.
Give the customer a clear reason to scan and provide a useful alternative where appropriate, such as asking at the counter or reading a short web address. Do not assume everyone has a phone ready, a reliable connection or time to complete several steps. Avoid asking for personal information through an unexplained code. Golden Ads' print-only service does not create the offer, manage its destination page or maintain a third-party QR subscription, so those decisions remain part of your finished design and business arrangements.
Approve the exported wording and the replacement plan
Read the exported production file, not only the editable document. Check the offer name, quantities, price, dates, spelling and action after export. Fonts can be missing or substituted in a poor handover, while last-minute layout changes can push a condition out of its intended place. Use a second reader if the promotion matters commercially. Ask them to explain the offer back to you; an attractive paragraph that is repeatedly misunderstood needs rewriting before it is printed.
Finally, decide who will replace or remove the poster when the information changes. Keep the approved version and identify the display locations, especially if the same campaign appears in several indoor positions. Order only the paper and dimensions actually offered for the job, with separate arrangements for holders or installation. Long-format indoor paper displays require confirmation of the supported substrate and size; they are not outdoor signs. A readable poster is the outcome of a clear message and a realistic viewing test, not simply choosing the largest available sheet.
Questions and answers
What font size should a shop poster use?
There is no single size that suits every shop. Test the actual typeface and wording at the intended physical scale from the real customer viewing position, then simplify or enlarge what people miss.
Can I put text directly over a product photograph?
Yes, but check every word against the image beneath it. A plain background area may make the message clearer than adding outlines and shadows to rescue weak contrast.
Does an A4 test print prove the final poster colour?
No. A measured full-scale crop can test text size and layout, but a different printer and paper do not reproduce the final production surface or colour behaviour.
Will the print shop check that my offer and QR link are correct?
The custom service prints your finished file. You remain responsible for the offer's accuracy, destination link, wording and permissions; technical file checks are not business or legal approval.