Senior Night Posters and Banners: Sizes, Files, and How to Get Them Made

Posters are the most-Googled part of Senior Night, and the most common place things go wrong — usually the night before, at a print counter, with a blurry file. Here's what to print, at what size, from what kind of file, so the posters look as good as the night deserves.

The sizes that work

• 18×24" posters — one per senior, held by teammates or displayed along the gym wall. The standard.
• 24×36" — if you want them readable from the bleachers.
• 2×6' or 3×8' vinyl banner — one group banner ('Seniors 2027') that survives outdoors for football and soccer.
• 8.5×11" or 11×17" — cheap color prints of each senior's graphic for the entrance table or senior section.

What print shops actually need

A high-resolution file: PNG or PDF, at least 150 DPI at final print size. For an 18×24 poster that means roughly 2700×3600 pixels minimum. A photo saved from a text message or Instagram is usually 1080 pixels wide — it will print soft at poster size. Always get original photos from families, not screenshots.

Portrait orientation graphics (4:5) scale cleanly to 18×24. That's why SeniorNightDone renders a portrait format for every senior at full resolution — the same file works for Instagram and the print counter.

Where to print

Local print shops and office-supply stores do same-day 18×24 posters affordably and let you inspect before paying. Online printers are cheaper per piece for banners but need a week of lead time. School district print shops are the hidden gem — many print for booster clubs at cost. Ask your front office.

Etsy templates vs. Canva vs. done-for-you

Etsy sellers offer nice Senior Night templates, but you're still doing the production run: drop in each photo, cut out each background, fix each name, export each file, for every senior, in every size. Canva gives you the blank canvas plus the same per-senior labor. Both are fine if you have one or two seniors and free evenings.

For a full roster, the labor is the product. SeniorNightDone collects the photos from families directly, removes photo backgrounds automatically, and renders every senior in matching designs built from your school's actual colors and logo — social sizes and print-ready portrait in one pass, free in early access.

The one rule

Whatever route you take: proof every name with the family before printing. A beautiful poster with a misspelled name is worse than no poster. Collect the exact spelling in writing when you collect the photo.