Top Poster Alternatives for Creating Stunning Large-Format Prints
The original Poster program, written by Jos van Eijndhoven in 1995, is a venerable tool for creating large-format prints from EPS or PostScript files. It's the grand-daddy of all poster programs and still exists as a Linux package, with pdfposter even depending on it. However, its limitation to PS and EPS files and its command-line nature might not suit everyone's modern design needs. If you're looking for a more versatile, user-friendly, or platform-independent poster alternative, you've come to the right place.
Best Poster Alternatives
Whether you need a web-based solution, a dedicated Windows application, or an open-source tool, there are numerous excellent alternatives to Poster that can help you create amazing large-scale prints from various image formats.
Lucidpress
Lucidpress is a powerful web-based design and layout application, making it a fantastic web-based poster alternative. It's perfect for print, allowing users to create beautiful print and digital documents with ease. As a Freemium web platform, it offers features like Cloud sync, Google Drive integration, Online Sharing, Publishing, and Export to PDF, providing a comprehensive solution for design and large-format printing.
Rasterbator
Rasterbator is a popular free and open-source poster alternative for creating wall art from any image. It specializes in enlarging images to multiple pages, which you can then print and combine into huge posters. Available on Windows and as a web-based tool, it's a straightforward solution for turning digital images into large-scale prints without complex features.
pdfposter
As the name suggests, pdfposter is a direct descendant of the original Poster program, focusing on PDF files. This free and open-source poster alternative requires Python and pyPDF for installation. While the base script might not initially offer image overlap, a patch exists to fix this. It's available across Mac, Windows, Linux, and Web, making it a versatile command-line option for PDF-based poster creation for users comfortable with Python.
Block Posters
Block Posters is a user-friendly free web-based poster alternative. It allows you to upload an image from your computer and choose the desired number of sheets wide for your printed poster. This simplicity makes it an excellent choice for anyone looking for a quick and easy way to create large-format prints without installing any software.
ProPoster
ProPoster is a commercial Windows software designed specifically for big banner printing, sign printing, poster printing, mural printing, and wall photo printing. This dedicated poster alternative does not require special plotters, making it accessible for users with standard printers. It's a robust solution for professional-quality large-scale printing on the Windows platform.
Mindcad Tiler
Mindcad Tiler is a commercial Mac application that allows you to print a single PDF page across multiple sheets of paper to create large banners and posters. This poster alternative offers the ability to independently scale and tile your PDF, providing flexibility for Mac users who need to produce large prints from their PDF documents.
Easy Poster Printer
Easy Poster Printer is a commercial Windows software that simplifies the process of creating your own posters. As its name suggests, it's designed for ease of use, and you don't even need a special poster printer to utilize its capabilities. This makes it an accessible and convenient poster alternative for Windows users looking to create large prints effortlessly.
From web-based design platforms to dedicated desktop software, these poster alternatives offer a range of features and functionalities to meet diverse needs. Explore these options to find the best fit for your large-format printing projects, whether you prioritize ease of use, specific file format support, or platform compatibility.