Guide · artwork & materials
How big should the letters on a sign be?
Roughly 25mm of letter height for every 10 metres of viewing distance, as a minimum, and three times that to be read at a glance. For a driver, size it for the distance they cover while reading — 50 metres at 60km/h. The calculator below does the arithmetic. That rule sizes the fascias, boards and banners we make — and it is worth settling before you read the approval rules, which are largely written in sizes.
Need the sign itself? Standard sign sizes and prices are below. Corflute signs: 5 from $128, delivered.
Letter height calculator
Capital letter height, in millimetres
What we print for this
Proofed before they run
The rule
The widely used starting point in signage is 25mm of capital letter height per 10 metres of viewing distance for someone to read it at all. That is a floor, not a target — it assumes good contrast, a clean typeface and a stationary reader with reasonable eyesight.
| Read from | Minimum height | Comfortable | Safety sign | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 metres | 10mm | 25mm | 15mm | Door vinyl, window hours |
| 10 metres | 25mm | 75mm | 50mm | Shopfront fascia, A-frames |
| 25 metres | 65mm | 190mm | 125mm | Across a car park |
| 50 metres | 125mm | 375mm | 250mm | Building signage, large banners, a driver at 60km/h |
| 100 metres | 250mm | 750mm | 500mm | Pylon signs, roadside |
Use the "comfortable" column, not the minimum. The minimum is the point at which a letter becomes legible to someone deliberately looking at it. Nobody deliberately reads your sign — they glance at it while doing something else, which is a completely different task. Comfortable is three times the minimum.
Moving readers need much more
A driver has to start reading while still well short of the sign. Allow three seconds to take in a short message: at 60km/h a car covers 17 metres a second, so the sign has to be readable from 50 metres — 375mm letters — even if it sits 10 metres from the road. At 100km/h that is 83 metres.
- Walking past: use the comfortable column at the real distance.
- Driving at 50–60km/h: size it for 40–50 metres, and cut the message to three or four words.
- Highway speeds: a name and one more thing. Nothing else will land.
Safety signs have their own figure
Signs covered by AS 1319, the Australian standard for safety signs — site safety, PPE, hazard and fire signs — set upper-case text at 5mm per metre of viewing distance: 50mm to be read from 10 metres. That is the column an inspector will hold a site safety sign to, and it is twice the general minimum. The free sign library draws its safety signs to the standard’s shapes and colours.
What matters as much as size
- Contrast. Dark on light or light on dark. Mid-tone on mid-tone is unreadable at distance no matter how large the letters are.
- Weight and width. Very light or very condensed typefaces lose legibility badly with distance. Medium weight, normal width.
- Sentence case beats capitals. Word shapes help recognition, and ALL CAPS removes them.
- Space around the type. A crowded sign reads as a grey block from 30 metres.
- Illumination effectively extends the readable distance, and is the difference between a sign that works at 5pm in June and one that does not.
Before you commit
Print the letter at final size on a sheet of paper, tape it up, and walk to the distance it will be read from. It takes five minutes and it is more reliable than any table, including this one.
For a real quote, photograph the site with measurements on it — the dimensions tool does that in the browser.
Standard sign sizes
Delivered prices, GST included
| Sign | Size | Used for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corflute sign | 600 × 450mm | Directional, event, small notices | 5 for $128 |
| Corflute sign | 600 × 900mm | Real estate, election, site and yard signs | 5 for $160 |
| Corflute sign | 1200 × 900mm | Builders boards, large site signs | 5 for $231.50 |
| Foam board sign | 600 × 900mm | Indoor: events, displays, easels | 5 for $160 |
| A-frame sign | 600 × 900mm panels | Footpath, cafés, open homes | $198 |
| Pull-up banner | 850 × 2000mm | Expos, reception, events | $160 |
| Vinyl banner | 2000 × 1000mm | Fences, shopfronts, events | $149 |
| Vinyl banner | 3000 × 1000mm | Sports grounds, building fronts | $223.50 |
Corflute and foam board come in custom sizes too, and vinyl banners are made to any size up to 2000 × 5000mm — each product page prices the size you type.
Common questions
How big should the letters on a sign be?
Allow about 25mm of capital letter height for every 10 metres of viewing distance as an absolute minimum, and roughly three times that to read comfortably. So a sign read from 10 metres needs 25mm letters at minimum and 75mm to be comfortable; at 50 metres it is 125mm and 375mm. The minimum is the point at which a letter becomes legible to somebody deliberately looking at it, and nobody deliberately reads your sign.
How big should the lettering on a shopfront sign be?
A shopfront fascia read from about 10 metres needs letters at least 25mm high, and 75mm to read comfortably. Across a car park at 25 metres that becomes 65mm minimum and 190mm comfortable. Shopfront signage is measured on site before it is quoted, and the site measure is where letter height gets settled against the actual elevation.
How big do letters need to be to read from a moving car?
Size it for the distance the driver covers while reading, not for how far the sign is from the road. Allow three seconds: at 60km/h that is 50 metres, so capitals of about 375mm; at 40km/h, about 33 metres and 250mm. Cut the message to three or four words. At highway speeds it is a name and one more thing — nothing else will land. The same rule governs vehicle signage, which is read from behind at speed.
What size are corflute signs?
The standard sizes are 600 × 900mm (real estate, election and site signs), 600 × 450mm (directional and event signs) and 1200 × 900mm (builders boards and large site signs), on 5mm fluted board. A 600 × 900mm sign read from 10 metres takes headline letters of 75mm or more. Corflute signs are 5 from $128, delivered, and custom sizes are priced as you type them.
What size should an A-frame sign be?
A-frame panels are 600 × 900mm, which is read from about 10 metres on a footpath, so use letters of at least 75mm. A frame with printed corflute panels starts at $198 including GST, and the panels slide out, so a changed message costs a printed panel rather than a new sign.
What matters as much as letter size on a sign?
Contrast matters as much as size: dark on light or light on dark, because mid-tone on mid-tone is unreadable at distance no matter how large the letters are. Use a medium weight at normal width — very light or very condensed typefaces lose legibility badly with distance. Sentence case beats capitals, because word shapes help recognition and ALL CAPS removes them. Leave space around the type or the sign reads as a grey block from 30 metres.
How can I check a sign will be readable before I order it?
Print one letter at final size on a sheet of paper, tape it up, and walk to the distance the sign will be read from. It takes five minutes and it is more reliable than any table, including the one on this page. For a quote, photograph the site with measurements marked on it — the free dimensions tool does that in your browser.
Next
Choosing the sign
Size, board and where it goes
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