Does A3 fit an IKEA frame?

No. A3 is 29.7×42 cm and IKEA's nearest frames are 30×40 cm and 40×50 cm. A3 is 2 cm too tall for a 30×40 frame, so it has to be trimmed to 30×40 or mounted inside a 40×50 frame. IKEA does not sell an A3 frame. A4, at 21×29.7 cm, does fit the 21×30 cm frames — the 3 mm shortfall disappears under the frame lip.

What size should I print a marathon route poster at?

30×40 cm for a single race on a wall among other things, and 50×70 cm when the poster is the thing you want people to look at and read street names off. 21×30 cm suits a shelf or a gallery wall of several races. A whole marathon course at 21×30 cm is legible but the numbered kilometre markers get tight.

How many pixels is a 300 DPI poster?

Multiply each side in inches by 300. At 300 DPI: 21×30 cm is 2480×3543 px, 30×40 cm is 3543×4724 px, 40×50 cm is 4724×5906 px, 50×70 cm is 5906×8268 px, and 70×100 cm is 8268×11811 px.

Do I need the mount that comes with an IKEA frame?

No, but it changes the size you print. A 30×40 cm frame ships with a mount whose opening is 21×30 cm, a 40×50 cm frame's opening is 30×40 cm, and a 50×70 cm frame's opening is 40×50 cm. Print at the opening size to use the mount, or at the full frame size to skip it. FISKBO and YLLEVAD are sold without a mount.

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Poster print sizes and IKEA frames

The frame decides the size, not the printer. Here is what fits what, what the mount in the box covers, and how big the file needs to be.

Last updated 5 September 2026

The short answer

30×40 cm for one race on a wall with other things on it. 50×70 cm when you want people to walk over and look. 21×30 cm for a shelf, or a gallery wall of several races in matching frames.

And do not print at A3 expecting it to fit an IKEA frame. It will not. More on that below.

IKEA frames and what they hold

IKEA's frames run to their own ladder of sizes, close to the A-series but not the same. Most of the bigger ones come with a cardboard mount whose opening is the next size down, so one frame gives you two print sizes to choose from.

Frame	Mount opening	Frames sold this size
21×30 cm	none	RÖDALM, FISKBO, KNOPPÄNG, LOMVIKEN, YLLEVAD
30×40 cm	21×30 cm	RÖDALM, FISKBO, KNOPPÄNG, LOMVIKEN, HÄCKHAGTORN
40×50 cm	30×40 cm	RÖDALM, KNOPPÄNG, LOMVIKEN, HÄCKHAGTORN
50×70 cm	40×50 cm	RÖDALM, KNOPPÄNG, LOMVIKEN, HÄCKHAGTORN
61×91 cm	50×70 cm	RÖDALM, KNOPPÄNG
70×100 cm	50×70 cm	RÖDALM, KNOPPÄNG

Ranges vary by country, so check the box before you print. FISKBO and YLLEVAD are the cheap ones and come without a mount.

Why A3 does not fit

Paper	Size	Nearest frame	What happens
A4	21×29.7 cm	21×30 cm	Fits. The 3 mm gap hides under the frame lip.
A3	29.7×42 cm	30×40 cm	2 cm too tall. Trim it, or mount it in a 40×50 frame.
A2	42×59.4 cm	40×50 cm	Too big both ways. Trim to 40×50, or use a 50×70 frame.

This catches everyone out: A3 is what the print shop quotes, 30×40 is what the shop next door sells frames in, and they are not the same rectangle. There is no IKEA A3 frame. So print at the frame's size, not the paper's, which is what Race Map's IKEA sizes do. The PDF puts your 30×40 poster on an A3 sheet with marks to cut along.

Mount, no mount, or a printed border

A poster inside a mount looks considered; one filling its frame looks bold. Both are good, and the choice changes the size you print.

No mount. Print at the full frame size, 30×40 cm of paper in a 30×40 cm frame, and the map runs to the edges.
The mount from the box. Print at its opening instead, so 21×30 cm for a 30×40 frame. Cheaper to print, and real card looks better than printed white.
A printed border. For frames sold without a mount, or when you want a wider border than the mount gives. Race Map prints the white onto the sheet for you.

How big does the file need to be?

300 DPI is what print shops call photographic quality. Below about 150 it goes soft up close; above 300 you are just making a bigger file. Race Map exports at 300 DPI at every size, so a 70×100 cm poster really is 8268×11811 pixels.

Print size	Pixels at 300 DPI	Pixels at 150 DPI
21×30 cm	2480 × 3543	1240 × 1772
30×40 cm	3543 × 4724	1772 × 2362
40×50 cm	4724 × 5906	2362 × 2953
50×70 cm	5906 × 8268	2953 × 4134
61×91 cm	7205 × 10748	3602 × 5374
70×100 cm	8268 × 11811	4134 × 5906

Getting it printed

Any print shop or online poster service will take the PDF as it is. It carries the page size, so there is nothing to get wrong at the counter. Ask for matte or satin, 200 gsm or heavier, and it will sit flat in the frame. Gloss reflects the room and fights the glazing.

At home, 21×30 cm and A4 are easy. Anything bigger needs an A3 printer, and home printers rarely print to the edge, which matters if you have gone without a mount.

Portrait or landscape?

Follow the route. A course that runs north to south, like most point-to-point marathons, wants portrait. One that sprawls east to west, or a lap circuit that fills a square, is happier in landscape or in one of the layouts that fills the sheet with map and puts the title over it. Race Map re-lays out the poster either way, so nothing gets cropped.

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Race Map is free, needs no account, and never uploads your file · Exporting a route from Strava, Garmin and the rest