Psychedelic Poster
Make a poster in a psychedelic style with your own words. Every letter of your headline is placed and turned along a path (a wave, an arch or a droop), or grows towards the middle of the line (bulge), and the whole headline is fitted in up to three lines on a dark panel. Behind it, pick a full-frame background of concentric rings, wavy bands, a swirl or wavy vertical stripes, in one of six high-contrast colourways from acid pink and lime to black and white. The backgrounds are drawn from a seed: press New background for another one, or type a seed to get the same poster again. Your second line and details sit on a solid band at the foot. Pick a size from A5 to A1 or US Letter to 24 × 36 in, then download a PDF at the real size, a proof, a PNG or an SVG. Nothing is uploaded.
100% private — everything runs in your browser. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
The poster-size PDF is the real size you pick (print it at 100% on that paper, or send it to a print shop). The proof fits the whole poster on one US Letter or A4 page with a 2 cm check bar. PNG at 72, 150 or 300 DPI; SVG in millimetres.
Psychedelic-style poster
Your text
Poster size
Proof PDF
Runs in your browser with our own code: nothing you type is uploaded or saved. The rings, waves and swirls are drawn from a seed, every letter of your headline is placed along its path by our own code, and every word is yours. You may use what you make here, including commercially, with no credit needed.
How to make a psychedelic-style poster
- Pick a preset, or a background, lettering path and colours.
- Type your headline, a second line and up to six lines of details.
- Press New background until you like the rings, waves or swirl.
- Pick the poster size and orientation; the lettering is sized so every letter fits its panel.
- Download the PDF at poster size, a Letter / A4 proof, the PNG or the SVG.
What you can use it for
- Gig, club-night and open-mic posters with your own wording
- Party and birthday invitations
- Art-show and open-studio notices
- Wall prints
- Album, zine and book covers
- Social posts from the PNG
The 14 presets
| Preset | Background | Lettering | Colours | Size | Default headline | Lines | Largest letters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rings and a wave, acid colours, A3 | Concentric rings | Wave | Pink, orange, lime and violet | A3 (297 × 420 mm) | Cosmic Garden Party | 3 | 114.7 pt |
| Rings, black and white, A2 | Concentric rings | Arch | Black and white | A2 (420 × 594 mm) | Cosmic Garden Party | 3 | 165.4 pt |
| Wavy bands, arched type, A3 | Wavy bands | Arch | Red, orange, yellow and purple | A3 (297 × 420 mm) | Summer of Sound | 2 | 114.7 pt |
| Wavy bands, blues, 18 × 24 in | Wavy bands | Wave | Blues with gold type | 18 × 24 in | Cosmic Garden Party | 3 | 170.5 pt |
| Swirl, bulging type, A3 | Swirl | Bulge (swells in the middle) | Candy pink, peach, yellow and sky | A3 (297 × 420 mm) | Mind Expanding Talks | 3 | 140.3 pt |
| Swirl, greens, Tabloid | Swirl | Droop | Greens with orange type | Tabloid (11 × 17 in) | Cosmic Garden Party | 3 | 121.9 pt |
| Wavy stripes, droop, A3 | Wavy vertical stripes | Droop | Pink, orange, lime and violet | A3 (297 × 420 mm) | Melting Point | 2 | 150.9 pt |
| Wavy stripes, sunset, A2 | Wavy vertical stripes | Wave | Red, orange, yellow and purple | A2 (420 × 594 mm) | Cosmic Garden Party | 3 | 165.4 pt |
| Rings, bulging type, Tabloid | Concentric rings | Bulge (swells in the middle) | Candy pink, peach, yellow and sky | Tabloid (11 × 17 in) | Cosmic Garden Party | 3 | 168.5 pt |
| Wavy bands, US Letter | Wavy bands | Wave | Candy pink, peach, yellow and sky | US Letter (8.5 × 11 in) | Cosmic Garden Party | 3 | 77.2 pt |
| Swirl, A4 | Swirl | Arch | Pink, orange, lime and violet | A4 (210 × 297 mm) | Cosmic Garden Party | 3 | 82.1 pt |
| Rings, landscape A3 | Concentric rings | Arch | Red, orange, yellow and purple | A3 (297 × 420 mm), landscape | Cosmic Garden Party | 2 | 101.6 pt |
| Swirl, 24 × 36 in | Swirl | Wave | Blues with gold type | 24 × 36 in | Cosmic Garden Party | 3 | 253.3 pt |
| Wavy stripes, A1 | Wavy vertical stripes | Bulge (swells in the middle) | Greens with orange type | A1 (594 × 841 mm) | Cosmic Garden Party | 3 | 329.3 pt |
Presets change the background, lettering, colours and size; your own text stays as you typed it.
The lettering paths with the default headline
| Lettering | A4 | A3 | A2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wave | 3 lines, 82.1–82.1 pt, turned up to 23° | 3 lines, 114.7–114.7 pt, turned up to 23° | 3 lines, 165.4–165.4 pt, turned up to 23° |
| Arch | 3 lines, 82.1–82.1 pt, turned up to 38° | 3 lines, 114.7–114.7 pt, turned up to 38° | 3 lines, 165.4–165.4 pt, turned up to 38° |
| Bulge (swells in the middle) | 3 lines, 76.9–116.9 pt, turned up to 0° | 3 lines, 110.8–168.5 pt, turned up to 0° | 3 lines, 155–235.5 pt, turned up to 0° |
| Droop | 3 lines, 84.6–84.6 pt, turned up to 17° | 3 lines, 121.9–121.9 pt, turned up to 17° | 3 lines, 170.5–170.5 pt, turned up to 17° |
Sizes are the smallest and largest letters in the headline; the angle is the most any letter is turned. Bulge keeps letters upright.
The backgrounds
| Background | What is in it |
|---|---|
| Concentric rings | Rings 4 % of the short side wide round a seeded centre, filling the whole poster |
| Wavy bands | Horizontal bands with a seeded wave running through them |
| Swirl | Six arms twisting out from a centre, with a disc in the middle |
| Wavy vertical stripes | Vertical bands with a seeded wave running down them |
The colours
| Colours | Colour 1 | Colour 2 | Colour 3 | Colour 4 | Panel and band | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pink, orange, lime and violet | #ff2fb3 | #ff8c1a | #c6ff1a | #7a2cff | #1a0b2e | #fff36b |
| Red, orange, yellow and purple | #ff4d4d | #ff9f1c | #ffd23f | #9b5de5 | #2b1035 | #ffe8b0 |
| Black and white | #111111 | #f4f1e8 | #111111 | #f4f1e8 | #111111 | #f4f1e8 |
| Blues with gold type | #00b4d8 | #90e0ef | #0077b6 | #caf0f8 | #03045e | #ffd166 |
| Candy pink, peach, yellow and sky | #ff70a6 | #ff9770 | #ffd670 | #70d6ff | #3d1a4f | #e9ff70 |
| Greens with orange type | #2d6a4f | #95d5b2 | #d8f3dc | #f4a261 | #081c15 | #f4a261 |
Poster sizes and safe area
| Size | Poster | Safe area (each edge) | PNG at 150 DPI | PNG at 300 DPI | Proof on US Letter | Proof on A4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A5 | 148 × 210 mm | 7.4 mm | 874 × 1240 px | 1748 × 2480 px | 112.4 % | 120.7 % |
| A4 | 210 × 297 mm | 10.5 mm | 1240 × 1754 px | 2480 × 3508 px | 79.5 % | 85 % |
| A3 | 297 × 420 mm | 14.9 mm | 1754 × 2480 px | use 150 DPI or the PDF | 56.2 % | 60.1 % |
| A2 | 420 × 594 mm | 21 mm | 2480 × 3508 px | use 150 DPI or the PDF | 39.7 % | 42.5 % |
| A1 | 594 × 841 mm | 29.7 mm | 3508 × 4967 px | use 150 DPI or the PDF | 28.1 % | 30.1 % |
| US Letter | 215.9 × 279.4 mm | 10.8 mm | 1275 × 1650 px | 2550 × 3300 px | 84.5 % | 82.7 % |
| Tabloid | 279.4 × 431.8 mm | 14 mm | 1650 × 2550 px | use 150 DPI or the PDF | 54.7 % | 58.7 % |
| 18 × 24 in | 457.2 × 609.6 mm | 22.9 mm | 2700 × 3600 px | use 150 DPI or the PDF | 38.7 % | 39.1 % |
| 24 × 36 in | 609.6 × 914.4 mm | 30.5 mm | 3600 × 5400 px | use 150 DPI or the PDF | 25.8 % | 27.7 % |
Browsers cap a picture at about 16.7 million pixels, so the biggest sizes stop at 150 DPI as PNG; the PDF has no such limit and is drawn as vector shapes and text at the real size.
What you can download
| Download | What is in it |
|---|---|
| PDF at poster size | One page the size of the poster (real size), vector shapes and real, selectable text |
| Proof PDF | The whole poster fitted on one US Letter or A4 page, with a thin trim line and a 2 cm check bar |
| PNG | The poster as a picture at 72, 150 or 300 DPI |
| SVG | Vector shapes and text in millimetres, to edit further |
Which tool to use
| You want | Use |
|---|---|
| Warped lettering over rings, waves or a swirl | Psychedelic Poster (this page) |
| Rounded stripes, starbursts or 80s shapes with straight type | Retro Poster |
| Black-and-white optical patterns with no text | Op Art Generator |
| A tie-dye pattern to print or tile | Tie-Dye Pattern Generator |
| Any poster from a photo and your text | Poster Maker |
Other tools: the Poster Maker lays out a poster around your own photo, the Color Palette Generator finds colours that go together, and Poster Tiler splits a big poster over sheets of paper.
More free tools
Posters, colour and print?
Design tools that run privately in your browser, with no sign-up and no watermark.
Frequently asked questions
How is the lettering warped?
Each letter is a single character, placed on the path and turned to follow it: on a wave or droop it is turned to the slope under it, on an arch to the tangent of a circle. Bulge keeps letters upright but makes the middle ones larger. Letters stay real text in the PDF, so it remains sharp and selectable.
How does it make sure the letters fit?
For every letter the tool works out its turned box, using the font’s full height above and below the baseline, and shrinks the whole headline until every box is inside the panel. It splits the headline into one, two or three lines at word breaks and keeps the arrangement with the biggest letters. The tests read the PDF back and check every letter against the safe area at every size.
What if my headline is very long?
It is set smaller and over more lines, but never below 4 % of the poster’s short side and never broken inside a word. If it still does not fit, the tool asks you to shorten it instead of cutting it.
What do the background and seed do?
Rings, wavy bands, the swirl and wavy stripes are all drawn from a seeded random start (centre, phase or twist). The same seed always gives the same poster; New background picks another seed.
Why is the headline on a panel?
Rings and waves in high-contrast colours make letters hard to read, so the headline always sits on a dark rounded panel in the palette’s own colours.
What is the safe area?
A border of 5 % of the poster’s short side. No letter comes closer to the edge than that, so trimming never cuts into the type. Shapes may run to the edge and are cut exactly at the trim.
Which sizes can I print?
A5, A4, A3, A2 and A1, US Letter, Tabloid (11 × 17 in), 18 × 24 in and 24 × 36 in, portrait or landscape. The PDF page is the poster at its real size.
Why is the PNG off at 300 DPI for big posters?
Browsers cap a picture at about 16.7 million pixels. Use 150 DPI for the PNG, or the PDF, which is vector and prints sharp at any size.
Is it free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no watermark and no limit; the note under the tool says how you may use what you make.
Is anything uploaded?
No. The poster is drawn by JavaScript in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere or saved when you close the page.