50x70 cm in Inches: Print Size Conversion Guide

50 × 70 cm is 19.69 × 27.56 in, 30 × 40 cm is 11.81 × 15.75 in, and 70 × 100 cm is 27.56 × 39.37 in — divide centimetres by 2.54 and there is nothing else to memorise. Those six numbers settle most questions about size: which frame to order, whether a chart fits a given wall, and whether a customer can get it home. What follows is the exact and rounded conversions, the North American frame sizes that are close enough and the ones that are not, the honest comparison with A2, A1 and A0, and the hanging and wall-scale rules that follow from each format.

Key takeaways

• 30 × 40 cm converts to 11.81 × 15.75 in, 50 × 70 cm converts to 19.69 × 27.56 in, and 70 × 100 cm converts to 27.56 × 39.37 in, using the exact conversion of one inch to 2.54 cm.
• 30 × 40 cm is a 3:4 rectangle, so it fits a 12 × 16 in frame with about 5 mm of slack; 50 × 70 cm is 5:7, whose only proportional inch match is 20 × 28 in; 70 × 100 cm is 7:10, which no common North American frame size matches.
• 18 × 24 in is not 50 × 70 cm: it measures 45.72 × 60.96 cm, so fitting it would mean trimming 4.3 cm off the width and 9.0 cm off the height of a chart.
• "A1 equivalent" is a marketing phrase rather than a size: A1 is 59.4 × 84.1 cm, while 70 × 100 cm is about 18 per cent larger and built on a 7:10 rather than a 1:√2 proportion.
• Hang a single piece with its centre about 145 cm (57 in) from the floor, and its bottom edge 15–25 cm above any furniture beneath it; when the rules disagree, take the one that sits lower.
• A comfortable reading distance for a text-dense chart is one and a half to two times the piece's diagonal: 75–100 cm for 30 × 40, 130–170 cm for 50 × 70, and 185–245 cm for 70 × 100.
• Art should occupy roughly two-thirds of the width it hangs against, giving minimum wall widths of about 45 cm, 75 cm and 105 cm for the three sizes hung portrait.

The exact conversions, and how to redo them yourself

Every figure here comes from one definition: one inch equals 2.54 cm exactly. To check any number on a phone calculator, divide the centimetre dimension by 2.54 for inches, or multiply inches by 2.54 for centimetres.

The fractions column is what a frame shop asks for when you order custom by the inch. Three derived figures decide more than the conversion does:

• Area. 1,200 cm² (1.29 sq ft), 3,500 cm² (3.77 sq ft) and 7,000 cm² (7.53 sq ft). Moving from 30 × 40 to 50 × 70 nearly triples the printed area; moving to 70 × 100 doubles it again. The largest size needs a different kind of wall, not just more of the same one.
• Diagonal. Useful twice: it is the longest rigid dimension in a flat-packed carton, and it sets viewing distance. A 70 × 100 cm print has a 122 cm diagonal, longer than the internal height of many browser bins.
• Aspect ratio. The three sizes are different shapes — 3:4, 5:7 and 7:10 — so nothing simply scales between them.

Why 50 × 70 cm is not 18 × 24 in

This is the most expensive confusion in the category, because 18 × 24 in is the size most North American frame departments stock deepest. In metric it is 45.72 × 60.96 cm: 4.28 cm narrower and 9.04 cm shorter than 50 × 70, or 8.6 per cent off the width and 12.9 per cent off the height. On a photograph you would never notice; on a timeline or a star chart you lose the edge of the legend, and trimming a reference chart is not an option. Dropping a 50 × 70 print straight into a 24 × 36 in frame is the reverse error, and costs just as much in wasted mount board.

How 30 × 40, 50 × 70 and 70 × 100 cm compare with A2, A1 and A0

A-size requests arrive at every counter, so answer them precisely. The ISO A series runs on two rules: every sheet has the 1:√2 proportion (about 0.7071, short side to long side), and each step up doubles the area. A0 is one square metre, and every smaller size is that sheet halved.

Two comparisons carry most of the weight. Scaling A2 by 1.19 gives 49.98 × 70.69 cm — within a fraction of a millimetre of 50 × 70 in one dimension and 7 mm in the other, a gap of about 1 per cent in proportion that is invisible on a wall but enough to bind a cut-to-A2 mount on the long edge. A3 and 30 × 40 are a different matter: A3 sits at 0.7071 and 30 × 40 at 0.75, some 6 per cent squarer, so anything laid out on A3 has to be re-composed rather than enlarged.

Why "A1 equivalent" is a marketing phrase

70 × 100 cm holds about 1.40 times the area of A1, roughly half a step between A1 and A0, but its proportion is 7:10 rather than 1:√2. No A-size frame takes it, and A-size artwork dropped into it either gets trimmed or leaves a visible band of paper. Two related facts help when a customer asks for a metric frame: 50 × 70 cm is 0.7 cm shorter than B2 (50 × 70.7 cm), and 70 × 100 cm is 0.7 cm narrower than B1 (70.7 × 100 cm). A frame absorbs 7 mm; a print cut to the wrong one does not.

So these three sizes are European poster conventions, not ISO paper sizes. When a brief or a request is written in A sizes, confirm the required dimensions in millimetres first. And note that artwork does not simply scale between the three formats: reducing 50 × 70 to a 30 cm width gives 30 × 42 cm rather than 30 × 40, and reducing 70 × 100 gives 30 × 42.9 cm, so roughly 6.7 per cent of the height has to be absorbed by cropping or by drawing the layout per size. Ask for a proof at each size, and check it against the printed specification sheet before committing to stock — including that of a title offered across the range, such as the Chinese history timeline at 50 × 70 cm.

Which standard frame sizes actually fit

This is the real question behind most "50x70 cm in inches" searches, and the answer differs sharply by format.

The arithmetic lets you judge any frame you are offered:

• 30 × 40 cm is 3:4, so every frame on that proportion — 9 × 12, 12 × 16, 18 × 24, 24 × 32, 27 × 36 — has the right shape. Only 12 × 16 also has nearly the right size, landing within 5 mm.
• 50 × 70 cm is 5:7, the proportion of a 5 × 7 in photograph, so multiples of it — 10 × 14, 20 × 28, 30 × 42 — share the shape. Only 20 × 28 is close in scale.
• 70 × 100 cm is 7:10, giving 14 × 20, 21 × 30 and 28 × 40 in, whose availability varies by supplier. That is why the largest size usually ends up in a metric or custom frame.

Four ways out when the right size is not stocked

1. Buy frames sold in centimetres. The cleanest fix, and the least understood in North America. Frames sized 30 × 40, 50 × 70 and 70 × 100 cm are made in volume for the European market and stocked by many online sellers; it removes the conversion problem entirely.
2. Mount into the next standard size up, accepting an uneven border, or specify a mount cut so the extra depth lands deliberately at the bottom — the traditional bottom-weighted mount, deeper by 5–10 mm.
3. Float-mount the piece inside a larger frame with a spacer, so all four printed edges stay visible. It suits edge-to-edge charts and avoids cutting a window at all.
4. Go custom. Worth it past a certain retail price, and unavoidable for anything larger than 70 × 100 cm.

The mount arithmetic, worked

A mount window is normally cut 3 mm smaller than the print in each dimension, letting the board overlap the image edge by 1.5 mm all round. The border is then subtraction:

• A 50 × 70 print into a 24 × 36 in frame. The print is 19.685 × 27.559 in and the window 19.57 × 27.44 in. Sides: (24 − 19.57) ÷ 2 = 2.22 in. Top and bottom: (36 − 27.44) ÷ 2 = 4.28 in. The mount is nearly twice as deep top and bottom as at the sides, which reads as deliberate only if the board is crisp and the borders clean.
• A 70 × 100 print into a 36 × 48 in frame. The window is 27.44 × 39.25 in. Sides: (36 − 27.44) ÷ 2 = 4.28 in. Top and bottom: (48 − 39.25) ÷ 2 = 4.37 in. The borders match to within 2.5 mm, which makes 36 × 48 the one commonly stocked large frame giving an even mount around 70 × 100 cm.

A checklist before you order frames

• Confirm whether the quoted size is the glass size, the outer dimensions or the rabbet; an outer edge runs about 1.5–3 cm larger again, which decides whether three frames fit a shelf.
• Check the frame rebate depth against whether prints arrive flat, rolled, mounted or stretched.
• Ask what the frame ships in and how much reinforcement it adds to the carton, since on framed goods that drives volumetric weight more than the print does.
• Assemble one complete sample before committing to a run.
• Decide now whether you will sell mounted or unmounted. It changes the price point, the handling and what you can honestly claim about the fit.

How high to hang each size

There is one rule with a number in it, and one rule that overrides it. Learn both and most hanging questions answer themselves.

The 145 cm centre rule, and when it breaks

The museum convention is to hang art with its centre about 145 cm (57 in) from the floor, roughly the eye height of an adult standing in front of it. Applied to the three sizes:

The rule breaks above furniture, where a lower position usually looks better, and in shops, where sight lines and reach matter more than eye-level composition.

Above a sofa: the two-thirds width rule

Art above a sofa should occupy roughly 60–75 per cent of its width; below about half, a single piece reads as an accident rather than a decision. Against a 200 cm sofa the zone is 120–150 cm wide:

• One 70 × 100 portrait is 70 cm wide, only 35 per cent of the sofa. Too narrow alone.
• Two 50 × 70 portrait pieces with a 6 cm gap are 106 cm wide. Better, still short of the zone.
• Three 30 × 40 landscape pieces, 40 cm wide each, with two 5 cm gaps come to 130 cm. Inside the zone, and the right composition for most living rooms.
• Two 70 × 100 portrait pieces with a 6 cm gap give 146 cm. Inside the zone, and right when the customer wants scale rather than a grid.

Keep the bottom edge of the lowest piece 15–20 cm above the sofa back. With a typical back height of 80–90 cm that puts it around 95–110 cm, lower than the centre rule gives for all three sizes. When the rules disagree, take the lower one: art centred at 57 in with nothing beneath it looks correct, while art centred at 57 in above a sofa looks detached from the furniture it belongs to.

Above a console, a desk and a bed

Console, 100–120 cm wide. Take a typical one at 110 cm and the target zone is 66–83 cm. One landscape 50 × 70 cm is 70 cm wide and lands in it, making it the best single-piece answer; two portrait 30 × 40s with a 5 cm gap give 65 cm, just at the edge. Leave 10–15 cm above the console top, less than above a sofa, because a hallway gap is judged from close range.

Desk. The natural home of 30 × 40. Hung portrait with its centre at 145 cm, the bottom edge sits at about 125 cm — roughly 50 cm above a standard desk top, close enough to read and high enough to work under.

Bed. The piece must clear anyone sitting up, and it usually sits higher than living-room art: put the bottom edge 20–25 cm above the headboard top, then check the centre. Against a queen bed at about 152 cm the zone is 91–114 cm, and only a landscape 70 × 100 cm fits it at 100 cm wide. Against a king at about 193 cm the zone is 116–145 cm, which two portrait 70 × 100s with a 6 cm gap fill at 146 cm.

Staircase and landing. Judge the narrow dimension. A 70 × 100 cm piece wants 105 cm of clear wall and about 185 cm of viewing distance, so most stair walls only work from the top landing.

In a shop the rules change

Retail is not about one composed picture. It is about stock read at three metres and reached for at thirty centimetres.

• Eye-level band, about 120–170 cm. Where the size you most want to sell goes, and where new titles appear first. A portrait 50 × 70 centred at 145 cm occupies roughly 110–180 cm and fills the band cleanly.
• Reach band, about 70–120 cm. Comfortable to lift a piece down unaided; 30 × 40 belongs here, in a browser or stacked flat.
• Above-reach, above 170 cm. Large-format display only, and only where you can get to it with a step stool. An out-of-reach row of 70 × 100 is dead stock until somebody fetches a ladder. Below 70 cm, browsing means bending.

Standard slatwall panels are 4 × 8 ft, or 122 × 244 cm. With the bottom edge 40 cm off the floor the usable run is about 40–200 cm, so a portrait 70 × 100 centred at 145 cm occupies 95–195 cm: it fits with nothing spare above it and takes the whole column. Apply the 60–75 per cent rule to the panel rather than to furniture and the zone against 122 cm is 73–92 cm, which a single portrait 70 × 100 (70 cm) or a pair of portrait 30 × 40s with a 5 cm gap (65 cm) both sit just under. Rows must also line up across neighbouring panels, or the run looks untidy.

Two mechanical points cost more sales than any layout choice. Leave 8–10 cm between hung frames on a row: frames sit 2–3 cm proud of the wall, and customers need fingers behind the middle one. And use two hooks plus a level on the large sizes, because the hangers are far apart and a single hook that rotates under load will slowly take a 70 × 100 out of square. Fixture maths for tight floors is set out in merchandising reference charts in small retail spaces.

Hanging two, three or four charts as one composition

A group is one object, not several. That single idea fixes most grouping mistakes.

The procedure

1. Choose the bounding rectangle first. Decide the total width and height you need — usually 60–75 per cent of the furniture or wall width — then pick the combination that fills it. Width = (n × piece width) + ((n − 1) × gap), with height following the same pattern: two portrait 30 × 40s with a 5 cm gap give 65 × 40 cm, and a 2 × 2 grid of them gives (2 × 30) + 5 = 65 cm wide by (2 × 40) + 5 = 85 cm tall.
2. Set the gap. 5 cm for small pieces, 6–8 cm for anything 50 × 70 or larger, identical throughout the group.
3. Pick one alignment line — tops, bottoms or centre lines — and use it for every piece. Centre suits a row of mixed sizes, tops a grid of matched sizes, bottoms a row above long, low furniture.
4. Hang the group, not the pieces. Centre the bounding rectangle at 145 cm, then place individual pieces inside it. Centring each piece separately is the classic error, and it produces a visibly wobbly group.
5. Work outwards from the middle, hanging the centre piece first and checking each gap with a spacer cut to size rather than by eye.
6. Stand back about two diagonals' worth of distance before deciding it is finished. If something feels wrong at that range, the group is usually too small for the wall, and the fix is a larger size rather than a different arrangement.

Grouping combinations that work

The set formats exist for exactly these sums, which is why sets are the add-on category most shops ignore: they hand the customer a solved composition instead of an exercise. Three orientation rules close it out. Mixed orientations work only when one dominates. Rotating within a size changes the demands rather than the identity, since a landscape 50 × 70 is 70 cm wide instead of 50. And subject and orientation are one decision, because a timeline read left to right needs either landscape or enough height to read downward.

How much wall does each size need

Width is the dimension people forget; distance is the one they discover too late. The two-thirds rule says art should occupy about two-thirds of the available width, leaving roughly a quarter of its own width empty either side — minimum wall width ≈ 1.5 × the width of the piece. Reading distance for a chart with fine print is tighter than for decoration: keep to 1.5–2 × the diagonal and check that the room offers it.

Hung landscape, swap the dimensions: minimum widths become 60 cm, 105 cm and 150 cm. That last figure is worth stating plainly — a landscape 70 × 100 cm needs a wall at least 1.5 m wide and a room you can stand 2 m back in. In a corridor a metre wide, it is decoration, not a chart.

Where each size fails follows directly. 30 × 40 reads as a pinned-up note alone on a large wall, below about a third of the available width. 50 × 70 fails above furniture narrower than about 83 cm, or where the nearest place to stand is more than 2.6 m away. 70 × 100 fails in hallways under 1.5 m, above consoles under 1.2 m, anywhere with shoulder-height traffic that will catch the frame, and in rooms where the closest viewing position is under 1.85 m.

Choosing sizes for a shop floor

Which size to carry is decided by wall metres, price point and whether one person can carry the piece out of the door.

Think in wall metres, not in titles

The range runs to 14 SKUs, every title comes in the same three formats, and the minimum is 50 units per SKU, so breadth and depth are separate decisions from format.

Add about 25 per cent to each figure for the empty space that makes a display readable, and convert square metres to wall metres early. Cases ship in multiples of 1, so there is no reason to take a slow-moving format just to reach the 12-unit cart minimum.

The carry-home test

Look at the door before committing to depth in the largest size. 30 × 40 cm goes in a carrier bag, survives a tourist's flight home and gets bought on impulse at a museum counter. 50 × 70 cm goes across the back seat of most cars, and is the largest size people buy unplanned. 70 × 100 cm usually needs a boot and sometimes a folded rear seat, so it needs a considered pitch: a title the customer cares about, a price they can justify, and packaging that protects a 122 cm diagonal. Keep sleeves and corner protectors sized for it at the till, and display those pieces near the door — not because they are fragile, but because carrying one through a crowded shop draws hands off every rail you pass.

Matching format to shop type

These follow from space, price point and customer intent; test each against your own floor. Museum, science-centre and botanical-garden shops have the ceilings, the long feature walls and the time-rich visitors to carry all three, and the largest earns its wall because the title connects to an exhibition just seen — lead with 70 × 100 on the feature wall and 50 × 70 at the till line. Gift shops and home-décor stores have tight aisles and limited wall, so 30 × 40 carries the depth and repeat titles, 50 × 70 is the core line, and one or two 70 × 100 pieces act as a destination. In bookshops the free wall is narrow — beside a doorway, above a shelf run, above the counter — which suits 30 × 40 and one well-chosen 50 × 70 spot, with cross-merchandising mattering more than format, as set out in pricing charts so the margin survives the rent. Stationery and design stores have customers who already think in centimetres and will ask about A sizes directly. Interior studios should carry all three but stock the largest lightly: standard production is 7 business days, which fits most residential schedules if you quote it honestly.

The size card is the most valuable signage in this category

Customers cannot visualise centimetres — which is precisely why "50x70 cm in inches" is such a common search. Put three things on a card: the size in cm, the size in inches to one decimal, and something at known scale, such as a 1:1 printed outline or a photo of the piece hung above a sofa. Repeat it on every fixture, because customers rarely read the one nearest the door. The largest titles sell better once their size is obvious, since most of the hesitation is scale rather than subject — try it on something like the Twenty-Eight Mansions chart at 70 × 100 cm, then check what actually ships in the box before you commit to depth.

Frequently asked questions

How many inches is 50x70 cm?

50 × 70 cm is 19.69 × 27.56 in, usually quoted as 19.7 × 27.6 in. Divide each dimension by 2.54. The closest common North American frame size by proportion is 20 × 28 in, which is also exactly 5:7 and so matches the shape of the print.

How many inches is 30x40 cm?

30 × 40 cm is 11.81 × 15.75 in, usually quoted as 11.8 × 15.7 in. It is a 3:4 rectangle, so a standard 12 × 16 in frame takes it with about 5 mm of slack, and no other common inch frame size comes that close in both dimensions.

How many inches is 70x100 cm?

70 × 100 cm is 27.56 × 39.37 in, usually quoted as 27.6 × 39.4 in. No standard North American frame matches it; proportional inch alternatives are 14 × 20, 21 × 30 and 28 × 40 in, while a mount into 36 × 48 in gives borders equal to within 2.5 mm.

Is 50x70 cm the same as 18x24 inches?

No. 18 × 24 in is 45.72 × 60.96 cm, so it is 4.3 cm narrower and 9.0 cm shorter than 50 × 70 cm. Fitting one means cutting away about 9 per cent of the width and 13 per cent of the height, which removes part of a chart's legend or timeline.

Is 70x100 cm the same as A1?

No. A1 is 59.4 × 84.1 cm on a 1:√2 proportion, while 70 × 100 cm is about 18 per cent larger and closer to a 7:10 shape. An A1 frame will not take a 70 × 100 cm print, and an A1 mount will bind on the long edge.

What height should I hang a 50x70 cm print?

Hang it with its centre about 145 cm (57 in) from the floor, putting the bottom edge at roughly 110 cm hung portrait. Above furniture, set the bottom edge 15–20 cm above the furniture top and take whichever of the two rules results sits lower.

What to do next

1. Print the conversion table and tape it inside the stockroom door, so nobody has to search for it with a customer waiting.
2. Measure your three best walls for width and viewing distance, assign a size to each with the two-thirds rule, and order samples of anything you have not stocked before — cases come in multiples of 1, and orders above 3,500 USD ship free.
3. Build the size card, with cm, inches to one decimal and a 1:1 outline, and put it on every fixture before your next delivery lands.