Table Tent Sizes and How to Pick the Right One
Four faces cover almost every table tent in use: 4 by 6, 5 by 7, 3.5 by 4, and 5.5 by 8.5 inches. Here is the flat sheet behind each one, and how to tell a menu tent from a promo tent before you commit to a size.
The standard table tent is 4 by 6 inches, measured on the finished standing face, and it prints flat on a 4 by 16.25 inch sheet that scores and folds into shape. The other sizes in regular use are 5 by 7 for a photo or a longer list, 3.5 by 4 for table numbers and QR codes, and 5.5 by 8.5 for buffet and conference tables. Pick by the number of lines you need and the distance the reader sits at, not by how much of the table you want to fill.
Quick answer
One sheet, three scores, and the face you actually measure
A table tent is sized by its standing face, and 4 by 6 inches is the standard. That face comes off a sheet more than two and a half times as long, because the same piece of stock carries the front, the back, the base that rests on the table, and the tuck that locks the fold. At 4OVER4 the flat sheet is 4 by 16.25 inches. Add the four segments for any other face height and you get its sheet, which is the quickest way to sanity check a size before you build the file.
Every Standard Table Tent Size, in Inches
Table tent sizes are quoted as the finished standing face: width first, then the height of the panel a seated person is looking at. Four faces cover almost everything you will see in a dining room, a hotel lobby or a trade show hall.
| Finished face | Flat sheet, approx | What fits on the face | Where it belongs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 x 6 in | 4 x 16.25 in | A headline, four or five short lines, and a QR code about 1.25 in square. | The default. Restaurant tables, hotel desks, counters, event tables. |
| 5 x 7 in | 5 x 18.25 in | A photo plus a headline and a short paragraph, or a six item drink list. | Larger dining tables, lobbies, and anywhere read from four feet or more. |
| 3.5 x 4 in | 3.5 x 12.25 in | A table number, a name, or a QR square with one line under it. | Crowded two-tops, bar rails, wedding place settings, QR ordering. |
| 5.5 x 8.5 in | 5.5 x 21.25 in | A full section of a menu, or a buffet card with allergen notes. | Buffet lines, conference tables, registration desks with room to spare. |
The flat column is the number that surprises people. A tent is one sheet scored three times, so the sheet has to carry the front face, the back face, the base that sits on the table, and the tuck that folds under and holds the shape. Our 4 by 6 tent prints flat at 4 by 16.25 inches: 6 plus 6 plus a 2 inch base plus a 2.25 inch tuck. Run that same addition on any face height and you get the sheet you need, which is why the other flat figures above are marked approximate rather than quoted as spec.
If you are still deciding whether the format suits the job at all, the table tents overview covers what the piece does before you pick a dimension for it, and the standard print sizes chart puts these numbers next to every other trim size we run.
How to Choose Between a Menu Tent and a Promo Tent
The two jobs pull in opposite directions, and the size follows the job rather than the taste of whoever signs off on it.
A promo tent has one message. Happy hour until six, scan to join the rewards list, ask about the new stout. One headline, one supporting line, one action. That fits on a 4 by 6 face with room left over, and the empty space is doing work: it is what makes the headline readable from the far seat without anyone leaning in.
A menu tent has a list. Six cocktails with prices, or four dessert lines with descriptions. Lists eat vertical space fast, and the moment you drop below 10pt to make one fit, the tent stops being read by anyone over forty in low light. That is the point to step up to a 5 by 7 face, or to admit the content is a menu and print it as one. Standard menus start at $57.11 and give you a full page instead of a 24 square inch panel.
Two practical constraints decide most arguments. First, table real estate: a 5 by 7 tent on a small two-top competes with the condiments and the water glasses, and servers move it to the edge where nobody reads it. Second, both faces. Our table tents print full color on the front with a blank back, so a two-sided message needs the same content on one face that faces the room, not a front and a back that split it. Plan the tent as a single face and the size question gets easier.
When the piece has to stand taller than a tent comfortably will, a counter card at $21.97 in a stand is the honest alternative, and the menu card design guide walks through hierarchy for anything list-shaped.
Readability, Fold Lines, and the Setup That Survives the Press
A table tent is read by someone sitting about two and a half feet away, at an angle, with a menu in one hand. Every layout decision comes back to that.
Type size. The sign trade works from one inch of letter height per 10 feet of viewing distance. At two and a half feet that is a quarter inch of cap height for the headline, roughly 18pt in most faces, and it is a floor rather than a target. Body copy stays at 10pt or above. Five lines is the practical ceiling on a 4 by 6 face, and the fifth line is already the one people skip.
QR codes. Keep the code at least 1 inch square for a phone held at arm's length, and leave the quiet zone the spec asks for, which is four modules of blank space on all four sides. Printing a code tight to a colored border is the single most common reason a scan fails on a finished tent, and you find out after 250 of them are on the tables.
Bleed, safe margin, and the scores. Build the file at the flat size, extend artwork 0.125 in past every edge, and keep text 0.125 in inside the trim. Then add one rule the flat products do not need: hold type and logos about 0.25 in clear of each score line. Folding drifts a little, and a headline that crosses a score comes back bent through the middle of a word. The print-ready file guide covers the rest of the setup, and you can start from a correctly scored layout in the blank template library.
Stock and coating. Our tents run on 14pt gloss cover with a high gloss UV finish, which is stiff enough to hold a 6 inch face upright and wipes clean when a glass sweats. Push the face past about 7 inches and 14pt starts to bow, so a taller tent wants a heavier caliper or a plastic body. Plastic table tents handle humidity, wipe-downs and outdoor patios that would soften a paper tent by the second week. If you are weighing the coating decision on its own, the matte versus gloss comparison lays out where each one wins, and the paper weight guide explains what 14pt actually means in the hand.
What 4OVER4 Prints, and What It Costs
One finished size, four styles, and a price that moves almost entirely on quantity.
Table tents finish at 4 by 6 inches from a flat 4 by 16.25 inch sheet, printed full color on the front on 14pt gloss cover with a high gloss UV coating, blank on the back, in quantities from 250 to 25,000. Standard production is 5 business days from proof approval, and every order includes a free online proof or a straight to production option if you are confident in the file.
Pricing starts at $554.39 for 250, which works out to $2.22 a tent. The curve is steep after that: 1,000 lands at $693.34, 5,000 at $1,249.11, and 25,000 at $4,166.95, about 17 cents each. The practical read is that a 250 piece test batch costs thirteen times per tent what a full chain rollout costs, so if you already know the promotion is running in every location, ordering it as one run is the difference between a few hundred dollars and a few thousand.
The four styles all start at the same $554.39, so the choice is about material and setting rather than budget. Restaurant table tents are set up around menus and specials, plastic table tents survive humid and high-traffic rooms, and wedding table tents carry the same fold in a dressier finish for receptions and place settings. The table tents category lines all four up with live starting prices, and the wider trade shows and events range covers the counter cards and signage that usually ship alongside them.
Wally measures a table tent
Measure the face, not the sheet
Wally holds the ruler against the standing face, because that is the number everyone quotes. Four inches across, six inches up. Then he points at the long strip it came from: 4 by 16.25 inches, two faces plus a 2 inch base and a 2.25 inch tuck. Same tent, two very different numbers. If your headline needs a photo beside it, go up to a 5 by 7 face. If it is a table number, come down to 3.5 by 4 and leave the table its space.
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Common Questions
Your table tent size questions, answered
What is the standard table tent size?
4 inches wide by 6 inches tall, measured on the finished standing face. It is the size most restaurants, hotels and trade show tables are set up around, and it is the size 4OVER4 prints. The next step up, 5 by 7, is common where the tent needs to carry a photo or be read from across a wider table, and 3.5 by 4 shows up as a table number or QR holder.
Why does the flat size look so much bigger than the finished tent?
Because one sheet carries the whole tent. A 4 by 6 tent at 4OVER4 prints flat at 4 by 16.25 inches: a 6 inch front face, a 6 inch back face, a 2 inch base that sits on the table, and a 2.25 inch tuck that folds under and locks the shape. Add those four numbers and you get 16.25. Run the same arithmetic on a 5 by 7 face and the sheet lands near 18.25 inches long.
How big should the text be on a table tent?
Work backwards from where the reader sits. The sign trade rule of thumb is one inch of letter height per 10 feet of viewing distance, and a seated diner is roughly two and a half feet from the tent, so a headline around a quarter inch tall reads comfortably. That is about 18pt of cap height in most typefaces. Keep body copy at 10pt or larger and stop at about five lines on a 4 by 6 face, because the sixth line is where people stop reading and go back to their phone.
Can I get a table tent in a custom size?
The table tent products at 4OVER4 run at one finished size, 4 by 6 inches, in quantities from 250 to 25,000. If you need a bigger footprint, a counter card sits flat in a stand at larger dimensions, and a printed menu covers anything that needs multiple panels of copy. Those are different products with their own sizes and their own minimums rather than a resize of the tent.
Do table tents need a stand or holder?
No. A folded tent is freestanding once the tuck is closed, which is the practical difference between a tent and a flat card. A counter card of the same size needs an acrylic easel to stay upright, so the tent saves you a per-unit hardware cost and a piece of plastic to store between promotions.
Gloss or matte on a table tent?
Gloss for most rooms. The high gloss UV coating on 4OVER4 table tents wipes clean when a glass sweats on it, and it keeps food photography looking saturated under warm restaurant lighting. The cost is glare: under a bright downlight aimed straight at the table, a gloss face throws a hot spot that can wash out the headline from one seat. Matte kills the glare but shows fingerprints and grease, which on a dining table is a losing trade most weeks.
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