There’s a moment in every online poster purchase when no product image can help you: when the package is on the hallway floor and you’re about to see whether the design turned out as you expected. You chose a poster based on an image on a screen, in a size given in centimeters, and in colors rendered by your own display. Three of the most common disappointments can be avoided before you click. This buying guide covers what they are, what protection Swedish consumer law actually gives you if something still goes wrong, and which checks are worth the two minutes they take.
Quick facts: For distance purchases, you have a fourteen-day right of withdrawal under the Distance Contracts and Off-Premises Contracts Act (2005:59), starting from the day you receive the item, and you don’t need to give a reason. In addition, the Consumer Sales Act (2022:260), which came into force on May 1, 2022, gives you a three-year right to make a claim if the item is defective. These are two different things: the right of withdrawal doesn’t require a defect, while the right to make a claim does.
The three things a product image can never show - and what to check instead
A product image can’t convey three things: the actual size in your own room, the paper’s surface in daylight, and the exact color shade. You can account for all three, but only if you know they’re missing.
To judge the size, mark out the dimensions on your wall before you order. Masking tape in the exact outer dimensions, or a newspaper spread cut to size, takes three minutes and prevents by far the most common wrong purchase. Most people underestimate how much breathing room a design needs around it, and overestimate how large 30x40 centimeters feels on a blank surface.
You assess the paper’s surface indirectly through the specifications. Paper weight, whether the paper is matte or semi-gloss, and whether it’s printed with pigment ink or toner tell you more about the final result than any product image. We’ve covered how to read those details in our guide to paper quality and printing.
Color is the trickiest part, and it deserves its own section further down. The short version: expect some variation, and choose designs where a small variation won’t ruin the overall look.
There's a fourth thing no image shows, and it's the easiest to overlook: how the image relates to the light in your particular room. A print with lots of dark areas needs significantly more light to be seen clearly from a distance, and in a north-facing room, details that are clearly visible on screen can disappear into the surface. Conversely, a very light image may look washed out in a room with strong afternoon sun. There's nothing wrong with the print, but it affects which image is the right choice for that particular wall.
Size confusion: why 50x70 isn't A2 and what that means for the frame
This is one of the most practical pitfalls in the entire purchase, and it affects anyone who orders a poster and frame from different places. The international paper standard ISO 216 includes several series. The A series is the one most people know from office paper, and A2 measures exactly 42 × 59.4 centimeters. The classic 50 × 70 centimeter poster size, on the other hand, belongs to the B series and corresponds to B2.
The difference is nearly eight centimeters in width and almost eleven in height. A frame labeled A2 won't fit a 50x70 poster, no matter how similar the sizes sound in everyday conversation. The same applies further down the scale: A4 is 21 × 29.7 centimeters, while the Nordic small format is usually listed as 21x30.
"The most common reason a poster never makes it onto the wall isn't that the image was wrong. It's that the frame didn't fit."
The practical takeaway is simple. Choose the frame size first, order the poster in exactly the same specified dimensions, and never mix A-series sizes with centimeter measurements in the same order without converting them. To avoid the problem altogether, order the poster and frame from the same supplier in the same order. For an overview of which size suits which room, we have a separate guide to the 30x40 format, the most commonly used size in Swedish homes.
Why the color on screen never exactly matches the color on paper
This isn't a quality issue but a physical limitation, and it's worth understanding because it determines which prints are safe bets and which require more thought.
A screen creates color by emitting light. It works additively: red, green, and blue light are added together, and the more light that is added, the brighter the result. The standard color space on the web is called sRGB. Printing works the opposite way. Pigments are applied in patterns to paper and absorb wavelengths from the light that falls on the sheet. The more color that is applied, the darker the surface becomes. This color space is called CMYK.
Because the CMYK color gamut is smaller than sRGB, there are simply shades that a screen can display but no printer can reproduce. The most challenging are bright reds, electric blues, and vivid greens, as well as intensely luminous neon colors. They are beyond what pigments on paper can handle, so conversion shifts them to the closest possible shade.
For you as a buyer, this means two things. Muted, earthy palettes, grayscale, and most natural tones will look very close to what you see on screen. Vivid signal colors will not. If your design depends on an exact neon shade, expect some variation. If you instead choose from black and white or a muted color range, the risk of surprises is minimal.
Tip: Look at the product image in daylight rather than evening light, and turn your screen brightness down to about half. Most screens are set far brighter than paper could ever be, which is by far the most common reason a print looks darker than expected.
Right to cancel, right to make a complaint, and ARN: what actually applies in Sweden
Many people confuse the two rights, and the difference determines how you should phrase your message when contacting a store.
The right to cancel comes from the law on distance contracts and contracts concluded away from business premises. It applies when you shop remotely, that is, online, by phone, or by mail order. You have fourteen days from the day you receive the item, and you do not need to give a reason. You notify the store that you have changed your mind, send the item back, and get your money back. Note that custom-made items such as personalized prints with your own text or image are normally exempt, because they were made specifically for you.
The right to make a complaint comes from the Swedish Consumer Sales Act and applies for three years from the date you received the item, regardless of where you bought it. It requires that something is actually wrong: a crease in the paper, a printing error, damage during shipping, or the item differing from what was promised. During the first two years, there is also a presumption in the consumer’s favor, which means the defect is assumed to have been there from the start unless the store can prove otherwise.
If you can’t reach an agreement, you can refer the case to the National Board for Consumer Disputes (ARN), which reviews the dispute free of charge and issues a recommendation. A free first step is to call Hallå konsument, the Swedish Consumer Agency’s information service. The legal text and the Swedish Consumer Agency’s own summary of the Distance Contracts Act are published by the Swedish Consumer Agency.
After clicking Buy: shipping, rolled prints, and what to do in the first 15 minutes
Returns are more common in online shopping than most people think. Estimates for 2026 put them at around one in five online purchases across retail as a whole, and Swedish statistics have shown more than 23 million returned items in a single year, equivalent to around twelve percent of all online-shopping parcels. The rate is lower for art than for clothing, but that also means retailers’ returns processes are rarely as well established.
A print is shipped either flat in a rigid cardboard package or rolled in a tube. Both work, but they require different things from you. A rolled poster should be taken out of the tube the same day and placed flat under a book or a board for at least 24 hours before framing. If you wait several weeks, the curl sets in and becomes harder to flatten. A print shipped flat should be checked along the edges right away, since shipping damage almost always occurs at the corners.
Inspect the print within the first 15 minutes of unpacking, and photograph any damage together with the packaging before you throw it away. That’s the only evidence that matters for a complaint, and it takes ten seconds. Also keep your order number, since both the right of withdrawal and complaints require that the purchase can be linked to you. It’s a good idea to save the order confirmation as a file rather than relying on the email still being there in a year or two.
One final practical note about order size. If you’re planning several prints for the same space, ordering them at the same time is both cheaper on shipping and makes it easier to assess the overall look. You’ll also get to see the colors together in person before anything is hung up. We’ve covered how to weigh landscape versus portrait in the guide to landscape or portrait format.
Frequently asked questions about buying posters online
With the dimensions checked, color expectations calibrated, and rights sorted out, the rest is the fun part. Browse our full range of posters, or go straight to the 50x70 format if you already know which space you need to fill. Mark out the dimensions on the wall first - it’s the only preparation that really pays off.