A4, A5 and A3 printed menus laid side by side to compare size

A4, A5 or A3: Which Menu Size Should You Print?

September 16, 2026

For a leaflet drop it is A5. For a sit-in or counter menu it is A4 folded. A3 is for a wall or a large display menu, not for posting through a door. Each size follows the job it does: a leaflet has to survive a letterbox, a counter menu has to sit in a diner's hand while they order, and a wall menu has to be read from across the room.

I'm Yakup, and I print menus and leaflets for UK takeaways at Direct Menu Printing. Here's how to pick, with the real prices so you can work out the cost before you commit.

Which size for a letterbox leaflet drop?

A5. It goes through a standard UK letterbox without folding, and it costs the least per unit of the three sizes. If you're posting menus through doors to build local awareness, A5 is the format built for that job.

The DMA Door Drop Report 2025, published 19 June 2025, put the average door drop response rate at 0.5%, with restaurant and takeaway making up 18% of all UK door drop volume, second only to local tradespeople. That's not a reason to skip the drop. It's a reason to keep the cost per leaflet low so the maths still work at that response rate, which is what A5 is for.

Marina Fish and Chips and The Codfather both run A5 leaflet drops for this reason: it's the cheapest way to put a menu in a household's hands, which matters with cod prices having doubled and quotas cut 44% year on year, taking cod and chips to an average £12, according to Andrew Crook, President of the National Federation of Fish Friers, speaking to ITV News on 15 May 2026.

A4, A5 and A3 printed menus laid side by side to compare size

Which size for a counter or sit-in menu?

A4 folded. It starts flat at 297 x 210 mm and folds once to hand-held size, giving you four pages, enough for starters, mains, drinks and a specials line without cramming. It's the format most sit-in restaurants and counter-service takeaways use, and it's what KC Kebab and Garden City Kebab both hand customers at the till.

Folded, it's also small enough to post through a letterbox if you ever want to combine a counter menu with a doorstep drop. A3 does not fold down that far and isn't built for that.

A4, A5 and A3 at a glance

Size	Flat dimensions	What it's for	Fits a letterbox	Price, 1,000	Price, 5,000
A5 flat	148 x 210 mm	Leaflet drop, takeaway menu through the door	Yes, unfolded	£89.32	£115.12
A4 folded, 4 pages	297 x 210 mm flat, one fold	Sit-in or counter menu	Yes, once folded	£108.34	£249.14
A3 bi-fold, 6 pages	420 x 297 mm flat	Wall menu, large counter or window display	No	£228.32	£398.12

Prices correct as of September 2026. All three are 130 GSM gloss, full colour, double sided, with free UK delivery included.

Per menu, that's 8.9p for A5 at 1,000, dropping to 2.3p at 5,000. A4 folded is 10.8p at 1,000 and 5.0p at 5,000. A3 bi-fold is 22.8p at 1,000 and 8.0p at 5,000. Those pence figures are what actually decide the order once the shortlist is down to two sizes, so I'd have them next to you before you pick.

What does A4 menu printing cost?

£108.34 for 1,000, 4 pages, 130 GSM gloss, full colour, delivered free. Compare that with menudesignandprint.com, whose published price list quotes £200.00 for the same spec, verified 16 September 2026. The full menu printing price list covers every quantity up to 100,000.

A4 menu printing near me

You don't need a local printer. I deliver UK-wide from Stoke-on-Trent, free delivery included in every price above, so ordering online beats a shop down the road on price. Standard turnaround is 5 to 9 working days, or 48 hours express if you're stuck.

Four pages or six: is the extra fold worth it?

At 1,000, six pages costs £10 more than four: £118.34 against £108.34. At 2,500 and 5,000 they cost exactly the same, so there's no reason not to take the extra two pages at that volume. The extra fold earns its place when four pages force you to shrink a full menu, a drinks list and allergen information onto one sheet. If four pages fit comfortably, stick with the simpler fold. See how each fold type lays out before you choose.

What about A3 menu printing?

A3 is for a wall, a large counter display, or a window. Flat at 420 x 297 mm, it's too big to post through a door and it isn't priced or designed for that job. It works where a menu needs to be read from a few metres away, or where a shop wants one large reference menu behind the counter rather than a stack of hand-held ones.

At 22.8p a menu at 1,000, it costs more per unit than A4 or A5 because it's a bigger sheet doing a different job.

Cheap menu printing UK

Cheap and low quality aren't the same here. Every price above is 130 GSM gloss, full colour, double sided, free UK delivery included, and £108.34 for 1,000 A4 folded sits well under half menudesignandprint's £200.00.

Cost per menu matters more when input costs move. The Foodservice Price Index, run by Prestige Purchasing with NielsenIQ across 10.7 million transactions a month, spiked 1.8% month on month in June 2026, the largest jump of the year. Shaun Allen, Prestige Purchasing's CEO, said on 24 July 2026: "The 1.8% month-on-month spike is a stark reminder of how fragile the food supply chain remains." Picking the right size once beats reprinting because it didn't suit the job.

The GSM and lamination guide covers when a wipeable finish is worth the extra, mainly for counter menus that get handled every service.

FAQ

Is A5 too small for a full menu?

Not for a leaflet drop. A5 is meant to introduce a shop and its best-selling dishes, not carry the whole menu in fine print. If you need every item, every price and full allergen detail on one piece, use A4 folded instead. Order A5 to bring people in, and hand them the fuller A4 menu once they're through the door or on the phone.

Can I fit allergen information on an A5 leaflet?

You can list the 14 named allergens the UK requires, but space is tight on a single A5 side. Many shops print a short allergen line on the leaflet and point to a QR code or a counter sheet for the full detail, which is acceptable as long as a non-digital version is also available on request. There is more on the three ways to lay allergen information out on a printed menu, and what each does to your page count, in the guide to allergen information on a printed menu.

Does A4 folded fit through a letterbox?

Yes, once folded down to A5 size it goes through a standard UK letterbox the same as a flat A5 leaflet. Unfolded, at 297 x 210 mm, it won't. If you're planning a door drop, order it pre-folded rather than posting it flat.

What size menu do fish and chip shops normally use?

Most use A5 for the leaflet that goes through doors and A4 folded for the counter menu customers read while ordering. Marina Fish and Chips and The Codfather both run that combination, an A5 drop to bring trade in and an A4 folded menu once they're at the counter.

Is A3 ever worth it for a small takeaway?

Yes, if you want one large menu behind the till instead of handing out individual copies, or a window display that passers-by can read from outside. It's a different job to a hand-held menu, so compare it against what you actually need rather than against A4 on price alone.

Ready to decide? Order A5 leaflets for a door drop, order A4 folded menus for the counter, or order A3 bi-fold menus for the wall. Design is free on all three, and nothing goes to print until you've approved it and paid in full.