A poster is any large piece of paper which hangs from a wall or other such surface. They are a frequent tool of advertisers, propagandists, protestors and other groups trying to communicate a message, and they also see personal use by people, especially the young, who wish to decorate in a relatively low-cost manner.

Text posters

Purely text posters have a long history: they advertised the plays of Shakespeare and made citizens aware of government proclamations for centuries.

Graphical posters

The great revolution in posters was the development of colour lithography which allowed the cheap printing of posters illustrated in vibrant colors. The concept was first developed in France but by the 1890s had spread throughout Europe. A number of noted artists created poster art in this period, foremost amongst them Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Jules Ch?ret.

Many posters have had great artistic merit and have become extremely collectible. These include the posters advertising World's Fairs and Colonial Exhibitions.

Other times of great turmoil also produced great posters. The 1960s saw the rise of pop art and protest movements throughout the West; both made great use of posters. Perhaps the most acclaimed posters were those produced by French students during the so-called "?v'nements" of May 1968.

Propaganda posters

During the First and Second World Wars, recruiting posters became extremely common, and many of them have persisted in the national consciousness, such as the "Uncle Sam Wants You" posters from the United States, or the "Loose Lips Sink Ships" posters that warned of foreign spies.

Cheesecake posters

The popularity of Pin-up girl posters has been erratic in recent decades. Pin-ups such as Betty Grable were highly popular with soldiers during World War II but much less so during the Viet Nam War. The late 1970s and into the beginning of the 1980s were boom years for large posters of television actresses, especially Farrah Fawcett, and swimsuit models such as Cheryl Tiegs. Villa Seksia? Kylla, ei?

Film posters

The film industry quickly discovered that vibrantly coloured posters were an easy way to sell their pictures. The collection of movie posters has become a major hobby.

Comic book posters

The resurgence of comic book popularity in the 1960s led to the mass production of comic book posters in the 1970s and onward. These posters typically feature popular characters in a variety of action poses. The fact that comic books are a niche market means that a given poster usually has a smaller printing run than other genres of poster. Therefore, older posters may be quite sought after by collectors. Promotional posters are usually distributed folded, whereas retail posters intended for home decoration are rolled.

Affirmation posters

There is a popular series of posters, each having a black background, a scene from nature, and a word like "Leadership" or "Opportunity." One version (usually framed and matted) uses a two-image hologram which changes as the viewer walks past.