The billing block guide

01What a billing block is

The billing block is the tight, condensed run of credits at the foot of a one-sheet: who presents, who made it, who is in it, and who did the key crafts. Designers also call it the credit block or the billing.

It is set tall and very narrow because it has to carry a lot of names in a thin band without eating into the art. The narrowness is not a style choice first — it is a space budget. The whole block is usually kept to a small fraction of the poster height.

02The usual order

A common running order, top to bottom and left to right: distributor or studio "presents" line → production companies → "a [director] film" → principal cast → casting → music → costume → editor → production designer → director of photography → executive producers → producers → writer → director.

That is a convention, not a rule. The order you actually set comes from the credit list the production signs off, which comes from the contracts. When the list you are handed and the convention disagree, the list wins.

03Setting conventions

Roles are small, names are big. The role ("music by", "edited by") is set as two short stacked lines tucked against the name, so the names read as one continuous band. Single words like "starring" or "with" sit on one line.

Keep one condensing ratio per line and keep lines visually even. Each line is scaled horizontally to hit the same full width; if one line has to be squeezed much harder than the others, rebreak it rather than let its type go spindly.

Accented names keep their accents. Ñ, Á, Ö and Å are part of someone's name and a contract credit — never drop them to make a line fit. Leave clearance above lines that carry them.

04The contract sets the rules

Talent and guild agreements can fix a credit's position, its size relative to the title, and whether a name appears in paid ads at all. Size is often specified as a percentage of the title or of the largest name.

Treat every billing block as a checked document. Proof it against the approved credit list, letter by letter, before it goes anywhere near a printer.

05The logo row

Under or beside the block usually sits a row of marks: distributor and studio logos, the rating box where one applies, festival laurels, and sometimes a soundtrack label. Get approved artwork for every mark from the distributor — do not redraw them.

06Where it goes on each deliverable

One-sheet (27 × 40 in): bottom band, set to the live width inside the safe area. UK quad (40 × 30 in, landscape): bottom band, often across the full live width, so each line runs longer and less condensed. Festival A-sizes: same logic, scaled to the sheet — check the minimum point size after scaling.

Streaming key art usually carries no billing block at all. Apple's artwork requirements for TV and film partners, for example, expect a title treatment but do not allow credits on key art without Apple's written approval. Check each platform's current partner spec before you add any credits.

07Pre-press checklist

Outline the type or embed the fonts — a billing block with a missing font falls back to something that will not fit. Onesheet exports are outlined vectors for this reason.

Small type in a single black (100K), not rich black, so it does not blur on misregistration; set it to overprint where it sits on a light background. Check the smallest role line after the block is scaled into the poster — if it drops below what the printer can hold, rebalance the lines or give the block more height.