What a single ad size really costs to produce.
Most production budgets track designer hours and agency invoices. The real cost per size hides in review rounds, coordination and rework — and it scales with every extra format on the media plan.
- Cost per size
- Review time included
- Model your own numbers
- No credit card required · Full per-size control
Illustrative distribution. Your split depends on volume, seniority and how many review rounds each format passes through.
Five inputs decide your true cost per size.
Before comparing manual production to an automated workflow, agree on what a finished size actually costs today. These are the components most teams underestimate.
Design time
The minutes spent rebuilding the layout for each aspect ratio, not the time spent on the original approved master.
Review and feedback
Every stakeholder pass on every size. This is usually the largest hidden line item in the model.
Rework
Late copy edits, brand corrections and placement changes that force a second or third export of the same format.
Outsourcing
Freelance or agency fees per adaptation, including minimum-charge and turnaround premiums.
Coordination
Briefing, file handover, naming, versioning and delivery — small per size, significant per campaign.
Volume
Monthly finished sizes. Cost per size only becomes meaningful once it is divided by real delivered volume.
From monthly spend to a defensible cost per size.
- 1
Count delivered sizes
Take one representative month and count every exported format, including re-exports caused by changes.
- 2
Add fully loaded people cost
Include the share of designer and reviewer salaries actually spent on adaptations, not on original concept work.
- 3
Add external invoices
Add freelance and agency charges attributable to resizing and localization for that same month.
- 4
Divide, then split
Divide total cost by delivered sizes, then separate production cost from internal review cost so automation is compared fairly.
Automation changes production cost, not review cost.
A credible business case does not claim review disappears. Tadvio replaces the repetitive rebuilding of approved layouts across formats; each output is still inspected and edited before export.
- Cost per size, not cost per campaign
- Production cost separated from review cost
- Rework counted as real cost
- Volume measured on delivered formats
- Localization and RTL versions included
- Annualized, not just monthly
Go deeper on the parts that drive your budget.
Manual ad production cost
Where designer hours actually go when every format is rebuilt by hand — covered inside the multi-size production guide.
Agency production costs
Retainers, per-asset pricing and turnaround premiums, and how agencies protect margin at volume.
Ad resizing cost
The per-format economics of resizing alone, separated from concept and art direction.
Model your own numbers
The Creative Production Cost Calculator turns the model above into a personalized financial analysis — current monthly cost, estimated Tadvio cost, and the annual difference — delivered as a private PDF report.
Open the cost calculatorFrequently asked questions
What does creative production cost include?
How do I calculate cost per ad size?
Why is manual resizing more expensive than it looks?
Does automation remove the cost of review?
How can I model this for my own team?
Related resources
Creative Production Cost Calculator: Build the Business Case
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Why Approved Creatives Break When Adapted to New Formats
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How to Build a Reusable Brand Kit for Campaign Production
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Manual Ad Resizing vs Guided Creative Production
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Ad Format Reference: Square, Portrait, Story, Landscape and Banner
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Ready to automate your creative production?
Start with one approved creative, produce every required size, and keep full control over each output before export.
No credit card required · Full per-size control