How to Make a Digital Menu Board
Six steps, one afternoon, and a menu that changes itself from then on.
A digital menu board is a slide on a TV, with a schedule behind it. The design is the part people worry about and the schedule is the part that actually saves time. Here is the whole process in order.
1. Decide what goes on each board
One menu per slide. Breakfast, lunch, drinks and specials are separate slides, not one crowded one. Six to eight items per slide read comfortably from a queue; more than that and people stop reading. Write the items and prices in a plain list first, before opening any design tool.
2. Design it to be read from four metres
- Size: 1920×1080 pixels. It is the native size of nearly every TV.
- Type: item names at least 40px, prices the same size, in a different colour so the eye finds them.
- Contrast: dark background, light text, or the reverse. No text over busy photos.
- Alignment: names left, prices right, one per row, with a thin rule between rows.
- One photo at most, and only if it earns its space. The specials slide is where the photo goes.
Start from a template rather than a blank canvas: the free templates include matching breakfast, lunch and coffee boards. In CastWize, build the slide on the canvas with text objects, or upload a finished PNG from any design tool.
3. Pick the hardware
Any TV with an HDMI input, plus a player: an Android TV box, a Raspberry Pi, or a spare computer running Windows, macOS or Linux. Install the free CastWize player, enter its pairing code in Studio, and the screen is online. The full shopping list and what it costs is in Set Up a Screen for Under $200.
4. Build playlists
A playlist is the set of slides a screen plays in a loop. The breakfast menu is one playlist; lunch is another; the specials slide can sit in both. Set how long each slide shows. A menu board usually holds one slide for a long time, with a specials slide every few minutes.
5. Schedule it
Assign playlists to the screen with rules by day and time: Breakfast 06:00–11:00, Lunch 11:00–15:00, a default for the rest of the day, and a weekend rule for brunch. Seasonal items get a start and end date. From this point the board changes itself.
6. Preview, publish, and change it from your phone
Preview shows exactly what the screen will show. Publish sends it; screens update within seconds. From then on a price change is: open the slide on your phone, edit, publish. Nobody touches the TV. If the internet drops, the player keeps playing from its cache.
Where to go from here
Industry-specific setups: café menu boards, pizzerias, bakeries, bars and food trucks. Software is $5 per screen per month; the first screen is free for 30 days.
Frequently asked questions
Which design tool should I use?
Any. The CastWize canvas handles text, images and video directly; or design a 1920×1080 PNG in Canva, Google Slides or Photoshop and upload it. Templates give you a starting point either way.
How do I make the board switch from breakfast to lunch?
Put each menu in its own playlist and add schedule rules to the screen by time of day. The switch happens automatically every day.
Can I show the menu on more than one screen?
Yes. Assign the same playlist to several screens, or group the screens and assign it to the group. Changes go to all of them at once.
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