Banners 101

The most frequent comment I hear from people who want to order a banner is “I’ve never done this before, and I need help.” Banner companies seem to think that it should be obvious what to do, but unless you have ordered a few banners, you may have no idea where to start. This post should get you started with the basics of ordering a banner, and from there you can ask more specific questions when you call customer service.

Banners can be made of several types of material, but the most common are vinyl banners and fabric banners. Vinyl banners tend to be more durable outdoors because they are waterproof and the inks are often more fade-resistant. They are usually also cheaper because they are printed on a different kind of printer.

Banners are usually priced two different ways: there is usually a cheaper price for text-only banners, and a more expensive price for “full color” banners. The difference is that text-only banners usually only contain words. Sometimes they can also include clipart, but the colors are very limited. Full color banners can contain any kind of pictures or logos, and as the name implies, you can print any color you want on full color banners. You can put clipart on full color banners too, but you’re not limited to a set number of colors.

Besides text-only versus full color, the main thing that determines the price of your banner is the size. Banners are almost always measured in feet, and the vertical dimension is given first. So if you ask for a 4×8 banner, this usually means that you want a 4 foot tall (top to bottom) by 8 feet wide (left to right) banner. If you want a custom size to fit your own needs, like a 42-inch by 8-foot banner, some banner companies can trim down their standard sizes. Just ask before you buy.

It’s usually easier to let your banner company design a banner for you. Programs like Microsoft Word are not suited to designing banners, because they are made for printing on 8.5 inch by 11 inch paper. When you try to enlarge small designs onto big banners, they often come out pixellated, which means they’re blurry and chunky. Sometimes this is okay. But most often, if you lay out what you want in Word, then ask your banner company to use that as a guideline but redraw the design in their own software, the banner will come out at much better quality.

For more basic information about banners, call a local banner company.