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Resources · Banners

Read from across
the car park.

A banner is judged at distance, in daylight, by someone walking past. Almost everything that makes one work — or fail — is decided before the file is built.

Start here

Legibility, which is the whole job

Legibility at distance, resolution for large format, and how finishing affects the layout.

Distance sets text size
The further away it is read from, the larger the type has to be. Decide the reading distance before the layout, not after.
Contrast beats size
High contrast between text and background is the single biggest factor in whether a banner is readable at distance. A large mid-tone headline on a mid-tone background fails.
Three lines, not thirty
A banner is not a brochure. Who you are, what is happening, and one action.
Simple type wins outdoors
Thin, decorative, and tightly-spaced typefaces lose legibility fast at distance and in poor light.
Leave breathing room
Crowded banners read as noise. Empty space is what makes the message findable.
Watch out for

Judging a banner at 100% on a monitor is judging it from about a foot away. Nobody reads it from a foot away. Zoom out until it is the size of a postage stamp on your screen — if the message still reads, it will work outdoors.

Banner finishing

Building the file

Vector wherever possible
Scales to any size with no loss. Logos and type especially.
Lower resolution is fine for raster
Because it is viewed from a distance, large format does not need the resolution that print held in the hand does. Photographs still need to be the best originals you have.
Build at scale and label it
Working at 1:10 or 1:4 keeps files manageable. Say clearly on the file which scale it is.
Keep critical content well inside the edge
Hems, grommets, and mounting hardware sit on top of the design. Anything you care about needs to stay clear of the perimeter.

Finishing changes the layout

How a banner is hung determines what the artwork can do at its edges. These are decisions to make with us before the design is finalised, because they are not adjustable afterwards.

Where and how it hangs
A fence, a wall, a frame, and a pole are four different jobs with four different edge requirements.
Hems and edge allowance
The finished edge consumes some of the material. How much depends on the method, so ask before you design to the edge.
Grommet positions
They sit through the design. Where they land depends on the size and how it will be mounted.
Wind
Outdoor banners in exposed positions have practical considerations that affect the specification. Tell us where it is going.
Indoor or outdoor
Changes the appropriate material and therefore the finishing options.

Rather than guess

Ask us when…

  • Before you finalise the layout — tell us how and where it will hang.
  • You want the design to run to the very edge.
  • It is going somewhere exposed or high.
  • You need the same design at several sizes.
  • You are not sure how far away it will be read from.

None of these are a problem. They are the points where two minutes now saves a reprint later.

Start here

Where is it going to hang?

Tell us the location and how it will be mounted. Finishing decides what the edges of your design can do, and it is much easier to plan than to retrofit.

  1. 1 Start your project
  2. 2 Tell us what you're creating
  3. 3 Receive your estimate
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