Banner Printing Guidelines |

Banners have file different file preparation guidelines than offset printing. Please follow these steps when you are setting up your document to print a banner.

1. Set your document size including bleed

Scale your file to 12 to 1, so that 1 inch equals 1 foot. (1"=1') and add .125” bleed on each side. Thus a 4' x 6' banner would be submitted at 4.25" x 6.25"

2. Establish the safety area

Do not place important elements too close to the trim line as they could be trimmed off or sewn through during finishing. It is best to keep key elements of your banner .125” inside the edge.

If your banner uses pole pockets, put all text and design elements at least .33" inside of the cut line or they may be sewn through.

3. Choose your resolution

The required resolution for printing vinyl banners depends on viewing distance.

• From five feet or less, submit at 1200 dpi
• From five feet or more, submit at 900 dpi
• From 10 feet or more submit at 600 dpi
• From 50 feet or more, submit at 300 dpi

For example, banner that is 10’ x 20’ and viewed from 10 feet away must be printed as a 10" x 20" file at 600 DPI, or a total of 6,000 x 12,000 pixels. The same vinyl banner for viewing from 5 feet should be printed at 1200 dpi, or a total of 12,000 x 24,000 pixels for a 10" x 20" file.