Our process of making PVC Banners
We love making PVC banners. We love everything from seeing a stunning design onscreen, seeing the design printed, rolling it up and putting it in the post.
In fact, we love it so much we thought it’d be a great idea to give you an insight into what the process is like.
From material to mounting, here’s a five-step guide to how are pvc banners made.
We know how frustrating it can be to receive a banner, only to find the design doesn’t look as great as it did on screen. To help avoid that, we take the time to check over designs before the printing process begins.
Usually, we’re looking for a design that’s big enough for the banner, and meets a standard of 300dpi resolution. This means that it’s prepared for print and will remain crystal clear when our digital printer does its work.
2.Use high end 440gsm MaterialÂ
Once your design is finalised, it’s time to make things tangible. That starts with the right material.
Some printing companies try to keep costs low by using PVC banner material. That’s fine, but it can never deliver the same results as true PVC coated polyester.
Laminate has a tendency to crack, which leads to a tear, which leads to a banner that’s ripped in half and not worth anything.
The first step in our printing process is sourcing professional-grade 440gsm coated PVC, which comes in huge rolls big enough for any design.
3. Use a large format printer
Next comes our favourite step. This is the part where a decent design becomes a brilliant banner.
We use a large format digital printer. It’s not unlike the inkjet printer you probably have at home, with tiny drops of ink being released onto the page. But this printer is on an epic scale and the price of a luxury car
It’s capable of handling masses of print data, often as much as 5GB for a single banner. What’s more, it’s physically big enough to take our PVC stock and print your entire banner in just one pass.
After just a few minutes, your banner is printed on PVC and ready for some essential finishing touches.
4. Hem the edges for extra strength
Some printing companies stop once they’ve printed your banner out. After all, they’ve essentially met their obligation at this point.
But if you want your banner to last, it needs some extra work before it’s ready to go.
First, we hem the banner around the edges. In most cases, this means folding a few inches of PVC material over at the edges and securing with tape.
We do this for two reasons:
- Hemming hides the colour bleed around the edges of your print, giving you a finish that goes right to the very edge of your banner
- Hemming reinforces the part of your banner which will come under most strain – the perimeter from which it is hung
At this point, your banner is taking shape and looking good. Now, it’s time to turn it into something you can practically use.
5. We now add eyelets all round.
Without the right preparation, hanging a banner is hard. Many people have found this out when their brand new banner has fallen from its position or, worse, torn in half.
The final step of making a PVC banner is adding eyelets or grommets. These are the metal rings that you’ll pass a banner tie through to fix the banner in place.
Eyelets are added to the hemmed section of your banner, creating a robust fixing point that guarantees your banner will last for years on end.
Remember….
We do things right here at Essex Banners, we print on a high quality printer, using high quality inks and material. BUT, we keep our prices low. Contact us for a quote or check our website for our latest offers.
