Wedding Blog: Wine Bottles for Bridesmaids

Unique Gifts for your Maid of Honor and Bridesmaids to Be

Ashley has lots of unique ways to use the Banners.com product line into her wedding planning. Her first project was to ask her bridesmaids to be in her wedding.

Bridesmaids Wine Bottles
Ashley asked each of her bridesmaids using a unique wine bottle that was decorated with vinyl decals. The wine bottles say "As I prepare for the day that I'm to be a bride, it would mean the world to me to have you sipping by my side..." with the wedding date followed by "Will You be my bridesmaid?"

How to Make a Bridesmaid Wine Bottle

• Buy your favorite bottle of wine (or your bridesmaid's favorite bottle)
• Remove the wine label. The easiest way is to soak a wet cloth on the top for a few minutes to make the label come off easier. Peel off whatever you can and then for the remaining sticky residue Ashley used a green scrubby and water and the label removed just fine. If the label is stubborn, you can use goo-gone
• Dry the surface of the wine bottle very well
• Peel back half of the decal. Hold each corner to line it up nicely and then slowly smooth the decal down pushing out any air bubbles
• Slowly peel back the other half of the decal while smoothing it out at the same time

The labels were printed on a Calendered Vinyl with Lamination decal material. If you would like help creating your own wine bottles, please contact a customer service representative for help (service@banners.com or 320-965-9300), or visit our vinyl decals page.

Wedding Blog: Ashley's Wedding Ideas

How to Use Banners.com Products at Your Wedding

Our customer service manager, Ashley, just got engaged. As an employee of Banners.com, she has been thinking of lots of unique ways to incorporate our product line into her wedding. As she comes up with unique projects, we will be showing you how you can also incorporate her unique ideas into your own wedding. 

Ashley's Wedding Projects

• Bridesmaid Wine Bottles
• More projects coming soon!

More Wedding Stuff

• Creative Ways to Propose Blog
• Unique Wedding Presents Blog
• Wedding Planning Blog

Common Vinyl Banner Sizes

Some of the Most Common Vinyl Banner Sizes

"What are your most common vinyl banner sizes?" is one of the most common questions that we get asked by customers.

Here are some common vinyl banner sizes:

2 Foot Banners	3 Foot Banners	4 Foot Banners	5 Foot Banners
2’ x 4’ Banners	3’ x 6’ Banners	4’ x 6’ Banners	5’ x 10’ Banners
2’ x 6’ Banners	3’ x 8’ Banners	4’ x 8’ Banners	5’ x 12’ Banners
2’ x 8’ Banners	3’ x 9’ Banners	4’ x 10’ Banners	5’ x 20’ Banners
2’ x 12’ Banners	3’ x 12’ Banners	4’ x 20’ Banners	5’ x 30’ Banners

These are just some of the most common vinyl banner sizes. We can print any custom size banner up to 16 feet by 50 feet without seams. Our vinyl banners include hems and grommets so you can easily hang the vinyl banner inside or outside. You can also get banners with pole pockets. If you're looking to add some extra strength to your banner, you can add reinforced hems or reinforced corners.

Vinyl Banner Templates:
If you would like to download a template for printing, visit our vinyl banner templates page. We have Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator files available for you to download.

Click here to get started on a full color vinyl banner or text only vinyl banner. We can also print double sided banners and pole banners.

Vinyl Banners Text Viewing Distances

How far away will people be able to read my banner text?

When you are designing your banner, it is important to keep in mind the viewing distance that people will be seeing your banner. We put together some of the most common viewing distances and text sizes. Keep in mind these measurements are for bold type styles. The finer the font type, the more difficult it will be to read.

Vinyl Banners Text Viewing Distances

Viewing Distance / Text Sizes: 

• 100 feet = 4 inch text
• 250 feet = 10 inch text
• 360 feet (city block) = 16 inch text
• 500 feet = 22 inch text
• 750 feet = 33 inch text
• 1000 feet = 43 inch text
• 1320 feet (1/4 mile) = 57 inch text

Designing in the Online Designer
Our online designer does have some ruler marks that you can use as guidelines.

Text Sizes in the Online Designer

Click here to get started on your full color vinyl banners

How to Make Volleyball Banners and Signs

Step by Step Instructions on How to Make a Volleyball Banner

There are lots of ways you can use volleyball banners. You can hang up volleyball try-out banners to let people know when and where to try out for the team. Once you have your team, you can put up a banner with a picture of your volleyball team and your schedule. You can also do individual volleyball player banners with a picture, their position and some stats. At Banners.com it's easy to get a custom volleyball banner. We have volleyball banner templates available to customize. To get started, go to our volleyball banners page.

Step 1: Choose Banner Size and Quantity
The first step is to choose your banner size and quantity from the drop down menu. You can get any banner size up to 16 feet by 50 feet

Step 2: Choose the Banner Add Ons / Finishing Options
The standard finishing for vinyl banners is heat welded hems and grommets every 2-4 feet around the perimeter. Reinforced hems, reinforced corners and pole pockets are also available. We don't recommend using reinforcements for indoor banners.

Step 3: Pick a Design Method - Pick a Volleyball Banner Template
There are three different ways you can order volleyball banners. You can pick a template, upload a file or work with a graphic designer. We will show you how to order by selecting a template.

Pick a Volleyball Banner Template to Customize

How to Start Designing a Volleyball Banner Template
When you find a template that you want to customize, put your mouse over the template and click on the "Customize Template" button. This will take you into the online designer. All of the templates are fully customizable.

Volleyball Banner Template in the Online Designer

Vinyl Banners: Safe Zone for Printing

How to Design Vinyl Banners: Keep Images, Text & Logos in the Safe Zone

By Jana Schaumburg, Marketing Coordinator

Vinyl Banners: Banner Size, Hem Line, Grommets and Safe Zone

 Designer Tip #42: Keep images, logos & text away from the edge of the banner
When you are designing your vinyl banners, it is important that you keep all of your important text, logos and images away from the edge of the banner.

Banner Size: 
The finished size is the printed size of your banner. If you want a 3' x 6' vinyl banner, you should set your artwork size to a 3x6 proportion. Your background image should extend all the way to the edge of the banner. You will not need to add any bleeds. We will add the hems and grommet marks to the file for printing.

Banner with Hems and Grommets

Hem Line:
Vinyl banners are finished with heat welded hems and grommets. The hem line is approximately one inch of the vinyl banner that is folded over and welded together. The hem line is a little thicker than the rest of the banner because there is twice as much material there.

Grommets:
Grommets are placed every 2-4 feet around the banner perimeter. They are used to help hang the banner.

Safe Zone:
The safe zone is the area on the inside of the banner that will not have any hems or grommets on it. We recommend leaving at least two inches around the edge of the banner that doesn't have any text, logos or important information on it. This will prevent a hem or grommet from going through the information.

When your file is ready, click here to upload your artwork.

Fabric Flag Materials

Types of Fabric Flag Materials: Mirror Fabric and Flag Fabric

By Jana Schaumburg, Marketing Coordinator 

There are two different fabric materials that we print fabric flags on. Both of the fabrics are printed using a direct dye sublimation printing process. This means that the ink goes through the fabric instead of sitting on top of the fabric.

Fabric Flag Materials: Flag Fabric and Mirror Fabric

Flag Fabric Material
The most common fabric flag material is our Flag fabric. The Flag fabric is rated for 3-6 months when used continuously outdoors. Flag fabric has a sheer print. The material is slightly thicker and more coarse than the Mirror fabric. You can see the back side in reverse, but the back side is a little more muted than the Mirror.

Mirror Fabric Material
Mirror fabric is also rated for 3-6 months when used continuously outdoors. The back side is also in reverse, but the back is more vibrant than the Flag fabric. The front side also has slightly richer colors than the Fabric flag material.  Mirror fabric can be used for flags, but it is most commonly used for flying banner displays.

Click here to request a fabric sample packet

Purple CMYK Color Mixes for Printing Banners

List of Common Purple CMYK Colors for Banner Printing

Vinyl banners are digitally printed in full color using the CMYK color mix. Some colors will look good on your computer screen, but they will print differently. Purple is often a difficult color to print correctly, so we recommend using one of the color mixes below when you design your files in Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop.

Designer Tip: Be sure you're in the CMYK color mode, not the RGB color mode

Purple CMYK Colors for Digitally Printed Banners

Purple CMYK Color Mixes: 76-99-0-0, 78-94-0-0, 48-70-0-0, 69-100-1-5, 73-98-0-3, 84-100-0-4

Click here to get started on your full color vinyl banner

Gold CMYK Color Mixes for Printing Banners

List of Common Gold CMYK Colors for Banner Printing

Vinyl banners are digitally printed in full color using the CMYK color mix. Some colors will look good on your computer screen, but they will print differently. Gold is one of the trickiest colors to get right for digitally printed banners, so we've put together some of the common gold color mixes that print correctly. We recommend using one of the color mixes below when you design your files in Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop.
Designer Tip: Be sure you're in the CMYK color mode, not the RGB color mode

Gold CMYK Colors for Digitally Printed Banners

Gold CMYK Color Mixes: 0-32-66-0, 7-55-100-34, 0-27-100-0, 0-35-70-0, 5-46-100-21, 3-36-100-6, 0-45-69-0

Click here for more common CMYK color mixes

Click here to get started on your full color vinyl banner

Back to School Banners and Signs

How to Make Back to School Banners

Back to school banners are a great way to welcome faculty and students back for another school year. It's easy to get custom back to school banners from Banners.com! We have back to school banner templates already built for you to customize by adding text, photographs, clip art and backgrounds. To get started, go to our Back to School Banners page.

Step 1: Select the Banner Size and Quantity
The first step is to select the banner size and quantity from the drop down menus.

Step 2: Choose the Banner Add Ons / Finishing Options
Banners are finished with heat welded hems and grommets every 2-4 feet around the banner perimeter. You can also select to have pole pockets, reinforced hems and reinforced corners. If you are using your banners indoors, we do not recommend using reinforcements.The price will adjust when you select your options.

Step 3: Pick your Design Method - Templates
There are three different ways to order back to school banners: pick a template, upload a file or let us design. We will be discussing the "Pick a Template" method.

Pick a Back to School Banner Template to Customize

How to Start Designing a Back to School Banner Template
All of our templates are customizable. If you find a template you want to customize, put your mouse over the template and click on the "Customize Template" button. This will take you into the online designer. You can also select the "Blank Template" to start your design from scratch.

Back to School Banner Template in Online Designer

Maroon CMYK Colors for Printing Banners

List of Common Maroon CMYK Colors for Banner Printing

Maroon is one of the trickiest colors to print on vinyl banners. We put together a list of some common maroon CMYK color mixes that work well for vinyl banner printing. We recommend using one of these maroon color mixes when you design your files in Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop.

Maroon CMYK Color Mixes for Banner Printing

Click here for more common CMYK color mixes

Click here to get started on your full color vinyl banner

Fabric Banner Materials

Types of Fabric Banner Materials: Banner Soft Fabric and Satin Fabric

There are two different fabric materials that we print fabric banners on. Both of the fabrics are printed using a direct dye sublimation printing process. This means that the ink goes through the fabric instead of sitting on top of the fabric.

Fabric  Banner Samples - Banner Soft and Satin

Banner Soft Fabric Banner Material
The most common type of fabric banner material is our Banner Soft fabric. The Banner Soft fabric is fire rated, so it has a slower burn rate than the Satin fabric. Banner Soft is also a little thicker than the Satin. The material is more opaque and has a deeper, richer coloring on dark colors.

Satin Fabric Banner Material
Satin fabric is similar to the Banner Soft fabric, but it has a shine to the material. This material is not fire rated.

Click here to request a fabric sample packet

Basic CMYK Colors for Printing Banners

List of Common CMYK Color Mixes for Banner Printing

Adobe Illustrator Color Mix

 Vinyl banners are printed in the CMYK color mix. It is important that you convert all of your files to CMYK when you submit your own artwork to ensure that your colors print correctly. CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. Each color has a range of 0-100 percent.

 Common CMYK Colors for Print
We have put together a list of some common CMYK color mixes that work well for printing vinyl banners. You can easily edit your colors in Adobe Illustrator in the color tab

Black: 100-100-100-100
Navy Blue: 100-50-0-65
Dark Blue: 100-75-0-0
Light Blue: 70-37-13-0
Dark Gray: 0-0-0-75
Medium Gray: 0-0-0-60
Light Gray: 0-0-0-45
Dark Green: 100-25-100-25
Green: 75-0-100-25
Orange: 0-70-700-0
Red: 0-100-90-5
Deep Red: 25-100-100-25
Magenta: 0-100-0-0
Purple: 85-100-0-0
Violet: 42-50-0-0
Pink: 0-50-0-0
Teal: 100-25-50-25
Brown: 29-78-97-75
White: 0-0-0-0

Click here to get started on your full color vinyl banners!

How to Convert Text to Outlines for Printing

Step by Step Instructions on How to Convert Adobe Illustrator Text to Outlines for Print

If you want your artwork file to print properly as a banner, it is essential that you have your fonts converted to outlines. If you do not submit files with the text converted, your font will be converted to a default font. When you convert your text to outlines, your text turns into a vector image. The text is no longer editable.

Designer Tip: Always keep a copy of your original file in case you need to make edits later

Once you have designed your artwork in Adobe Illustrator and you are ready, select all of the text. You can tell your text is still a font because it will be underlined.

Text as a Font will be Underlined

Window Perf Templates Now Available

You Can Now Design Window Perf Online in our Online Designer

 Window Perf, or Perforated Window Film, is a material that is commonly put on vehicle windows and on store front windows. It is a great way to turn windows into advertising space, and you can now design window perf in our online designer! To get started designing online, visit our window perf product page.

How to Maintain your Vinyl Banners

Tips for Maintaining the Life of Your Vinyl Banners

Our 13 oz vinyl banners are meant to last 3-5 years when used outdoors and 7-10 years when used indoors. In order to get these lifespans, you will need to use proper hanging techniques. Vinyl banners are durable enough to withstand rain, snow and other natural elements - but you will still need to take proper care of them. Here are some tips to get the most out of your vinyl banner.

Hanging your Banner
Vinyl banners are finished with heat welded hems and grommets placed every 2-4 feet around the perimeter of the banner. You should use all the grommets provided to prevent your banner from tearing out or ripping. You can use bungee cords, hanging clips, ropes and zip ties to help secure your banner. You can display your banner on the side of buildings, on a fence or between poles.

If possible, you should avoid direct sunlight to avoid fading. You should also avoid high wind locations to prevent the wind from destroying your banner.

Cleaning your Banner
If your banner is exposed to the elements, it might require occasional cleaning. If you are going to wash your banner, use lukewarm water. You can add dish soap to the water. Avoid using abrasive cleaning materials like power washers and brushes. You should only use soft towels to avoid scratching the banner and ruining the prints.

Storing your Banner
When your banner is not being used, make sure that you roll the banner up. Keep the printed side out when you roll the banner to protect the inks. To prevent the banner from bending, you should keep the box it was shipped in and store it in there. You should also keep your banner out of extreme heat. Avoid windows or other direct sunlight to prevent the banner from fading.

Click here to get started on your vinyl banner

How to Make Football Banners and Signs

Step by Step Instructions on How to Make a Football Banner

There are lots of ways you can use football banners. They can be used to display your football team rooster, your football schedule and at the game to direct people to the bathrooms or concession stands. But, how do you make a football banner? At Banners.com we make it easy to get a custom football banner. We have football banner templates already built for you to customize by adding text, clip art, backgrounds and photographs. To get started, go to our Football Banners page. 

Step 1: Choose Banner Size and Quantity
The first step is to choose your banner size and quantity from the drop down menu. You can get any banner size up to 16 feet by 50 feet.

Step 1: Choose Banner Size and Quantity

Step 2: Choose the Banner Add Ons / Finishing Options
The standard finishing for vinyl banners is heat welded hems and grommets every 2-4 feet around the perimeter. Football banners are typically used outdoors at the games, so if the banner is over 32 square feet and you want extra durability, we recommend reinforced hems and reinforced corners. You can also get pole pockets if you want to hang your banner using poles (please note we can't do both pole pockets and reinforced hems or reinforced corners).

Step 2: Choose Add Ons / Finishing Options

Step 3: Pick a Design Method - Pick a Football Template
There are three different ways you can order football banners. You can pick a template, upload a file or work with a graphic designer. We will show you how to order by selecting a template.

Step 3: Pick a Design Method - Pick a Football Banner Template

How to Start Designing a Football Banner Template
When you find a template that you want to customize, put your mouse over the template and click on the "Customize Template" button. This will take you into the online designer. All of the templates are fully customizable.

Football Banner Template in the Online Designer

$15 off Framed Canvas Wall Art

July Special: $15 off Custom Framed Canvas Wall Art - Great Wedding Gift Idea!

Framed canvas wall art is a great wedding gift, so we are giving you $15 off your order! Canvas wall art is  printed on high quality canvas, which has the look and feel of a classic painted canvas. You can put an engagement picture, a vacation picture or other picture on a canvas for a lasting memory. The canvas is framed using a 0.75" or 1.5" wooden frame.

Click here for the promo code and to get started on your canvas wall art order!

Happy Independence Day

We are closed July 4th and 5th for Independence Day

Happy Independence Day! Our offices will be closed on July 4th and 5th to celebrate. We hope everyone has a safe 4th of July weekend.

Even though our offices are closed, you can still place your order online:

• Design Online with Templates: we have templates available for you to customize in our online designer. You can also start from scratch and add a background, clip art, upload images and add text. 
• Upload a File: if you have already designed your artwork, you can upload your print ready file
• Let us Design: we have a team of graphic designers who can design your artwork for you

Click here to get started on your full color vinyl banner.