Vinyl Banners: An Options Checklist

When ordering vinyl banners, you have many choices. There are many companies that sell banners, and often these companies have a confusing variety of options.

At Half-Price Banners, we have a simple ordering model that consistently gives customers high-quality vinyl banners at a reasonable price. Rather than limiting your options, simplicity gives you a process that allows you to easily place your order without worrying about if you’ve made the right choices.

If you feel you have a unique circumstance, don’t worry – our customer service representatives will be glad to help you before you place your order.

When you’re shopping around for companies that make vinyl banners, use this three-point checklist:

Vinyl thickness. Not all vinyl is created equal. Thinner material may be fine in the short-term but may not last, particularly if you hang vinyl banners outdoors. What do you choose?
Half-Price Banners has a standard banner option that eliminates most of these questions. Featuring 13-oz gloss vinyl with nylon mesh reinforcement, the standard banner is ideal for indoor and outdoor use, and it’s made to last. An indoor banner will never wear out, and outdoor banners typically last three to five years depending on the weather.

Your local weather. As mentioned above, our standard banner can last from three to five years outdoors. Wind will be the biggest factor. If you live in a windy area and are concerned about hanging outdoor banners, call us before ordering so we can discuss a suitable solution.
Some banner companies will make wind slits in outdoor banners, but at Half-Price Banners, we do not recommend this, for two reasons. First, they shorten the lifespan of outdoor banners. Second, they may not be effective.

Two possible solutions are making sure the banner is large enough to carry an effective message without being so large that it catches the wind, or making a custom grommet pattern so the banner hangs effectively in your location.

For customers in high-wind areas, Half-Price Banners also has two options:

A traditional vinyl banner with heavy-duty, reinforced 18-oz vinyl
A mesh banner, featuring lightweight 9-oz vinyl with small mesh holes
Regardless of which material you choose, we always recommend using bungee cords instead of rope when hanging your banner in a high-wind environment. This reduces wind strain and increases the longevity of your banner.

Finally, Half-Price Banners is introducing a Super Saver vinyl banner, featuring a lighter-weight vinyl that’s suitable for indoor and short-term outdoor use. For more information on the Super Saver, as well as a comparison of all our banner products, see the article Super Saver Banner: Our Latest Product Addition.

Ink and printing. The right printing using the right materials will result in a vinyl banner with maximum visual impact. And ink matters; an intact outdoor vinyl banner with a faded message will do nothing for your business.
Half-Price Banners uses an eco-solvent ink that’s good for the environment. Plus, it contains a UV-resistant compound that resists fading from indirect or direct sunlight. Used indoors, your vinyl banner will last for many years; outdoors, the ink will last from three to five years, the same amount of time as the vinyl typically lasts.

The printing process matters, too. We use four-color, or CMYK, printing, the same as a traditional printer, resulting in a vinyl banner with vibrant colors. We also print at 100 dots per inch (dpi), for outstanding resolution of graphics. By comparison, the resolution on your computer monitor is 70dpi.