Video Tutorials

These will help you to use our banner design software effectively. You don't have to watch them in the order shown here, but I do recommend at least watching the Basic design tutorial first.

1. Getting Started - Learn to design your first banner.

2. Working with Text - Learn to add and format text.

3. Working with Images - Learn to find images from our gallery, upload your own images, and work with images in your design.

4. Working with Layers - Learn how to control layering of design elements.

Readability - The Art of Making Your Sign Easy to Read

When designing a banner if you keep these simple rules in mind, you will have much greater success:
Rule 1: Readability is key.
Rule 2: Readability is key.
Rule 3: If you follow rules 1 and 2, your message will produce great results.

So how can you make your banner readable and look good too? Start with the font choice and font size. This chart shows a visual of how the font size relates to readability over distance. Please bear in mind the chart is based on using a well lit sign with a simple sans-serif font (such as Arial) and high contrast color choice (black on white). This chart is a guide not a guarantee. A bigger letter height will make it more readable, so err on the side of too large if you are unsure.
Simplicity is also very key in banner design. It's tempting to put a lot of text and images, but it will quickly reduce readability if you do so. Remember this is a banner to attract attention at large distance, not a magazine ad that is viewed from only a few inches.

Banner Size Guide

So just how big of a banner should you get? This depends on your usage.
Firstly look at the chart below, it gives some size examples with a human figure for reference.

How do you determine the size of banner you need? The chart should have given you some idea of this, but consider the following:

• Bigger is better with banners. If you are aiming for high visibility then a larger banner will never be a bad decision. The letter visibility chart is a guide, not a guarantee and you'll always be better off to have something too big than too small if you want it to be read easily.
  
  
• Are you going to be holding the banner yourself (political rally banner)? Then you'll need to keep it small enough to hold. A 1x4 or 2x4 banner is a good size for a single person. This would be a typical size for a sports banner that is intended to be held in the crowd. You could do a larger size like 3x6 but you would most likely need some extra support (a pole) to help keep it straight.
  
  
• Two people can easily carry a much larger banner - 1x6, 3x6 or 2x8 are easy sizes for two people to handle. If you kept your message brief and a clean design a 2x8 should be easily visible from a couple of hundred feet away. 3x6 is a perfect size for a parade banner, held while walking.
  
  
• Tabletop banners are usually pretty strict in size. a 28" tall banner will leave 1" if hung flush with the surface of the table, but will leave only about 1/4" if hung on the lower edge of a metal folding table. Really with this size, you only need to know if it's a 6' table or an 8' table. These size will be most common for trade show banners.
  
  
• Real estate banners, grand opening banners or sports team banners will need to be a little larger to garner the visibility they need. I would suggest not going smaller than 2x8, but really 3x10 is a good size for this application. In this case, bigger is most definitely better!
  
  
• Big event banners, for sale banners and church banners that need to be seen from far away need to be as large as possible - in this case determine how much space you have and then fill it up! 4x10 is a good starting point and with 20" tall characters (two lines) you'll be approaching 500ft readability. By moving up to a 4x20 banner with 43" tall characters on a single line you'll have approximately 1000ft readability!

How to Make Great Looking Banners

There are many factors that go into creating a good looking design, but there is indeed an art in making a good looking design that also is readable (I will assume readability is what you want). This page will hopefully point you in the right direction and help you come up with a cool looking banner that catches the eye of a passer-by (a rhyme!).

1. Correct font size, typeface and color.

Before you even begin a design, determine the distance you want it to be read at - this will determine your font size. Place all text at the desired font size on your banner design first.
Next choose a typeface - this can be tricky since you'll want something simple enough to be readable, but something that matches the style of your design. My tip on this is to choose readability over style, but yes you can have both!
Font color is as critical as these other two. The best solution is make the font high contrast to the background color. Black on white is excellent, though a little dull. Black on yellow works

2. Keep the wording simple!

If you are promoting a business or event. Only include absolutely necessary information to get your point across. Remember most people will only have a few seconds to view a banner before their car/train/dog/horse/herd of cats takes them out of view of your banner. The worst thing you can do is to make your banner so wordy that no one will bother reading it.

3. Backgrounds.

Again, simplicity here is key for ease of readability. Plain colors or simple gradients are great behind images or information that you want to stand out. But remember to use a good color combination. See the Suggested Type Size page for tips on suggested color combinations.

4. Watch your margins.

It will be a great temptation to run your designs right to the edge of the banner, but remember - there is a hem and grommets in the outer 1 inch of the banner so you will lose some of the graphic in this area. Our banner designer has both the 1 inch margin and the grommets put in place to help you out. However it is advisable for layout and readability to keep your information even further in from the edges. A good distance to keep in mind is 2.5 inches on a small banner and 3.5 inches on a larger one. Keeping larger margins, improves the readability of your banner from a distance.