Banners, roll-ups and exhibition backdrops are the one print category where a 3000 px file can legitimately produce a three-metre print.
Design at Scale
Working at full size in a design tool means enormous canvases. The standard workaround is to design at a fraction of final size and scale the DPI up correspondingly:
- 1:10 scale at 300 DPI = 30 DPI at full size. Fine for a banner viewed from several metres.
- 1:4 scale at 300 DPI = 75 DPI at full size. Comfortable for closer viewing.
- 1:2 scale at 300 DPI = 150 DPI at full size. More than enough for a backdrop people stand next to.
Tell the printer which scale you used, and keep vector text and logos vector — they output at the device's full resolution regardless of scale, so type stays razor sharp even when photos are at 30 DPI.
Actual DPI Requirements
| Product | Viewing distance | DPI at full size |
|---|---|---|
| Roll-up banner | 1–2 m | 100–150 |
| Exhibition backdrop | 2–4 m | 72–100 |
| Building banner | 10 m+ | 20–40 |
| Vehicle wrap | 1–3 m | 100–150 |
These look absurdly low next to the 300 DPI print standard, and they're correct: nobody presses their nose to a building banner.
Hardware Eats Your Design
This is where banners actually go wrong:
- Roll-up banners hide the bottom 50–100 mm inside the cassette, and the top may be gripped by a rail. Keep the logo out of the bottom strip and content out of the top 50 mm.
- Grommets and hems on fabric or vinyl banners consume 25–50 mm around all edges. Keep text well inside.
- Pole pockets need a 100 mm fold-over allowance top and bottom.
- Tension fabric frames wrap around the edge, losing several centimetres per side, like a canvas wrap.
- Tables and furniture in front of an exhibition backdrop hide the lower third — put nothing important below about 1 m from the floor.
Ask for a template. Every reputable large-format printer supplies one with the safe area marked, and using it removes all of the above guesswork.
Text Sizes That Work
A rough rule: text should be about 2.5 cm tall for every 3 metres of viewing distance, and more for a busy environment.
- Viewed from 3 m: 25 mm minimum.
- Viewed from 10 m: 80–100 mm.
- Headline on a building banner: as large as it can be.
Say less. A banner read while walking past has time for about seven words.
File Delivery
- PDF with fonts embedded or outlined, at the agreed scale.
- CMYK unless the printer specifies otherwise; large-format inks vary and their profile matters more than usual.
- Bleed per their spec, typically 10–25 mm for large format rather than the 3 mm of small print.
- Flag any spot or brand colours explicitly; large flat areas make colour mismatches obvious.
Order a small proof strip if colour is critical — a brand colour that drifts on a business card is a nuisance; on a three-metre backdrop it's the only thing anyone will see.