Finding your way around large format printing

Large format printing—no longer just the playground of companies with large budgets and designers on their payroll— now an accessible form of printing for everyone.

Casting your eye down the extensive list of products, papers and mounting options I can see you starting to panic; how do you know whether you need a hanging banner or a banner stand? Whether a strut card will do the job or if a display board is better? How do you go about printing it and when it arrives, how the devil does it attach to the wall?

Take a deep breath and calm yourself, due to popular request we’ve written up a little something to help you make sense of large format and make the best choice for you!

Which product do I need?

On printed.com alone, there are ten different large format products, not including subcategories of those options. Far from being more confusing, this will actually give you much more flexibility when choosing the right product for the job.

The best way to narrow down what it is you’re looking for will be to decide whether your large format is going to go inside or outside. Next you’ll need to think about what it’s for and the practicalities of the product itself. Below we’ve made a handy chart to help you out:

Still can’t decide? Take a look at the product pages and read up on the kinds of substrates (the stuff the product is printed on) available to you and get inspired by some of our pictures.

 How do I go about ordering something so huge?

If you’re shopping with us at printed.com, ordering large format is exactly the same as ordering any of our other bits and bobs. You’ll be asked to choose your substrate, select what kind of finish you’d like and how big you want it to be. After that you’ll just need to upload your artwork and pay!

Remember, if you’re ordering an A1 sized poster, try to make sure your artwork is A1 too, so make sure you haveeverything sized up correctly with bleed and crop marks added for perfect results.

How do I install it when it comes?

The way you install your large format print will really all depend on which kind of product you’ve ordered and where you’re going to put it. Some of the products we’ve talked about here are pretty self-explanatory: banner stands come with stands, banners have the option to add eyelets so you can hang them anywhere you like with rope or cable ties. Indoor and outdoor posters are made to be attached to walls or large flat surfaces, self-adhesive vinyl is sticky and can be applied anywhere, and strut cards will support themselves on a surface with a strut on the reverse.

The tricky part comes when installing display boards or signs, which have such a range of substrates that you’re going to have to get creative, so here we go:

• Correx is usually nailed (like an estate agent boards) unless it’s inside, in which case, Velcro or self-adhesive strips are great
• Foamcore is most often secured with Velcro or self-adhesive strips
• Foamex can be secured with Velcro, nailed, screwed, or stuck up with self-adhesive strips
• Card is super easy to hang and can be stuck in place with Velcro or self-adhesive strips

There you have it; large format isn’t at all as scary as you thought it was! If you get stuck, just give our friendly Customer Service team a call, and they’ll see you right!