What Size Banner Do I Need?
The size banner you need depends on how far away people will be when they read it. The rule sign makers use is 1 inch of letter height for every 10 feet of distance. Start from where your reader will be standing or driving, work out the letter size, and the banner size follows. We print banners and yard signs in any size you need at our shop in Freehold, and most single banners are ready the same day.
Quick answers
- The rule: 1 inch of letter height for every 10 feet people will read it from.
- Yard sign most people mean: 18 by 24 inches. We print any size.
- Read from a passing car: Keep it to one short line of big words.
- Double-sided yard signs: Yes.
- Grommets and H-stakes: On before you pick it up.
- Really big banner? Ask us and we'll tell you what works.
- Not sure? Bring your measurements and we'll size it with you.
How big should the letters be on a banner or sign?
1 inch of letter height for every 10 feet of distance. If people will read it from 50 feet away, the main words need to be about 5 inches tall.
This is the number that decides everything else. Most people pick a banner size first and then try to fit the words on it. Do it the other way around.
| How far away the reader is | Letter height for the main words |
|---|---|
| 10 feet (walking past, a table at an event) | 1 inch |
| 30 feet (across a parking lot, a yard from the sidewalk) | 3 inches |
| 50 feet (from a car on a side street) | 5 inches |
| 100 feet (a fence facing a main road) | 10 inches |
| 200 feet (a building front seen from a highway) | 20 inches |
That's the height of a capital letter, not the size setting in your design software. A "72 point" font is 1 inch tall at most, and its capital letters come out smaller than that.
People can still make out letters from farther than this, but at a glance, from a moving car, this is what gets read.
What size yard sign should I get?
18 by 24 inches is what most people mean by a yard sign, and it works for most lawn and roadside uses. We print yard signs in any size, and we can print them on both sides.
An 18 by 24 sign read from a car on a residential street has room for about two or three lines of big text. That's usually a name and one more thing, like "For Sale" and a phone number, or a business name and a website.
Where people go wrong:
- Too many words. A driver has a couple of seconds. If your sign has five lines, they'll read none of them.
- Small phone numbers. If the phone number is the whole point, make it one of the biggest things on the sign.
- One side only, on a two-way street. If traffic passes in both directions, get it printed on both sides. Otherwise half the people driving by see a blank sign.
H-stakes come with yard signs, so you can push them into the lawn as soon as you get home. Before you put signs out, check your town's rules and your HOA if you have one. Some places limit how big a sign can be or how long it can stay up.
What size banner do I need for an event or storefront?
Measure the space where it's going to hang first, then work out the letter size from how far away people will be. Banners up to about 3 feet tall can run long. For anything bigger than that, ask us.
Measure before you order. The most common problem we see isn't a banner that's too small. It's one that doesn't fit the fence, the railing or the space between two poles it was meant for.
Some common uses and what tends to work:
| Where it goes | Size to start from |
|---|---|
| Table front at a fair or vendor event | 2 by 6 feet, or the length of your table |
| Storefront window or wall | Measure the space and leave a few inches around it |
| Grand opening over a door | 3 by 8 feet |
| Fence facing a road | 3 feet tall, as long as the fence section allows |
| Birthday, graduation or party banner | 2 by 4 or 3 by 6 feet |
These are starting points, not fixed sizes. We print whatever size the space needs.
Wider is usually better than taller. A long banner lets you use bigger letters on one line, and one line is what people actually read from a distance. For something taller than about 3 feet or truly large, call us at 732-730-5230 or come in, and we'll tell you the best way to do it.
Should my banner be indoor or outdoor?
Tell us where it's going, because it changes the material. Outdoor banners go on weather-resistant material. Indoor ones don't need it.
A banner that's going on a fence for a month in the sun and rain needs to be made for that. One that's hanging behind a table in a gym doesn't. Let us know when you order and we'll use the right one.
Grommets go on before you pick it up, so you can hang it with zip ties, rope or bungee cords right away. Tell us where you're hanging it and we'll place them where they'll hold.
How fast can I get a banner or yard signs?
Most single banners are ready the same day. A larger run, like 20 yard signs, can take longer. Tell us the date you need them and we'll work back from it.
Same day depends on what's already in line, so it's our usual turnaround and not a guarantee. If you have an event on a fixed date, come in or call as early as you can. For a large order, give us a few days.
How do I send you my design?
Email it to connect@myconnectiontree.com with the size you want. A PDF is best.
A few things that save time:
- Send it at the actual size, or tell us the size in the email. A file made for a letter-size flyer won't look sharp stretched to 6 feet.
- Include the size, indoor or outdoor, and single or double-sided for yard signs.
- Include the date you need it by.
If you're not sure whether your file will print well, send it anyway. We'll look at it before we print and call you if something needs fixing. For large files, a Google Drive, Dropbox or WeTransfer link works. The same file tips from our blueprint file guide apply here too.
No appointment. Bring your measurements and we'll size it with you.
Tell us what you need and we'll sort it out
Call 732-730-5230 or walk in during store hours. If it's something we don't do, we'll point you to who does.