Banner artwork at scale: designing big banners at 1:10
Design large banners at 1:10 without losing quality: exact page sizes, the pixels photos really need, margins and text at scale, export settings and a proportion check.
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Designing banner artwork at scale means building the design at a fraction of its real size, usually 1:10, with exactly the same proportions as the banner you order. An 8 ft × 4 ft (2438 × 1219 mm) banner becomes a 243.8 × 121.9 mm page. Everything scales with it: the 50 mm safe margin becomes 5 mm, and photos need ten times the usual dpi at scale so they print at 100 to 150 dpi at full size.
Why design banner artwork at scale #
A full-size page for a 3 m banner is awkward in most design software. Some programs cap the page size, many slow to a crawl with large photos, and the files become hard to send. Working at 1:10 keeps the page a manageable size while keeping every measurement exact. Our artwork guidelines accept files at the finished size or at an exact scale, as long as the proportions match the size you ordered.
Scale only works if you are strict about it. A page that is “roughly” the right shape will be stretched or cropped to fit, and a photo that looks sharp on a small page may be far too small for the real banner.
Page sizes for banner artwork at scale #
Divide each measurement in millimetres by 10. Always start from the exact millimetre size, not a rounded one: one foot is 304.8 mm, as defined in Schedule 1 of the Weights and Measures Act 1985.
| Banner | Full size | Page at 1:10 | Pixels for a full background at 100 dpi |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft × 3 ft | 1829 × 914 mm | 182.9 × 91.4 mm | 7200 × 3600 |
| 8 ft × 3 ft | 2438 × 914 mm | 243.8 × 91.4 mm | 9600 × 3600 |
| 8 ft × 4 ft | 2438 × 1219 mm | 243.8 × 121.9 mm | 9600 × 4800 |
| 10 ft × 3 ft | 3048 × 914 mm | 304.8 × 91.4 mm | 12000 × 3600 |
| 9 ft 10 in × 6 ft 7 in | 3000 × 2000 mm | 300 × 200 mm | 11811 × 7874 |
| 13 ft 1 in × 3 ft 3 in | 4000 × 1000 mm | 400 × 100 mm | 15748 × 3937 |
For 150 dpi at full size, multiply the pixel figures by 1.5.
Resolution: the number that trips people up #
The pixels a photo needs do not change when you build banner artwork at scale. A background for an 8 ft × 4 ft banner needs about 9600 × 4800 pixels for 100 dpi at full size, whether the page is 2438 mm wide or 243.8 mm wide. What changes is the dpi figure your software shows:
- At full size, aim for 100 to 150 dpi.
- At 1:10, the same image shows as 1000 to 1500 dpi. That is correct, not excessive.
- A photo placed at 150 dpi on a 1:10 page will print at 15 dpi on the banner, which looks blocky from any distance.
Logos and text should be vector, which has no resolution limit. Our guide to dpi for printing shows how to check an image’s pixel size.
Margins, text and lines at scale #
Every rule for a full-size banner divides by 10:
| Rule at full size | At 1:10 |
|---|---|
| Text and logos 50 mm in from every edge (hems and eyelets) | 5 mm |
| Headline capitals 125 mm for 15 m reading distance | 12.5 mm (about 50 pt) |
| Detail capitals 40 mm | 4 mm (about 16 pt) |
| Outline or rule 5 mm thick | 0.5 mm |
The point sizes are approximate: a font’s capitals are roughly 70% of its point size, so capital height in mm × 4 gives the point size. The full reasoning is in our guide to sign letter height, and margins are covered in bleed and safe area.
How to set up banner artwork at scale #
What you need: the exact size you are ordering in millimetres, your logo as a vector file, full-resolution photos and design software that exports PDF.
- Confirm the ordered size in millimetres. Take it from the product page, for example 2438 × 1219 mm for an 8 ft × 4 ft PVC banner. For a custom size, use the exact numbers you will type in.
- Create the page at one tenth. Divide both measurements by 10 and keep the decimal: 243.8 × 121.9 mm, not 244 × 122 mm.
- Add a 5 mm guide on every edge. This is your 50 mm safe area at full size. Keep all text and logos inside it.
- Run the background to the edges. Colours and photos should fill the whole page, so no white shows at the hems.
- Check every photo’s pixels. Compare each photo against the full-size need, not the page size. If a photo fills half the banner width, it needs about half the pixels in the table.
- Size the text for the real distance. Work out the full-size capital height you need, divide by 10, and set the text to that.
- Export a high-quality PDF. Embed or outline the fonts and switch off image downsampling (often a “smallest file size” preset), which would throw away the extra resolution the scale needs.
- Check the proportions. Divide the page width by its height and compare with the ordered size. 243.8 ÷ 121.9 = 2.0, and 2438 ÷ 1219 = 2.0: they match.
- Label the scale in the file name. For example “banner-2438×1219-scale-1-10.pdf”, so nobody mistakes it for a small print.
- Upload it on the product page. A person checks the file at full size (size, resolution and edges) before anything is printed. Our guide to a print-ready PDF covers export settings in common programs.
When the online designer is easier #
Our online designer works in real millimetres on screen, so you never need to scale anything. It shows the eyelet positions and safe area, warns you about low-resolution photos and small text, and handles large sizes such as large mesh banners up to 16 ft 5 in × 9 ft 10 in (5000 × 3000 mm). It is free to design and preview, and the print PDF is attached to your order once it is paid.
Still not sure? #
If you are unsure whether your banner artwork at scale will print well, upload it and the file check will pick up size or resolution problems before printing, or call 0161 315 1151 or use the contact form first.
