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Banner Making: From Envision to Completion

How Vinyl-Lettered Banners are Made

In the previous section we discussed how choices in the methods of banner making affect the cost. Here we take a closer look at the option with the lowest overall price, vinyl-lettered banners. From this you should gain a general idea of what is involved in producing this type of a banner.

What is a vinyl lettered banner?

Computer cut vinyl is simply "adhesive backed vinyl stickers" cut into a particular shape. Sometimes referred to die-cut lettering, however a computer plotter is used instead of templates or dies. Computer cut vinyl is known best for cutting the shape of letters such as a "Q", for example, but this can also be the shape of an object like an airplane or the Nike logo. Adhesive vinyl material comes from the manufacturer much like paper stickers such as mailing labels do. The mailing label is stuck to a waxy paper that can be peeled away from the wax-paper liner. In the case of mailing labels, one would discard the paper liner and the label applied to the envelope. Adhesive backed vinyl works with the same basic principle in mind. The difference is that the vinyl uses high strength adhesive, is waterproof, fade resistant and will last 5-7 years outdoors a big plus in banner making. The adhesive backed vinyl can then be then applied to various sign materials one of which is vinyl banner material.

What type of Programs can be used to cut vinyl lettering?

Computer drawing programs that are designed to produce vector-based artwork files are used to prepare the guide enabling a computer to cut adhesive vinyl. The most popular among vector art programs are Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw, Macromedia Freehand, as well as most sign making software products. The artwork produced from these vector-based programs will sometimes be referred to as outlines, curves, elements, or object-oriented art. Files originating from such programs can be identified by extensions such as .ai, .eps (vectored), .cdr., .dxf, and wmf. Overall these types of files should not be confused with raster artwork (to see difference between vector based drawing software vs. raster based paint software here). Files of the type described here can be provided to a signmaker who can utilize this artwork to cut vinyl, thereby eliminating the expense having the sign shop design your sign. In a few cases the sign shop will have to touch up or modify the design to meet the specifications of thier equipment. So it can be generally said that the cleaner the artwork, the lower the price.

Vinyl banner making

Computer cutting of vinyl has been a beneficial advance in the signmaking business, it has made sign production cheaper and faster. To produce the vinyl lettering required for a banner, your banner manufacturer primarily needs a computer, and a plotter designed for cutting sheets of adhesive vinyl. With this hardware it is also neccessary to utilize computer software that can edit vector artwork, and output that artwork to the plotter.

The general process of producing vinyl lettering or graphics for a banner the sign shop cuts adhesive vinyl using the computer driven cutter. Then the unwanted vinyl is separated from the lettering/graphics and is discarded. The lettering/graphics are then transferred by hand and applied to the vinyl banner material. This banner making process is described as cutting, weeding, taping and applying. This will be described in more detail in the next secton.