Production and materials
Printed graphics: material, resolution, fitting
Uğur Yılmaz · Brand & Visual Communications Manager · 3 min read · Last updated:
Short answer
What are stand graphics printed on?
The surface decides. Flat fixed walls take direct-to-board printing or a vinyl wrap applied to the board. Framed surfaces favour silicone-edge fabric, because it is light and travels folded. Floors and steps need a print with a wear layer and anti-slip lamination. Short-lived notices and price boards are fine on thin board. The material follows less from print quality than from how many days that surface must last and from how far away it is read.
The surface picks the material
Direct-to-board printing gives the crispest result and sits perfectly on a flat wall, though the board is brittle and needs protection in transit. Vinyl is the most flexible way to turn a painted surface into a graphic and follows curves, but application takes skill: bubbles and lifting edges are the usual faults.
Silicone-edge fabric is pulled into a channel around a frame. It travels folded, one person can fit and remove it, and it comes back for the next show. In exchange, fabric stretches slightly when tensioned, and the print file has to allow for that.
Floors follow their own rule: the print gains a wear layer and anti-slip lamination on top. Why graphic decisions belong with the design decisions is covered on the stand design page.
Material choice is also about lifespan. A notice board standing for four days and a brand wall travelling to three fairs are not printed on the same thing; the second needs protective lamination and a heavier carrier.
Resolution and file preparation
Resolution is not an absolute number; it depends on distance. A counter graphic within arm’s reach needs a high value, while a six-metre wall read from across the aisle needs far less. Preparing a wall graphic at counter resolution inflates the file, lengthens the print run and buys nothing the eye can see.
Logos and type should always arrive as vectors. Enlarging a photograph loses resolution; enlarging a vector does not. If a typeface is neither embedded nor converted to outlines, it will print as something else.
A screen is not enough for colour. If a brand colour has to hold, ask for a printed proof. Different materials give different colour from the same file, and the gap shows the moment fabric and rigid board sit side by side.
File handover needs a rule of its own. The approved version lives in one folder, the file name carries a date, and whatever goes to print is marked. Anyone who has counted the panels printed from an old file adopts this rule afterwards.
Fitting happens on site
Fitting graphics is the last job of the build, and usually the one that runs late. Vinyl will not hold on a surface that is dusty, damp or not fully cured. So every panel that can be wrapped in the workshop is wrapped there, and only joints and large walls are left for site.
Panel numbers are written on the graphic too, because when two panels of the same size get swapped, the error only becomes visible once the wall is finished. Trim allowances and cut-outs for sockets and doors are marked on the print file.
The final check has two steps: look at the wall from three metres, then run a hand along the edge. Distance reveals alignment; touch reveals whether the edge has taken. Both happen on site, before the first visitor.
A spare print travels with the crate too. One panel damaged in transit leaves that wall incomplete for the whole show, and a second copy of the smaller faces is cheap and takes no room.
When should we send the graphic files?
As production starts. The print line runs separately from cutting and assembly but meets it on one day, so a late file costs more than a print day: the fitting day slips too.
Can we reuse the same graphics at the next fair?
Stretch fabric usually comes back, folded and stored. Vinyl is damaged as it is removed and is normally renewed, so keep a separate budget line for it.