Still, they require care and maintenance to help keep them in pristine condition and last for many years. In this guide, Signs.com shares tips and best practices to extend the life of outdoor banners and keep the print looking new and vibrant.

1. Choose the right banner material.

Banners are made from different materials, including heavy-duty vinyl, mesh vinyl, and polyester fabric. Vinyl material is typically used for banners meant for long-term use because they are highly resistant to UV rays, water, humidity, and harsh weather conditions.

However, not all vinyl banners are created equal. At Signs.com, our vinyl banners have a tear resistance of 67 lbs. x 64 lbs. and a temperature resistance of -2 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit, which meets the California State Fire Marshal, NFPA 701 Flame Test.

Mesh vinyl is another suitable material for outdoor banners, and they are perfect for windy locations. Mesh banners have a perforated design that allows wind to pass through, preventing excessive stress on the material and mounting points, thereby reducing the risk of tearing.

2. Use banners with a durable edge finish.

Adding an edge finish or hem can significantly improve your banner’s durability. By contrast, outdoor signs with no hem (i.e. they are flush cut) are less resistant to tears and damage, especially along the edges.

There are two common methods to construct a durable edge finish: welded hems, which are created using heat, and sewn hems, which are made using an industrial sewing machine.

3. Install your outdoor banners correctly.

Outdoor banners typically have grommets, which are also called eyelets or rings, for threading ropes, bungee cords, or zip ties. Other banners, meanwhile, have pole pockets that need to be hung between two poles.

Whether you equip your banners with grommets or pole pockets, it’s important to display them in a way that their weight is evenly distributed across the mounting points. The goal is to reduce sagging and creasing, which can damage the material over time.

Apply adequate tension when installing banners; too much can cause warping or tearing. Hang them taut but not overstretched, especially in windy conditions, to prevent the wind from pulling and tearing the material.

4. Clean your banners frequently.

Wash your banners every few months, or as often as necessary, depending on how frequently they are exposed to dust, dirt, and pollution. Regular cleaning prevents grime buildup and maintains the graphics’ vibrant colors.

When cleaning an outdoor banner, avoid using abrasive products, stiff brushes, and power washers, as these may cause fading and damage the material. Instead, use soapy water (a mild dish soap will do) and a soft cloth or sponge to remove stains or grime buildup on the surface. Rinse the banner thoroughly with clean water and let it dry completely before storing or re-hanging it.

5. Take preventive measures during severe weather.

Removing banners during severe weather prevents them from tearing or being damaged, which helps extend their life. If you must leave them up, ensure they are made from a durable material designed for outdoor use and are properly installed.

6. Choose a shaded spot for banner installation.

Constant exposure to UV rays can break down the chemical bonds in the ink, causing the graphics to fade over time. If possible, place banners in areas where they receive minimal direct sunlight, like shaded spots near buildings or trees.

Related article: Vinyl Banner Placement Strategies

7. Store your banners correctly.

When not in use, roll up your banners and store them in a cool, dry place, away from direct sunlight, humidity, and extreme temperatures. Keep them in a protective tube or container to prevent stains and dust buildup. Avoid folding your banners because wrinkles can damage the print and affect the overall longevity of the material.

The most important step to extend the lifespan of your outdoor banners is to choose a durable, weather-resistant material with reinforced hems. Proper installation, care and maintenance, and storage also play a crucial role in the longevity of your signs.

If you don’t have a print-ready banner design yet, you can use Signs.com’s pre-made templates or online design tool, or request a professional design service for high-quality banner printing designed for outdoor durability.

How to Make Your Outdoor Banners Last Longer

Source: Tales From the Crib

Source: Desert Domicile

See what we mean? They look pretty amazing and add an incredible amount of visual interest to a space. Making them look cohesive and stylish can be a challenge, but don’t feel too overwhelmed. Following a few simple tips, your canvas print gallery can be magazine cover ready! 

Source: Furniture Ideas

Here’s our step-by-step guide to designing, printing, and hanging your canvas gallery wall.

It’s important to note that even though images may contain framed photos, you can incorporate the same design idea using canvas prints with or without frames.

STEP ONE: Pick your wall space

Taking a look around your home, there might just be a big blank wall begging to be turned into a beautiful gallery wall. Even if there are more than a few possible gallery wall locations in your home, pick a wall that can be a focal point. Make sure there is enough space on that wall to do exactly what you want; keep in mind light switches, doors, and windows that could get in the way.

Family/Living Room: Because the family room is typically where we spend the most of our time, it’s a great place to show off your family’s unique personality with a canvas gallery wall. Showcase your family’s most recent photo shoot or display stunning vacation photos.

Source: Hometalk

Entryway: Using canvas prints in an entryway setting can be a great way to add charm as soon as you walk into your home. Add an inspiring quote that you will see as you leave everyday, or create a family “Command Center” for collecting important papers, bills, and homework documents. Framed images can easily be replaced using canvas prints.

Source: Adventures in Organizing

Bedroom: Adding a personal touch to a master bedroom or a kids bedroom can create a feeling of intimacy. Large canvas prints make a statement above a master bed, or look especially delightful above a nursery crib.

Source: Houzz

Source: McGrath II

Kitchen: Canvas prints may seem like an unexpected choice for the kitchen, but quirky prints or sayings can add a great focal point to any space. They even make a great holiday statement piece, like this Thanksgiving inspired canvas.  Pro tip: while it goes without saying, just avoid places where your canvas might get wet!

Source: Liz Marie Blog

Above the Fireplace: Because it’s already such a statement in a room, the fireplace is a great place for a simple canvas print. If you’ve got an ornate fireplace, add a cute quote. If you’ve got something more simple in your space, try using a eye-catching photo or an elegant design. 

Source: Signs.com – click the link or above image to edit this canvas print

Keeping it simple is a great way to display what you love. Or mix it up with more than one print for more visual interest. Either prop it up against the wall or hang your canvas print above the mantle.

Source: Slowmama

Hallway: Hallways are often an afterthought of home decor, but they are prime spaces for creating canvas gallery walls. Large prints look great as one image.

Source: Amy’s Casablanca

Hallways are great for canvas gallery walls. Because of the long, usually empty spaces, hallways can hold a variety of sizes of canvas that can be displayed in a variety of ways. 

Source: My House My Home

Office: A home office can get a quick update with a beautiful canvas print or a canvas gallery wall. If you have a flat desktop, center your gallery wall around your computer screen for wow factor, or just cover a large empty wall with your favorite image.

Source: Everygirl

Bathroom: Like the kitchen, you might not think that the bathroom is a place for a canvas gallery wall, but think again. Bathrooms often have large, blank walls perfect for canvas galleries. Small spaces can make a big impact. Create an entire display using canvas prints or incorporate framed photos as well, as seen below.

Source: Apartment Therapy

STEP TWO: Choose the right layout for your space

Whenever you’re designing a canvas gallery wall, it’s important to consider the space you have to work with. Once you’ve picked the right place in your home to create your wall of canvas prints, it’s time to pick the perfect layout. Layouts can be the deciding factor between a cohesive gallery wall and one that looks unfinished and scattered.

The size and magnitude of your gallery wall is generally up to your aesthetic choices. As a general rule of thumb, choose either a large photo as a focal point over a piece of furniture or an accent piece, or spread out a multitude of photos over a focal point without one large photo or image taking up too much of the space.

While the final layout is completely up to you, here are a few of our favorite choices of layouts. Contact us for these downloadable templates that you can follow at home!

Symmetrical Layouts: Symmetry is the key to traditional design and designing a canvas gallery wall is no different. If you’re focusing on a symmetrical layout, be sure to align all the artwork centered with each other. This adds to the cohesive look of the gallery wall.  

Asymmetrical Layouts: These types of layouts are perfect for the more modern, eclectic gallery canvas wall. For asymmetrical layouts, align the canvas wraps to the tops of each other. This gives the appearance of asymmetry, but also gives a directional line that is pleasing to the eye.

Large Canvas Layouts: Adding a large photo canvas wrap to any wall can be a beautiful focal point. Like symmetrical prints, the best course of action is to center these canvas wraps around the largest canvas in the group.

Vertical Layouts: Vertical layouts work very well for spaces that are long and skinny — think next to doors, around windows or on smaller walls. These work great hung either centered or aligned left or right (depending on your space).

Grid Layouts: Grid layouts are just that… grids! They offer the most cohesive look of all types of layouts. Think about how aesthetically pleasing an Instagram profile page looks; that’s the look achieved with grid layouts. Make sure that the canvas wraps are both centered and aligned, which is easily achieved with canvas wraps of the same size.

STEP THREE: Decide on a theme or color palette

The best place to start when collecting images to put on a gallery wall is to select a color palette. Creating a custom color palette that fits within your style and home decor choices will make picking artwork or different types of prints for home so much easier. Even if style varies, the gallery wall will still look cohesive.

The colors you use in your gallery wall are completely up to you! Stunning gallery walls can be created from classic black and white photos or from multicolored eclectic pieces. The choice is yours.

Picking a color palette can seem daunting, but ask yourself these simple questions:

• What colors do I love? Starting with your favorite color means you won’t get sick of your gallery wall any time soon.

• What colors am I already stuck with? 99.99% of us can’t afford to redo the entire room to match a gallery wall. Some of us rent and can’t even paint the walls. So, it’s best to start from a reasonable spot. What are the undertones of the paint on your walls?

• How do I want this space to feel? Are you looking for a calming spa-like feel? Stick with harmonious colors (think blue, green, and teal). Uber modern? Try using monochromatic colors and neutrals (light red, red, and burgundy for example). Want a bohemian, eclectic look? Use contrasting colors (like blue and orange or yellow and purple).

If you’re using photos for your gallery wall, think about adding a filter or colored overlay in a program like photoshop to add cohesion to the photos you choose.

STEP FOUR: Collect your art

Well, this could be the most fun part of the whole process. Collect things that make you excited! As the author Marie Kondo wrote, “Ask yourself, ‘Does this item spark joy?’ If not, don’t bring it into your home.”

Collect your favorite photos from your past family vacation or from the most recent round of family portraits.  Print those as high-quality photos for your gallery wall.

Alternatively, look online for beautiful graphic photos or moving quotes to include with your gallery wall. Scour Etsy or Pinterest boards for free or inexpensive printables and downloads.

STEP FIVE: Print your art

Using a custom printing service like Signs.com allows you to get high-quality prints with quick turnaround times. Since Signs.com offers custom sizing and different printing options, you’re able to quickly get exactly what you’re needing to make your gallery wall look professional.

Check out our canvas wraps for printing art or photos. Or, check out our Posters, which are perfect for framing!

STEP SIX: Layout your design  (before you hang!)

The most surefire way to have a beautiful gallery wall is to take the extra step of laying out the design beforehand. This will ensure that everything lines up correctly and will help you avoid unnecessary holes in the walls that you’ll have to patch later.

Lay out the pieces of your gallery wall on the floor to make sure you like the layout. Nothing should go on the wall until you’re happy with the arrangement on the floor.

Many people use what’s called the “Newspaper Trick”. Cut the exact sizes of the canvases and frames you’ll be hanging on your gallery wall. Mark where the nail holes will need to be in order to hang the signs correctly. Put these pieces of newspaper (or craft paper) on your wall and hammer away!

Source: 320 Sycamore

Getting the best layout for your space is easy with these three numbers.

• 57” – the ideal height for art on the wall:  Always hang your artwork at 57″ on center, or so that the middle of piece of art is at 57” (obviously, the hook will be higher). Decor specialist Maxwell Ryan writes, “Interestingly, the 57″ standard represents the average human eye-height and is regularly used as a standard in many galleries and museums.” Read more about this trick here. This standard is not always possible.

• 3” to 6” – the ideal distance between pieces of art

• 6”  to 8” – the ideal distance between the bottom edge of art and the top edge of a piece of furniture: This rule applies to everything from couches to fireplaces, and countertops to end tables, no matter how much of wall space you have.

STEP SEVEN: Hang your canvas gallery wall

The hard labor is upon us! Hanging your canvases and art is really quick and simple with things like the newspaper trick and the 57” rule listed above.

Be sure to measure (again) the space between each piece of art as well as the location of the hanging hooks or picture mounting hardware.

For smaller pieces of art with mounting hardware already attached to the back or smaller canvas prints, one nail will work best. Larger art may require more than one nail to hang. This is especially true for canvas prints that only have a “ledge” wood frame on the back. Any piece of art that is heavier than 15lbs should be hung using picture wire or hanging hooks.  

If you plan to hang more than one gallery wall in your home, consider investing in a laser level to get lines just right. Use poster putty in each of the corners of the piece of art to keep them hanging straight for years to come (It doesn’t damage the paint).

STEP EIGHT: Celebrate!

Whew! You’ve made it! Now it’s time to step back and admire all of your hard work!

Source: Satori Design

Designing Your Canvas Wall Gallery

Step 1

Go to Signs.com

Step 2

Scroll down and select what type of material to use.

Step 3

Once you have selected the material, go ahead and enter in the width and height and select Get Started!

Step 4

Select one of the following (If you are not sure click START FROM SCRATCH).

Step 5

When you click  START FROM SCRATCH it will bring you to the “Design Your Sign” page.  From here you can add text, upload images, change colors and more under “Design Tools”.

Step 6

Select Add Text and a text box will reflect on your screen saying “Add your text here…”. From the Text Options box you are able to change what text you want, the font and the size of the text box. To change the color of the text you select the color while the text box is selected.

Step 7

If you want to change the color of the background, select part of the background and then select the color you wish to change it to.

Step 8

To add more text you can select Add Text again. You can click and drag the text box to where you would like it to be. You can center text boxes, clip art or uploaded image by using the Center Vertical or Center Horizontal buttons under Design Tools.

Step 9

If you would like to upload an image, you will click on Upload Image under Design Tools. Select File, locate image you would like to upload and select open.

Step 10

Once you have everything on your design, you can now select the options.

Step 11

Once you have all of your options selected you can select View Proof which is located under your design to see it blown up. If everything looks good you can close out of the proof by selecting the x in the right corner.

Step 12

After you have viewed the proof you can click on Save and Continue. This will take you to the shopping cart.

Step 13

Once in the shopping cart, review your order and make sure everything looks correct (design, material, sizing, options, quantity). Then you will select Checkout, either on top or bottom.

Step 14

On the checkout screen you will fill out your information and billing address.

Step 15

If your billing address is different than your shipping address you can deselect Ship to my billing address and you can enter in your shipping address.

Step 16

Once you have entered in the shipping address you can select the Shipping Method, we offer UPS Ground, UPS 2nd Day Air and UPS Next Day Air Saver.

Step 17

You can now enter in your Payment Info; we accept Visa, Mastercard, AmEx and Discover. If you have a promo code you can click on Got a promo code? which is below the “leave a comment” comment box. Once you enter in your code you can press go, and your code should reflect towards the grand total of your order.

Step 18

If everything looks correct you can click on “Place Your Order”.

Step 19

At this point, your sign is in our hands. Our team will review, produce, and ship it out to you within one business day of ordering!

A Step-by-Step Guide on Orderering a Sign from Signs.com

Installing a Perforated Car Window Decal

Some signs are easier to install than others. For example, hanging a banner doesn’t take that much thought or effort, but installing a perforated car window decal to a vehicle…well, that takes a little more planning. To help you out, we’ve created a brief video to show you the best way to install your new car decal so it comes out perfect every time. Also, here are a couple tricks that will come in handy:

1. Always create your sign at least two (2) inches wider and taller than your window.  Most car windows are NOT exactly flat. In fact, most are convex or bubbled in some way. By measuring the extra 2 inches, it makes it much easier when it comes to trimming the excess off and gives you a little “wiggle room” to account for the curved surface.
2. Clean your window with a basic ammonia mixture (1/2 cup ammonia, 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol, 1/2 cup water) in a spray bottle. Bird crap doesn’t help the adhesion process!
3. If you are installing the decal by yourself, it’s a good idea to peal the backer off one corner and lightly attach the decal to the window. This lets you walk around and take measurements without the sign moving around.
4. The more hands the better. We actually installed the decal using one person and the then again with two people. Having two cut the installation time in half. They were also able to stay on their own side (as seen in the video) and measure without having to walk back and forth from side to side trying to make sure everything was even.
5. Always start in the middle and work your way out with a squeegee. This gives you a good anchor. Keep in mind, you can always trim off the edges but if the middle is messed up, there is not much you can do.

Installing window decals can look difficult, but if you keep these simple steps in mind, you are guaranteed to get a great sign for your vehicle. Check out the finished product!

Related Articles

How to Remove a Decal.

How to Apply Decals.

The Benefits of Car Advertising.

How-To: Installing a Perforated Car Window Decal

How-To: The Signs.com Online Design Tool

Designing your own custom banner has never been easier, thanks to the Signs.com Online Design Tool. Whether you’re creating signage for your business, event, or organization, our user-friendly tool puts full creative control in your hands — no design experience required. While this article focuses on banners, the same powerful features apply to all our custom sign types.

Below is a step-by-step walkthrough of how to use the design tool, plus an overview of key features like text editing, shapes, image uploads, and our built-in QR code generator.

Step 1: Choose Your Sign

To get started, select the type of sign you want to design. After selecting the sign type, you’ll see a few customization options you can immediately do. Banners, for example, give you the option to choose the exact size, printed sides, hems, grommets, and so on.

Step 2: Choose How You Want to Design

After making basic customization changes, click on ‘Get Started’. You’ll get a prompt to pick between Upload File, Design Online, or Search Template.

You can also get the assistance of a professional designer if you don’t want to do the design yourself.

Step 4: Config Module

This tool lets you:

• Adjust width and height
• Switch banner types
• Zoom in/out
• Toggle full screen
• Save your design progress
• Add to cart when ready to order

Step 5: Upload Images or Use Stock Graphics

Want to include your logo or a photo? Upload your own images directly into the tool. You can also browse our stock photo library and get licensed images.

Once added, images can be:

• Resized and rotated
• Aligned to other elements
• Brought forward or sent back in layers

Step 6: Add and Customize Text

Click “Text” on the left panel to start adding your own content. You can:

• Choose from a wide range of fonts
• Adjust font size, color, bold, and italic
• Move and rotate text boxes anywhere on the banner

Step 7: Add Shapes, Colors, and Design Elements

Need arrows, boxes, or other accents? The Shapes tab allows you to add geometric elements to guide attention or enhance your layout. All shapes can be resized, recolored, and rotated.

The Background module lets you play around with a myriad of background colors as well as add images and patterns.

Step 8: Generate and Add a QR Code

Want to send viewers directly to your website, event registration, or menu? Use the built-in QR code generator to create a scannable code right in your design.

You can customize its size and placement just like any other design element.

Step 9: Save or Checkout

Once you’re happy with your banner design:

• Click “Save & Continue” to save your design and add it to your cart.
• At this point, you can review the details of your project before completing the checkout process.
• If you aren’t ready to complete the purchase, the design will be automatically saved for later use.

How-To: The Signs.com Online Design Tool