Frequently Asked Questions

1) Aren’t all Teardrop Banners the same?

NO!  This is one of the biggest misconceptions in the industry. There is a significant difference in quality between many of the banners on the market. Some of the features that distinguish our banners as being the best are:

  • We print on an all weather, treated polyester fabric
  • Double Stitching on all seams
  • Quick Connect device for easy mounting and dismounting
  • True Tapered top poles that are guaranteed.
  • UV treatment for sleeve and fabric.
  • Heavy Duty Canvas carry bag with padded pocket for stake
  • All mounting options have ball bearing spindles that allow the banner to rotate freely.
  • Metal rings at pole ends to prevent poles splitting
  • Pole internal to sleeve keeping skin taught and reduce ‘flapping’
  • High flex, omni directional fiberglass rods that are guaranteed

2) What are the advantages of True Double Sided print?

Expand A Sign Canada pioneered the True Double Sided concept. With a Single Sided banner we print on one side and a mirror image can be seen on the reverse side. This is something some manufacturers call ‘double sided’.

With True Double sided printing we print on two specially treated pieces of fabric. The treatment makes the fabric opaque hence the designs on each side will not show through or interfere with each other. As a result you can even have different designs on each side.

True Double Sided is available for the Flying Banners or Tear Drop Banners, Wing Banners and Feather Banners and Ex-Discs.

3) Why aren’t there prices for your products on the web site?

As with most printing scenarios there are several factors that will influence the price of our products. These include: quantity, print type, mounting options etc. In order to provide accurate quotes and make sure you are not paying for something you don’t need we prefer to get as much information as possible first.

4)  How long do the banners last?

This is a common question but one that does not have a simple answer. The main factors determining the life of any banner are exposure to sunlight, pollution (diesel fumes especially) and wind. Other factors are the colors on the banner and the actual design of the banner. The extreme case is a banner left out 24/7 on a busy road in a hot climate. We have seen our banners in these scenarios last between 12-18 months. See our warranty for more detailed information.

5) Is there a minimum order quantity for your products?

No. We can print 1 or 10,000 banners and you are always assured of the Expand a Sign Canada quality.

6) How long will it take to receive my banner(s)?

It can depend on the quantity and the banner type (Ex-Domes and Towers, for instance, can take longer than Flying Banners because of the assembly required and the size), but generally, you should receive your banners in about 2 weeks from the date the art is approved and the order is placed. Our factory is in Durban, South Africa and our products are produced within five days and then shipped out.

7) What are the different methods used for printing banners?

  • Digital Printing. This is a broad description but usually refers to micro-sized droplets of inks or dyes that are placed directly onto the surface of a substrate via an ink jet printer. Digital printing is more cost-effective for full color CMYK prints. The design can be large and complex with many different tonal values comprising many colors such as photographic images. Digital printing has a thinner ink coverage compared to silkscreen and its inks will fade after 6-12 months in the sun therefore it is a better choice for once-off or short outdoor events and promotions. It is cheaper to print under 15 units using digital and the production process has a shorter turn-around time.
  • Silk Screen Printing. This is more cost effective for spot color prints where the design is comprised of up to 4 solid colors. This means there are no half tone effects or tonal values in the color and it is consistent throughout the design. Where the quantity of banners is 30 or more of the same image and the artwork is one or two color and ink-coverage is 50% of the banner or more, we recommend that these banners be silkscreened for best results.
  • Digital UV Printing. Due to high demand for short to medium runs of full color banners, the UV printer is capable of printing pretty much any substrate up to 2in thick. UV Print is high quality & durable with a very high UV resistance. This is good for indoor or outdoor advertising products and banners. UV Printing does not use any solvents so is more eco friendly than digital or screen printing.

8) What formats are your templates available in?

All our templates are available on our website under Templates and they are in Illustrator CS4 format. If you need a template in an earlier version of Illustrator or in PDF format, contact us and we can provide it to you.

9) What applications do you work in?

We work exclusively in Illustrator CS4 and Photoshop 7.

10) Do you work with MAC or PC files when preparing the artwork for your banners?

We work with PC computers. Generally, we can accept art files from both MAC and PC unless fonts are involved in which case we recommend that all fonts be converted to paths/curves/outlines for us to use them properly. MAC fonts cannot work on PC computers so please do not send MAC font files to us.

11) How does Expand a Sign Canada accept digital files?

The best way for us to use your files is for them to be uploaded to our FTP. Anything 10MB or less can be emailed to us.

For more information on art, please see our Art Guidelines.

12) What is warranty on Expand a Sign Canada products?

See the EAS Warranty page for more information.