A pull up banner is a printed graphic that retracts into a weighted base and pulls up against a telescopic pole. We print the media, fit it to the hardware at Ravenhall and check every unit stands straight before it goes in the bag.
A pull up banner is a printed panel that rolls into a weighted aluminium base and is drawn up against a three-section pole, giving a free-standing display roughly 2 metres tall that packs back into a carry bag in under a minute. The standard size across Australia is 850 × 2000 mm of visible graphic. Narrower 600 mm units and wider 1000 and 1200 mm units are all common. Nothing is fixed to the floor or the wall.
Made by Melbourne Trade Signs, a large-format print and signage company on Unit 6/43 Orbis Drive, Ravenhall VIC 3023, in Melbourne’s west. Printed in-house and installed Australia-wide. Phone 0415 743 691.
They earn their keep on portability, and that is also where the cheap ones fail. Everything about a pull up banner is a compromise between weight and convenience, and manufacturers cut the same three corners: a lighter base that tips, a snatchy spring that creases the bottom of the graphic, and thin media that curls at the edges after a few weeks in a cassette. A banner that never stands flat is not a bargain.
We print the graphics at our Orbis Drive workshop, fit them to the hardware ourselves and stand each one up before it goes out. That means we see a fault before you do, at a conference, in front of people. There is no minimum, so a single banner for a reception desk is a normal order. If you already own bases, send us the model or a photo and we will print replacement graphics to suit.
Two banners can look identical online and behave completely differently in a room. The differences are in the base, the spring and the media, so here is what actually changes between the two grades.
| Component | Economy | Premium | What it changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base weight | Around 1.5–2 kg | Around 3–4 kg | Weight is what stops the unit walking or tipping in a doorway |
| Base depth | Narrow flat foot | Wider foot, fold-out feet | Depth front to back is what survives a knee or a trolley |
| Retraction | Single spring cassette | Damped, adjustable tension | A snatchy spring creases the bottom of the graphic over time |
| Pole | Three-section snap pole | Locking collar sections | A collar that slips lets the banner sag halfway through a day |
| Graphic fixing | Taped to the leader | Clamp rail, graphic swaps | A clamp rail is what makes replacement graphics possible |
| Media | About 170 micron film | 220–250 micron greyback | Thin media curls at the edges and lets light through |
| Bag | Nylon sleeve | Padded carry bag | The bag is the only thing protecting the base in a car boot |
Keep anything important above 300 mm from the bottom edge. That band sits behind tables, bins and people at every event ever held. The top third is what gets read from across a room, so put the message there.
Almost every choice on a pull up banner comes down to how often it gets moved and how long it needs to stay in service. Here is what we supply and where each option makes sense.
A lightweight base with a basic spring cassette, suited to a banner that goes up in a foyer and stays there. Perfectly adequate for indoor use in a low-traffic spot. It is the wrong buy for anything travelling to events every month, because the base and the spring are what wear first.
Heavier extruded aluminium, a wider foot, a damped retraction mechanism and a proper locking pole. It weighs more to carry, which is the point. If a banner lives in a car and gets set up twenty times a year, the extra weight pays for itself in the graphics you do not have to reprint.
Our standard graphic media is a 220 to 250 micron film with a grey barrier layer through the middle. Light does not pass through it, so window light behind the banner will not turn your artwork into a silhouette, and on a double-sided unit the two faces cannot ghost into each other.
Two graphics in one base, back to back, retracting into a wider cassette. Worth it when people approach from both directions, which is most trade show aisles and any banner standing in the middle of a room. The base is heavier and wider than a single-sided unit of the same graphic width.
Bases outlast graphics by years, and there is no reason to throw hardware away because the phone number changed. If your base has a clamp rail, we print a new panel and you swap it yourself in a few minutes. Send a photo of the top rail and a measurement of the visible width.
Good pull up media is a laminated composite specifically built to stay flat after months rolled inside a cassette. Cheap single-layer film is not, and it curls in from the vertical edges once the humidity changes. This one specification is the single biggest difference between a banner that looks professional and one that does not.
Every banner ships with a bag. Padded nylon is standard and covers normal transport in a car. If banners are being freighted between states or checked in as luggage for a roadshow, ask about a hard case, because a dented base rail will never retract cleanly again.
Some premium bases take a pole that locks at several heights, so one unit runs at 1600 mm under a low ceiling or full height in a foyer. Useful for venues with height restrictions on stands. The graphic still needs to match the height you use most, so pick a primary setting.
The default booth display, because a 3 by 3 metre stand takes two or three of them and they travel in the back of a car. Most exhibitors run one banner per product or service so the stand can be rearranged between shows. Double-sided units go on the aisle corners. If the whole back wall needs covering, a media wall does that job better and packs down almost as small.
A banner beside a desk announcing a service, a class timetable or a flu clinic, standing for months rather than hours. Here a heavier base matters more than it does at an expo, because it is going to get walked past, bumped and vacuumed around every day. These are the banners that end up leaning at an angle in the corner if the base is too light.
Brand teams running a tour need displays that go up fast, look identical in every centre and fit in a vehicle alongside the rest of the kit. We print the whole run in one go so colour matches across every set, pack per location with the venue name on the bag, and can freight direct to the next stop rather than routing everything back through a warehouse in between.
Sponsor banners, registration desk signage and agenda boards for a single day of use. Often ordered late, and often needing several versions carrying different logos. Because there is no minimum, one banner for one speaker is a perfectly normal order for us. Our sister company Event Signs handles the broader event fitout if the job grows past a few banners and a lectern sign.
Pull up artwork has one rule that catches everyone: it is much taller than it is wide, and the bottom third is invisible in a crowded room. Design for the top half.
Send us a logo, the headline, three or four bullet points and any image you want used. We lay it out for the format, mark where the base cuts off, and show you a proof before anything is printed.
Because we print the graphic and fit the hardware ourselves, a pull up banner does not sit waiting on a supplier we cannot chase — replacement graphics can even be printed same day at a pinch. Tell us the date of the event and we will be straight about whether it is achievable. Assembled units get collected from Ravenhall or delivered around metro Melbourne and regional Victoria. Interstate goes by freight, boxed in the carry bag it ships in.
The standard is 850 mm wide by 2000 mm of visible height. Artwork for one is normally supplied at 850 × 2085 mm, with the extra height rolling into the cassette.
Other common widths are 600 mm, 1000 mm and 1200 mm, all at the same 2000 mm height. If you are ordering into an existing base, measure the width of the clamp rail rather than the base itself, because the two are not the same number.
Curl comes from thin, single-layer media being stored rolled in a cassette. The layers relax at different rates and the vertical edges start turning in.
Proper pull up media is a laminated composite around 220 to 250 micron, engineered to stay flat after months rolled up. Economy banners often use film around 170 micron, which will curl and cannot be flattened out again. Storing a banner upright rather than lying on its side helps, but the media grade is the real fix.
Usually yes, provided the base has a clamp rail rather than a graphic taped permanently to the leader.
Send us a photo of the top rail and the bottom cassette, and the visible width of the current graphic. We print the new panel, fit the rails if the design allows, and you swap it in a few minutes with the base laid on its back. Reusing hardware is cheaper than a new banner and it is far less waste.
Blockout media has an opaque grey or black layer sandwiched between the printed face and the back, so no light passes through the banner.
It matters in two situations. First, a banner standing in front of a window or bright light box will look washed out and semi-transparent without it. Second, on a double-sided unit, blockout is the only thing stopping the reverse image ghosting through and muddying both sides. It is our standard media for that reason.
They are if people approach from two directions, and they are wasted against a wall.
A double-sided unit is the right choice for a trade show aisle, a banner standing free in the middle of a foyer, or a corridor with two-way traffic. Against a back wall, the second graphic never gets seen and you have paid for a heavier base you have to carry. Two single-sided banners in different spots often beat one double-sided one.
Only in still conditions, and never left unattended. A pull up banner is a 1.7 square metre sail on a 3 kilogram base, and a light gust will put it face down on the concrete.
Some bases take a water-filled or sand-filled outrigger foot, which helps at an outdoor market on a calm day. For anything genuinely exposed, a teardrop flag on a ground spike is designed for wind and a pull up banner is not.
Still deciding? See our sign and banner sizes guide.
The next size up. A tensioned fabric wall on a collapsible frame that covers a whole backdrop, packs into a bag and sets up without tools.
See the detail →The outdoor answer. Printed flags on a flexible pole with ground spike, water base or cross base, built to move in wind instead of falling over.
See the detail →When a few banners are no longer enough. Full booth fitouts with counters, walls, shelving and hanging signage, printed in Ravenhall and installed by our own crews.
See the detail →Browse the full list on our A–Z of everything we print, or see how this fits into signage in Melbourne.
Give us the size, the quantity and the date of the event. We will tell you whether we can make it and price it inside two business hours.