A printed table cover turns a borrowed trestle into branded frontage. Dye sublimated into polyester, so the print will not crack, and washable when the day ends badly. Sewn at Ravenhall.
A printed table cover is a sewn polyester cloth cut to the dimensions of a trestle table and printed with your branding. It slips over the table and does two jobs at once: it hides whatever is stored underneath, and it turns the front face of the table into a metre and a half of signage at exactly the height people are standing. Branded tablecloths and stretch table covers are the same product with different tailoring.
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.
The appeal is that it is the cheapest branded surface at almost any event, and it packs into a bag. The limitation is that it only works if the table matches. A cover cut for an 1800 mm trestle looks wrong on a 2400 mm one and will not go on a round table at all. Measure before ordering. A loose throw is more forgiving of size, which is often the deciding factor.
We print, cut and sew covers at Orbis Drive in Ravenhall. Sublimation happens here, so colour is matched against the rest of your job rather than against a supplier’s sample book. There is no minimum, so one cover for a club stall is fine and so are forty for a national roadshow. Repeat orders come off the same file and match the ones you already have.
The choice is between three cuts and two fabric weights. Fit decides how sharp it looks and how fussy it is about table size. Fabric weight decides how it drapes and how well it hides clutter.
| Style | How it fits | Fabric | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stretch cover | Sewn to size with elastic corners, pulls drum tight | Spandex blend, around 220 gsm | Expos and trade shows where a crisp square look matters |
| Fitted, open back | Boxed corners, three sides down, back left open | Polyester, around 210 gsm | Staffed tables where people sit or store stock underneath |
| Fitted, four sided | Enclosed on all four sides | Polyester, around 210 gsm | Tables viewed from the round, such as island stands |
| Loose throw | Drapes over with no shaping | Polyester, 180 to 210 gsm | Mixed table sizes and clubs sharing one cloth between venues |
| Table runner | A printed strip laid across an existing cloth | Polyester, around 210 gsm | Adding branding to venue linen you are not allowed to replace |
| Print coverage | Front panel only, or full coverage | Same fabric either way | Front-only prints less area, and nobody sees the difference |
Measure your own table rather than trusting the label. Folding tables vary by a few centimetres between brands, and on a stretch cover that difference is the whole point. Height matters too, since 720 mm and 750 mm legs are both common.
Beyond the basic shape there are a handful of choices that change how a cover behaves in use. These are the ones worth thinking about before the order goes in.
A spandex blend sewn slightly undersize with elasticated corner pockets that hook under the table legs. The result is a taut, sculpted surface with no creases and no flapping. It is the sharpest look available and the least forgiving, because it only fits the table size it was cut for.
Boxed corners give square edges on the three visible sides, and the back is left open so staff can sit at the table and reach boxes underneath. This is the practical choice for a staffed stand, and the one most trade show exhibitors end up using.
A rectangle of printed cloth draped over the table with no shaping at all. It costs the least, packs the smallest, and fits a range of table sizes rather than one. It also creases at the corners and moves when people lean on it, which some events will not care about.
Print the front drop and leave the rest a solid colour matched to your brand. The front is the only face anybody photographs or reads, so this covers the visible area for less print. Full coverage is worth it when the table is approached from more than one side.
A printed strip laid across a plain cloth, usually 400 mm or so wide with enough length to hang over each edge. Venues and conference centres often supply their own linen and will not let you replace it, and a runner is how you get branding onto the table anyway.
Sublimation on polyester reproduces strong brand colours well, though fabric is never as sharp as vinyl. Deep blacks and fluoro tones are the two that shift most. If a cover has to sit beside a printed banner, tell us and we will match them off the same colour setup.
Cold gentle machine wash, mild detergent, hang to dry. Do not bleach and do not tumble on high heat, which can shrink the panel enough to matter on a stretch fit. Fold rather than scrunch for storage, and the creases drop out within an hour of going back on a table.
Edges are hemmed and stitched rather than cut and left raw, because a raw polyester edge picks and runs after a few events. On stretch covers the corner pockets are reinforced, since that is where the load goes every time the cover is pulled on.
Most organisers supply a bare trestle with the booth, and a cover is the cheapest way to make that table look intentional. Open-back fitted is the usual pick, since staff need to sit and stock lives underneath. If the stand has a printed counter as well, we run both off the same artwork so the colours agree across the booth.
Weekend markets, farmers markets and food truck side tables, where the cover is doing branding and hygiene at the same time. Wipeable matters, washable matters more, and a second cover folded in the van saves a bad Sunday. Loose throws suit traders who move between markets with different table hire, because one cloth fits a range of sizes rather than a single trestle. Stallholders with a fixed pitch usually go fitted instead.
Registration days, canteens, fundraising stalls and presentation nights. The table is usually whatever the hall happens to own, which is why we ask for a measurement rather than assuming a standard trestle. Clubs often print sponsor logos along the front drop. That gives a sponsor visible return for a small spend, and gives the club a reason to reprint each season as the sponsor list changes. Keep the club logo in the centre so it survives a crop.
Careers fairs, university open days, community consultations and foyer sign-in tables. These are frequently run by people who did not order the cover, will not have a steamer and are setting up ten minutes before doors open. A fitted or stretch cut that looks right straight out of the bag is the safer specification for that. We pack one cover per site and label the bags by location, so nothing gets sorted out on the morning.
The front drop is the part that gets seen, and it is shorter than people assume. Roughly 750 mm high, with the bottom third often blocked by whoever is standing at the table.
A logo file and the table measurements are enough to get started. We produce a flat layout showing where each edge folds and where the corners sit, so you can see what is visible before it is sewn.
Sublimation, cutting and sewing all happen at Ravenhall, so a cover never waits in somebody else’s queue between steps. Sewing sets the pace and is worth allowing for. Give us the event date and we will be straight about whether it fits. Pickup from the workshop, delivery through Melbourne and regional Victoria, freight interstate. Covers fold flat and post cheaply.
Most Australian trestles are 1800 × 750 mm, and that is the size we cut by default.
The long version is 2400 × 750 mm. Imported folding tables are sold as 6ft and 8ft, which come out around 1830 and 2440 mm, so they are close but not the same. On a loose throw the difference is invisible. On a stretch cover it is the difference between taut and baggy. Measure length, width and leg height and send us all three.
No. Dye sublimation turns the ink into gas and bonds it into the polyester fibre, so there is no surface layer to crack or peel.
This is the main reason we print covers this way rather than screen printing or applying vinyl, both of which sit on top of the cloth and eventually split along fold lines. Colour will slowly soften after many washes and a lot of sun, the way any fabric does, but it will not flake off or lift at the edges.
Put the cover on the table an hour early and most creases drop out under their own weight.
If you need it faster, a handheld steamer at a short distance works well. A cool iron on the reverse is acceptable in a hurry. Never put a hot iron directly on the printed face, since polyester glazes and the shine does not come back. Stretch covers barely crease at all, which is one of the quiet reasons people pay more for them.
Stretch if the table is always the same size and appearance matters. Throw if the table changes from venue to venue.
Stretch covers look sharp and stay put, but they are cut for one specific table and are unforgiving about anything else. Throws cost less, pack smaller and cope with whatever the hall provides. Fitted with an open back sits between the two, and is what most exhibitors settle on once they have used all three.
Yes, and for a table set against a wall it is the sensible way to order.
The front drop is the only panel anyone reads. We print that face and match the remaining panels to a solid brand colour, which reduces the printed area without changing how the cover looks in use. Order full coverage when the table sits in the open, on a corner booth, or anywhere people approach it from more than one direction.
Yes, though not as a stretch fit. Rounds are made as a fitted cover or a full-drop throw instead.
Function room rounds are commonly 1500 mm or 1800 mm across, and the cover is cut as a circle plus the drop, hemmed around the edge. Printing on a round works best as an overall pattern or a colour field rather than a single logo, because the artwork curves away from the viewer no matter where they stand.
The rest of the booth. Modular walls, printed counters and hanging signage built on the same tension fabric system, with the graphics colour-matched to your covers.
See the detail →What goes beside the table at a market or an open day, lifting your branding above head height where a table cover cannot reach.
See the detail →The other portable that lives in the same carry bag. A banner behind the table and a printed cover in front covers most stall setups.
See the detail →Browse the full list on our A–Z of everything we print, or see how this fits into signage in Melbourne.
Send the table measurements, the fit you are after and your logo. A price follows inside two business hours.