Good, Better, Best: HEYtex Outdoor Banner Material

Summer is here, and that means more outdoor signage jobs for you! When it comes to outdoor banners, the key is long-lasting graphics that can stand up to the elements.

For this installation of our Good, Better, Best series, we’re looking at three excellent outdoor banner options from HEYtex Textiles: HEYtex 13 oz TopazFLX, HEYtex 15 oz Topaz DS and HEYtex 18 oz Pole Banner.

Each of these deliver consistent quality at an affordable price that are compatible with eco-solvent, solvent, UV and latex ink technologies. We chose the matte options for outdoor use to avoid any glare from the sun that you might get when used outside. Let’s dive in to these three options:

GOOD: HEYtex 13 oz TopazFLX — This is an affordable and durable frontlit banner that’s ideal for one-sided printing. While there are other 13 oz options on the market, our partners at HEYtex are known for their highly consistent product with a 1000×1000 denier and 9×9 knitted base material that looks great grommeted for hanging banners.

What users say: “It’s a nice, thick media. The denier count is really high compared to the different vinyl substrates, which is crucial for outdoor signage.”

BETTER: HEYtex 15 oz Topaz DS — A heavier frontlit option with the added value of double-sided printing capabilities, as well as a higher tensile strength and a nice, smooth, matte surface for exceptional print reproduction. Excellent option for a variety of applications, such as the barrier graphic used in a retail space, pictured at top.

What users say: “We definitely needed a durable product that would be tough and hold up to a lot of abuse.”

BEST: HEYtex 18 oz Pole Banner — With a 1,000-by-1,000 woven denier, this pole banner material has a high tensile strength for long-term indoor or outdoor sign and graphic applications. Plus, it’s two-sided printable and provides 100% blockout qualities that makes it the ideal option for pole banners that are viewed whether people are coming or going.

What users say: “The 18 oz offers a very high tensile strength that’s great for printing on both sides. It looks great sewn with pole pockets, as well.”

Get Double the Mileage with Double-sided Banners

With summer right around the corner, you’re sure to see an uptick in requests for outdoor signage. One way to get a lot of mileage from one piece of media is with double-sided printing. A product like HP Double-sided Blockout Banner makes it easy to produce quality graphics on both sides of the media, thanks to an inner opaque layer that won’t let the graphics bleed through or let light show through.

Double-sided banners can work for outdoor signage like pole flags or hanging banners. They can also come in handy for retail signage when you’ve got a lot of two-way foot traffic.

Choose a matte finish to eliminate any glare. Also, opt for a heavier lay-flat banner media that will eliminate curling along the edges and can finished with grommets, rather than folding and sewing the edges, for a clean, easy-to-handle final banner.

Using a substantial, latex- and solvent-compatible product like HP Double-sided Blockout Banner will allow you to print on both sides of one piece of media, rather than having to glue or sew two graphics together. You can line up your graphic to have the same messaging on both sides, or switch it up so passersby get a new message when they’re coming or going.

If you haven’t tried double-sided printing, check out this training video from Onyx, which takes you step-by-step through the process: