If you’re looking to promote your event or organization, there’s no doubt you’ve considered the use of banners and signage. Many people are not aware that there are many kinds of signs, and not all of them are created equal.

Different types of banners and signs have different uses, and each type has its own advantages and disadvantages. Because of this, we’re going to cover two of the most widely-used and loved types of signage (flex and vinyl printing), what the pros and cons are of each, and how you can decide which one you should be using to promote your business.

Flex material is softer and more flexible than vinyl. Flex material can be printed on and recolored using specialized industrial printers. These printers basically operate like any other inkjet mechanism, but the printers are designed specifically to accept flex material.

Vinyl printing is probably the most common kind of banner and signage printing used today. When you use vinyl, you will send your sign maker a pattern or outline with the colors you would like to use. The vinyl is loaded into a special machine and will be cut into the pattern you have selected.

In the past, vinyl could not be recolored with a tool, but new printers have entered the market that can print onto either vinyl or flex materials.

Once your vinyl is cut, it must be applied to an appropriate surface. While flex material is generally applied to a medium using heat, vinyl only needs to be stuck onto your sign or banner using adhesive attached to the vinyl material. The application works just like a band-aid, which needs to have the adhesive covers pulled off before being applied to a surface. Unfortunately, vinyl banners are prone to wrinkling, but learning how to get wrinkles out of vinyl banners is relatively easy.