Custom printed canopy tents are immensely popular both for events and trade shows.  A custom printed tent is an excellent branding opportunity but you may be spending too much!   Here are a few tips to save money on your next canopy tent order: 

First lets discuss the print process.  Tents can be screen printed or digitally printed.  Because digital printing is a more expensive process than screen printing I’ll keep this subject out of this discussion on “saving money”. Let’s talk screen print.

A screen print is actually taking ink and pulling it over a screen with film of your logo on it.  For spot color screen print you need to create a new screen for every color.  That means if you have a 2-color logo, you will have 2 screens to create.  Once the screen is built the cost of running the ink over the screen is small in comparison to the cost of building the screen.  If you have a 2 color logo and you want to print a large logo and a small version of the same logo you will still need to build another set of screens for the small version of your logo.  Now you see that there are 4 screens to build so it is most economical when possible to use the same logo at the same size in as many locations as possible.  

Now that you understand the print process, you’ll understand these tips better:

1)     Have a simple version of your logo that is just 1 or 2 colors.  From a distance the crowd cannot see the subtle fades and drop shadows in your logo art anyway so why waste your marketing budget on things that won’t be seen.

2)     Select a canopy fabric color that is the same as one of the colors in your logo.  If your logo is a blue star with a red moon it the middle of it then you can go from a two-color print to a one-color print by selecting a red canopy top and only printing the blue star and then “drop out” to the red canopy fabric for the red moon.

3)     If you are going to be using the canopy mostly indoors or just a few times a year tell your supplier.  There are different levels of steel strength and aluminum and the assumption will be that you need the tent for consistent outdoor use.

4)     If you know you will be using more than one tent over the course of the year then buy them at the same time so you can have them printed all at the same time.  The savings is significant!

5)     Since you have your screens already made, take advantage of it and have your vendor use them for your tablecloths or banner blades or railing / barriers – now you are really saving money!

6)     Most importantly, ORDER EARLY.  Avoid rush charges and overnight fees by ordering your tents 3 weeks or more before you need them.  The UPS overnight fees are outrageous on even small packages, you can image what they are on a 70 lb. packaged tent.  

I hope you find these money saving tips of interest and that they help to make your next event a huge success!