Printing for exhibitors in London
020 3375 6674 info@silverimagelondon.com Open 24 hours, 7 days a week — call or email and we will tell you what is possible today.
What an exhibitor should order depends on the stand: a shell scheme wants infill panels cut to the visible opening, a modular frame wants panels that clip in, and an open space wants a back wall, banners and a tablecloth. We print panels, headers, rigid boards, banners, fabric walls and tablecloths in one building and deliver direct to the hall against a hall and stand number. Files and approval by 21:00 are the usual window for the morning build slot; it is not a fixed cut-off, because capacity decides, and the quotation states what can be finished in the hours left.
An exhibitor rarely starts from the product. The starting points are a stand number, an organiser’s manual with a drawing in it, and a build day that cannot move, and the question is what to print for that stand. Exhibition printing in London is therefore best planned by stand type rather than by item: the stand sets the panel sizes, the mounting and the delivery slot, and the products follow from it. Our London print shop prints through the night, so the build slot is the deadline that counts.
Which print does your stand type need?
Shell scheme, modular frame, open space and the travelling exhibitor each have a different answer, and the exhibitor manual rather than the booked floor area decides the sizes. The usable panel area is always smaller than the space you booked, because uprights, cross-beams and skirt rails take their bite.
| Stand type | What to order | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Shell scheme | Infill panels to the visible opening and a header board; rollable panels or rigid 3 or 5 mm Foamex; or a seamless overlay for one unbroken wall | Panels cut to the drawing press flat onto the wall; on Octanorm the opening is typically around 950 × 2340 mm. Shell scheme walls supplied by UK venues take hook Velcro, which we apply to the backs before dispatch; the manual says which system your stand uses |
| Modular frame stand | Graphic panels that clip into the aluminium frame, quoted from the stand drawing | The graphics change between shows while the frame carries on; metal-framed systems take magnetic tape instead of Velcro |
| Open or space-only stand | A fabric back wall, pull-up banners, rigid boards and a printed tablecloth | Nothing is supplied, so the stand is built from the products themselves; straight fabric walls run from 1 to 10 m wide and curved walls from 2.4 to 6 m |
| The travelling exhibitor | Rollable panels in a transit tube, a pull-up banner in its carry bag, or a fabric wall that packs into a bag | Rollable panels survive the taxi and the train and can be reused for several shows; a standard 850 mm banner with its graphic and bag weighs about 3 kg |
What does an exhibitor need to send?
The organiser’s stand drawing or the exhibitor-manual page with the panel sizes, not your own measurements, together with the hall, the stand number and the build-day deadline. The two mistakes that ruin stand graphics are measuring pole centre to pole centre, which cuts every panel too wide so the run buckles out of the frame, and letting a face or a headline land on a panel seam.
- The drawing or the manual page — the visible opening between the uprights is the panel width.
- A multi-panel wall as one continuous file — we split it into exact panel widths and mark the seams on the proof.
- Rollable or rigid for each wall, and hook Velcro or magnetic tape for the mounting.
- Hall, stand number and the build-day deadline — and the hour your installers start, so the delivery slot is agreed with the file rather than after it.
How does stand print reach the hall?
Delivery goes direct to the venue against a hall and stand number, to the loading bay or the organiser’s service desk, typically within an hour of dispatch inside Central London. Build-up windows are the real constraint: most halls open to contractors the day before and some only on the morning itself, so the delivery slot is agreed with the file. Flat and rigid work travels by van so nothing arrives dented, and rolled banners can go by motorbike where minutes matter more than volume. We print, cut and deliver; the stand build itself is yours or your contractor’s.
Regular runs go to ExCeL, Olympia and the Business Design Centre. A pull-up banner ordered by noon can be at an ExCeL stand the same afternoon, subject to that day’s capacity, which is confirmed at quotation.
Where do the guides and the case studies fit?
Three guides cover the sub-questions an exhibitor asks, and two case studies show a stand and a platform graphic from the first message to the hall. Where to get exhibition stand printing done covers everything a stand needs printed in one building, who supplies and delivers stand graphics for installation is written for the installer, and overnight exhibition printing sets out what the night press can produce. In the case studies, a printed tablecloth, two roll-up banners and 400 stickers for a booth in the City were briefed after 7pm and delivered by 8am, and an 8 × 8 ft platform graphic at Olympia London was printed overnight in two sections and fitted at the venue on Saturday morning.
Q&A
What should an exhibitor send to get a quote for stand graphics?
The organiser’s stand drawing or the exhibitor-manual page with the panel sizes, the hall and stand number, the build-day deadline and the hour the installers start, with rollable or rigid stated for each wall and hook Velcro or magnetic tape for the mounting. The quotation comes back with a ready time and a delivery slot; the exhibition graphics page carries the specification.
What size are shell scheme graphic panels?
Panels are cut to the visible opening between the uprights, not to the pole centres or the booked space. On Octanorm that is typically around 950 × 2340 mm, but the exhibitor manual, not a table, is the authority for your stand, so send the manual page or the drawing.
Should shell scheme panels be rollable or rigid?
Rollable panels suit the travelling exhibitor: they roll into a transit tube and hang flat on pre-applied hook Velcro, and the same set does several shows. Rigid 3 or 5 mm Foamex is the premium build: dead flat, for a stand that wants a flat wall. Both mount without tools.
How should a multi-panel wall be supplied?
As one continuous file, so that we can split it into the exact panel widths; the seams are marked on the proof, and faces and headlines should stay off the seam lines so the image reads as one wall once the panels are mounted.
What happens if a panel is damaged during build-up?
A damaged panel is a reprint, not a redesign: we keep your production files, so a panel torn during build-up goes back on the press, and a courier runs the replacement to the venue while the show carries on. Say the panel position when you call.
For a stand that is part of a wider event, printing for events and conferences in London maps the rest of the set. Send the drawing or the manual page, the hall and stand number and the build-day deadline, and the quotation comes back with a ready time and a delivery slot for the hall. The service pages above carry each product in detail, and the case studies show stand and event jobs from first message to delivery.
Send us the stand
Tell us the hall, the stand number and the build-day deadline, and attach the drawing. We come back with a ready time, and we check the file before anything goes on press.
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