What size is a wedding tarpaulin?

We found no printer that names a standard wedding size. Printers sell by the square foot. Measure the wall or frame, then check the letter height for the distance guests will stand. One Philippine printer's sample sizes run from 3 x 2 ft to 6 x 5 ft.

How much does a wedding tarpaulin cost per square foot in the Philippines?

Two undated Philippine printer pages state PHP 20 and PHP 25 per sq ft, and a May 2026 overview gives a PHP 25 to 50 range. Layout is charged separately on top of printing, at PHP 150 on one page and from PHP 300 on another.

What resolution should a tarpaulin file be?

Onlineprinters asks for 150 dpi at final size. Banners.com says raster artwork should be at least 100 dpi and prefers vector files (AI or EPS). The two sources differ, so ask your print shop which it needs.

How big should the letters be on a tarpaulin?

Banners.com's rule is 1 inch of letter height per 10 feet of viewing distance. So 3-inch letters read from about 30 feet and 5-inch letters from about 50 feet, with good contrast and a clean sans-serif font.

How far from the edge should text be on a tarpaulin?

Onlineprinters asks for important information at least 50 mm from the edge of the final size, plus a 10 mm bleed around the trim. Eyelets and hems also sit at the edge, so the margin protects the names.

Can I put a QR code on a wedding tarpaulin?

Yes. Make a static code that links to your invitation page, keep the quiet margin clear, and print it large. Our QR guide estimates about 30 cm wide for a gate tarpaulin read from about 3 m, and says to test a proof.

Wedding Tarpaulin Layout: Sizes, Content and Print File Setup

A wedding tarpaulin is cheap to print and expensive to get wrong: a misspelled name or blurry photo is on display all day. This guide shows what to put on it, how to pick a size, how big the letters must be, how to set up the file, and what Philippine printers state per square foot.

Garden wedding entrance with white fabric drapes, tropical flowers and string lights over an empty lawn at sunset

Sources are printer pages, and where they disagree the tables show it. We found no printer or planner page that gives a "standard" wedding tarpaulin size, so we do not invent one. We also add no wording templates: the labels in the tables are functional, not set phrases.

What a wedding tarp is for

Use	Where it goes	What it shows
Welcome tarp	Gate or reception entrance	Couple's names, date
Photo backdrop	Behind the photo spot or stage	Names, date, your hashtag
Seating or program board	Beside the entrance	Table names, schedule
Directions	Road or parking turn	Arrow, venue name
Digital link	Any of the above	QR code to your invitation page

Keep one job per tarp. A welcome tarp with a seating list, schedule and QR code ends up with letters too small for any of them.

Choose the size by viewing distance

Banners.com gives the rule: 1 inch of letter height per 10 feet of viewing distance. It assumes good contrast, a clean sans-serif font and reasonable light.

Guests read it from	Minimum letter height
10 feet	1 inch (absolute minimum)
20 feet	2 inches
30 feet	3 inches
50 feet	5 inches
100 feet	10 inches

Printers sell tarpaulin by the square foot, so there is no wedding size to copy. Printer samples show the range: Arvee's Photo Shoppe prices 3 x 2, 4 x 3, 5 x 4 and 6 x 5 ft, and Creative Design Makati sets a 2 x 3 ft minimum. Onlineprinters, an Irish printer, accepts 50 to 1000 cm wide and 50 to 490 cm high.

Measure the wall, fence or frame where the tarp will hang.
Estimate the farthest spot where a guest must read the names.
Look up the letter height in the table above.
Sketch the names at that height. If they do not fit the width, shorten the text or go bigger.
Check the space after the layout, since eyelets and ties take room.

Layout rules

Rule	What to do	Source
Safe margin	Text and faces at least 50 mm from the edge	Onlineprinters
Contrast	Strong contrast and a clean sans-serif font	Banners.com
Eyelets	Choose edges only if the tarp is tied or hung	Our layout advice

Banners.com says hemmed edges with grommets let you secure the banner to a fence, frame or building with rope or bungee cords. Onlineprinters sells hems and eyelets as an option: on the short ends only, along all edges, or none.

Here is a sample layout (our own sketch, not a printer template). The dotted line is the 50 mm safe margin.

+------------------------------------------------+
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  |
| .            NAME & NAME   (largest)         . |
| .            date          (second)          . |
| .                                            . |
| .     one photo or one pattern               . |
| .                                            . |
| .  venue / hashtag (small)         [QR]      . |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  |
+------------------------------------------------+

Keep the names largest and the date second, and use one photo or one pattern so they do not compete.

Set up the file for the print shop

Item	Onlineprinters	Banners.com
Resolution	150 dpi at final size	At least 100 dpi for raster art
72 dpi screen files	Not mentioned	Print blurry; upscale the canvas before designing
File format	Not stated on this page	PDF, AI, EPS, or high-res PNG or JPEG; vector preferred
Colour mode	CMYK, FOGRA51 (PSO coated v3)	Not stated
Bleed	10 mm trim around the final size	Not stated
Safe margin	50 mm from the final edge	Not stated
Fonts	Embedded or converted to curves	Not stated

The two sources disagree on resolution, and both are overseas printers. Ask your Philippine shop for its own spec before you export. Onlineprinters also says it does not check spelling, so proofread the names and date yourself.

A 150 dpi file at 4 x 3 ft is 7,200 x 5,400 pixels (our arithmetic). A phone photo of a few megapixels will not cover that, so use photos at full original size and keep them off the biggest areas.

What printing costs in the Philippines

Prices are what each page states, not quotes. The two shop pages have no date; we read them on 2026-10-07.

Source	Printing	Layout or extras
Arvee's Photo Shoppe	PHP 20 per sq ft	Layout PHP 150; 4 x 3 ft works out to PHP 390
Creative Design Makati	PHP 25 per sq ft, 2 x 3 ft minimum	Design from PHP 300; rush +PHP 150 for 2 to 3 hours
Printixels (May 2026)	PHP 25 to 50 per sq ft	Rises with thickness, outdoor use and finishing

The same 4 x 3 ft tarp is 12 sq ft, so printing alone is PHP 240 at PHP 20 and PHP 300 at PHP 25 (our arithmetic). Ask if layout, eyelets and delivery are included.

Tarpaulin versus other sign materials

A Philippine government request for quotation specifies 13 oz, 340 GSM, glossy, water-resistant tarpaulin; it is a buyer's spec, not a printer's. Our wedding signs guide lists corflute, foamboard and acrylic from an Australian printer, noting that foamboard and acrylic are indoor only.

Material	Strength	Limit
Tarpaulin	Large, water-resistant (per the buyer spec above)	Needs ties, eyelets or a frame to hang flat (our note)
Corflute	Rigid, indoor or outdoor	Rigid board, not a hanging sheet (our note)
Foamboard	Rigid board	Indoor only

Use tarpaulin for the big, high-up piece and rigid boards for the small signs guests read up close.

Add a QR code to the tarp

Put one QR code on the tarp and link it to the invitation page. Our QR code guide estimates about 30 cm wide for a gate tarpaulin read from about 3 m. That is an estimate, so test a proof, and keep the empty margin around the code. Imbitasyon Ko does not generate a QR code for the invitation link, so use a static generator. The app's own QR code is the per-guest ticket for check-in.

To add the hashtag, see our hashtag ideas guide. To add initials, see our monogram guide.

Before you send it

Send the proofread file, the exact finished size and where the tarp will hang. Ask for a proof or a small test print of the QR code, and ask when it will be ready: rush printing is an extra fee at one shop. Print the layout on A4 at the same proportions and tape it up where the tarp will go.