Enter your booth size and we'll tell you how big the back wall graphic can be, how many retractable banners fit across it, what size table cover you need, and where the height rules will stop you. Then you can go and price it.
In a standard linear booth — the kind with neighbors on either side — most US shows cap the back wall at 8 feet and everything in the front half of the booth at 3 feet.
It isn't arbitrary. Your neighbor paid for the same floor space you did, and a 10-foot tower at the front of your booth erases their visibility from the aisle. The 3-foot rule keeps the front half low so every booth in the row can be seen. The same logic is why hanging signs are normally reserved for islands, where there's nobody behind you to block.
Shows enforce this. Floor managers walk the hall during setup and they will make you take something down — on the morning of the show, with no time to reprint. Which is the whole reason this page won't state your show's rules as fact.
| Booth type | Back wall | Front half | Hanging sign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inline / linear | 8 ft | 3 ft | Usually not allowed |
| Corner | 8 ft | 3 ft | Usually not allowed |
| Peninsula | Often higher | Varies | Often allowed |
| Island | No back wall | Often 16–20 ft overall | Usually allowed |
Common defaults only. Your exhibitor kit is the authority.
Two practical routes. A bank of retractable banners side by side, which travels in tubes, sets up in minutes without tools, and is easy to replace one panel of if something changes. Or a single large graphic on a frame system, which looks seamless but is heavier, slower to set up and more expensive to change.
For most exhibitors doing a handful of shows a year, the banner bank wins on every practical measure. The calculator above tells you how many fit.
A printed cover is the cheapest square footage of branding in the booth and it's visible from down the aisle. A 6-foot table takes a 6-foot cover; an 8-foot table takes an 8-foot one — and a runner works if you want the branding without covering the whole table.
Foam core is light, cheap and fine for a two-day show, but it dents if it's shipped badly. Coroplast survives handling better. Aluminum is what you use when the sign has to look permanent or last across a season of shows.
Three, comfortably. A standard retractable is about 33 inches wide, and a 10-foot back wall is 120 inches — three banners plus a little breathing room between them. A 20-foot booth takes six.
In a linear booth, normally no. The front half is usually capped around 3 feet so you don't block the booths either side of you. Tall elements belong against the back wall.
Match it to the table: a 6-foot table takes a 6-foot cover, an 8-foot table an 8-foot cover. Shows often supply the table, and the kit will say which size — worth checking, because a 6-foot cover on an 8-foot table looks like a mistake from across the hall.
That's most of who we print for. We print to your install date and ship to the hall or your hotel, anywhere in the continental US. See how the exhibitor service works.
Have you used this tool for a project? Tell people how it went → It takes a minute and it is the single most useful thing a customer can do for a small shop.
Banners, table covers, foam core, Coroplast, aluminum and handouts — printed to your install date and shipped to the hall or your hotel, anywhere in the continental US.
Exhibitor Printing →Or call (888) 868-4451 · info@cityprintexpress.com
