Yard Sign Printing: Sizes, Coroplast and Stakes

Yard signs are the cheapest printed sign there is, and the easiest to get wrong — almost always by putting too much on them.

Sizes

24 × 18 inches is the standard. It is cheapest per unit because stock sheets, H-stakes and shipping cartons are all built around it. Unless you have a specific reason, use it.

Common alternatives:

• 18 × 12 — smaller and cheaper, for directional signs and tight placements.
• 24 × 36 — high visibility, construction sites and roadside. Needs sturdier stakes.
• Custom — possible, but costs more per unit and may need custom stakes. Worth confirming stake availability before committing.

Coroplast, and why flute direction matters

Coroplast is corrugated plastic: two flat outer sheets with vertical channels — flutes — between them. Think plastic cardboard. 4mm is the standard weight for yard signs; 6mm and 10mm exist for larger or longer-lived pieces.

The flutes run one way, and that direction decides how the sign can be mounted:

• Vertical flutes — an H-stake slides up into the channels from the bottom. This is what you want for a standard staked yard sign.
• Horizontal flutes — stronger against bending across the width, but an H-stake will not insert. Used for signs that get zip-tied to a fence.

Getting this wrong means a box of signs that physically cannot be mounted the way you planned. Say how it is being installed when you order and the shop sets the flute direction correctly.

Single or double sided

Double sided is usually only slightly more than single, because the setup is already done. If people will approach from both directions — and on a street, they will — it is nearly always worth it.

One thing to specify: on a double-sided sign, say whether the second side is identical or different artwork, and whether it should be flipped so both read correctly when the sign rotates on its stake.

Laying one out

A yard sign is read from a moving car, often at an angle, in under two seconds. That constrains the design far more than most people allow for.

The rule of thumb for legibility is about one inch of letter height per 25–30 feet of reading distance. A sign read from 75 feet needs roughly 3-inch letters. On a 24 × 18 sign that is a headline and very little else.

• One message. A name, or an offer, or an arrow. Not all three.
• High contrast. Dark on light or light on dark. Mid-tone on mid-tone disappears at distance.
• One piece of contact information. A phone number or a short URL. Nobody memorises both at 30 mph.
• Keep it out of the edges. Leave a quarter-inch safe margin; trimming drifts slightly.

Our designer has a 24 × 18 preset with the trim and safe lines shown, and it tells you how far away each piece of text is readable from as you size it.

Stakes and installation

The standard is a wire H-stake, usually 10 × 30 inches, pushed into the ground with the two uprights sliding into the flutes. Order stakes with the signs — they are inexpensive and awkward to source separately.

In hard or frozen ground, make a pilot slot first rather than forcing the stake, which bends it. In high wind, two stakes per sign or a heavier gauge is worth it.

And check local rules before placing: many municipalities restrict placement in public right-of-way, and signs get removed.

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