Custom table covers: sizes, fits, and printing, explained

Most events hand you a standard folding table and nothing else. What you drape over it decides whether your setup looks like a business or a garage sale. The good news is that table covers are simple to get right once you know the three questions that matter: what size is the table, how do you want the cover to fit, and what should the print say from twenty feet away.

Start with the table, not the cover

Standard folding tables come in two sizes: 6 foot (72 by 30 inches) and 8 foot (96 by 30 inches), both 30 inches tall. If the event has not told you which one you are getting, ask. A 6 foot cover on an 8 foot table leaves bare legs showing on both ends, and an 8 foot cover on a 6 foot table puddles on the floor. When you genuinely cannot find out, order for the 6 foot table: a slightly loose throw on a bigger table looks far better than a cover that cannot reach.

Throw, fitted, or stretch

Throw covers are loose cloths that drape over the table and hang down on all sides. They are the most forgiving fit, the easiest to iron and store, and they work on more than one table size. Choose a 3 sided throw if people will sit or store boxes behind the table, and a 4 sided throw if the back of the table faces the room.

Fitted covers are sewn with corners, like a bedsheet with a tailored skirt. They look sharper than a throw because nothing shifts or wrinkles when the table gets bumped, and they photograph cleanly. The trade is that a fitted cover fits one table size only.

Stretch covers are made from spandex blends that pull tight around the table and hook under the feet. They give the most modern look, hold artwork perfectly flat, and survive wind on outdoor tables better than anything else. If your booth travels to farmers markets or outdoor festivals, stretch is usually the right answer.

Artwork that reads across a room

A table cover is not a brochure. People will read it from a distance, walking, in about two seconds. That means one logo, large, centered on the front panel, with your name or a short line under it if you must. Fine print, phone numbers, and lists of services disappear at ten feet and just muddy the print. If the logo sits on a colored background, printing the whole cover in that brand color with a white or knocked out logo almost always looks more expensive than a white cover with a logo box on it.

Send your logo as a vector file (AI, EPS, SVG, or a proper vector PDF) whenever you can. Table cover printing is large: a front panel logo typically runs 2 to 3 feet wide, and a stretched screenshot of your website header will look soft at that size. If all you have is a PNG or JPG, send the largest one you own and we will tell you honestly whether it will hold up before anything prints.

Full color print or logo only

Dye sublimation printing covers the entire fabric, edge to edge, in full color for one price, which is why all over prints have become the default for covers that need to stand out in a crowded hall. Logo only printing on a stock color cover costs less and turns around faster, and for a clean brand with a strong logo it can look every bit as sharp. Neither is wrong. Pick all over print when the booth needs presence, and logo only when the budget needs friends.

Before you order

Confirm the table size in writing from the event. Decide whether anyone works from behind the table (3 sided) or not (4 sided). Get the vector logo from whoever designed it. Then request a proof and actually look at it at full width on your screen, because the proof is where wrong colors and soft logos get caught. Every cover we print goes through a proof before production, so what arrives is what you approved.

Ready to price one out? Send us your logo and the table size through the quote form and we will come back with options and a proof. If you are outfitting a whole booth, the trade show gear checklist covers what else to order and when.