Longer lasting street posters using Correx board

If you are looking for a more durable material than paper or card-board for your street posters then Correx board or Coruplas is just the thing for you.

Correx board is a twin walled extruded polypropylene material with flutes. It could be described as a "plastic cardboard" and it is widely used for street posters.

It is treated to make it ink receptive and represents a very low cost option for both indoor and short term outdoor signs. (Outdoor durability in South African conditions for correx board is approximately 2 years before it starts becoming brittle from direct sunlight)

It is one of the lightest in weight (Approximately 22 grams per A1 board) other than paper, and water-resistant substrates available.

It has applications in signage, packaging, printing, advertising, point of sale, storage, transport and general industrial areas.

Information is normally screen printed (silkscreen printed) onto the correx board with a specially prepared solvent ink but can also be applied in the following ways:

• self adhesive vinyl prepared as cut-out information and applied onto the correx board or
• digitally printed vinyl that is applied as a layer covering the complete correx board (like a large sticker)

Reference: Maizey Plastics

More examples of actual printing and layouts that were used on correx board:

Some were printed on A2 and some on A1 but the pictures were all made the same size for better viewing.

Correx Board Colours

Correx boards are available from signage suppliers in South Africa, mainly in white and two variations of yellow. (Bright yellow and Golden Yellow)

Other colours such as Black, Red, Blue, Green and Gray are available from certain suppliers, but not as readily from signage material distributors.

Correx board thicknesses

Boards are available in sizes:

• 2mm
• 3mm
• 3,5mm
• 4mm and
• 5mm

The most commonly used thickness for printing posters is the 3mm option when using A1 sized boards or smaller but a 3.5mm thick board provides a more sturdy option and is useful in certain circumstances especially in windy conditions. Thicknesses greater than 3.5mm is not commonly used for street posters.

In recent years, some manufacturers of correx boards have made a variation where the flutes of the material are not straight but in the form of a wave. These correx boards are commonly referred to as “S-correx” and provides a less flexible board that is more advantageous for street posters than straight flute correx boards.

Correx board sizes

Correx board manufacturing sizes vary and although the material is easily resized, it is most economical for printing purposes to use material in the sizes supplied from the factory.

In South Africa the most commonly used Estate Agent type poster size is 600mm x 400mm that is approximately and A2 size.

Following are the most commonly available factory sizes (varying from distributor to distributor)

• 2500mm x 1250mm
• 1830mm x 1220mm
• 1530mm x 1020mm
• 841mm x 594mm (A1)
• 800mm x 600mm
• 750mm x 500mm
• 600mm x 450mm
• 600mm x 400mm
• 594mm x 420mm (A2)
• 510mm x 340mm

Print sizes

Printing Colours

Process colour inks that are used for full colour printing differ from spot colour inks in various ways.  It is visibly different in composition from the spot colour inks and are closer in viscosity to a paste than a liquid.   Full colour inks are more transparent and full colour printing is required to "bleed" less in order to obtain a crisp printing finish than what is normally common with screen printing.

The chart below represents our standard Spot Colour range for screenprinting:
(Keep in mind that the colours in this table are approximations and that appearance is influenced by many factors including your own monitor settings. Exact references can only be made against a physical colour swatch.)

Although indicated as colours for correx board printing, these could also be used for any other form of screenprinting. 

Adhering to municipal regulation on Outdoor Advertising in South Africa

When you decide to advertise on any outdoor medium including street posters, it is wise to consider the regulations imposed by your local municipality. Since we are situated in Centurion that falls within the Tshwane Metropolitan area the regulation as referenced in the article on this website is used as an example of the type of rules that apply to the use of street posters.

Prices of printed Correx board signs

Prices for some of the more common correx sizes can be viewed in the documents attached at the bottom of the article on Screenprinting prices.