Frequently Asked Questions

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does not apply to:

Governmental signs, certain historic districts, lands administered by Hawaiian Home Lands, or lands designated as conservation.

Does apply to:

Non-governmental signs that display messages related to the use of, products sold on, or the sale or lease of, the property on which they are displayed and that are located on private property.


The bill plans to limit the size of all drive-through signs to a total of 48 square feet per lane, among other amendments. Businesses with drive-through signs will have 6 months after the bill becomes law to comply.The Maui planning department can take action for non-compliance.

Drive-through portion of the bill restricts signs to “48 square feet total combined size for all signs per drivethrough lane, including any component that communicates commercial information such as logos.” Additional requirements for the signs state that it “Shall be posted along or above the drivethrough lane.”

The bill currently is in the “Proposed Legislation” section of the Department of Planning’s website.

Link to the Proposed bill

Turn-around time depends on your order; the size of your sign, quantity, availability, etc. We always try to meet your deadline requests.

When comparing apples to apples we believe our prices are very competitive. We always put out the highest quality for the same price as our competitors. We will never sacrifice quality for price.

Yes, we service Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii Island. We are also able to service any other neighbor islands for an additional fee.

The general rule is this: if your sign can be seen from the street you will need a permit from the Department of Planning and Permitting. The size of the sign is determined by the Land Use Ordinance laws applicable to your zoning and TMK (Tax Map Key).

Vector files are the preferred format. Convert all fonts to outlines to minimize any font issues.  The premier vector desktop publishing software is Adobe Illustrator.

For photographic type images (ie bitmap images) our target resolution is 150 dpi at 100%.

In general, formats that DO NOT WORK are ones with extensions ending in:

  • .doc
  • .docx
  • .ppt
  • .bmp
  • .gif
  • .xls
  • .png
  •  

We do not support InDesign.  If your file was created in InDesign please convert all fonts to outlines and export as a high resolution pdf.

If your artwork is created in Adobe Creative Suite please save as CS3 or below.

One trick to check if the quality of your image is OK is if you have a pdf of your image, blow it up to maximum magnification and if it looks jagged on any curves then it will probably print jagged

A) Contact us for a quote
B) Return your signed quote approval to us
C) Deposit if COD (Cash-On-Delivery)
D) Proof approval
E) Payment and pick-up

We print vinyl graphics as large as 48” in width which allows for the most efficient installation times. Banners can be upwards of 100 feet wide. Keep in mind that larger signs have longer lead times.

We have a talented graphics department and although we are not an advertising agency or graphic design house we are able to fulfill most design requests.

Mainstream designers will be most familiar with Adobe Illustrator, the premier vector desktop publishing software.  The software we use for fabricating signs is usually Corel Draw or Flexi.

Raster, or bitmap images, are made up of pixels.  The larger you blow up a raster image the more you can see the pixels – enlarge too far and the result is pixilation (or seeing the jagged edges).  The premier raster/bitmap desktop publishing software is Adobe Photoshop.

Web images tend to be small (less than 50 kb). For sign printing, a much larger file size is needed to achieve a cleaner image.  For example, if you take a 1 inch square web image and want to make a 4 foot square sign, the loss in visual quality is significant.

Web images are created to be seen on a monitor.  They also need to be small to keep web page load times short.  Because of this, a sign or banner made using a web image will have poor quality.

Call Peterson Sign Company at 808-521-6785 and ask for a Sales Representative or submit a quote request via the web page and one will contact you.

Cash, check, all major credit cards. Term accounts are available upon credit application approval.