Suggestions Help needed to find a paint shop that uses latex inks

[ossodiseppia]

I am a first time poster who has made stickers for vintage Alfa Romeos in the past. I am searching for a new print shop as the one I used to use doesn't seem interested in my business. I am a hobbyist and I do this to keep my aging brain active. I've taught myself how to use Illustrator to produce my stickers.

My stickers were printed on 3M Controltac, I assume IJ180. Latex inks were used and the stickers laminated before being cut with a flatbed cutter. I do not know what printer was used.

I have some pictures of laminated and unlaminated stickers from my the old print shop. The ink really sticks proud of the vinyl substrate and as you can see, they look really nice when laminated.

I have had about 6 jobs printed by different shops in the country, but none seem to get close enough. They've all used latex inks, but none seem to have that thick look to them. Most all of the stickers that have black or some other colored text look pretty good. Those with "white" text seem to look fuzzy.

I've been using shops that specialize in car wrapping as it is much easier for me to produce a large file with all of my artwork on it. I do this because I work in the metric system and most shops that print stickers use English units, print only specific sizes or don't allow for 3-4 decimal places.

Thank you for reading my long winded post.

 

[balstestrat]

Those are all UV prints not latex.

 

[ossodiseppia]

Thanks for the feedback. Would you happen to know if all UV inks are thick like these?

 

[balstestrat]

Pretty much yeah.

 

[ossodiseppia]

Thank you for letting me know. It looks like I asked for a paint shop in stead of a print shop.

Would like to find someone who prints UV like this and can add a gloss laminate.

Thank you.

 

[White Haus]

Definitely UV inks. For the record, the quality on those prints isn't great - any reputable sign shop should be able to produce better results than that for you.

 

[ossodiseppia]

Thanks for the feedback. I agree that when looked at closely with some sort of magnification, they don't look all that great. They look pretty nice when viewed from a foot away. As mentioned above the issue I am having is with text and line art that does not have any color to it. I cannot capture the issue with my cell phone camera. I have had jobs printed like those in the attached pictures.
All of the stickers that have colored text with background color of no background color look great. Only those with white text have that fuzzy look to them. Most all of that text has a stroke added to it. Some stroke is the color of the test and others are the color of the background. Stroke is used to make the font a bit bolder or a bit thinner. It just depends on the font.

 

[White Haus]

As much as UV printing is great for a lot of things, it does have its limitations when it comes to resolution and fine details, as you're seeing.

Honestly I think you'd be happier with solvent printed decals, should be able to be produced at a higher resolution and without knocked out areas being fuzzy.

You would lose that tactile/thick ink look but personally I think flat/solvent prints look more professional.

 

[ossodiseppia]

Thank you, and I mean that. I have used solvent based inks in the past. Not one single one of them turned out to be acceptable. None of the details were crisp.

Last week, I took these and some solvent based ones to show them. They were examined with a magnifying lens. The owner felt there were too few print head passes and suggested he could slow his machines down and get better detail. So, I had him print one of the files. He uses an HP latex printer. I've attached some pictures. His is the first red one. Both look pretty similar, especially when looking at a close up. The two black ones are very different and you can see why in these pictures.

This same shop has some sort of flatbed gel printer. He says the results are similar, but I wonder if they are. I'd be willing to try it. But, he's a little pricey at $17 sq ft and his cutter did a crappy job. I don't mind spending this kind of money, but only for something that folks will be happy with as I do sell them.

I will try bolding up the text with some outlines, but like I said, each time I do it, it's a bit expensive.

Thank you for your continued replies and suggestions.

 

[ossodiseppia]

OOPS! I posted the same picture twice.

 

[Boudica]

If you are receiving poor quality, it's not the eco solvent ink, it's someone being cheap and printing on a fast low quality setting. We print eco solvent, and we can print copy down to like 8pt or something like that.
Cheap decals = cheap quality.

I can get pretty fine detail on our UV flatbed - again it's the quality setting. If something tiny is printing poorly, I'll bump the quality up to the next level and that usually does the trick.

Here is a picture of some decals I made for PepsiCo the other day... my snapshot came out blurry - so It's not a great example, but the oz size is about 14pt. In real life its very crisp and clear. This was printed on clear glass appeel on our UV flatbed with a white underflood.

 

[ossodiseppia]

If you are receiving poor quality, it's not the eco solvent ink, it's someone being cheap and printing on a fast low quality setting. We print eco solvent, and we can print copy down to like 8pt or something like that.
Cheap decals = cheap quality.

I can get pretty fine detail on our UV flatbed - again it's the quality setting. If something tiny is printing poorly, I'll bump the quality up to the next level and that usually does the trick.

Here is a picture of some decals I made for PepsiCo the other day... my snapshot came out blurry - so It's not a great example, but the oz size is about 14pt. In real life its very crisp and clear. This was printed on clear glass appeel on our UV flatbed with a white underflood.

If you would be willing to share the name of the shop where you work or the url to the website, I would be willing to reach out to have a file printed and die cut. Thank you for the help.

 

[Boudica]

If you would be willing to share the name of the shop where you work or the url to the website, I would be willing to reach out to have a file printed and die cut. Thank you for the help.

I'd love to help you, but I'm not a merchant member and wouldn't want to step on the toes of the good folks here who pay for a merchant membership. I also don't like to broadcast where I work because I'm not the owner, and I don't really represent my boss's business on this forum.

That said, there are several merchant members here who could probably help you. FireSprint.com is one that comes to mind. Maybe message Gene @firesprint and see if they can help?

 

[ossodiseppia]

I'd love to help you, but I'm not a merchant member and wouldn't want to step on the toes of the good folks here who pay for a merchant membership. I also don't like to broadcast where I work because I'm not the owner, and I don't really represent my boss's business on this forum.

That said, there are several merchant members here who could probably help you. FireSprint.com is one that comes to mind. Maybe message Gene @firesprint and see if they can help?

Thank you for the recommendation. Unfortunately, firesprint is a trade only shop. I am a hobbyist, not a business with a tax id, license, etc.

 

[Boudica]

Thank you for the recommendation. Unfortunately, firesprint is a trade only shop. I am a hobbyist, not a business with a tax id, license, etc.

oh, gotcha. Well, I'll see what I can do and send you a DM. Meanwhile, maybe someone else will see this and offer up some help.

 

[ossodiseppia]

You are very kind, thank you.

I am off on an adventure tomorrow. I'm driving from the Denver area to SW Missouri to pick up 14 mill dogs. This is our fifth trip to get dogs from the same breeder. Our rental van is packed and we will depart before the chickens wake up tomorrow.

 

[tulsagraphics]

Yeah, as others mentioned, low quality print settings. A solvent printer will provide a lot more detail. I mean... I was printing out some pretty great quality 15 years ago with a basic 4-color Mutoh eco-sol printer (if memory serves, this was only 8-pass)

The details in this photo might not look "that" great -- until you notice the pick tool in there for size comparison. That was from a 2009 entry-level Mutoh eco-sol printer. We've come a long way since then.

For ink-jet printers, the only thing with better resolution than eco-solvent (that I know of) is pigment -- i.e. what a photography studio would use -- but pigment-based isn't a long term, outdoor solution (those inks are usually water-based). So my vote is for eco-sol all day. You just won't find many trade suppliers offering eco-sol because those inks cost so much more than UV / Latex -- and this industry is just too competitive to make eco-sol viable for mass production.

I'd almost suggest textured laminates for some cool effects -- but those are very thick, expensive, and basically only useful for flat applications.

 

[tulsagraphics]

You are very kind, thank you.

I am off on an adventure tomorrow. I'm driving from the Denver area to SW Missouri to pick up 14 mill dogs. This is our fifth trip to get dogs from the same breeder. Our rental van is packed and we will depart before the chickens wake up tomorrow.

I read this as 14 million dogs. And after contemplating the logistical nightmare (and likely use of railroads to accommodate such a task) I read it again. All good now.

 

[Boudica]

You are very kind, thank you.

I am off on an adventure tomorrow. I'm driving from the Denver area to SW Missouri to pick up 14 mill dogs. This is our fifth trip to get dogs from the same breeder. Our rental van is packed and we will depart before the chickens wake up tomorrow.

Mill dogs? As in puppy mill?

 

[unclebun]

Anybody using a modern, properly calibrated, solvent printer and correct media profiles should be able to produce high quality, fine detailed decals. Here I've just grabbed a shot of a dirt bike decal that is on the delivery shelf. Those small letters that say AMERICAN MOTORCYCLIST ASSOCIATION are less than 1mm tall. Note that the solid colors are also smooth without ink puddling or unevenness.