Need Help printing illuminated signage with opaque

[tvelasco]

My shop recently got a HP r530 flatbed printer, which has been working good, we previously had a HP L335. The new printer does 3 layer printing which prints out vivid colors both on white acrylic and 2nd surface clear acrylics. I've been attempting to print with the same print mode and also trying to opaque a color in the file. Currently using Onyx 25 RIP software and CorelDraw for design. Any help or suggestions.

 

[DL Signs]

Option 1: To block out what you want opaque print a solid black shape over the block-out area like below, then load and print color/ white/ color like you would any backlit to keep the colors from washing out that will be lit. As long as you just load layers from the same file and don't move the substrate on the printer, the separate prints will line up perfectly. Used to do stuff like this all the time, some I had to go over 4-5 times with different files. This will make the face look like a regular print, and when lit it won't allow light through where you don't because of the solid black. When you do the black you can double hit it if you think you need to make it more opaque. Grab some scrap and experiment.

Option 2: More difficult because you have to make sure it's lined up as close as possible. Do color/ white/ color on the face, flip the sign face and print black reversed on the back side.

Option 3: Print the front color/ white/ color, then cut your block-out shape reversed from black sign vinyl, align it, and lay it on the back side.

Either way it will show the full image on the top, and only allow light through where you want it. If you were working with translucent vinyl you'd print the face as normal, do a reverse print on clear over the back side, and cover the block-out area from the back with black sign vinyl for the full block-out where you want it.

Make sense???

 

[tvelasco]

Thank you for the suggestions! I will give it a try and cross my fingers it works out with all your options.

 

[DL Signs]

Experiment, you'll come up with what works best with what you have.

 

[JBurton]

Option 1

I'm curious, when you're layering ink like this, do you print white in the white areas, where it says Oasis, or do you leave those unprinted? Would not printing those areas cause them to be significantly brighter than all of the lightly colored areas?
Also, while I'm familiar with white ink and multiple layers to improve color accuracy when illuminated, I guess I've never considered how difficult white ink is to make, since it has to be opaque when viewed from the face side unlit, yet translucent when illuminated from the back.

 

[DL Signs]

I'm curious, when you're layering ink like this, do you print white in the white areas, where it says Oasis, or do you leave those unprinted? Would not printing those areas cause them to be significantly brighter than all of the lightly colored areas?
Also, while I'm familiar with white ink and multiple layers to improve color accuracy when illuminated, I guess I've never considered how difficult white ink is to make, since it has to be opaque when viewed from the face side unlit, yet translucent when illuminated from the back.

Yer' right... If it's a clear substrate, then white, if it's white already he can just print white where needed under other colors. I used to do a lot of this kind of stuff, but it's been a minute. hopefully I got him on the right track though.

 

[DhavalPX]

For illuminated signage, the key is controlling light so it looks even and not washed out. Most printers use backlit film or translucent vinyl for the lit areas, then add opaque white or blackout layers (often with white ink or block-out vinyl) to stop light where you don’t want it. If you’re running UV, printing CMYK + white in layers works really well for this. The trick is testing opacity levels so the colors stay vibrant when lit but still look good when the sign is off.