Printing on clear vinyl

[Jules]

I mostly make mailbox numbers and currently use cut vinyl. I'm wanting to go a different direction but I still like the look of the color of the mailbox showing through so I'm thinking of printing on clear vinyl. I have absolutely no printing experience so it's a steep learning curve. Printing white is a must and printing metallic would be a huge plus.

I'm thinking of a Roland versacamm but I have a few questions:

1. At maybe 10-20% coverage, how long does a 220ml white or metallic ink cartridge last?
2. With metallics, do you lay down white first and then go back over with metallic or is that only necessary with colors?
3. Without laminating, how long will white or metallic hold up outside?
4. With laminating, how long?
5. How time consuming is it to print, laminate & then contour cut vs just print and cut?
6. Suggestions for best vinyl/laminate to use for this application?

I've also looked at the Gerber edge but I from what I can tell the consumables, especially metallic, are going to be too high for my price point. I'm assuming that the gerber foils work like a ribbon and a 45m foil will print 45m of material regardless of coverage. Am I correct about that?

I'd love to have a couple of samples done so I can see what kind of quality to expect. Does anyone have a similar set up (clear vinyl, metallic ink, laminated or not) who would print something to help a gal out? I'm happy to pay for it.

 

[timfse]

Keep cuttin' vinyl.

 

[skyhigh]

You must do pretty well selling mailbox numbers.
So, what else do you do to pay for new equipment?

 

[WrapYourCar]

Yes cutting is best.. will last longer clear will not last very long and will look worse

 

[printhog]

i imagine your customers apply these themselves? If so- Im sure you'll have a lot of returns and disgruntled customers from installation problems - wrinkles, bubbles, not sticking, stuck too quick.. jeez the hassles I've seen from clients with a sticker.. And a clear decal just seems so cheap and low end.. lots of hardware stores have those.. $.49 each..

stick with vinyl. wanna make something with less competition, get a laser cutter and cut .25" acrylic.. 3D letters for mailboxes.. $$$

 

[smdgrfx]

Two words...Gerber Edge. If you are only going to do mailboxes, the Gerber Edge will be your best friend. It can do white, it can do metallic, and print on all types of specialty colored vinyl. No lamination necessary.

 

[Signs 'n' Stuff]

Definitely stick to cut vinyl. even a poor vinyl cut is good for 5 years outdoors. a print on clear is about a 2 year option. the extra time laminating the cutting will do your head in. are the letter box company about to pay more? White eco solmax 2 and 3 are a nightmare, larger ink particles clog heads in no time. my machine is now 6 colour as double white has killed itself.

 

[AKwrapguy]

Keep cutting. From what I understand White inks are not that great still. The Gerber edge sounds like exactly what you need. You can use multiple different foils that will generally hold up better over time. They have metallic films, white films, chrome, etc... and all the different types of vinyl. You could even edge to Lexedge.

 

[Badenewby]

I recommended Bade Newby Display that specialize in printing vast size of stickers at 1441dpi resolution that are sure to keep the same clarity of your finalized design.

 

[Jules]

Y'all sure are squashing my dream of having something new to play with. Point taken.

 

[henryz]

You should still get the printer, play with it and probably you can going into different markets? Your imagination is the limit with a digital printer - I would recommend you Roland like you said.

 

[GB2]

The Gerber Edge will only print what it needs to, in other words, if you are printing 10 things that are 12 inches on white vinyl with a 1 inch spot of color in the middle, the Edge will only use about 10 inches of color foil to complete the job. It won't use 120", it only will use enough to print the color. It's definitely the system to do what you want to do.

 

[phototec]

Y'all sure are squashing my dream of having something new to play with. Point taken.

As others have mentioned printing mailbox numbers on clear vinyl is not really a good idea for all the reasons already mentioned.


However if you want expand your business and at the same time make your dream of having something new to play with became prosperous reality, you should consider thinking about making mailbox wraps. You could get the small Roland printer/cutter and a tabletop laminator with will be big enough to laminate the digitally printed vinyl from the Roland printer.


You could incorporate the mailbox numbers into the wrap (all one piece), and you could sell the wrap to your customers or offer to install the wrap for them which will increase your bottom line.


The other great advantage is the endless possibilities for the numbers themselves, using Photoshop filter you can make them look 3d and add drop drop shadow, this would be a big game changer for your business.


Here are some examples of the possibilities:

 

[Hollywoodsigns]

We just got rid of our VS that we had for 6 years. It had Metallic and White. The Metallic was a joke and the white looked more like Etched Glass than white on dark colors. Also it was verrr rrr rrr rrry slow doing ether white or metallic. Our Replacement is the new VG and the white is bright clear and much faster, but we do not have Metallic anymore. Then again we also have a Gerber Edge.