Registration dots subsurface

[marshall621]

I do a ton of subsurface prints on acrylic. They’re printed on clear, backed in a white opaque backer and then cut on the Roland. To do this I cover the registration dots with post it notes then after laminating cut around the post it note to expose the registration dots for the printer to read. Does anyone have a better method out there? It works fine, but every time I do it I think ‘surely there has to be a better way to do this.’ Thanks for any tips or suggestions.

 

[JBurton]

Honestly, the post its are a better solution than tearing tape for each one, so in that respect you've topped my strategy.
Only thing I'll ask, why not place the mounted print down and let the machine read through the clear acrylic? I realize vacuuming down the mounted print may leave indents, and the camera may not find the dots with so much clear distorting the circle, but have ya tried?

 

[DarkerKat]

We tend to tape them off like you showed here (the post its are smart/ less tacky than blue tape), or just run the risk of the machine being slightly off by reading from the font side - depends on how thick the acrylic is but most of the time our camera does an alright job reading them through the acrylic.
*mostly posting to follow this in case someone does have a better method.*

 

[marshall621]

If I’m following what you guys are saying, I don’t have a router with a camera to read registration marks. I have an old school gerber Sabre that’s on its last leg. So the shapes are all pre-cut then the graphics are applied. We’re looking to move into a new location soon and I think when we do we’ll invest in a new router. I cut these on the Roland to apply on the acrylic. Hand cutting them is difficult with the backer. I have a light table that makes it a little easier to see through them to cut them, but the Roland can cut them faster than I can.