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.

 

[VizualVoice]

I'm here thinking the post-it is a pretty elegant solution IMHO.

 

[MikePro]

can you just make mask at the exact size of the registration marks, and then overlay a black dot/square prior to cutting? similar take to your process, but without the cutting.
i would always do this on reverse-prints but with a light table and a sharpie to doodle-in by hand, but i'd imagine your print is more opaque.

 

[White Haus]

Yeah, good idea with the post its. We use painters tape then struggle with removing it after backing w/ white vinyl, ha.

I'd say you've got the right solution there.

 

[MahjongJoe]

When we do second surface printing on acrylic, once we lay white on top our solution has been to take a scrap piece of black rta vinyl and kiss-cut a gazillion dots and we stick them on. It hasn’t backed fired once, been doing it for years. Sometimes in a crunch I’ve just taken a sharpie and colored in the dot lol.

 

[marshall621]

When we do second surface printing on acrylic, once we lay white on top our solution has been to take a scrap piece of black rta vinyl and kiss-cut a gazillion dots and we stick them on. It hasn’t backed fired once, been doing it for years. Sometimes in a crunch I’ve just taken a sharpie and colored in the dot lol.

I was wondering if that’s something that would work. I wasn’t sure if it would affect registration if I didn’t have the dot match up perfectly. But it’s sounding like this hasn’t been an issue for you. Thanks for the tip.

 

[MahjongJoe]

I was wondering if that’s something that would work. I wasn’t sure if it would affect registration if I didn’t have the dot match up perfectly. But it’s sounding like this hasn’t been an issue for you. Thanks for the tip.

No problem. Keep in mind I’ve only been doing this with a Zund Cutter and a Trotec Laser, both have been fine, just make sure your kiss-cut dots are the same size as the reg dots you usually use to be safe. You can also use a flashlight underneath the acrylic to help you see the dots better to line up your rta dot, I use my phone if the piece is smaller.

 

[ikarasu]

When we can, when it's only outside registration marks, we print within 46-47".... Then we cut out white vinyl to that size, and then only the inside gets laminated.

Obviously it doesn't work or you use inside fiducials though, or are trying to use every last inch of the media.