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Suggestions which vinyl to use on back-lit sign

petepaz

New Member
working on a large back-lit sign and just wondering what/which vinyl everyone would use in this situation.
oddly enough never had to do a sign with this many colors and detail.
would you use all translucent vinyl for this job or use standard colored vinyl for the backgrounds and just use translucent on for the lettering, wondering if it will pop more at night or not?
or even print the whole sign on clear vinyl, lam and mount it?
 

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Gino

Premium Subscriber
Are you doing the whole sign or just the Pizza panel?


Looks like he did an overlay on that, so I'd imagine the whole thing over. Went from 3 tenants to 4.

For all that, I'd just print it on translucent digital media and lam it. Too many colors to be playing around with all that inlay crap. Besides, it's gonna change again. So, what if you hafta change everything around, again ??
 

unclebun

Active Member
Again, if you're just doing the pizza panel, translucent vinyl is the right way (it's just two colors). Even if you're doing all four panels it's the right way, with the exception of the bottom chicken one. And if you're going to print, the right way is to do a clear print with a laminated print on translucent white on top of it. That way you get correct colors whether it's front lit (daytime) or backlit (night time). However, this costs more, so you either have to convince the customer it is better advertising for him to have a sign that looks good day or night, or yield to the cheap guys and give him something that looks all whack at night by either using plain calendared sign vinyl if going the cut vinyl route, or just printing on cheap clear adhesive white calendared vinyl and maybe laminating. Then, like everyone else, you'll be selling a sign that has whacky colors at night (cut vinyl) or washed out pale colors (printed). But it will be cheap.
 

Billct2

Active Member
If it's the whole thing I would do a day/night print.
Then when they change they could possibly knife out the panel getting changed.
 

bannertime

Active Member
I think I'd still try and do the whole thing with translucent vinyl and then trap a full color backlit graphic for the logo on the bottom panel. Or at least quote it that way. Then when they see the price and ask for something half the price I end up printing it on Briteline translucent crying into my keyboard.
 

BluetailGFX

Journeyman
Day / Night print, Layer of clear overlaid with printed white translucent, both with normal ink saturation levels, would be the correct way to handle it. Or, you can buy several different colored rolls of spot color trans film and spend the extra time for prep and install......
 

petepaz

New Member
yeah have to re-do the whole sign. it was done by someone else but now they want to add the pizza. but i have to make whole new panels. i told him that i can't pull the vinyl off and re-use it. surprisingly he was ok with that.
based on all the suggestions (thanks for the help) seems like printing on digital print translucent and laminating is the best/easiest way to go
 
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