Need Help White Foil ‘puckering’

[Lew Hands]

Hi Guys,
Hopefully somebody can help here, as I’m pulling my hair out and wasting lots of vinyl and foil!

I’m printing onto clear vinyl, I’m putting white down first, then red and black. The white layer is a few mm wider than the black. For some reason, the white foil is creasing or puckering, in the same place every time! I’ve tried 2 different white foils, tried rotating the print, tried different heat settings also, but still get the same results. I’ve printed different designs which come out ok though?! It doesn’t make sense to me. Only things I haven’t done is change vinyl family (but it prints everything else fine so wouldn’t think I’d need to?) and used a genuine Gerber foil, so I guess it could be that? I’ve attached a couple pics so you can see what I mean. Any help or tips would be great!
Thanks,
Lew

 

[Ken M. Klein]

IMHO, if you've used different foils on different vinyl and the same thing happens in the same place on your designs, then there has to be an issue with your art. Check your overprints because there may be something in the other layers that's knocking out your flood coat.

 

[JulieS]

See this thread:
"Gerber Edge 2 White Foil Printing Problem"

We had this problem with white foil too (Gerber brand) but never figured out how to fix it. This thread has some good suggestions, I think. Probably a heat setting issue with the white.

 

[Lew Hands]

IMHO, if you've used different foils on different vinyl and the same thing happens in the same place on your designs, then there has to be an issue with your art. Check your overprints because there may be something in the other layers that's knocking out your flood coat.

I think I’ll try the same print again on the same vinyl, and replace the white for light grey and see if the light grey does the same?

 

[Billct2]

That's a good idea. For me usually a defect like that is in the foil, probably binding a little. But if it happens with other foils I think redoing the artwork from scratch is worth a try.

 

[Marlene]

What kind of clear are you using? Is it a Gerber clear? If so, did you click on "substitute" in the print options on the plot page and change the type of vinyl? If you are using ImageCal R or P, it needs to be set to that as the regular settings for 220 don't work as well. Did you set the white as a primer in the file or did you use the backing/finish option on the plot page?

 

[Joe House]

Try rotating the job 180 degrees. If a lot of foil is used along the front edge of the foil, the take up tension becomes unbalanced because the remaining foil on the back edge created a slightly larger diameter on the back side causing it to pull more than the front side, leading to wrinkles.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Lew Hands]

Try rotating the job 180 degrees. If a lot of foil is used along the front edge of the foil, the take up tension becomes unbalanced because the remaining foil on the back edge created a slightly larger diameter on the back side causing it to pull more than the front side, leading to wrinkles.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Yes I thought that may be the problem, I did try rotating the print 180 but it still done the same. I also tried printing white next to the job running along the print at 299mm wide to try and even the tension but it still does the same!

Lew

 

[Lew Hands]

What kind of clear are you using? Is it a Gerber clear? If so, did you click on "substitute" in the print options on the plot page and change the type of vinyl? If you are using ImageCal R or P, it needs to be set to that as the regular settings for 220 don't work as well. Did you set the white as a primer in the file or did you use the backing/finish option on the plot page?

Its a clear vinyl from a company called substance. I've not tried substituting to clear, I've never done that before and its printed fine on clear, but that is something I will try, thanks.
Its not a primer, its just a white shape with 2 colours on top,

Lew

 

[Marlene]

Its a clear vinyl from a company called substance. I've not tried substituting to clear, I've never done that before and its printed fine on clear, but that is something I will try, thanks.
Its not a primer, its just a white shape with 2 colours on top,

Lew

I've found that the foil doesn't always stick to the ImageCal unless I change the settings. Never heard of the clear you are using so I'm not sure. Are you putting the white down as a primer? If so try setting the file with it as a primer or use the option on the plot page for backing/finish. I've also heard there were problems with white way back but I've never had any so far. I use the Gerber Arctic white instead of the regular white as it covers better.

 

[Joe House]

Is that with a new white foil? Or one that's been used quite a bit.? You might just try removing the used foil and taping the remaining foil into the core.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Horst M]

I see in your picture a typical example for a overstressed foil. Please reduced the heat settings.

 

[Modern Ink Signs]

Few ideas....

1. Change to a different vinyl type in your color palettes

2. Change your print mode down to Edge 1


I’m assuming that your colors over the white are overprints

 

[Modern Ink Signs]

Were you able to fix your problem?

 

[Lew Hands]

Few ideas....

1. Change to a different vinyl type in your color palettes

2. Change your print mode down to Edge 1


I’m assuming that your colors over the white are overprints

Yes the other colours are overprints and go down fine.
Thanks for everybody’s replies, I have a few things to try now, I’ve not had chance yet as the printer has been flat out on other things, but I’ll give it a go ASAP,

Lew

 

[Lew Hands]

So today has been the first chance to try this print again!
I substituted the vinyl to a clear vinyl and it worked fine without any puckering! I know it seems obvious I should’ve done this from the beginning, but in my years of printing white on clear I never had a problem before on standard settings!
Thanks though guys, appreciate the help!
Lew

 

[Titch Sanders]

Mad Innit Lew?!!

 

[Brian46]

We had the same issue with the substance clear and an aftermarket white foil. Switched to the Gerber white foil and it printed fine.