I did a 10' pop up display and printed with my versa camm on banner material and laminated. The prints came out beautiful, but once hung on the display I had sagging on the top. Today I was at a atv, snowmobile trade show and was checking out all the displays. It seems that a plastic harder material is most commonly used. However,I'm not aware of an actual rigid material such as this that my versa camm eco sol ink can print on. Does anyone have some leads?
Posted by Jerry VanHorn (Member # 4704) on :
They may have been printed by some of the new flatbed printers for rigid pvc and the like. I don't have any experience with those printers other than knowing they exist. We print with our VCamm and apply to thin polystyrene for those jobs. It is approx. .040 thick.
Posted by Brenda Daley (Beaupit) (Member # 37) on :
Do you just print on vinyl and then apply to the styrene?
Posted by Checkers (Member # 63) on :
Hiya Brenda, The media could be a combination of polycarbonate, polyester, PVC or some other media. When I was printing pop up displays, I used an aqueous inkjet printer and had the best results when I reverse printed on clear 10 mil polycarbonate, then backed up the print with what the manufacturer called a 10 mil copolymer adhesive laminate. For all I know it could have been PVC or polystyrene. Anyway, if you're interested, the media was manufactured for and distributed by Lexjet.com and you can search for media just by entering in your printer and ink combination.
Havin' fun,
Checkers
Posted by Jerry VanHorn (Member # 4704) on :
Yes, we print to vinyl then apply
Posted by Brenda Daley (Beaupit) (Member # 37) on :
Thanks guys for your help. My concern with using the .040 styrene is that it may still be too thick. I know this material is very thin, but once rolled and placed in the carry case will the magnetic strips stay on or peel off.
Posted by Checkers (Member # 63) on :
Hi again Brenda, Ideally you want a finished graphic that is about 20 to 30 mils thick. Also, if you laminate the prints, you would ideally want a laminate that is equal to the thickness of the media. The magnets will stay on for a while, as long you clean the substrate well, and the client takes care of the graphics. From my experience, the magnets will stay put for 3-5 years as long as they're not mishandled exposed to heat (100°+) for an extended period of time. When it comes to rolling the graphics, I've found it better to roll the graphics with the thinner material on the outside. This will reduce the chance of tunneling or delamination. So, if you have a 15 mil substrate with a 10 mil laminate, the graphics would be rolled in a way that the laminate would be on the outside of the roll.
