I'm working on a large project for our town, replacing the 8'X10' illuminated faces in our town monument sign. I don't have any experience with digital printing, and I'm wondering what kind of life expectancy there is on large exterior digital prints.
Should I be reverse-printing them and applying them to the inside of clear lexan, or should I just apply laminated prints to the outside of white? Should I be looking at thermal prints or inkjet?
Any good wholesalers you might recommend?
Suelynn
Posted by Masterhand Signs (Member # 785) on :
Hi Suelynn...hear you're snowed under... so are we...can't even get out of the yard today and the strong winds are piling it up into some good sized drifts....anyway someone who may be able to anwser some or all of your questions would be Pat Holmes @ Pro-Touch is Saskatoon...306-242-5755 or fax @ 306-975-3757...Hope this helps...Pat
Posted by Shirley Carron (Member # 2446) on :
I've had a company call Toronto Digital make up decals for illuminated d-prints, for me in the past. They did a two part decal and said it may have to be changed every couple of years. But the thing hasn't faded at all, looks great! Contact Geoff Dove at 905-672-9211. We scanned the art and sent by courier the cd, they took it from there. I've worked with them on a number of other projects and have never had a problem. They know what they're doing down there!
Posted by Lotti Prokott (Member # 2684) on :
Hi Suelynn, I have a similar, but smaller project, and was told that a revers print goes on the inside of clear Plexi or Lexan. It's the first time that I'm dealing with this company in Portage LaPrairie, but if you want, let me know and I get you the name. They seemed to be quite helpful.
Posted by Chuck Churchill (Member # 68) on :
Lots of things you need to think about on a project like this. If this is a monument sign I presume it is close enough to the ground that it might be vandalized. I would go polycarbonate (lexan) if that is the case. High impact acrylic and flex faces are the other two choices. Potential vandalism may also push you to put the image on the second surface. It is a lot less likely to get cut on the inside. Cuts can be very hard on laminated inkjets. It gives the water, snow and ice a way to get at the inks and the adhesives. A second surface image also minimizes the impact of taging. Nothing worse than figuring out how to get spray paint off a nice digital image.
What direction does the sign face? Laminated inkjets are going to fade out in 1 to 3 years if you are facing South or West.
What colours are in the image. Some colours are more prone to fading than others. Can you have overlapped seams in the image? It is difficult to get electrostatics or resin based prints without seams over 60" wide. They will last longer but may not be as vibrant as a inkjet that has been double printed.
Think about the dpi and size of the original bitmap artwork. How many times will it have to be enlarged and what will the resultant effective dpi be? What is the viewing distance that people will be looking at the image from and how fast will they be going? You don't want the image to look pixilated when the guy who signs the cheque goes out to look it over up close.
We recently did a 5'x10 backlit with a high tech looking mostly blue and teal process colour image on it. I got the client to make all the material decisions every step of the way. They went for a laminated solvent based inkjet on high impact acrylic mostly because it was the most vibrant image I offered them. They know that in 2 to 3 years it will start to show fade but are prepared to replace it when that happens. The client is very image aware and the $2000 to replace it every few years was not an issue to them.
I hope there are a few bits of information in all of this that you can use Suelynn.
Posted by Suelynn Sedor (Member # 442) on :
Thanks everybody, I've spent quite a bit of time on the phone and am feeling a little more comfortable.
Pat, yes we are snowed under, and it is still snowing!! Won't be going far today!
Chuck, thank you for the information. You really help clarify some of the details I'm looking for. I haven't designed the sign yet, we are still looking at different pricing options to be submitted to a committee (yikes!) before I proceed.
