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I stumbled upon this article, a reality check for anyone who is considering large format printing and laminating. (Disclaimer)~Laminating is not necessary for all types of printing but it does enhance it.~
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Hey Ken, that's not only a great link, but if you click back to his home page and look at the rest of his site, there's a signmaker who has his act together! An artist AND a business man.
Been there and done that with laminators. Its something you either do really seriously or not at all. I chose the latter. Vic G
------------------ Victor Georgiou AnchorBlanks.com Jack Wills Clipart CD's & FONTS Designer Sign Blanks
Posts: 1746 | From: Danville, CA , USA | Registered: Dec 1998
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So Victor, do you still print digital and if so what about laminating? If you have it done by others how good is it and how expensive? The new cold roll laminator is out and it looks like a new option to consider. Bob Burns is getting one and I am really curious as to how it all works out. Times are a really changing for digital!
------------------ Ken Morse Jamn Graphics Santa Cruz, CA
Posts: 213 | From: Santa Cruz, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 2000
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Ken, we have a large scale inkjet, but all we have been doing in house is the short term low risk stuff that does not require lamination, for example I am doing some almost 4 by 8 's for July 4. They will be used three hours and thrown away. Other similar applications are inside of glass displays or otherwise indoors enough that we can avoid lamination. We have done some indoor transparancy work, and we just shot it with Frog Juice to set the colors. We are also using more and more Pelucid but the fellows in the shop have not mastered putting it on smooth enough for ink jet work.
Anything that is high risk/long term/high quality is still getting farmed out.
The plan, which may or may not be a good one, is to learn the equipment with the less expensive indoor rated materials, and then at some point down the road, take the plunge and buy the outdoor package for the HP5000, and then do everything on outdoor materials.
The special problem in our shop is that there is no such thing as a "clean" place, and we can't spare the floor space to build a clean room.
Also, as a matter of strategy, my opinion is the high end is currently owned by larger companies with exotic equipment, and our market is vinyl customers wanting to move into four color without selling the farm. So by definition lamination is an issue because of the added cost. We don't have to worry about the big guys coming down on price because they have lots of costs to recover. So we can beat them on price, deliver a product that looks better than vinyl letters, and still keep the prices up where you can make a living at it.
Once again, right or wrong, thats the plan. Vic G
------------------ Victor Georgiou AnchorBlanks.com Jack Wills Clipart CD's & FONTS Designer Sign Blanks
Posts: 1746 | From: Danville, CA , USA | Registered: Dec 1998
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Victor, this is a complex issue. After reading your last post It seems that new ideas that appear to be money makers for a sign company really require added diverse expansion and talent that could really slow someone down.
An old saying "A real professional specializes in only one thing" Thanks for your thoughts and experiences on this topic.
------------------ Ken Morse Jamn Graphics Santa Cruz, CA
Posts: 213 | From: Santa Cruz, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 2000
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