Recommendations for vinyl printing

Printing and Prepress
#1

Looking for recommendations for printing clear vinyl labels by the sheet. Should I look for a sign company since they deal with vinyl? What kind of ink is best for printing on clear vinyl?

#2

How many?
If you only want a couple hundred or less you can try a sign company.
If you want more than that, you might do better cost-wise for something gang-run or if mega-quantities, web run.

Are these die cut?

What’s your end use? Not all vinyls/inks are created equal. And clear vinyl is not “clear.” It’s more like a water-clear. If this is something high end on glass where it has to be clear clear, I’d recommend Lintec film. You’d have to specify if you want it removable or permanent. (both become permanent after 2 years and that only means ‘hard to remove.’ They do come off.)
A matching gloss clear overlam (also made by Lintec) is highly recommended to protect the ink.

For Lintec, either UV printed or latex works.

This film applies WET. Not something the general public likes to deal with.

If these are just little things where clear isn’t absolutely necessary, there are a number of clear vinyl products out there. Just ask your sign company what they use most. Vinyls can be printed UV inks, Latex inks or Solvent inks. If you need white underspotting, overspotting, or sandwiched, solvent machines are usually out, though some do have white ink capability. I’d steer clear of any kind of aqueous inks. Overlam is up to you and how long you want it to last. Exterior use, it would probably be a good idea. I tend to stick with 3M products as a match pair when doing exterior stuff. Your mileage may vary. While these things can go on dry, I’d recommend wet for a more bubble free application.

#3

You know, after writing all that, it occurs to me I have no idea what you want. Especially “by the sheet” and why you need to know what inks you need to use.
More details required.

#4

Thanks for the reply. I’m looking to make labels to put on video game cartridges and I want the text to be be seen and the substrate to be clear. Could also be translucent or frosty.

#5

You want to make them yourself?
If you only need 100 or so, sure, go to a sign shop. UV or solvent inks will do the trick and there are any number of clear media materials to print on. Just get samples. Depending on the size of your type and how much white underspotting is involved will drive your cost. Inks are translucent. If you want your colors to read as solid, they may have to be backed with white (unless your cartridges are maybe white.) There is trap limit on how small you can go on elements and still underspot them with white with any hope of accurate registration.

Good luck.

Is this a game cartridge you developed?
I should point out, a commercial printer will question any kind of trademarked or copyrighted material in these labels, at the very least having you sign an indemnity waiver. Some might flat out refuse to print if copyright is in question.

#7

So, I’m a former Canon printer rep who used to run the printer department at Best Buy back when that was a real job.

I’d recommend printing on the 545 before investing in a new printer. A quick web search reveals that it was a fairly solid mid-range small business printer at the time, and printing technology hasn’t advanced much since then. It’s mostly been about technology, such as WiFi and app printing, rather than print quality. My Canon is roughly the same age and price range, and I intend to keep it until it dies because there is literally no reason for me to upgrade other than a few bells and whistles. They now only want to sell you print subscriptions when I can get two full sets of aftermarket ink for a few months of their service.

Worst case scenario, you lose a few dollars on printable vinyl; best case scenario, you save a tonne of money on ink and materials.

#8

???
Wrong thread maybe? Not sure where you’re seeing any mention of a “545.”
A Canon 545 deskjet uses aqueous inks
That doesn’t tend to stick to vinyl.

#9

I think 
You can use papillo for inkjet.

#10

Did you see the part about “clear substrate”?
And “game cartridge” (ie handled profusely)

Please close this, before I toss my cookies.

1 Like
#11