Print-Cut Machines for Signs

DIGITALLY PRINTED GRAPHICS are everywhere: signs, point-of-purchase displays, banners, vehicles and so much more. Printers are fairly simple devices that imprint an image and text onto a rectangular sheet of media. Things get sticky when the final surface is not a simple angular shape. Maybe it’s a circle or an oval. How about the outline of a person or a product? The printer can handle the image just fine. When it comes time for trimming, well, that’s where the fun begins. Straight edges are of no help and you are at the mercy of how fast and accurate your production people are with a pair of scissors or a craft knife.

There is a much easier way. Printers that either incorporate an integral cutting knife or a matched external vinyl cutter can greatly ease the pain of trimming. After the image prints, it is dried (if necessary), rolled back into the machine and the image is accurately cut. Just peel away the excess media, tape and apply. Matched external cutters work in a similar fashion except the sheet is removed from the printer and loaded into the vinyl cutter. Each type of solution comes with pros and cons.

A printer/cutter will both print this window splash and handle all the curved cuttting, too.

A combined printer/cutter has several advantages. The first is in space savings. Two functions embed in one machine, so if your floor space is at a premium, this is the way to go. A printer/cutter requires no additional unloading/loading steps either. When the job prints, there will be a delay to allow the ink to dry, then the printer will roll the print back in and run the cut job unless applying laminate material. One disadvantage of printer/cutters is the ink needs to dry before cutting and you cannot start another print job until everything finishes. This may be a problem if you have a high-volume shop. Still, you can also use the machines as a vinyl cutter without needing to print.

The final issue may be more a matter of preference than a disadvantage. The combined printer/cutter machines on the market are all eco-solvent printers with the exception of one UV print/cut machine. If you are averse to eco-solvent then you should probably look at matched systems.

Matched systems combine a standalone printer and a vinyl cutter that will work in harmony with the machine. You will need more floor space for the two machines, but this combination will let you print while a job is cutting so you can more than make up for the additional print handling in throughput. The two-device solution also allows for more flexibility in selecting the printer type. You can opt for eco-solvent, latex and even thermal transfer.

Whatever you choose, you will find that your shop can easily produce some incredible images ready to adhere to virtually any 2D shape. Have you waved off orders for decals because they would be too time consuming? With a print/cut solution, there is no need to lose the job. Even if that is not your motivation, you can increase productivity by having images cut to the exact shape of the sign blanks. Check them out if this sounds like something that will help your shop.

PHOTO GALLERY (6 IMAGES)