Printing Media and Laminates for Signs

WHEN WE SAY “digital printing,” what’s the first thing that pops into your mind? Probably the printer that you own or one that you are thinking about purchasing. A couple of things that probably didn’t come to mind are the printing media and laminates that you need to make a tangible product. Since you probably weren’t thinking about media, you may not have considered all of the ways media and laminates can help you make more money by offering value-added enhancements to your prints.

If you use a laminator, you may think that your choices come down to matte versus glossy finish. If you dig a little deeper, however, you’ll find many options that can enhance a wrap, create a floor graphic and even add different sheens to a print beyond matte or glossy. You can get a laminate that provides a texture to the print — imagine a wall covering with a leather or wood texture. Laminates can also provide a subtle color sheen to the finished graphic. By using a laminate with a color sheen, the resulting wrap will subtly shift colors depending on the angles from which light hits the vehicle.

There are lots of innovations on the media side as well. What if you are just a bread-and-butter vehicle-wrap shop? Contemporary printed graphics are easy to reposition and essentially eliminate bubbles, which mean faster, easier and cleaner installs. Time is money.

Just as we’ve seen a proliferation of products for floor graphics, you can purchase media designed for wall graphics. Need information graphics for a convention? Instead of a sign, install them on a wall. Some products come with light tack for temporary graphics. Others have aggressive tack for longer-term installations. If the surface is smooth like concrete or rough like brick, you should be able to find compatible products.

Do you print custom labels for your clients? Print-and-cut machines can substitute for dedicated label printers for short runs of labels, stickers and bumper stickers, but one of their biggest issues has been the lack of score lines on the release liner, requiring the customer to fidget with the edge to peel the liner. Now you can get media with a pre-scored release liner so your customers won’t have that problem any longer.

If you have a printer that can print white, why restrict yourself to a standard white media? A number of options can provide metallic looks and even holographic rainbow sheens. Your customer should pay a premium to have an image that really pops.

These are really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what you can do with your printer if you have the right media and/or laminate. You can offer new products and provide new ideas for your customers. Remember, there’s more to digital printing than just the printer.

PHOTO GALLERY (6 IMAGES)

Advertisement