Vinyl banners are by far the most common banner type in use today. They are used everywhere from Albany to Zambia, from National Parks to car parks and from the poles to the equator. But rather than making them easier to understand, this ubiquitous nature has made them more complex and difficult. The variations of substrate, printer, inks, lamination and finishing techniques have become almost infinite.

Vinyl banner substrates have a variety of surface textures, but these are just cosmetics, and personal preference should apply. The important bits are in the composition of the banner material. Most vinyl banners are made of calendered PVC. Woven into some banners are polyester scrims. In these banners the PVC is coated over the scrims, providing a lot of extra strength. The weight of the banner also determines strength. Common weights range from 10 to 16 ounces. Backlit banners are translucent for even light transmission. Some banners allow small amounts of light to pass through, others have a block-out layer in the middle. Different situations require different choices here.

Choosing the right printing ink and substrate combination is also critical. Aqueous inks are only acceptable for short-term indoor use. The banner materials have to be coated to accept the inks and these coatings are not very durable or water resistant. UV inks do not bind very well to vinyl banners and scratch easily. Eco and mild solvents bond lightly to many banner types, but every substrate needs testing before any purchasing decisions are made. True solvent inks bite deeply into vinyl banner materials. The inks are resistant to abrasion and fading, making for excellent all-round banner choices. If a longer term product is desired, the banner can be coated with a liquid lamination. This can be applied with a special coating machine or the old-fashioned way with a spray gun or roller.

After printing, most banners will require some form of edge finishing. For simple, short-term indoor use, banner tape is quick and easy. This double-sided adhesive is formulated for use with vinyl banners and will provide a good light-duty product. For a stronger bond without using any equipment, chemicals are available that actually alter the chemistry at the join. They are much stronger than adhesives.

If you want to get some machinery to make the job easier, heat welding is a good entry-level product. The heat seams are attractive and relatively strong. Radio frequency welding requires more expensive equipment and training, but gives a stronger, more consistent and almost invisible edge finish. The strongest, but ugliest, edge finish is sewing. Thread cannot be beat for a tough, durable hem. This also allows for reinforcing material to be sewn in when heavy-duty use is expected.

Banners can be used almost everywhere. They are good looking enough for even the chichiest occasion. Vinyl banners are tough enough for the wildest outdoor locations and they are cheap enough for the lowest budgets. Stand and framing systems are available in sizes that range from the personal to the gigantic, but almost anything can be turned into a banner holding device. They can be fastened to surfaces or stretched between poles. They can be attached rigidly or left floating like flags. There’s not much that you can’t do with a banner. One artist is even recycling old banners by sewing them into shopping bags.

There are lots of reasons why vinyl banners are so popular today. Easy to print, easy to fabricate, inexpensive to stock and easy to handle are reasons why printers push them, but durability, attractiveness, versatility and cost effectiveness are reasons why clients keep coming back for more.

In this, and any, economy, a business has to keep a close eye on dollars going out. As a business owner, you do not want to spend money on things you can maybe skip or wait out. But, as with any automobile, skipping or waiting out the maintenance on an expensive UV-curing digital printer is asking for trouble and will most likely cost you a lot more than you expected.

When it comes to our UV-curing printers, a lot of redundant maintenance and automatic fail-safe procedures are built into most of the machines to ensure anything terrible does not happen. Some maintenance tasks are simple and some are complicated. Some, if not carried out in time, will simple cause the machine to turn itself off. The good news is that the more complicated the tasks are, the more the machines made these days do the maintenance automatically.

Something to remember: maintenance is not the same as repair! Instead, it just prevents a lot of very expensive repairs! Something else to remember: the first rule of printer maintenance is to always make sure the machine stays clean. Maintenance is not fun, and it's not exciting, but it is very necessary. UV-curing printers are exponentially more complicated than other printers. The water based printers are great workhorses that don't ever really break. Water based printer maintenance is simple: oil a couple of places, wipe off a couple of places and it runs forever. If something does need to be replaced, it's usually a matter of taking out the old part and plugging in the new one. With our UV machines, it's more complicated. There are moving parts, more electronics, UV-emitting light bulbs that must be monitored and in general, just more to keep up with. Maintenance is a critical part of performance and longevity, and the process is different for each individual model.

All things considered, the best strategy to ensure you get the most value from your UV-curing printer is to follow all manufacturer recommended maintenance procedures and schedules. The printer manual is a useful reference book. Most users will go through a period of training during which they learn the basics of how to operate a machine. The manual has recommended procedures and can be a digital printer owner's best friend. It may not be the most exciting reading, but it is filled with essential information you need to keep your printer in optimal working condition.

With so many different substrates on the market, it can be a bit difficult to keep up with new products. Taking the time to compare product features, finishing requirements, availability, and price can help you to create a handful of substrates for your company.

What you want to do initially is assess your company or shop's needs. What kind of sign company are you? Do you just work with vinyl, are you a screen printer, digital printer, or maybe even an electric shop? It's also good to analyze what substrates you have used in the past, and what substrates have been requested by customers. Make a very organized list of what substrates your company can benefit from and stick to it. You most definitely do not want to go crazy and go after every substrate out there.

The key is to know what substrates are most widely used, and what purpose they serve. Acrylic is extremely popular for illuminated sign faces. For smaller signs or large signs mounted flush on a building signabond is widely used. For outdoor applications that require a more rigid substrate, Alumalite (Nudo), is a very durable material to use. It is basically layered aluminum with a high impact corrugated plastic core that helps to create a lightweight yet strong substrate with an outdoor life expectancy of ten years. Sintra is a great sheet plastic option, and is perfect for indoor uses. Lastly, Coroplast (Corex) is perfect for temporary signage because it is inexpensive and lightweight.

MN Designs offers these, and many other substrates that can fit many signage needs. We also offer samples of the products upon request so that your customers will have a visual of what each substrate is. This is a great option to have because it gives both you and your customer something to work around. This also helps you to know your substrates.

Substrates available at MN Designs can be found here.

Here's a common scenario. You've installed some window perf with a laminate overlay. After a week or so your customer calls back because the edges are coming up. You end up calling your vendor and really end up not getting the help you need. So, what do you do?

Let's go through the process of prepping for the installation, and then we'll give you the tips on how to handle peeling. It's really important to make sure that all contaminants are off the window before installation. The common thought is to use Windex or something similar, but not only does Windex not touch silicone, but it actually contains it. Alcohol will not cut through silicone either.

It is actually highly recommended to clean the windows using Soft Scrub, or something similar. Don't waste you time on fancy smells or bleach, as you're just using this to remove silicone from the window. Spread it on a sponge; apply to the window and scrub. After doing this, wash it down with water, and you can finish with isopropyl alcohol to speed the drying process.

After installation, cut the perf back 3/8-inch from the edge of the window and seal it with optically clear tape. It is basically a roll of optically clear overlaminate slit down into thin rolls. It ensures that the edges are not exposed to the elements. You'll notice great success when using this method and the common failures when not.

Have you ever taken an order from a client knowing that there was very little immediate profit from the order for you and your company? Perhaps you sold someone an order and when you finished you most likely wondered why you did all that work for little or no profit at all. It seems that we all think about this little scenario around tax time every spring. We'll take a look at the volume handled and the amount we still have, then will stand there with a mystery to solve -- what happened? This is one of the reasons to constantly monitor our businesses in order to know where we are and to avoid getting into a problem before it's too late.

Often, clients will look to us to solve a problem they have with obtaining a product or a service that is foreign to our offerings. If we really want the loyalty of our clientele, we must service their requests for help even before they ask for it. We must learn to anticipate their requests even before they make them because if we do not help them, someone else will be there to take care of these needs, and possibly their future needs.

It is very common to get requests from clients for very small things, especially in the sign supply and advertising business. You may come across someone who wants one or two small items printed and/or installed, and it may seem not worthwhile at that moment, but that small service will often propel you to landing a much larger order. We must care for those who have a need, even if it isn't to the greatest of profits. It takes a lot of money to keep your business moving, and the margins of profits you must maintain are essential to your continued operation, but sometimes you need to plant some seeds that might take a little longer to give you a good harvest. There is a time for all things, and when you service your clients, that might be the right time for you to give service because the client has supported you.

We all have a treasure in the accounts we now have, and selling to them is much easier than attempting to sell a new account. You may be surprised at what kind of orders you can obtain simply by asking for them!

Running a business in a competitive economy means that you have got to be on your toes when it comes to market sharing. It is a basic survival rule! If you are running a business in the field of graphics, printing, and advertising, the idea of market sharing is even more important. Clients look for the easiest, most cost effective routes now, and in the printing industry, flatbed printers are a viable option to gaining expanded business!

The flatbed printer brings easy printing capabilities that can cut out, all together, the need for vinyl application onto substrates. Many local companies in South Carolina already come to MN Designs because of our flatbed capabilities, and it had expanded their markets greatly. The greatest capability of the flatbed printer is that it can print directly onto a substrate. As noted before, this eliminates the need for vinyl application which saves time, and ultimately saves money. Most flatbed printers use UV curable inks that when ran through the printer, are instantly cured. This shortens the amount of time a customer would have to wait to have their print installed. The type of substrates a flatbed can print on is really only restricted to the height at which the printer head can be raised. MN Designs can print on substrates up to 2" thick, and that has definitely been taken advantage of. From magnetics, to glass, and even to doors, flatbeds are a great tool to utilize for direct printing.

MN Designs offers wholesale digital flatbed printing on a wide number of substrates. More information on substrates can be viewed at the official MN Designs website.

When working with a customer's needs in a way that will make them remember you, and ultimately continue to use your services, one of the most important elements is that of design. When working with vehicle wraps, it is extremely easy to use a live picture, a company name, and company contact information, but what exactly stands out about that? I bet when you're driving around and notice vehicles with graphics on them pertaining to construction, they all look just about the same. There in lies the problem. They are not current. They are not creative.

The main key and focus when starting a new wrap design project is to attack it with its impact in mind. What you are going to want to do is appeal to your customer's needs. Make sure everything they require is completed, and done so in a way that makes what they were thinking of themselves seem one hundred times better. In order to do so you must first gain a thorough understanding of what your client is asking for. The best way to do this is through direct communication. Spend time with your client. This enables you to feed off of each other's ideas, come up with solutions, and build a relationship. With a final concept completed, always print a proof to show your client. Chances are there will be a few minor changes to be made, but once you get the go-ahead, you'll be ready to take everything on!

It's also very important to remember that with all the media that can be produced with digital printers, you and your company should morph with the times. Keep up to date with the services that can be provided to you through companies who have the ability to keep you current. When you're current, you will be able to offer intelligent designs that focus directly on the customer's product and needs.

In Part 1 of our two part text effect rundown we covered some nifty and simple effects, like multiple outlines and modifying fonts, and we even lightly touched on the difference between Photoshop and Illustrator. For Part 2 we will continue to look at simple, yet effective ways to make your text stand out!

We will first start off with yet another technique that is super easy to do in Illustrator. With a few simple and well planned out steps, Illustrator can create what appears to be interlocking characters. Start by generating two overlapping characters on two separate type paths. Convert them to outlines and use the multiple outlines technique that was described in Part 1 to create a colored outline around each of the characters. Select everything with the Selection tool. Now, here is the magic touch. Display the Pathfinder and click the Divide icon to divide all of the overlapping parts into separate paths. Individually select the overlapping areas with the Direct Selection tool. With the Color Sampler tool (the eyedropper), sample the color from the adjacent non-overlapping area to fill the region with similar color.

Illustrator is also the software to use for threading text when you want to flow text from one shape to another or for wrapping type around a shape. You can also use Illustrator to create multiple columns or rows of text, whereas Photoshop does not offer any of these features.

Photoshop has two system for generating type. It can generate type as a layer that produces fully editable, vector-based text. It can also produce type as a type mask that creates a selection marquee in the shape of a type character. Both have their uses, but to create type characters that contain an image, we'll use the Type Mask tool.

Open an image in Photoshop. Chose Select > Select All and then Edit > Copy. This, of course, copies the image onto the Clipboard. Choose the Type Mask tool. In the Options bar, select a typeface and a type size big enough to reveal a good portion of your image. Click on the image and you'll see a blinking insertion point on red translucent mask. Type the text.

To reposition the text press the Command (Mac) Ctrl (PC) key and drag the text into position. To resize the text drag one of the corner points. When the text is set to your liking, click the checkmark in the Options bar. The mask converts to a selection outline.

From the Edit Menu, choose Paste Into, and the image you copied to the clipboard will be pasted into the text. Do note however if the original layer is visible, you will not see any changes unless you click the visibility icon in the Layers panel. This technique produces a layer with a layer mask in the shape of the type that can be scaled and positioned with the move tool.

And there we have it! These are just a few effective tips to help your designs more personable and creative.

The way a word looks in print can have more of an impact to a viewer than the actual word itself. The features in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop control almost every aspect of this generation of design and placement of type in a field, and with a few simple tricks, both programs can produce awesome typographical effects that communicate an idea that will have a great impact.

It is important to know a few things about the two programs before we begin. Photoshop is primarily a raster-based software program, meaning that its operations are designed to manipulate pixels. There are, however, a few tools in this program that generate and edit vector objects. These tools include the Pen tools, the Direct Selection and Path Selection tools, the Shape tools, and the Type tool. Illustrator depends on similar tools to create vector objects and has several components that generate and edit pixels. Some of these include a series of effects that modify Bezier curves by adding pixel effects and filters that can be directly applied to raster images.

When modifying fonts, you can achieve almost any type effect in Photoshop through a series of Layer techniques, but there are a few techniques in Illustrator that will produce a similar, and most of the time even better, outcome with less effort involved. One example is the ability to modify the shape of type characters. Since type in Illustrator can be converted to basic vector outlines the intrinsic shapes of characters can be easily changed and manipulated.

Start by generating some type in Illustrator. Next, choose Create Outlines from the Type menu. Make sure you proof your text because once the outline is created, the type can no longer be edited. The conversion changes the text characters into a group of Bezier curves that can be altered by dragging their anchor points, segments of direction handles with the Direct Selection tool or adding addition paths.

Illustrator also beats Photoshop when creating characters with multiple-colored outlines. First, choose the Horizontal Type tool and create one or more characters. Apply a colored fill to the characters. Next, convert the type to outlines. From the Object menu, select Path > Offset Path and type a value, in points, in the dialog box, then click OK. The width of the type will appear to increase, but what actually happens is the Offset Path command automatically duplicates and enlarges the selected characters by the specified value. The new path is positioned behind the original path. With the new offset path still selected, choose a color fill from the Swatches or Color Panel to color the new path's offset edge. Repeat the process for each new outline you want to create.

This concludes the cool type effects lesson in Part 1. Stay tuned for Part 2!

 

When you begin the process of setting up and developing a vehicle wrap for your clients it is extremely important to do the necessary steps to making it easy on your clients, your designer, and ultimately, yourself. The following insights on making sure you cover your bases will make the overall wrap process, including the installation, efficient and stress-free.

One key thing you will want to do early on is take the extra time to create a dialogue with the graphic designer. When you begin working for a client, go out of your way to discuss his or her designs before and after the install, explaining what worked and what did not.

The reason you will want to take extra time, which can take up several hours of phone conversations, emails, and face to face meetings, is that you want to help your graphic designer understand the installation process. Many wrap designs will either not fit properly or will be far too complicated that it makes the overall installation process longer and more difficult. Keep in mind that a graphic on a layout looks flat, but will be applied to a surface that has contours and recessed areas.

Another thing you will want to do in the early stages is take a look at an actual picture of the vehicle online before completing the design. This helps the graphic designer see more of the 3-D aspects and work around them during the design process. Secondly, encourage the graphic designer to make the designs more simple in terms of text and images. A very common error when developing wrap designs is to include too much information and imagery. The most effective designs, which garner the most attention, are the simplest. Also, in terms of installation, simple designs are easier to install.

Lastly, ask your graphic designer to send you the layout before it is approved by the client. This will give you the ability to make a few suggestions that will make the installation quicker and less stressful. Taking ten minutes to do this can save hours of installation, especially on fleet jobs.

Doing all of these little things before the install will make the entire process more efficient, which in turn, will increase your profits and free time. You want to treat installing graphics as a business and try to make it as streamline as possible.