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Vehicle Decals: printed or solid color vinyl

nolanola

New Member
Hello.
We have a job to put some vinyl decals on a van.
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Normally I would make it with Oracal 751, but in this case the customer wants it to be done the same way as their other van: all decals were "printed with latex on 3M 180C".
So, offered them to print the logo on 3M 180C and use Oracal 751 for black, white and red decals.
Now they worry that the different vinyls will fade at a different rate. Also, i am pretty sure that the black color printed on vinyl will look different than the black vinyl.

I have seen signmakers printing decals instead of cutting them of solid color vinyl before and I am not sure what I think about it.
What is your opinion?

Thank you.

 

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CSOCSO

I don't hate paint, I just overlay it.
I would print everything except the black lettering. So the red and the logos all printed. also those bullet point kinda things too.
 

GAC05

Quit buggin' me
Do you have to do that white lettering on the bottom in the same rolling wave alignment to match the old layout?


wayne k
guam usa
 

T_K

New Member
I'd say if you can match the colors with cut vinyl, use that on the text areas. I would print/laminate the logo for ease on the install side.

If they're worried about sections fading faster than others - that's likely to happen anyway. Between my personal experience and studying signs around me, I've noticed different colors of vinyl tend to fade at different rates. Obviously, you wouldn't expect print/laminated vinyl to perform the exact same as 1-color cut vinyl. Or they'll leave one side always facing the sun, so the whole vehicle is asymmetrical in fading.

I would talk to them about how many years they can expect it to last compared to price of different production methods. Generally, I think there's not a huge difference in life expectancy between printed or cut vinyl, assuming you're using quality material. But the price on production and install can change a good bit.
 

eahicks

Magna Cum Laude - School of Hard Knocks
I would do like this.... You won't notice much difference in the blacks of print vs cut vinyl. We mix all the time, customer usually has no clue.
 

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rdm01

New Member
I'd most likely offer two options, perhaps two quotes. All cut vinyl (longer lasting, more fade resistant), or printed and cut (more economical). For the printed and cut version, I would do whatever is quickest and cheapest since that is the route they chose. On the one imaged, it would be printed logos/bottom band, all black cut vinyl over that.
 
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