Need Help 2 sided printing

[PaPrinter]

Hi all, I am looking to purchase an HP 365 with the expectations of being able to do some 2 sided printing. At the moment we are doing it on our Mimaki flatbed which is working fine but it ties that machine up. I'd like to be able to run 50' to maybe 100' of vinyl blockout at a time and then back up. They are large banners so if they are 1/2" to 3/4" off max that would be acceptable. Is this possible with this machine or is there a better choice?

Thank you, John

 

[myront]

We run an HP with Flexi RIP. It has a decent procedure for double-sided printing feature but we usually only run 1 at a time. We do one layout with fold & trim lines along with dots for grommets. Then a "side B" with no marks but include a white outlined rectangle to keep the size right.
Vinyl prints for banners? True banners are printed directly to the banner stock. You describe printing decals to stick onto banner material?

 

[flyplainsdrifta]

the longer the print, the more stretch on the second run you can expect. the smaller format latex's are good for about 20 feet in my experience. the 1500 we got recently is a tank on 2 sided though. ive done 30 to 50 feet at a time and had it be within a 1/4 inch. takes some work to get good at the workflow but once youve done it a few times it is pretty alright.

 

[Z SIGNS]

Never understood why people want to do this.We do what myront described.

 

[eahicks]

Vinyl prints for banners? True banners are printed directly to the banner stock. You describe printing decals to stick onto banner material?

Not sure how you got that out of his question...where did he say "laying decals on banners"?

 

[myront]

... I'd like to be able to run 50' to maybe 100' of vinyl blockout at a time and then back up. They are large banners so...

 

[Jun Lanon]

Check out Group Imaging at youtube (they're always live). They're doing this. You may also contact them for suggestions. They're using Stratojet Falcon

 

[F1225hgB42w]

myront - you know people oftentimes called scrim banner "vinyl banner", right? The OP is talking about printing on a block out scrim banner material double-sided...

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Any economy printer like the HP latex won't have great registration front to back, but it sounds like the OP has low expectations. If the OP wants really accurate printing they should look at an industrial machine that has a camera and automatic registration tools.

 

[myront]

Just saying, being in the sign industry we would not use terms such as "vinyl" to describe "banner" nor would we refer to any rigid substrate as "banner".
Yes, I agree that any long run of double-sided printing would be best for a more accurate method than the HP's. Even a 12ft single-sided print on our HP will be 145" or so. We've tried dialing in the media feed but....

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

You understand that banners are vinyl right? We call them vinyl banners all the time, but we also sell fabric and polypaper banners too.

To the OP, the double sided printing on the 300 and 500 series is great in theory, in Reality the stretch is incredible and you will struggle to be within 3 inches at 50+ feet.

 

[myront]

Yes banners are typically made with vinyl. But so are vehicle wraps and decals. I still would not refer to a banner as vinyl. Would be very confusing in our shop. A banner is a banner and vinyl is vinyl.

 

[myront]

Request came in just a few minutes ago. "(3) vertical polymetal banners"
Which is it banner or polymetal? Two totally separate substrates. We have these.

 

[Behrmon]

We run double sided banners (call ‘me what you will) on our 570s with very good registration but we only run 18oz so likely getting less stretch.

 

[FireSprint.com]

What's hard is when a customer calls asking for a banner and through some digging you realize they want coroplast. Or they ask for a poster and they want foam board. I think by the dictionary they are correct, but it's hard to decipher sometimes especially when you sell all of the above.

Lot's of interchangeable words in our business.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

What's hard is when a customer calls asking for a banner and through some digging you realize they want coroplast. Or they ask for a poster and they want foam board. I think by the dictionary they are correct, but it's hard to decipher sometimes especially when you sell all of the above.

Lot's of interchangeable words in our business.

My least favorite interchangeable words are when people use brand names and then get mad when they get or don't get what they want. The most prolific is DiBond. When we quote DiBond people freak out and say we are so expensive, then we quote our standard ACP/ACM and they are mad it's not DiBond.

I think the biggest problem is us as an industry advertises our products one way and it confuses the uninitiated.