Buying latex printed-have questions

[bpfohler]

We’re diving into vinyl printing to add to our shirt business, we have limited experience and have only cut single color vinyl.
I think we’ve decided it will be a latex print combo but I have some questions.

1 We design in Corel, should I buy a dedicated sign/graphic software for cutting and printing and which one? I know there will be different opinions but I’d love to know the pros/cons of each.

2 Will latex but suitable for outdoor signs without a laminate? Is it different inks
3. Do we buy the same vinyl as with Eco Solvent inks?
Any other info or suggestions would be great. Thanks

 

[AF]

Any printable vinyl will work. Because latex ink sits on the surface, it should be laminated for outdoor use. Scratch resistance means nothing. If you laminate with clear vinyl, you can hit it with sandpaper and not remove the ink.

Abrasion, UV, cleaning solvents, environmental fallout will all arrack the unprotected print.

 

[AKwrapguy]

We’re diving into vinyl printing to add to our shirt business, we have limited experience and have only cut single color vinyl.
I think we’ve decided it will be a latex print combo but I have some questions.

1 We design in Corel, should I buy a dedicated sign/graphic software for cutting and printing and which one? I know there will be different opinions but I’d love to know the pros/cons of each.

2 Will latex but suitable for outdoor signs without a laminate? Is it different inks
3. Do we buy the same vinyl as with Eco Solvent inks?
Any other info or suggestions would be great. Thanks

Congrats on moving to latex...

Designing in Corel is fine. As far as rip software there are several out there I would suggest getting trial versions to see which one works best for you. There are several threads that are dedicated to this topic.

As far as your second question, Latex is fine for almost any purpose. As far as outdoor signage, generally the rule of thumb is if it's printed it needs to be laminated. If the signage is temporary, say less than a few months you probably won't need to laminate it but the function of the laminate is to protect the material from not just scratches, dirt, chemicals, but also UV.

Yes latex do use different inks as they are water based.

You can use almost any material on latex that you would on eco-solvent. Some manufactures do make specific latex versions of some materials.

As far as suggestions the biggest thing to remember with Latex is your heat settings and take some time to dial them in. Aside from that we would need to know manufacture, make and model.

A good rule of thumb for here is the more info the better when looking for help.