Clear calendared vinyl?

[Signarama Grayslake]

We just purchased clear calendared vinyl from mactac..
We do not have white ink to print in the background to help it show the color better, and found out that the images are too transparent to really use unless there is a decent amount of light going through them when they are mounted.. Red blue and black seem to print the best.

What do you guys usually use clear vinyl for? Im trying to think of what type of signs we can make, sell, etc. using this product.

Any examples you can attach or send links to would be great.. We just bought a roll of the clear vinyl and the supplier from the company couldn't even answer our question as to what this material is used for!!

I've seen some pretty good looking clear vinyl on glass but its most likely because they had white ink printing capabilities.
Thanks,

Tim
Signarama Grayslake, IL

 

[Letterbox Mike]

lol, clear vinyl on a non-white inkjet is about useless. You can use it as the bottom layer in translucent prints, and it's okay as long as you're mounting it to a white substrate. clear on glass just doesn't work. The ironic thing is we get more requests for decals on clear vinyl than just about anything else. I've got my "why clear decals on glass won't work" speech memorized.

 

[Tony McD]

I got a sample of some clear static cling a few months ago, and thought the same thing.
Doesn't show up well, and for me kind of useless.

You can reverse print on the clear vinyl and back it up with white vinyl,
for decals to apply inside glass facing out. This doubles the amount of material
used, making them not as inexpensive to make and sell.
Might be able to use it for some backlit applications also, but it being calendared
would make it fairly short term for outdoor use.

 

[Rydaddy]

I think you will find that unless you have a specific job for it you won't use a lot of clear print media. I used 4 rolls last month and used probably 3 rolls the previous 5 years. It tends to be for specific client needs...

Personally, I don't like using it. I don't feel it prints as well. But I am not going to win any wards for PrintMaster2010 either... I know enough to be dangerous...

 

[sjm]

Works very well when you apply it to a sign white.