Decals on wide format and die-cutting them?

[dexproduktion]

Hi!

This might seem very wierd but lets go!
I've been in the business for about 13 years and printed a ton of decals using older Roland printers and now a Epson SC80600 with a Summa S class 2 160t.

Whenever I get an order for regular decals, contoured or regular rectangular and such I always print them and cut them in the Summa with like 5mm space in between them to then later on cut them one by one using a ruler and knife. This leaves me with decals having a white 2-3mm border of backingpaper.

Is there other ways to cut decals down to one by one? I dont get it how others do really.
It's been bogging me for years

 

[Boudica]

are you talking about perf cut? I don't think I understand the question.

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

We use a Fotoba DigiTrim 64 to cut decals down into user manageable sheets of around 12"x18". Smallest width it will cut is 8" though.
You can also get a 20" version which cuts all the way down to 2" wide.

 

[balstestrat]

Perf cut so you don't have to use that ruler and knife? That's why the cutter has it.

 

[ikarasu]

It's called "Flex Cut" on Summa - google how to flex cut with a summa and you'll find many guides on how to do it

 

[FatCat]

As others have said “flex cut” or “perf cut” is one way you can separate individual labels or decals if you only have a roll cutter.

Another way, and arguably better way, would be to use a flatbed cutter which is what we do now. Our Summa F-1612 cuts through the vinyl as well as the backer regardless of shape and we’ve run thousands of decals like that.

 

[FireSprint.com]

As others have said “flex cut” or “perf cut” is one way you can separate individual labels or decals if you only have a roll cutter.

Another way, and arguably better way, would be to use a flatbed cutter which is what we do now. Our Summa F-1612 cuts through the vinyl as well as the backer regardless of shape and we’ve run thousands of decals like that.

Yes, it seems with short run decal production, this is how it's done. (Long run labels are run on a entirely different setup)

1.) Kiss cut on plotter, then cut down sheets/individual decals using a fotoba, guillotine cutter, ruler/knife option
2.) Thru (Die) cut them on a flatbed cutter like an F-1612, Colex, Multicam, Zund, Esko, Etc.

There are "Sticker Factories" out there than have a room full of flatbed cutters and operators to run them.

FireSprint is a wholesale sign & decal printer to the trade. Join us today!

 

[RICHARD SIMMONS]

Hi!

This might seem very wierd but lets go!
I've been in the business for about 13 years and printed a ton of decals using older Roland printers and now a Epson SC80600 with a Summa S class 2 160t.

Whenever I get an order for regular decals, contoured or regular rectangular and such I always print them and cut them in the Summa with like 5mm space in between them to then later on cut them one by one using a ruler and knife. This leaves me with decals having a white 2-3mm border of backingpaper.

Is there other ways to cut decals down to one by one? I dont get it how others do really.
It's been bogging me for years

Well, I don't see the problem !! This is the way I do it too !! Of course, I don't have very big orders for decals !!

 

[Steve-P]

Hi!
Whenever I get an order for regular decals, contoured or regular rectangular and such I always print them and cut them in the Summa with like 5mm space in between them to then later on cut them one by one using a ruler and knife. This leaves me with decals having a white 2-3mm border of backingpaper.

Is there other ways to cut decals down to one by one? I dont get it how others do really.
It's been bogging me for years

I print them with a contour cut and a perf cut, but I leave about 1/4" between the perf cuts in each direction. I also do a rectangle contour cut around the entire field of stickers. I do my contour cuts first (including the big rectangle around all the stickers), then the cut pauses and I peel off the matrix (the unused material between the stickers). This does two things -- first it allows me to use much less pressure for my perf cuts (since the blade only has to cut the backer, and not the vinyl also), and it also gives me a sticker with a border of just backer, which makes peeling the sticker from the backer easier. I do my perf cuts with about 1 to 1-1/2" of cut, and about 0.10 to 0.15 of lift between the perf cuts. This keeps the stickers attached to the media until the perf cut is finished, and then it's a simple matter to break them away while the media is still loaded on the cutter.

 

[ikarasu]

I do thousands of perf cut stickers on My graphtec a month. Most of the time right to then cut - if you have a sharp blade it comes out nice.

Sticker mule has 5-10 graphtecs per warehouse I believe... Pretty sure it was them I saw a video of.


Flatbed cutters are quicker, but for the price and room they take up... It's not an option for most.


How do you guys find kiss cutting on flatbeds? I always felt like pressure needs to be perfect, and I don't see how it can be in a elastic belt.. But I could be wrong

 

[balstestrat]

How do you guys find kiss cutting on flatbeds? I always felt like pressure needs to be perfect, and I don't see how it can be in a elastic belt.. But I could be wrong

It's fine and you can also fine tune it with the depth of the knife.

 

[victor bogdanov]

I do about 20k 2" x 2" decals for a clothing company per month. after printing cut into about 30" sheets, the cut into strips with a ruler that has a sliding knife. Then scissors. Doesn't really take that long. A batch of 5k might 3-4 hours to cut. At 20 cents a sticker I can't complain, plus I'm not the one cutting . I do perf cutting sometimes if they want a circle etc but I almost prefer the hand cutting as less can go wrong

 

[WYLDGFI]

We use our colex table for cutting loads of stickers if we have the time. Kiss cut then... If they need to be singles...only way to go. Otherwise we will cut on the graphtec and ship rolls if the client is ok with that.

 

[iPrintStuff]

Yeah your problem may be that you’re cutting them into singles. Do they NEED to be singles?

We used to just cut them into manageable (roughly 12” by 16” sheets) but nowadays as long as it’s square and it’s under 140mm we just throw it in the XY cutter.

Takes about 15-20 mins to cut an entire roll of 12x16 sheets. Anything over 10 copies now gets thrown in there. No manual labour for meeee.

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

Yeah your problem may be that you’re cutting them into singles. Do they NEED to be singles?

We used to just cut them into manageable (roughly 12” by 16” sheets) but nowadays as long as it’s square and it’s under 140mm we just throw it in the XY cutter.

Takes about 15-20 mins to cut an entire roll of 12x16 sheets. Anything over 10 copies now gets thrown in there. No manual labour for meeee.

Other alternative would be to XY cut into sheets then guillotine a few slices and presto... singles!

 

[mr-blue]

I do about 20k 2" x 2" decals for a clothing company per month. after printing cut into about 30" sheets, the cut into strips with a ruler that has a sliding knife. Then scissors. Doesn't really take that long. A batch of 5k might 3-4 hours to cut. At 20 cents a sticker I can't complain, plus I'm not the one cutting . I do perf cutting sometimes if they want a circle etc but I almost prefer the hand cutting as less can go wrong

Cant believe this - 5K in 4 hours would be only 3 seconds for one. If I had to cut 20K ich would not use a scissors.