EDGE printing on fluo vinyl problem

[bigben]

I'm still new to print with my EDGE. Here is my setup: Gerber EDGE 2, omega 6, OEM black and white foils, oracal 6510 fluo vinyl. I'm using the fluo vinyl in omega. If I print my black color over the white, I have print problem (see picture below). But if I print white over the black, there is no problem but I need to print 2 pass of white to have a good color. No matter if I put the black in overprint or not, I have the same result. I've printed smaller decals with the black over the white and I did not have any problem.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[bigben]

I also have this problem from time to time even if I print my white over the black. Is it because the vinyl have a contamination of some sort?

 

[Fred Weiss]

It looks to me like you have a conflict between the black foil and the fluorescent vinyl. I've had similar issues with Oracal films ... especially when printing with black foil. Your easiest solution would be to bring in a roll of fluorescent foil and print the job on white vinyl.

 

[Billct2]

In some of those photos the vinyl looks pockmarked, may just be the vinyl. I use Gerber fluorescents when printing, but it can still be tricky. I usually do a prime coat for everything except black, which I do a double hit on. Fred's suggestion of printing the Fluoro is a good idea.

 

[bigben]

It looks to me like you have a conflict between the black foil and the fluorescent vinyl. I've had similar issues with Oracal films ... especially when printing with black foil. Your easiest solution would be to bring in a roll of fluorescent foil and print the job on white vinyl.

Good idea for the fluorescent foil. Also, the foil is cheaper than the fluo vinyl. Both are rated for indoor and 6 months outside.The only problem is there is no yellow fluo. My customer order orange fluo mostly anyway.

In some of those photos the vinyl looks pockmarked, may just be the vinyl. I use Gerber fluorescents when printing, but it can still be tricky. I usually do a prime coat for everything except black, which I do a double hit on. Fred's suggestion of printing the Fluoro is a good idea.

When you say gerber fluorescents, you mean the foils or the vinyl. Also, can you elaborate on the prime coat? I'm not sure what it is.

 

[Billct2]

I use Gerber (3M) Flourescent vinyl. A primer is used when you are printing on anything other than white, so your color foil comes out correct. Usually the primer coat is white.
So when I'm printing on colored vinyl I will select primer on for all the colors except black, which I print a a spectratone double hit of black.

 

[Rydaddy]

Turn up your heat (temp) settings in quick plot.

 

[Jburns]

I agree with Billct2 above. If after changing foil order, and heat settings you are not successful I would try the following:

1. Priority should be 3M Fluorescent vinyls.
2. If you have to stick with Oracal colors- upgrade to the premium cast 7510

I have both color guides The orange and yellow in Oracal book are a little more vivid- thus tempting. but I have never had an issue with 3M made for Gerber

 

[bigben]

So, I've made other test with different vinyl. I've ordered 5yrd of 3M and Avery. The print on avery is not perfect but alot better than oracal (see picture bellow). If I print my white over the black on the avery, it's alot better (avery 2), but I have to double hit the white to have a good white.

But 3M don't print well at all (see the picture with the white layer). I'm using the right vinyl and foil color in omega. What am I doing wrong?

 

[jfiscus]

What about a different white? Are you using Flood White or Arctic white? (or just normal "white"?)
Sometimes I've also lied to my Edge and told it I was printing green when I actually put a white foil cartridge in it. Shhhh, don't tell it!

 

[bigben]

What about a different white? Are you using Flood White or Arctic white? (or just normal "white"?)
Sometimes I've also lied to my Edge and told it I was printing green when I actually put a white foil cartridge in it. Shhhh, don't tell it!

I'm using normal spot white and it's the only white I have.

 

[SellersSign&Design]

To add to others' comments, I've also had trouble out of white foils before. My current Gerber Arctic White cannot be overprinted with any other color, it will end up looking just like your pictures. For whatever reason it causes problems, so I have to use regular white.

 

[Billct2]

Try selecting darker in the settings and a double hit of white is often needed

 

[Rydaddy]

Try selecting darker in the settings and a double hit of white is often needed

Ditto This. You're basically changing the heat settings.

 

[bigben]

Try selecting darker in the settings and a double hit of white is often needed

I'm sorry, but can you be more specific about the location of the ''darker settings'' option? I will try that.

 

[Billct2]

Send the file to print. In the Edge dialog screen select Print Options (the 123 Icon or F11) Select settings (top center) It should be on default "Normal" set it to Dark.

 

[bigben]

Send the file to print. In the Edge dialog screen select Print Options (the 123 Icon or F11) Select settings (top center) It should be on default "Normal" set it to Dark.

Great, thank you. I will try that.

On another note, after talking with my dealer who talk with gerber about the problem with the 3M film, it seems it's the material itself that is the problem. I will get a new roll tomorrow and make some test.

I've also ask pricing for the fluo foils and one of them is discontinued and the price of the foils itself is more expensive than the fluo material.

 

[Alex P]

I print on all types of vinyl including flourescent with a multitude of foils. The best solution i've found is print in the highest resolution (even if the job doesn't require it), use arctic white instead of regular white and play with the heat settings. I also clean the print head with IPA before long runs and also clean the vinyl. I never use 3m or gerber vinyl -mainly Hexis for normal colours and metamark and KPMF for flourescent as these have the most colour combinations for my line of work. You should be able to print that black on the flourescent and then overprint with white.

 

[SlikGRFX]

Have you looked at your foil order. On one of the Avery prints the black is missing in between the white lettering. My guess is that you are laying two hits of white then black over the top. Correct? The white lays down thick, so the surface becomes uneven. The head can't put enough pressure down in between the white lettering to make the black foil stick properly.

I would lay down a nice smooth layer of black as my base coat, then overprint with a double hit of white with overprint turned up to 'darkest'. You could also try silver under the white (instead of 2 x white) as it is more opaque than one layer of white but doesn't affect the vibrancy of the final white coat too much.

Firstly if you can't get the black to stick to the vinyl, it's a vinyl issue. As mentioned you can try different heat settings, clean the vinyl, or even laminate the neon first to create a suitable print surface, although your decals will end up being thicker. Often when I run solvent prints onto neon vinyls I have to clean the vinyl with IPA as they are usually coated with some kind of residue, probably from the production process.