Jake - Advantage Signs
New Member
The person who does quoting here told me today that she's going to move to using "first surface" and "second surface" when referring to how things are mounted/printed on clear material (acrylic, windows, etc...) and it got me thinking. Since I've come back to Signs101, I figure I'd ask you all
What was the old terminology you might be asking yourself?
"outside facing out" and "inside facing out"
(I've always felt that these two terms imply other options like "inside facing in" and "outside facing in", but those have never actually come up.)
When I started working here, outside/out and inside/out were the go-to terms and I've had to adopt them over the years. The thought is that customers and sales people don't know what "first surface" and "second surface" mean and explaining to them wasn't worth the effort I guess.
I definitely feel like there is some sort of split between people who started in the vinyl and paint days of sign making and the newer people who began in the direct digital print days. I began in the industry in 2001, so I feel like I have a foot in both worlds. I've worked at three different sign/graphic shops and by far the most common terms and the one I was trained with is 1st/2nd surface. I was trained at a company that did a lot of second surface print mounting to acrylic, and I've also had terms like "face mount" thrown around during my career. Making the switch to direct printing images onto acrylic has confused my terminology slightly since the old "second surface" prints were printed non-reversed and mounted using optically clear adhesive, while the images for back printing acrylic need to be reversed before printing. Oh look...and then there's that..."face print" and "back print"...oh man...
What do you use for terms normally?
Do you feel like you have to explain your terminology frequently to customers?
How often do you say things like "reverse cut, second surface mount" or do you think it always should be assumed that "2nd surface" = "reverse"?
When you print on acrylic, do you still use 1st/2nd surface as terms, or are you more likely to say something else?
What was the old terminology you might be asking yourself?
"outside facing out" and "inside facing out"
(I've always felt that these two terms imply other options like "inside facing in" and "outside facing in", but those have never actually come up.)
When I started working here, outside/out and inside/out were the go-to terms and I've had to adopt them over the years. The thought is that customers and sales people don't know what "first surface" and "second surface" mean and explaining to them wasn't worth the effort I guess.
I definitely feel like there is some sort of split between people who started in the vinyl and paint days of sign making and the newer people who began in the direct digital print days. I began in the industry in 2001, so I feel like I have a foot in both worlds. I've worked at three different sign/graphic shops and by far the most common terms and the one I was trained with is 1st/2nd surface. I was trained at a company that did a lot of second surface print mounting to acrylic, and I've also had terms like "face mount" thrown around during my career. Making the switch to direct printing images onto acrylic has confused my terminology slightly since the old "second surface" prints were printed non-reversed and mounted using optically clear adhesive, while the images for back printing acrylic need to be reversed before printing. Oh look...and then there's that..."face print" and "back print"...oh man...
What do you use for terms normally?
Do you feel like you have to explain your terminology frequently to customers?
How often do you say things like "reverse cut, second surface mount" or do you think it always should be assumed that "2nd surface" = "reverse"?
When you print on acrylic, do you still use 1st/2nd surface as terms, or are you more likely to say something else?
