Is this possible???

[Enola]

An old customer is slowly becomming a PITA.

So, last year I lettered a 24' trailer for a fella. He didn't want mega coverage, and we decided to keep his logo about 10' long, and towards the front. He said he may want to add a picture later on.

Fast forward to last Friday, He would now like that photo on the back corner. The problem is, he is very determined that we fade the picture coming forward, ending up the color of the trailer (dark gray). I have tried twice to fade the picture into a dark gray color to match the trailer, and have come extremely close, but not dead on.

Is this even possible to get a "dead on" match to an automotive paint job? I went as far as contacting the manufacturer for the color specs, but I can't get perfect.

 

[unclebun]

The simple answer is no. Even on a white vehicle. Black you can come closer because of the nature of black, especially when not in direct sunlight. But because of the nature of paint (pigment, depth, gloss, metallic or not) and printed vinyl (CMYK dots, gloss, lack of depth), you will never get a perfect match.

 

[bannertime]

No, there are too many pigment options that ink can't match. You MIGHT could come close by printing on clear with white ink and fading into no print. Plus, the print will likely fade faster than the paint and it won't match in a matter of years anyway.

 

[equippaint]

Clear with a halftone gradient

 

[Enola]

Thank you for the replies.

I will let you know how things go.

 

[Baz]

Clear with a halftone gradient will only work on lite colored vehicles.
I only fade to vehicle paint when it's black or white. You don't get exact match, but from a distance looks great.

Trying to match a vehicle paint color is hard to do and always goes off depending on the angle you are looking at it and how the sun reflects on it.
Near impossible in my opinion.

 

[Gino]

You jut need to be honest with the guy and tell him, you are working with two entirely different components. They will never be a prefect blend, unless you wrap it. Called Upsell.

 

[Enola]

Near impossible in my opinion.

I'm going with this. haha

 

[ExecuPrintGS]

I would print it on 3m IJ180mC-114, Clear printable wrap material and print a white base under the image and use a halftone to fade to the trailers paint color.
Plenty of wholesale printers who can print white ink could handle the printing for you and you could give your client what they are asking for.

 

[De.signs Nanaimo]

I always say no to matching paint, even if you charge for it you will never get it perfect, it's like trying to get a car guy to pay full price for decals, ain't gonna happen!

 

[rjssigns]

You can match, but it involves painting a blend with automotive paint. Nothing is impossible, impossible just costs more.