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Looking for a vinyl with the clarity of tint

O

osky

New Member
Hi everyone, this is my first post in Signs 101, but I've been in the industry for over ten years. I'm working on a project that requires a vinyl that has the same clarity as a tint, but the characteristics of vinyl. The closest thing that I have found is the Oracal 8300, which is nearly perfect except for being able to see through it. Does anyone know of any product that will fit the bill?

Thanks in advance!
-Craig
 
D

Doug78

New Member
The way I understood it was the Oracal 8300 matches the other characteristics EXCEPT for being able to see through it.
 
J Hill Designs

J Hill Designs

New Member
what other characteristics of tint are there, besides ultra clear adhesive, and transparency (which is what 8300 is, but colored)
 
MikePro

MikePro

New Member
just dealt with this for a recent project.... architect wanted it all. color & optical transparency.
red trans. was the color he wanted me to match, but the stock transluscent vinyl was "too opaque",

ugh. what to do? ....I grabbed some clear vinyl, and printed similiar reds in varying CMYK & transparency levels and let him select. ended up picking a swatch, and LOVED IT!
 
O

osky

New Member
fishyboy1 said:
The way I understood it was the Oracal 8300 matches the other characteristics EXCEPT for being able to see through it.
Click to expand...
Exactly^

I'll be more specific, i have a graphic going onto the back glass of a vehicle. It needs to be only slightly darker or lighter (it doesn't matter which way) than a factory tinted window. However, the driver needs to be able to see through it in his/her rear view mirror. That is where the 8300 fails me, it is too muddled to see through. I need the end product to be a cut graphic that a consumer can apply themselves and be able to see through.
 
SightLine

SightLine

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I'm not sure if any of the overlay vinyls are specifically "optically clear". 3M 1170 is probably your best bet, its on a synthetic liner and is intended for reflective signs specifically to assure the full reflectivity remains intact. Might see if you can request a sample of it from 3M. They also have 1150 and 1160 series. Never really crossed my mind to try using one as a colored window tint. I don't have any in stock right now or I'd check it myself to see how "clear" it really is. I'm thinking it will be about as good as it gets though since its an Electrocut one on the synthetic liner and pretty much all "optically" clear laminates are also on a synthetic liner.
 
O

osky

New Member
Pat, i could cut tint on my plotter, but i need to be able to ship the final product weeded and ready to install. I think you can see where the issue would be with using tint. If I could re-apply a backing liner onto a weeded sheet of tint, it would be perfect. But, re-applying a liner and weeding the tint itself wouldn't be very efficient.
 
T

toodark

New Member
osky said:
Pat, i could cut tint on my plotter, but i need to be able to ship the final product weeded and ready to install. I think you can see where the issue would be with using tint. If I could re-apply a backing liner onto a weeded sheet of tint, it would be perfect. But, re-applying a liner and weeding the tint itself wouldn't be very efficient.
Click to expand...

What type of graphic are you trying to produce. How many colors? Window tint can be used and layered, Ihave a 85% "clear" tint and then layer my colors from there.
 
MikePro

MikePro

New Member
you can buy short rolls of window tint from Home Depot/etc. and laminate it onto clear vinyl.
i do this to make my own chrome day/night illumination film.
 
bigben

bigben

Not a newbie
MikePro said:
you can buy short rolls of window tint from Home Depot/etc. and laminate it onto clear vinyl.
i do this to make my own chrome day/night illumination film.
Click to expand...

interesting, but I'm not sure what you mean by ''day/night illumination film''. It sure give me some ideas.
 
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