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Mutoh 1204 Printing on Engineer Grade Prismatic
- Thread starter RidgewoodSignal_JO
- Start date
HaroldDesign
New Member
Your best bet is going to be printing on a pressure sensitive vinyl and mounting to the substrate. If a substrate isn't specifically meant to be printed direct with the particular ink set (solvent, aqueous, etc...) you'll have a hard time (if ever any luck) printing directly on it.
RidgewoodSignal_JO
New Member
My guess is that they are screened.
RidgewoodSignal_JO
New Member
I assumed that some of them were screened but then again if your mass producing all these signs do you really have time to screen all of them. As for the heaters mine are set at 40 42 and 49.
There can be very different properties between screen media and inkjet media.
Screen inks are very viscous and very, very thick compared to ink jet inks which much be squeezed through a very tiny nozzle.
Solvent systems can be very different between the two types of media as well.
3M does make inkjet reflective media as well as their 'industrial grades'.
Cleaning with alcohol and higher temps may help with the printing, but may not provide adequate adhesion and my require overlam for durability.
Please let us know what you find out.
Screen inks are very viscous and very, very thick compared to ink jet inks which much be squeezed through a very tiny nozzle.
Solvent systems can be very different between the two types of media as well.
3M does make inkjet reflective media as well as their 'industrial grades'.
Cleaning with alcohol and higher temps may help with the printing, but may not provide adequate adhesion and my require overlam for durability.
Please let us know what you find out.
Rick
Certified Enneadecagon Designer
Yes, screen printing is faster if the message is the same...
And as slow a process as it may seem, even street signs are screenprinted (or transparent vinyl)
In order to make MUTCD compliant signs the whole sign must be reflective, so even if you could print directly you have to make sure the whole face reflects.
I have seen some signs printed on clear, applied to retro reflective vinyl then graffiti film on top of that.
One way you could try is Print it on EC transparent overlay film. There customers are very happy with this. Check American Traffic safety Materials. Even with this system you will have to lamate ovet the printing to get any life over 3 years. The EC film will last 10 years. www.atsminc.com
RidgewoodSignal_JO
New Member
I have been printing directly onto the prismatic recently and letting it dry longer with the heaters turned up and the results have been pretty decent. I do have transparent vinyl so im going to give that a try and let you guys know.
RidgewoodSignal_JO
New Member
gabagoo
New Member
RidgewoodSignal_JO
New Member
Allied Digital
New Member
I had a blothy issue once and figured out that my damp shirt (from an earlier water application) had run up against the media while loading it. Clammy hands will do this too.
As Randy pointed out above, some media is designed for screening or cutting, some is designed for actual printing. In the case of the Mutoh, my understanding is the heaters actually open up "pores" on the media (yes, vinyl does have these pores) which allow the inks to be impregnated into the material, thus giving the image longer life and UV resistance. The solvent components act as carriers for the pigment and then the post-heater bonds the ink to the material.
It could just be the 3M prrismatic is not manufactured to a digital printing spec, thus the varying degrees of success with the product. Being that you have had some success, have you tried playing with your saturation levels a little bit or perhaps a different profile to see if it makes a difference?
It could just be the 3M prrismatic is not manufactured to a digital printing spec, thus the varying degrees of success with the product. Being that you have had some success, have you tried playing with your saturation levels a little bit or perhaps a different profile to see if it makes a difference?
rfulford
New Member
I have ran about 6 rolls of this on my XLJet. Static was a huge issue. Every so often, the white, non print area of the film would build up so much static that it would actually pull a bit of magenta out of the head and leave a thin magenta line.
Calibration and profiling looks like it would be a huge issue. I never bothered on the last job since I was running the same 4 colors all the time. As was mentioned above, printing on clear would be the simplest method. I would worry about the reflectivity with a clear PSA and overlam. Even a simple overlam kills the reflectivity quite a bit.
I am supposed to receive a sample roll today and run a test on my GS6000 for someone who is thinking of purchasing an Epson. I will post my results later on today.
Calibration and profiling looks like it would be a huge issue. I never bothered on the last job since I was running the same 4 colors all the time. As was mentioned above, printing on clear would be the simplest method. I would worry about the reflectivity with a clear PSA and overlam. Even a simple overlam kills the reflectivity quite a bit.
I am supposed to receive a sample roll today and run a test on my GS6000 for someone who is thinking of purchasing an Epson. I will post my results later on today.