We have a CET hybrid printer. We went with straight cmyk, no white. No regrets there 'cause we would never use it. (And if that changes we can always add the white ink later since it's field upgradeable). But, having said that, I'm wanting to produce a sign using some old wood. It's for us internally, and we are using some specific pieces of wood with some sentimental value (so we aren't wanting to ditch the wood and go buy new wood with a white face or anything). It's old 'barn wood' style boards. We are mounting them together and then running them through a planer to get a flat print surface. The final product is going indoors. We don't paint much of anything here generally so I know very little about paint. So my question is, what paint would you recommend I use to paint the face of the wood white so that we can then direct print to it?
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Paint for wood substrates
- Thread starter tylercrum
- Start date
Pete Moss
New Member
I've done some similar prints. If you can get away with it or if it matches the style you are going for why not utilize the wood grain and leave it unpainted? The results are awesome. Otherwise, I really like exterior Pittsburgh for sing work however that may be an overkill for indoor use. Your printer specs/ salesperson may be able to help also.
Yeah, I had thought about not painting it white first as well. We're doing a series of signs in our lobby with the multiple different iterations of our franchise logo over the years and we're doing each sign in a different style (1/2" gator, barn wood, aluminum etc etc). I may give the 'not painting' a try as well. I appreciate the info on the Pittsburgh paint. I've never been afraid to overkill anything! haha
Yeah, I just only have a certain amount of this particular wood so I wanted to make sure we get it right the first or second try. I have enough wood to mess it up twice and then after that I'm done...whether I got it right or not...
Planing and sanding down old barn wood seems kind of counter productive. I have no idea what you're looking to do, but I'd think keeping the wood natural would be best. I'd go ahead and cut a mask and paint just where you want things to "pop" white. Everything else should stay natural. As for paint, the more basic the better. Stay away from the paints where you can wash off crayon or won't mildew. That stuff is full of additives that can make adhesion problematic.
TammieH
New Member
You are using old barn siding type wood for sentimental reasons, then you are planing smooth, painting it white, and then covering it with a digital print?
I would think you would want to design something around the natural wood finish..and hand paint
...just my meaningless opinion.
I would think you would want to design something around the natural wood finish..and hand paint
...just my meaningless opinion.
hcardwell93
New Member
Can you find some similar wood at a reclamation store for testing?
And I'd be all for that if 1) I could hand paint worth a darn and 2) this wood's "natural wood finish" didn't look like complete crap. So yep, we are using old wood, planing it smooth, painting it and then printing on it. It's not my choice to use this particular wood, (and not MY sentimentality...) but there are only a couple folks in this world I just don't argue with and this is one of them!
Thank you all for the advice, I think we got it handled.