Printed "Gold Leaf"

[SellersSign&Design]

It seems like I am constantly being asked for a more cost effective alternative to hand laid gold or RealGold vinyl. I have always refused to put the imitation gold vinyl on fire trucks because it just doesn't hold up, so that isn't an option. So the only other solution I could think of for this problem was to print something that imitates gold leaf. I know there will be some people that aren't happy with anything that attempts to imitate traditional hand laid gold. I definitely try to push people to stick with real gold, but sometimes it just isn't an option.

I bought BD Sign Supply's custom fills cd which has several engine turn fills on it. I then used one of these fills and printed onto Orafol reflective vinyl using my Gerber Edge. My opinion on the result... It doesn't look bad. Obviously the Edge is not a high resolution printer but it actually looks very convincing especially from a couple feet away. The bonus is it is highly reflective at night. I just thought Id share this to help someone that may be having the same problem I was. I can't remember what the pricing was on the BD fills cd, but it wasn't bad considering what all you get.

 

[Mr. Sign Pro]

Thanks for posting this. I have actually been looking for this exact solution. I have a few engine turn fire truck decals that I need to replicate and the customer swore that the lettering was reflective. This sounds like the only solution for a reflective engine turn decal. Thanks a bunch.

 

[bob]

Try printing on metallic silver. It's not reflective but it can end up looking more like gold leaf than gold leaf if you do it right. You want the lightest metallic silver you can find. I usually use 3M 180C Light Silver as well as Avery Ultra Metallic Silver for a metalflake look. Which one depends on what look the client's going for.

Since the white point is effectively non-existent with silver you need to dial back some colors, especially yellows. Something like PMS 7504 prints nicely on silver as a very satisfying gold. Add the right texture and a good bump map to the image you're printing and you can achieve some amazing results.The print will look a little flat until it's laminated [gloss laminate], then it really comes to life.

If you want to contour cut the results you're better off to select manual bomb sight registration as opposed to automatic sensing. Most sensing tackle has a hard time with registration marks on silver. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but the manual 4-point bomb sight marks, while a pain in the a$$, never fail to work.

 

[letterman7]

Been doing that for a couple years now. I wound up actually photographing a sheet of the imitation gold and massaging the image to fit whatever I was doing. I'm working on a way to have the turns follow the letters like a traditional hand-turned letter would do, but for the moment, my clients seem to like what they see:



I'm going to have to try Bob's suggestion on the silver... interesting choice!

 

[jfiscus]

We print mainly on Leo's Gold; Smart Gold, and with the hand-made turns on the material it looks pretty close to the real thing. I've done hundreds of trucks with it and as long as it is encapsulated it lasts quite a long time. (it REALLY doesn't like curves though!) We have also some of the "Real Gold" material recently and a few of the gold materials that FirehouseDecals.com sell with good success. We print on ours with a Gerber Edge and lam with 8519 1/8" outside of the material to encapsulate.

 

[SellersSign&Design]

signspot- No Problem! I think that's what Signs101 is all about, helping each other out and sharing ideas. I have actually heard customers say their gold leaf lettering was reflective also, but they were mistaking the natural reflective qualities of turned gold for "reflective" material. Your customers may actually have printed reflective gold leaf, but its just something to watch out for!

letterman7- I am also working on a way to make the turns line up with the lettering. Shoot me a pm and maybe we can put our heads together and get it figured out. I think that would make this look awesome.

bob- I have thought about trying to print on a metallic gold, but never a metallic silver. I will give it a try! I'm just not sure if the Gerber Edge will give me the same good results. What are you printing with?

jfiscus- I agree with you on the RealGold lasting a long time, and it is my next choice after real gold. I've never tried Leo's stuff, I tried to get in touch with them to get some samples but they never would return my phone calls or emails. But some of the customers I run into just cant afford anything that involves real gold, whether its vinyl or not. That's why I was searching for a way to at least still give them something that looks like gold without sticking that fake imitation crap on their truck and having it fall off in two years!

 

[bob]

...bob- I have thought about trying to print on a metallic gold, but never a metallic silver. I will give it a try! I'm just not sure if the Gerber Edge will give me the same good results. What are you printing with?...

I'm using a Mutoh Value Jet.

Here's why it works: The media is metallic and the inks are translucent if not transparent. That being the case, everything you print on metallic, except for black which is reasonably opaque, becomes metallic. The darker the colors, the less metallic since black is usually a component of those darker colors. If I could find a decent white metallic it would make life a little easier but the light metallic silver works once you understand the color shifts inherent in using the silver for a white point.

Assuming the inks on whatever tackle you're using have similar translucent qualities, you can print anything from plain light yellow to textures with or without bump maps. The textures add variation to the color, from just a little to a whole bunch. I created my favorite texture from a photo of rusted metal and messed with the colors to get it the light yellow I wanted with veins and splotches of reds and blues of varying intensities. I have have a number of them, from just a hint of colors to a decent image of variegated gold.

Colors beyond the light yellows are indistinguishable for candy apple paint. I have panels on the hood and tailgate of my truck gradient from light yellow to burgundy done on 3M 180C Light Silver. They never fail to evoke comments like "How in hell did you do that?"

Adding a bump map for faux gold leaf, I generally use the same texture as I'm printing. A bump map is a gray scale image and if using the same texture as I'm printing I'll invert it. That's inverting the gray scale, not turning the image upside down. The bump map adds unmistakable depth to the texture. Without it the result is rather flat. With it, it really comes to life.

 

[JR's]

Really good idea guys.
I was going to give you a hard time with customers saying they can't afford real gold.
It seems like they all say that. And then mentioned nothing really compares. But
the photos you guys are showing is very impressive.
Cool ideas thanks for the post.
Bob if you have a chance could you post some photos with the silver. That would be great.
Thanks for sharing guys.
JR

 

[SellersSign&Design]

I'd like to see some pictures of the printed silver also. I'm trying to wrap my mind around it and I think pictures would help! I found white metallic made by Avery, I wonder how well this would work?

http://www.signwarehouse.com/VAVMM1510-p-VAM-1510-101-S.html