Printed vinyl on printed window perf problem

[GoodPeopleFlags]

Has anyone ever applied printed vinyl to printed window perf? Well, I just did. Why didn't it occur to me beforehand that the vinyl is going to curl up where it lays on a hole???? I just tried a Sealit Pen and a heat gun. Neither solved the problem. Any other suggestions?

btw - the customer insisted on vinyl on perf because the colors would be brighter. True. It really looks great. The letters have been on there for almost a week and aren't curling any more than the first day but I'm sure they'll come off eventually. You can't tell by looking that they're curling; only when you feel of it. If you rubbed your hand across it carelessly, letters *would* come off.

I also noticed that the lettering with a white outline sticks fine; only the ones printed all the way to the edge are lifting. But it wouldn't look good to outline everything in white.

The customer said he wouldn't mind if we had to reprint the whole thing on window perf (and offered to pay for materials) but I would prefer an easy fix. Any suggestions?

 

[jmcnicoll]

Have not done it myself, but have seen it done locally and would not do it myself!!!!!!!!

jim

 

[BigfishDM]

Putting Vinyl over perf defeats the purpose of one way vision. Sounds like a really oddball request to be honest.

 

[anotherdog]

how about laminating the perf then dropping the cut vinyl onto the lam?

 

[AUTO-FX]

now THAT'S an idea. perf on a vehicle window should always have lam anyway

 

[GoodPeopleFlags]

I did some research here first and decided to go with spray laminate. I wiped it down after it was dry and made sure it didn't feel "powdery" before I put the printed vinyl on. Like I mentioned, the parts with the white outline are sticking fine; it's the rest of it that's printed all the way to the edge that is lifting.

I also thought about cutting out the perf and laying the vinyl in, but if you look here, there are just way too many little letters to do that.

We'll probably just end up redoing it and printing the whole thing. I was hoping someone might have another suggestion for fixing it besides the heat gun and Sealit Pen.

 

[BigfishDM]

It doesnt seem like thats even legal to do on a vehicle back window. How is the client going to see out over the vinyl?

 

[Jake - Advantage Signs]

How about you lay the printed vinyl down on the perf and then put on a standard lam (not spray). You will probably get a little bit of a bubble around the edges of the cut pieces... but it is better than it pealing off.

 

[Jake - Advantage Signs]

It doesnt seem like thats even legal to do on a vehicle back window. How is the client going to see out over the vinyl?

It seems like this would depend on locale... not every vehicle has a rear window that you can see through. (Vans, trucks with caps/racks, etc...)

 

[Gino]

Bigfish is making the only sense here. The idea behind perforated vinyl is just that.... it's perforated so the driver of the vehicle can see through and have nothing blocking his/her view while backing up, thus preventing an accident of running over a bicycle or a kid or into some telephone pole. The idea of some vans or trucks don't have back windows has no bearing on the usage of perforated material.

If you have a window in the back.... and it's there from the factory and you have a rear-view mirror.... perf vinyl is all you can do legally. Doing some hair-brained scheme such as putting die-cut or printed vinyls over the top is only jeopardizing the driver's ability to avoid an accident and the installer of such graphics can be fined and have serious consequences along with possible jail time according to what the severity of an accident occurs.

Ya know folks, thinking outside the box is just dandy, but can you at least remain focused and keep the basics in your thoughts when going off on these rather dumb tangents ??

 

[GoodPeopleFlags]

Your a dumb tangent.

 

[BigfishDM]

Gino has some great points, you should double check the laws out there cause that could literally put you right out of business.

 

[Jake - Advantage Signs]

https://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/815.220
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc26708.htm

From my State (NH):
"Windshield and windows must not be cracked, clouded, shattered or
blocked. Aftermarket tinting of windshield and windows to the left and
right of the driver is not permitted. Aftermarket tinting of windows to the
rear of the driver shall not restrict light transmittance in excess of 65%."

"Where after market tinting is applied to windows to the rear of the driver, outside rear view mirrors shall be required on both the left and right side of the vehicle for the use of the driver and a front seat passenger."

Boy... from what I read it seems that almost any sort of film on the rear window can be construed as illegal in most states -- perf or not perf. I realize that these represent "tinting" and not perf... but still... It would seem that if one has proper side view mirrors, one would be ok... I have driven plenty of vans and pick-ups where I couldn't see out the back and never backed over a kid... Also, clear rear views never stopped me from backing into anything -- inattention, yes...

I'm not saying what BlueFish is doing is a good idea, but is it illegal?

 

[amw]

If you have a window in the back.... and it's there from the factory and you have a rear-view mirror.... perf vinyl is all you can do legally.

If you are using perf then not much point of doing cut vinyl over top.

But the statement above is not true...maybe where you live, but here in Michigan and in many other states you can paint the back window black if you want....as long as you have 2 side mirrors. So you could print on non perf vinyl and put that on the back window if you wanted to.


-Marsha

 

[J Hill Designs]

I would think not, as long as there are two side-view mirrors...

 

[GoodPeopleFlags]

Again, the reason the customer wanted cut vinyl on top is so that the lettering would stand out more. As we all know, colors aren't as vibrant when printed on perf. He wanted it that way. Not my idea. I tried to get him to go all printed perf and he wouldn't hear of it. First time in 20 years anyone ever asked for it. Didnt' occur to me that the letters might curl. Just asking for suggestions to fix it. Instead, we're going to redo and print the whole thing.

 

[signcrafters london]

There are different laws in different states, Gino. In Kentucky, in general, and my town, in particular, they are more worried about whether police can see than whether the driver can see out.

There very well could be laws on the books saying you can't obstruct back windows with cut vinyl, but they are never enforced.

 

[Bigdawg]

Bluefish - not sure what program you are printing from... but with the perf I like to take it into photoshop and up the saturation pretty high and then print it... usually gives me a lot closer to "vibrant" then just printing it from Illy and since I'm just saturating more - the colors tend to fall closer to the color of cut vinyl than the printed.

 

[Jake - Advantage Signs]

Bluefish - not sure what program you are printing from... but with the perf I like to take it into photoshop and up the saturation pretty high and then print it... usually gives me a lot closer to "vibrant" then just printing it from Illy and since I'm just saturating more - the colors tend to fall closer to the color of cut vinyl than the printed.

+1.

In Onyx I can crank up the "Saturation" slider to compensate for some duller substrates. Never thought to try it on perf.

 

["Deposit Please"]

70/30 perf pattern is better than total block out vinyl, that way customer can atleast see outside the window or windows and you get more "pop" with a 70/30 than a standard 50/50. Check your state laws to be on safe side for any perf pattern or blockouts on vehicle windows. Hope this helps.

 

["Deposit Please"]

Here's a wrap i did 5 years ago. All windows are covered with a 50/50 perf. It has good "pop" for that pattern.