Printing Vinyl for Decals

[vinylwallsayings]

Ok, so I will probably come off as a complete idiot here, but i've tried to research online and I just can not find the answer! I am starting up a small vinyl decal (wall words, etc) and was wondering if there is a way to print on matte Oracal 631 vinyl. I would like printed patterns such as polka dots, paisleys, etc. to make decals for baby and kids rooms. An example is an elephant decal that they have on Pottery Barn Kids. Please help!!

 

[os101king]

I'm gonna follow this one, couple questions. Why are you trying to use a cutter vinyl to print on? Secondly, it's rated for thermal printing or so I've found on a few sites so the question there would be what method are you using? The other questions I have depend on what method of printing you're using, I'm sure that would help everyone else here contribute as well.

 

[vinylwallsayings]

Decals

Told ya i'd come off as an idiot

Basically I just bought a cutter to cut simple quotes, etc. for home decor, crafts, signs etc. What I would like to do is to be able to cut onto printed vinyl, but I was thinking I could print patterns onto the vinyl to be cut. An example of what I would like to do is below. I guess I am just wondering if these are just patterned vector files printed and if it is something i could print myself.

Offsite Pic Replaced Please Observe Our Photo Posting Rules

 

[vinylwallsayings]

Btw

I don't have a vinyl printer yet. I'm wondering if I should buy one or if this type of thing could be outsourced inexpensively. I'm clueless. Just an idea that I wanted to see if I could manage to use.

 

[dwt]

A solvent printer is quite a bit of work to maintain and can be an expensive purchase.

There are many Merchant Members here that will be happy to assist you with all types of printing. http://www.signs101.com/pp-classifieds/merchant-member-directory/index21.html

 

[vinylwallsayings]

I've looked up quite a few companies on here and it looks like most of it is really different from what I am trying to do.

 

[dwt]

These guys will make anything you want if you make contact via email or pm. I'm sure someone here is in your area and ships daily and would like to serve you.

 

[vinylwallsayings]

ok, thanks very much!

 

[iSign]

if you could come up with (buy, or design) a dozen or so patterns to start with, I think a much more reasonable investment, compared to a printer, would be to have some whole sale printer print the pattern over the entire length & width of a 10 yard roll of white vinyl. say a 24" roll, 30 feet long... some wholesale printers have offered some pretty reasonable prices for that... so for under $1000 you could have 6 or 8 custom patterns, in stock, on the shelf, (& on a website) and then sell your cut wordings (and elephants etc) in plain colors for one price, in "standard" patterns for a second price.. OR in a custom pattern (skulls for this guy, daisy's for the next gal... snowflakes for me...) for the highest price...

another idea... print the same 6 patterns on clear & you could laminate that over any color you stock, increase the pressure on your cutter & now you can offer 100's of color combinations...

 

[jiarby]

buy a printer or job out the printing. Yes you can print on vinyl and cut it on a plotter.

 

[vinylwallsayings]

isign, that is exactly what I was wondering. Thank you! How much (would your guess be) do you think 1 roll would cost? Either 15in or 24in by 10 yards? I was thinking I could have the whole roll printed and keep about 12 patterns in stock, just like you suggested. I'm thinking $1000 for 6 or 8 prints is a little more than what I was thinking. There is a printer/cutter on sale on CL for $1200 obo for a roland PC 60. I was considering this as well.

Also, brilliant idea about the patterns on clear vinyl. Thanks SO SO much for your input!

Thanks to everyone else as well for the help! Jiarby, do you have a shop in Queen Creek?

 

[SuperBrady]

I started with the PC60, and it is not worth your time to try to print to it. print heads are expensive to replace and they eat them up! not to mention the thermal ribbons that it uses.
knowing what I know now, i should of just used the PC60 as a CUTTER not a printer.

 

[vinylwallsayings]

Ok, thank you SuperBrady! I just bought a different cutter as well, so I was thinking the PC 60 for printing. But I've read not such great things about it, so I think I will just stick with finding a wholesale printing company to print for me.

 

[iSign]

I'm thinking $1000 for 6 or 8 prints is a little more than what I was thinking.

well, that was a very optimistic assumption on my part, so if that is too much, I seriously suggest you forget the idea entirely... I mean the lowest price I've EVER seen wholesale, that I recall, was $1/ sq. ft... and that was for banner material & on a large format basis, with the vendor supplying his media... that still ends up to where 2' wide printing, by 10 yards long would be $60, for 8 rolls, that's $480... and once you factor in a more narrow roll, of YOUR choice of material (instead of what the wholesale vendor already buys in volumes you wouldn't touch in 5 years)... you can easily double that price..

and for full color on a PC60, your ink costs alone would probably cost more then $2/sq.ft. plus no one in their right mind still uses one (no offense... just sayin')

actually, I have more advice.. first, on my "print on clear" suggestion, I didn't have time earlier to lay out all the pros & cons... but I'll mention now that the lowest cost vinyl printing, by far, is inkjet printing, and 4 color process is the norm, using 4 somewhat translucent inks to blend into millions of colors.. but the fact that they are translucent means that when printed on clear, it does open up a number of possibilities... but all of them would be based on laying the clear over LIGHT colors only.. and even then, understanding that a bunch of pink elephants or polkadots laid over yellow will turn orange, and over a light blue will turn purple etc. etc...

so another vinyl printing option is thermal printing, (like the PC-60) but using a more cost effective machine like the Gerber Edge. If you bought a second hand Edge from a reputable source (like the owner of this website, who had one for sale as recently as just the other day... haven't checked lately)

...then instead of having to outsource upwards of $1000 in pre-printed custom designs (that may never sell) you stock the same standard vinyl rolls you would already need for cut-only jobs (but use 15" perforated tractor-feed compatible rolls) and when you need printed elephants, any EDGE foils you stock can be used to print on any color (no laminating of 2 layers like in my clear printing scenario) and in only the amount you need, when you need it..

...so far less stocking of goods that may not sell.. so if the "skulls" pattern I suggested doesn't sell as well in your market as the pink elephants (yeah right ) at least you didn't already buy 20 sq. ft...

 

[iSign]

seriously, I would contact Fred if I were you. If he didn't sell it, you will have an awesome deal available to you, and in my opinion, the limitations of an older machine would be of far more concern to a seasoned sign shop veteran, looking to sell commercial signage for an average transaction of several hundred of dollars for business people looking for their business identity to be flawless in every way, every time... where you will probably have an average item costing under $100 (or even under $50) and if your pink elephants might show subtle evidence of an older printer (& I'm saying IF.. not saying it would.. I don't know) ...it would be a lot less likely to matter!

HERE is Freds last post I am aware of on the subject!

 

[vinylwallsayings]

hmmm, that definately gives me something to think about. I think $480 for 8 rolls of 24" by 10 yards is definately reasonable, so maybe i'm not understanding correctly.

I wonder if that printer would work for what i want? $800 is reasonable for me as well.

well in any case, you have been very helpful. I really am clueless when it comes to this (I just bought my cutter the other day).

 

[iSign]

the $480 was just doing the math based on $1 per square foot... and as i said that number only applied to the very very best price I EVER heard of anyone offering for any print work.. and in that case it was for large format banners, of the vendors media choice, meeting his minimum orders (perhaps) ..so for you, for vinyl, in a media of YOUR choosing...


...I said to cross your fingers, fold hands in prayer & bow to the gods, in hope that you could come even close to just DOUBLING that $480 figure, and looking for $2 / sq. ft. printing...

I mean even if you buy an edge, for premium materials, and ONE color prints... your hard costs( FOR MATERIAL ALONE) will be close to $2/sq. ft.

 

[vinylwallsayings]

ok, im with ya now!! i think what you are saying, it leave the elephant vinyl decals to Pottery Barn?? :U Rock:

 

[iSign]

well, not really, I'm saying SELL them, but charge enough of a higher cost over solid color ones, to justify the expense... where plain cut vinyl might be worth $5 - $10 per sq. ft. (plus design fees, and/or installation) ...custom printed design textures, backgrounds or details can easily bring in a $5 - $10 ADDITIONAL UPCHARGE, which would more then cover costs of subbing out the printing, or given enough volume... the cost of a second hand Edge printer.

I was thinking about your business plan this morning. What most of us do with our vinyl equipment is producing all custom work, primarily of interest to business people.

The potential for financial success in your business seems like it could be very high if the vinyl wall sayings market holds for awhile & doesn't turn into a short lived fad, and here is why I think so.

First, although there could certainly be a lot of "custom" variations on a theme, there would typically seem to be a whole lot less variety you need to be prepared for then in signs, less software, less design skill, less substrate purchasing, stocking, selling & fabricating... just some "sayings", some artwork, and some vinyl colors to choose from...

...something you could make a website for fairly quickly, and show a selection of fonts, colors, and "sayings" These combinations could all be pre-priced & ready to offer quick turnaround on... and they could all be rolled up in a tube & shipped across the country for far less then the cost of shipping an average sign...

so, instead of the local business community, your market could be the entire planet, and you could be fairly competitive in any market, even where a local competitor may exist, if you have a nice website & a few things that set you apart (like custom pattern'd elephant prints ) and skulls

...you could possibly do quite well with far less capital investment, or training compared to a sign maker...

 

[vinylwallsayings]

you make me laugh! it's so nice to know that there are people like you who are willing to offer advice to people like me (dumb people).

i do think wall words are somewhat of a short lived fad, but i think patterned decals, borders, etc. for room decor are still going strong. i really want to come up with something a little different to set myself apart from all of the others. i have a website started, but there is not a lot on it yet.

i'm back in school (again) and was thinking this may be a good way to be able to eat while i work 40 hours a week for free for school. I know i'm not going to get rich, but if i can figure out a way to make a little money and work from home, i would really like to do that.

i think i may just get 3 or 4 rolls printed, post the patterns on my site with my solid colors and see what happens...