Wall Mural Print Set Up

[ScottyAdams]

Hey Everyone,

We just landed a wall mural job. I will be using either photo-tex or graphitex for the material. The wall is roughly 130" x 96." We have a Roland VS-540 with a 6 color eco-solvent ink setup CMYKLcLm. We use Versaworks as our RIP software. My questions are...

What is the best way to set up the panels for print starting with one large high resolution photograph?

How wide should each panel be?

I read I should overlap panels and then cut seams...true?

Anything else I should know?

p.s. I am not actually doing the install. The company has their own maintenance/contractor crew that will be doing it themselves. However, I will need to provide instructions on the best method. This is my first large mural so I appreciate any help. Thanks!

 

[WB]

I normally leave the panels 48"-50"-52" wide (whatever works out easily) and leave a 1/2" overlap. But that's using laminated vinyl. but I've never used the material your talking about

 

[CS-SignSupply-TT]

Scotty, try the layout with two horizontal strips 48" tall x 130" long. Selfish person that I am, I want you to use the GRAPHITEX you sampled and approved...heh!heh!heh! By the way, please order it from me.

 

[WI]

Talk to the guys putting it up, see what they want to do.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

whatever width panel you want, I'd go about 52", but on this stuff I recommend at least a 1" overlap, maybe 1.5" You can double-cut it and strip the seam after it's applied, but your installed will have you if you only give him a 1/2" overlap to work with. I usually use a 1.5" overlap on this stuff for this reason. And I highly recommend doing your seams like that. You can leave the overlap but Phototex or Graphitex are a little transparent so your seams will be darker if you leave them overlapping. Double-cutting and stripping leaves a perfect butt joint that is almost impossible to see.

 

[ScottyAdams]

Any suggestions on wall preparation? Right now it has a texture that I have asked them to remove and smooth out. I know both materials are a bit translucent so I was thinking also to have them paint a solid white to apply over. Is this a good idea? and if so how long should I wait for the paint to cure before applying the graphics?

 

[JoeBoomer]

Wall Requirements doc

I used to print hospital graphics like such:

48" Wide panels
1" overlap
- If your RIP lets you, I would submit tiles as separate jobs too. (might just be Onyx thing)

- Also, in my experience; It was best to let the RIP automatically tile my graphics at 48" (or whatever size you decide). That way, I could re-print a graphic if needed without trying to track down the tile size or guess.

I've attached a doc (part of) that I had to create for hospitals before we would install. It's a bit wordy (ISO 9001) , so cherry pick what you need.

 

[CS-SignSupply-TT]

Textured wall?

Any suggestions on wall preparation? Right now it has a texture that I have asked them to remove and smooth out. I know both materials are a bit translucent so I was thinking also to have them paint a solid white to apply over. Is this a good idea? and if so how long should I wait for the paint to cure before applying the graphics?

Whatever is done to re-finish the wall, if the last step is re-painting, you probably need to wait 30 days before applying the graphic.

 

[bgraphics]

It is correct to seam real wallpaper~ but when dealing with Phototex, you should keep the overlaps~ making them .5" to 1"....

In fact, next time use real printable wallpaper, like Dreamscape 15oz or 20oz, not Phototex when it comes to walls that aren't white. Phototex has said in a press release that they intend to make an opaque version this year, but I don't believe it has come out yet.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

It is correct to seam real wallpaper~ but when dealing with Phototex, you should keep the overlaps~ making them .5" to 1"...

Have you had issues with Phototex pulling apart at seams that are double-cut? We've used tons of the stuff and done hundreds of double-cut seams and to my knowledge none have ever separated, I'm curious if we're lucky or if you're unlucky...

 

[GP]

uh oh - we are designing a Phototex install on blue painted wall.

Thanks signs101.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

uh oh - we are designing a Phototex install on blue painted wall.

Thanks signs101.

If the print is full coverage, you might be okay. PHototex is a little transparent, but not necessarily see-though, so if the color is consistent across the entire wall, at worst your image might just be a little darker than you expected. We've used it many times on darker-colored walls and only once did we really see a color shift and that was because the image was predominantly white on a red wall, we saw a slight pink tint.

But if you're in doubt, stick a sample piece up to see how it looks just white first, that'll tell you how bad the final product is going to look.

 

[Sign Up Graphics]

Sign Up Graphics

 

[knucklehead]

The new 'more opague' version of Phototex is just that. Not near as transparent as the old. Walter sent me a sample a couple weeks ago, Thanks Walter.