which ink/media for photos/tradeshow graphics?

[tiredcreations]

I have a really picky customer who put together a collage that they want on foam core.

I have a Roland CJ-500 with LcLm Pigment inks or an SC-500 with ECO-SOL. Colors need to be right on & they also want the finish to be super glossy.

I'm not getting good results with the solvent, printing to matte vinyl then laminating with gloss.

1st question: does printing on gloss vinyl, then laminating with gloss = more glossy?

Secondly, should I be using the pigment machine instead with some type of photo paper?

What material combinations have you found to work? I'm starting to think photos aren't worth messing with.

 

[BigfishDM]

You will probably get closer to the colors with a pigmented machine and about getting more glossy you need a HIGH GLOSS lam which will be glossier then your standard gloss laminate.

 

[CS-SignSupply-TT]

What solution originally brought this customer to you? Matte media holds the ink better and gives you a crisper image; that's why photographers most often print to matte. I believe the acceptable gloss will be found in the right laminate for this project. Which printer did you use for the customer's other projects?

 

[CanuckSigns]

no the laminate determines the gloss level, not the vinyl. there are ultra gloss laminates available, contact your supplier, some are so glossy they look wet.

you may want to have him reconsider the high gloss look, under certain lighting conditions, the gloss will make the prints pretty hard to read, most of our tradeshow stuff is done in a semi-gloss or matte for this reason.

 

[300mphGraphics]

+1 on matte for inside trade show graphics. Gloss too much glare. Customers are stooopid.

 

[CS-SignSupply-TT]

The last thing a tradeshow booth needs is HOT graphics that are illegible1 what happens, the potential customers "...walk on by..."

 

[tiredcreations]

You will probably get closer to the colors with a pigmented machine and about getting more glossy you need a HIGH GLOSS lam which will be glossier then your standard gloss laminate.

all I've seen my suppliers carry is matte,semi, & gloss... or at least I thought

What solution originally brought this customer to you? Matte media holds the ink better and gives you a crisper image; that's why photographers most often print to matte. I believe the acceptable gloss will be found in the right laminate for this project. Which printer did you use for the customer's other projects?

I used the solvent printer for their previous (outdoor) stuff, that's why I've been trying to stick with it

no the laminate determines the gloss level, not the vinyl.

that's what I always thought until I saw a fellers ad claiming to use a glossy media with a glossy lam to give it that extra glossyness... I never believed it until now I started questioning myself

+1 on matte for inside trade show graphics. Gloss too much glare. Customers are stooopid.

exactly. and they think that just because the company that did the last ones for them used a super glossy lam, that's the right way to do it.

 

[longlivemedia]

No, it’s defiantly the laminate that determines the gloss. I agree with the previous posters though in that high gloss won’t work well in this setting. Is there any way you could show him an example so that he can actually see the difference and how it interacts with light to them?