help with multiples please

[bobmoore]

I have an opportunity to quote (approximately 300 all the same except 2 sizes) signs for a commercial account for next year. I bought a sheet of dibond with brushed aluminum over black and a sheet of red 3 mm pvc. The look I want is the red letters with a black flair around the perimeter of each letter on the brushed metal of the dibond. Carving the separate letters and pocketing the dibond is fairly labor intensive so I am looking for a less expensive option to make the signs with that look. By the way these signs are about 21" x 7". Any ideas are welcome.
Thanks
Bob

[joe]

I might have an idea or two but not sure what the finished look is to be.

Please provide a JPG.

[bobmoore]

Thanks for the response Joe. I will post it Monday when I get back to the shop.
Bob

[bobmoore]

Thanks to the miracles of modern medicine I am resurrecting this post. I got out of the hospital on Christmas day and am ready to fire up the bot on Monday. I hope to make about 300 of these to hang in a rectangular opening and would like some ideas to make them quicker and more competitively priced . My current plan is to route pockets in dibond and adhere the red PVC 3 mm letters in the pockets. All ideas are welcome.
Thanks
Bob

[bobmoore]

Sorry I forgot the attachment.

[bleeth]

Starboard color core? they have white on red but the phone number would also be red.
I know this is not completely "the look" but labor would be nada and cutting quick.

[GeneMpls]

Not sure if the red letters have to be 3D? If not you could try something like this- red paint in a recess. I think I carved thru paint mask then painted but a syringe would work too. Gene

[bobmoore]

Thanks guys;
Gene that looks great. I hadn't even thought of that option. Bob

[joe]

Bob,

Glad you're back.

Without knowing how open the client is to materials, colors and letter styles it's a little difficult to make suggestions.

The interior sections of the "S" may cause problems when using Dibond. Also Red against Black has no contrast and causes poor readability. Also, red pvc warps and fades like crazy.

Joe

[bobmoore]

Thanks Joe, it is good to be back. I planned to use dibond brushed metal over black, but per your suggestion maybe brushed over white would be better for red letters. I could make the phone # red or white then. I haven't yet looked up Dave's starboard to see what that is all about. I should get a chance tomorrow. All the best. Bob

[joe]

Bob,

Glad to see your back to work.

It's best to match the job to the technology and this doesn't look much like CNC work. If this work came to me I'd send it right out my printer. The end result would be a much sharper, cleaner product with lots more detail and color. This is like taking a big paint brush to do the job of a quill.

To price this job out, my printer service charges $4.75 a square foot on 4X8 DiBond. Go figure!

Joe

[bobmoore]

Thanks once again. Will printing stand up to outdoor environment? He currently is using a decal and it is not lasting.
Also why dibond, if printing on brushed metal is the background look he desires, wouldn't I be better off buying sheet metal from a sheet metal shop and having that printed? Bob

[ntraub01]

I agree with Joe completely.

Unless your client is looking for a 3D effect with the lettering, this looks like a print job. As far as the durability of the printing, there are sooooooo many options we have for materials, inks and mounting substrates it is insane.

One thing that I have been toying with but haven't really put much time and energy into perfecting is printing directly onto an over-laminate and then mounting the over-laminate directly onto a metal sheet. SOOOO, you end up with a semi-transparent print which will show whatever metal surface you want. The colors won't be as bright and brilliant as if it was printed on a solid opaque surface but that doesn't sound like what you are looking for.

If you are looking for ultimate durability, you can print directly on the laminate, and then laminate it again so there are two layers of laminate with the ink between.

There is also a huge selection of laminate varying between say 3 months to 10 years, all of which is dependent upon cost.

PM me if you would like.

Good luck,

Nicholas

[bobmoore]

Thanks Nicholas;
So are you saying you can't print directly to dibond or sheet metal? Bob

[ssflyer]

Anyone tried dye sublimation printing directly on aluminum? I've seen some really nice pieces with wonderful translucency done this way, but have never tried it.

[ntraub01]

@Bob,

Yes, there are printers out there that can print straight on dibond and/or metal but we do not have one. These machines are typically full solvent printers and they dwarf the typical 48x96 SBs. They are huge flatbed, solvent printers and only the dedicated print houses have them as they are in excess of $300k each.

We have in-house solvent printing capabilities up to 54" wide by however long the ROLL of material is. Most of our printing is laminated and mounted to 4'x8' MDF and final cut on the SB.

We actually just got done printing a custom 2000 sq' wall murals directly on vinyl wallpaper. It only took 40 hours to print but compared to an artist hand painting the mural it was much more economical.

[jerry_stanek]

I do cutting for a company that has a printer that can do that. they print a lot of dibond and plexi also they can print roll material on it. Yes it did cost well over $300,000 and can print 16 ft wide material it is 30 ft wide I know because I had to install it when they moved

[bobmoore]

Thanks Jerry;
Yes I know what you mean, I moved 3 plants with big iron in past lives. Luckily, as manager, I just had to keep them moving and meet deadlines for the new production.
Bob

[joe]

I'm a little taken back to find out people didn't know about printing directly on DiBond, MDO or PVC. I've been doing it for years for the Univ. of Okla. construction billboards. They stand up well for five or six years. The service I use is Rainbow Pennant. This is a commercial sign printing company that make lots of huge banners and printed signs. Almost no one cuts vinyl today when you can send them the artwork and have it printed on DiBond or MDO. Cheeeeep and fast.

It's quiet easy to put registration marks on the original, making sure they are printed and away you go with the router.

Perhaps it would be worth the time to take a look see what's happing in the commercial printing and lazer world.

Here are a couple of samples I had printed on 4'X10' stock ending up 4'X16 and 4'X20'.

[bobmoore]

Interesting. So is that the kind of equipment Jerry Stanek was alluding to in his reply.

[joe]

There are dozens of big format printers. And they do spectacular color matches. O, did I mention how cheeeep their services are?

[David Iannone]

Joe, thanks for the photos. Digital printing is cheap, fast, and a dime a dozen. I do a ton of wholesale digital printing every day. It bores me. CNC is more fun.

Nicholas, can we see some pics of the work you speak of?

Thanks,
Dave

[joe]

Yep, printing isn't all that exciting. What drives most of us is the creative process of building the image and see out in the public. One of the most used software is Corel due to it's color management. We see lots of it as vehicle wraps. Few are worth the vinyl they are printed on but printing makes good money. All of us are a click away from making it happen. You don't need any expensive, noisy, dirty, difficult equipment. Just a mind that can dream.

Joe