Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
I consistantly see a lot of vehicle wraps for commercial and transportation vehicles.
Can anyone explain what type of screening/transfer process that is and what the operating costs would be. I'v tried looking online and cannot find much.
I'm interested in this but on smaller objects for promotional purposes.
Thanks in advance for any light that can be shed on this question!
You use a cast vinyl which conforms very well to contours. The vinyl is printed on a large format printer...like the Versacamm. I think that printer/plotter in the 60" version is around $24,000.
The vinyl you can see through looks sort of like mesh up close. From the printed side (outside) it looks like a solid print. From the inside looking out, it looks like tinted window film.
The film I've seen being printed has all been white, although you can print on just about any color. They make stickers and decals the same way, just on a smaller printer. I used to have a Gerber Edge, which worked well. I just didn't do enough vinyl printing to justify it's existence.
You can wrap anything. Startup costs are high and production costs are high. Wrapping a car can cost upwards of $6000. I got quotes of $12,000 - $19,000 to wrap my 40 foot bus/motorhome. You may still need a large format printer/plotter. That's over $20,000. If you can get by with a 24" wide Versacamm, you'd be looking at around $12,000. Then another couple thousand for a training seminar.
I looked into doing vehicle wraps. The startup costs were just too high to justify for the area I'm in. It's person to person thing. You can't sell vehicle wraps on the internet and ship them.
I estimated my startup costs at around $30,000, which could be a little light.
I was afraid that the startup/produsction cost would be high for something that seems to look technically, and labor intensive.
I think it would be such a great marketing/branding tool for companies to be able to brand using this technique on a mutitude of items.
A couple of (hopefully) final questions:
Is the image produced by laser printing?
-As far as the art creation...how the heck do they do it?!!
(I'm thinking that it must be tiles because in my limited knowledge of graphics, bitmap images that large would be so pixelated when blown up that it would be unreadable)...
I'm truly amazed with this process and want to learn as much as possible.
Thank you and all others again for the info you have provided.
-As far as the art creation...how the heck do they do it?!!
(I'm thinking that it must be tiles because in my limited knowledge of graphics, bitmap images that large would be so pixelated when blown up that it would be unreadable)...
We do vehicle wraps at my workplace. Typically we use (or create) vector graphics that can be blown up to any size, although we have used raster (bitmap) images for some wraps that didn't turn out too badly. You can't really see how fuzzy they are unless you are standing right next to them.
If you don't have vector graphics, most sign shops can create those for you for an additional fee. The price will depend on how complicated it is, of course, but it's still usually cheaper than hiring a designer, and the sign companies will know how to design it specifically to fit on a vehicle.
We usually design our graphics for wraps at full size 150 dpi. We use a special vinyl for wraps.. It is an air release vinyl that oracal makes.. It has channels in the back so the air can escape and you dont have as much trouble with bubbles.. It can also be used to wrap smaller things that have alot of curves and such.. and because of its flexibity and stretch and the air release funtions its way easier than standard vinyl..
is the vinyl wrap material the same as the stickers made for decals?
i wonder if they can be used with the same purpose. thanks
You can use the vehicle wrap vinyl for stickers.. but its way more expensive than regular vinyl. and it has a abit of a texture to the finished product.. so i dont know why you would want to..
as to using regular vinyl for wraps.. It wouldnt work the same way.. as the wrap vinyl is specially made to go around curves and rivets ans such without bubbling.. I have been doing vinyl and such for years.. (I just got done with doing a fleet of 26 ambulances) and wouldnt attempted ever using regular vinyl for wraps.. ..
I do use regular vinyl for letters and such like that on vehicles..
Vehicle vinyl is specially made for vehicles. It makes crappy looking small decals because it's textured. Also, it's more expensive than regular vinyl so it's a waste of money to use it for something when you don't need.
However if you are wrapping an object with a lot of curves it might be just the thing you need. The best thing to do would be to try several varieities and practice. Any sign shop should be able to sell you a few feet of raw vinyl off the roll. Just explain to them what you want to do and how long you want it to last and they should be able to give you exactly what you need.
One more thing to mention - Wrapping vehicles should be considered an art form. It takes years of practice to be able to do it without mistakes (and quickly), so don't expect to be doing great on your first try - just keep trying!
P.s. If you want to have it really nice, have a professional installer do it - it might cost a little more but most shops will guarantee your satisfaction with the finished result (or fix it until it's right).
Vehicle Wrap... 
