How to seal inkjet art.

shred

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I just printed out some side art and a control panel overlay on our wide format ink jet plotter at work. What is the best way to seal this stuff so the ink does not run if it got wet. I have seen stuff for sealing injet photos and probably would be ok for side art but the control panel? I have heard of people laminating control panels, how is this done or is there somethig else I can do ?


Dave
 
Well I use a laminator at the shop but you can use Super Frog "SPRAY" not roll on because if your ink likes to run you'll ruin it if you try and roll it on.
 
maybe contact Billybob or his brother. I know Cpo's have a lexan coating. Not sure how this is applied but in PM's with them I have gathered that the art gets printed then the lexan get's applied on top. Could be like laminating. Kinda doubt the lexan has a sticky back and just sticks on top.
 
I used a product called ClearShield by ClearStar products. It's available at several locations on the internet and comes in your choice of finishes...gloss, semigloss or matte. The finish is just a matter of personal preference.

right_side_laminated.jpg




Jphillip5 here used a liquid of some sort when he did his Dig Dug art....
 
first thank you for the replies. I have been looking at various sprays and seems to be good for the side art.

ClearShield by ClearStar products says for non-water sensitve inks? Anyone know if the hp inkjets fit this?

So has anyone laminated a control panel? where would you pick something up like that.

Thanks again
Dave
 
ClearShield by ClearStar products says for non-water sensitve inks? Anyone know if the hp inkjets fit this?

The Dig Dug art pictured above was printed on a DesignJet 500 which is essentially a 42" wide inkjet printer. I need to double check what type of ink it has in it.

Edit: My printer uses dye based ink. I believe the correct product to use is actually their Clear Jet product, which is safe to use on water sensitive inks. To be honest, I used the ClearShield and didn't have any problems at all but Clear Jet would probably be a better alternative.
 
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maybe contact Billybob or his brother. I know Cpo's have a lexan coating. Not sure how this is applied but in PM's with them I have gathered that the art gets printed then the lexan get's applied on top. Could be like laminating. Kinda doubt the lexan has a sticky back and just sticks on top.


I have a large laminator that I bought off ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/GBC-Laminator-m...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ca7db05ad



You can buy a hand crank laminator for around $175, but about 50% of the artwork will have bubbles, lines, or just end up being screwed up

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-390mm-15-ha...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3357297fb7

Thats why I spent the big bucks on the automatic laminator. My defective pieces are down to 5%.

The rolls of laminate aren't cheap either, they are around $180 for 100 ft roll of the CPO thicker stuff.
 
Jphillip,

so you printed the art, (is it just the color parts, or did you print to a big piece of white and covered the whole side?)

applied it, and then applied the laminate? you used liquid and roll it on?

or did you spray it?

I check that site.. any idea on price wise ?
 
I have a large laminator that I bought off ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/GBC-Laminator-m...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ca7db05ad



You can buy a hand crank laminator for around $175, but about 50% of the artwork will have bubbles, lines, or just end up being screwed up

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-390mm-15-ha...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3357297fb7

Thats why I spent the big bucks on the automatic laminator. My defective pieces are down to 5%.

The rolls of laminate aren't cheap either, they are around $180 for 100 ft roll of the CPO thicker stuff.

A little more than I want to spend for one control panel. Thanks for the info.

Dave
 
so you printed the art, (is it just the color parts, or did you print to a big piece of white and covered the whole side?)

I covered the entire side. It's printed on white vinyl which covered the entire side. I got the artwork from localarcade.com and made a few adjustments to it (basically smoothing some lines) in Illustrator.

The laminate was rolled on with a 9 1/2 inch roller 1/4" nap. If I had to do it over again, I'd probably use a white foam roller with no nap. You can spray it if you have the equipment.

The liquid laminate cost $17.95 a quart + shipping, which was enough to cover both sides.

The vinyl, broken down cost me about $1.80 per foot. I spent about $22.00 on the vinyl for the cabinet.

Mame Marquees wanted $189.00 for their inkjet sideart, which appeared to be exactly the same art I used, albeit a different laminating process. I saved about $150 doing it the way I did and am pretty happy with the results.

If someone produced silk screened side art tomorrow, I'd probably buy it, but since it's currently not available, there weren't a whole lot of options.
 
It wasn't that cheap. That's just the cost broken down for this project. I had to buy an entire roll of HP self adhesive vinyl....I don't remember the exact length of the roll, but it was somewhere between $125 and $150 for the roll.

I made another set of the artwork for someone else and sold it to them for a minimal cost ($40) if memory serves me correctly to help cover some of the initial cost of the entire roll.

I still have about half the roll left which I use for other projects.
 
It wasn't that cheap. That's just the cost broken down for this project. I had to buy an entire roll of HP self adhesive vinyl....I don't remember the exact length of the roll, but it was somewhere between $125 and $150 for the roll.

I made another set of the artwork for someone else and sold it to them for a minimal cost ($40) if memory serves me correctly to help cover some of the initial cost of the entire roll.

I still have about half the roll left which I use for other projects.

that was about what I looked at 150.00 a roll... I ended picking up a small roll form some one on Klov at a much cheaper price and it was just enough to do what I needed.

Dave
 
I printed off a bunch of stuff with an HP design jet 42" plotter onto gloss photo paper. I simply sprayed the art with a can of clear coat. Worked like a charm.

Wade originally recommended it to me. He even tested it by spraying it with a water hose - the ink passed that test.
 
I printed off a bunch of stuff with an HP design jet 42" plotter onto gloss photo paper. I simply sprayed the art with a can of clear coat. Worked like a charm.

Wade originally recommended it to me. He even tested it by spraying it with a water hose - the ink passed that test.

hey Shardian....

I have a 36" Graphtec printer... did you get glossy photo paper in a whole roll.. ?? Or just sheets?

My printer prints great to glossy photo paper.. but duller on white vinyl self stick ... AND I want to find poster size photo paper to do game room posters..

anyone know where poster size photo paper can be bought?

I'm also still trying to find a good vinyl to print CPO with.. the ones I've bought were thicker and seemed a bit textured.. or is the texture from a laminate?
 
I'm also still trying to find a good vinyl to print CPO with.. the ones I've bought were thicker and seemed a bit textured.. or is the texture from a laminate?

Real CPO's are actually 2nd surface printed lexan film. This is the sort of material old touch pads were made from. Floor graphic overlaminate is similar but not quite the same and unless you have some sort of solvent printer you won't be able to print on the lexan unless you buy the special stuff made by Lexjet for wb inkjets. This is all not really worth the expense and your better off to spend less and buy better one from a vendor.
 
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