Well, I thought I would be done with this series last time on custom signs and printing, and I did actually get into the late 20th century, but I didn’t really get to where custom signs and printing crossed paths. So this time, I am going to attempt to explain how custom signs and printing got mixed up together into one big happy family!

In recapping the previous four articles about custom signs and printing, I’ve written voluminous verbiage about where custom signs came from, East and West, and how wood custom signs have been replaced by electrical and neon custom signs in the past 100 year. Custom signs and printing by sign makers changed dramatically in the 20th century, but has changed the most dramatically in the first part of the 21st century.

In this final article on the history of custom signs and printing, I’ll show how the two came to be combined in such a way as to make the two categories one as sign makers integrated printing into custom signs. Flexography, offset printing, and lithography have all been magically combined into a new category (although the old categories have not completely disappeared) called digital printing.

Digital Printing of Custom Signs

Digital printing has been predicted to replace most, if not all, other forms of printing in the 21st century. Whether this will be the case or not, digital printing has already superseded other forms of printing, and as it’s speed increases it is likely to be able to produce larger and larger print runs at high speed and low setup costs which will begin to displace the previously discussed types of printing.

Digital printing doesn’t use printing plates as lithography, offset, and flexography do, so it is easier to set up custom signs printing, and less expensive. Digital printers are typically known as inkjet or laser printers if they sit on your desk, but digital printers in the custom signs trade. They can print on paper, fabric, glass, metal, vinyl, and other substrates on roll printers or flatbed printers.

In digital printing, the ink is deposited on the surface of the substrate rather than on a printing plate. It dries either thermally or with a UV curing process. With the advent of large format digital printing over the past 20 years, the movement away from painted custom signs and even cut vinyl custom signs has moved from a trickle to an avalanche. Custom signs that have traditionally been produced with paint, such as internally illuminated polycarbonate signs, are now printed either directly to the polycarbonate or onto translucent decal material and laminated to the polycarbonate. The result is the ability to produce photographic quality custom signs at very affordable pricing.

Digitally Printed Full Color Custom Signs – Can You Afford One?

Smaller companies can now have full-color posters or window custom signs made in short runs without having to absorb the costs of expensive plates, formerly considered the domain of the major corporations. Full-color digitally printed banners used to have to be screen-printed by the hundreds or thousands to absorb set-up costs, now can virtually be printed singly and at a reasonable cost.

There are still many custom signs that are not produced digitally, but as time passes, it is possible that digital printing will supplant screen printing, lithographic printing, offset printing, and flexographic printing. Sandblasted and carved custom signs are probably safe at this point from the onslaught, but due to the cost of these signs, it’s likely that only a small percentage of all custom signs will be the old style signs, and even these custom signs will often contain a digital element added to them.

Check here to see the latest trends on customized signs.

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In this installment of the history of signs and graphics printing, I’ll talk about the vast improvements in signs and graphics printing from the mid-1800′s until late in the 20th century. And where the two trades of signs and graphics printing intersected to create a significant change for many sign makers.

To recap the previous three articles on the history of signs and graphics printing, we’ve talked about how signs came to be used in the West and the wood sign gave way (mostly) to electrical and neon signs in the past 100 years or so. Signs and graphics printing by sign makers has never been so fascinating – much of this information is new to me, so I hope it is for you as well!

While this is part 4 of this series, it is really the second part of the history of signs and graphics printing and how eventually sign makers came to integrate printing into signs and graphics prints.

The last major improvement in signs and graphics printing we talked about in the last article was roll printing, in which large rolls of media could be printed at high speeds. This improvement in the signs and graphics printing process took place about 1863.

Lithography In Signs And Graphics Printing

I’m going to backtrack slightly to 1796. A signs and graphics printing process called Lithography was developed by an innovative Bavarian author by the name of Aloys Senefelder. The reason I am backtracking to this method is because it became one of the signs and graphics printing methods used in by sign makers later, or at least in part.

In Lithography, chemicals are used to create an image. Without going into the gory details (which are really above my head and I’m just not into chemistry – I just like what it can do!), we’ll just say there’s some positive and negative images, that combined, produces very nice signs and graphics. Today, most books are printed using offset lithography, or offset printing for short. Posters (large runs), maps, packaging, and newspapers are also produced with this method, as well as some types of signs.

Major improvements in Lithography came later into the 19th century with the addition of color (chromolithography). This process is reputed to be the antecedent to 4-color process printing which is the basis for most color signs and graphics printing today.

Another improvement to lithographic printing was the addition of offset printing, in which the inked plate was transferred to a rubber blanket, and then to the printing substrate such as metal or paper or plastic. Again, there’s some chemicals and water used in this process that I won’t go into, but this improvement is still used to this day in signs and graphics printing, books, packaging, and many other high speed print items.

Flexographic Signs and Graphics Printing

Another signs and graphics printing innovation is known today as Flexographic printing. Initially, in 1890, when the first rubber printing plates were used with water-based inks, the results were fast but smeared too easily. New aniline inks were developed within 15 to 20 years that worked great for signs and graphics, particularly with food packaging. The process was called “aniline printing” at that time, but the inks were classified in the 1940′s by the FDA as unsafe for food packaging, and although new, safer inks were developed in 1949, the food industry shied away from aniline signs and graphics printing, so in 1951, Frank Moss renamed aniline printing to flexographic printing, and this signs and graphics printing category was reborn.

In the 1990′s, rubber plates were replaced with photopolymer plates, and the signs and graphics print quality improved dramatically with this innovation. The photopolymer plates are also easier to create now, and digital “direct-to-plate” technology has been developed which has also made the signs and graphics printing process much faster as well. Finally, with these improvements, lithography now rivals offset printing quality.

There’s more knowledge to grasp when it comes to printing methodology. Find out for more in here: www.visigraph.com

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The world is full of signs and printing in the 21st century. Even in “3rd World” countries, there are lots of signs and printing telling you where to go shopping, what to buy, and telling you when you get there. And while most of us may give passing thought to signs and printing, that’s probably the extent of your thought on the subject.

Recapping the previous two articles on the brief history of signs and printing, we’ve now covered what signs and printing were used for and the standard media that signs were made of – wood – up through electrical and neon signs in the past 100 years or so, Hopefully this is somewhat interesting – it must be or you wouldn’t be reading this! – and you’re getting some interesting info regarding signs and printing.

The History of Printing and how it Eventually Came to be Integrated into Signs and Printing

Around 3000 BC or so, the Mesopotamians created cylinder seals that had alphabet characters on them for impressing the letters into clay tablets. Many of these beautiful tablets still survive to this day. The Chinese and the Egyptians used stamps and blocks to print various images, while in Egypt, Europe, and India, prints on cloth and papyrus were created instead of on clay tablets. This was one of the first advancements that would eventually revolutionize signs and printing.

In the 1400′s or earlier, Europe shifted from printing on cloth to printing on paper, though initially blocks were still used for printing even on paper. However, in 1439, a German by the name of Johannes Gutenberg created the first commercially viable moveable type.

While moveable type is generally ascribed to Gutenberg, the Chinese had developed it as early as the 11th century, and the Koreans in the 13th century. While Gutenberg gets the glory for “creating” moveable type in Europe, it is likely that it was being simultaneously developed all over Europe by others as well. Regardless, in 1455, Gutenberg printed what is known as the Gutenberg Bible, and suddenly printing of books exploded in Europe, paving the way for the Renaissance and the increase of knowledge and wealth in the West, as well as revolutionize signs and printing.

What is not typically known about Gutenberg, though, is that he made improvements in the type metals which affected the quality of the print, and also invented oil-based inks which replaced the less durable water-based inks that had been used previously. He also introduced colored inks. Signs and Printing wouldn’t be where it is today without color inks!

Birth of the Signs and Printing Trade after Gutenberg

Printing as a profession spread rapidly throughout Europe in the 16th century, and by 1539, the first printing press was set up in North America in Mexico City by an enterprising Italian, Juan Pablos. It took another 100 years before a printing press was brought to Boston by Elizabeth Glover, whose husband died on the voyage the press was on. She established the publishing house still known as The Cambridge Press.

The printing press remained essentially the same with minor improvements until the early 1800′s when Friedrich Koenig invented the steam-powered press. Up until this time all presses were manually operated, and the top speeds were around 250 pages per hour. This further revolutionized signs and printing.

The next improvement in printing was the rotary press, invented about 1847 by R.M. Hoe and improved on in 1863 by William Bullock. The rotary press allowed rolls of paper, plastic, or cardboard to be printed continuously and made high speed high output printing possible. This type of printing is still in use today in many industries including signs and printing. Furthermore, click here to see more of printing processes.

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Hi again…as I said last time, if you look around, or drive around, when you live in any industrialized country on earth, your locale is full of signs. Most of us simply accept that a sign maker made all the signs, but that’s pretty much the extent of anyone’s thought on the subject.

In this second article on the brief history of signs, we’ll cover everything from the 17th and 18th centuries until the present, and my hope is that you’ll have a great handle, whether you wanted a handle on it or not, all about the sign maker and printing and signs.

Signs as an Art Form; the Sign Maker of the 17th, 18, and 19th Centuries

As I stated in the final part of the last article, by the 18th century and into the 19th century, many a professional sign maker turned the art of making signs into an art form, and some artists actually made their living as a sign maker doing mostly signs. In the 19th century also, some establishments began to use oil lanterns to light the surface of their signs, if they were available in the evenings for business, such as a pub or an inn or an apothecary. In a sense, this was the beginning of illuminated signage.

While a sign maker might make some signs fancy, and others plain, sign maker technology didn’t change dramatically in the 19th century, although one type of sign that a sign maker could make other than wooden signs, has existed since possibly before this time were cast metal letters, particularly bronze. Due to the cost of bronze, the average sign maker probably didn’t do metal castings, and businesses were more able to afford a sign maker to paint a wooden sign than to pay really big bucks for cast metal signs or plaques.

Adding Electricity to Art; How the Profession of Sign Maker Changed in the 20th Century

However, with the introduction of electricity in the late 18th century, it was only a matter of time before an enterprising electrician would become a sign maker and completely change the sign industry.

In 1910, Georges Claude, and electrician turned sign maker, first demonstrated neon signage to a large public forum at the Paris Auto Show. The result was electrifying (hahaha!). Neon became very popular by the late 1920′s as a form of signage as many a sign maker learned how to bend neon into signs, especially in the US and Western Europe, and remained the most popular form of electrical signage into the 1960′s, when many a sign maker switched over to the internally illuminated fluorescent sign (actually developed in the 1920′s), replacing neon, most probably due to cost factors.

Neon is still popular with the sign maker today, although due to it’s cost is not used nearly as much as it was in the past. With the advent of LED lighting and the sign maker adopting it in place of neon, neon’s popularity has continued to erode, again, mainly due to cost. Neon will never be completely replaced with the neon sign maker, though, as it is still the brightest light in the sign business.

As of 2003, according to Signs of the Times industry magazine, 46% of all signs manufactured by a sign maker have fluorescent internal lighting, compared to 41% which are illuminated with neon. The big gainer in the sign maker repertoire recently has been animated LED (light-emitting diode) signage, also known as the electronic reader board.

The electronic reader board can be made as large as a huge billboard, and can have enough pixels (small LED lights) to make a moving picture like a movie screen. Oddly, while many municipalities have outlawed chase lights on the perimeter of a neon or fluorescent-lighted sign due to the motion being dangerous to drivers, LED signs are popping up all over the country with their moving and changing copy, pictures, and logos. As a sign maker, I am only somewhat amused at the contradictory nature of government. In case you couldn’t tell, as a sign maker, myself and most of those in this industry are not big on government regulation; but as long as they’re able to collect taxes on animated LED signs, they’ll probably continue to allow them, and the revenue on the sign maker who sells these signs is significant for the government.

In Part 3, I’m going to back up chronologically and talk about printing, from papyrus to Gutenberg to the desktop printer. Until next time, remember, the world knows where it’s going because of us sign makers! Click this, http://www.visigraph.com/, if you want to see one.

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Several hundred years ago when I made the fateful decision to get into the sign business, my first position was screen printing signs. Back when I started, you could be screen printing signs with lacquer inks and get high at the same time…those were the days!

Many companies who used to be screen printing signs have switched over to digital printing, but there are still numerous companies screen printing signs, and as far as I can tell, screen printing signs isn’t going away anytime soon, as was prognosticated by myself and other sign experts 5 years ago.

Speed vs. Run Size in regards to Screen Printing Signs

While digital sign printing has increased in popularity, it still cannot match the speed of screen printing signs, especially as the quantities increase. Digital sign printing, though, has rocked the sign world over the past decade with it’s cost-effective, full-color printing of short runs of banners, posters, display graphics, decals, and other great products that many companies may only need a few to a few hundred of.

Especially on lower quantities of colors and higher quantities of signs, it takes around an hour per color to set up to run each color for screen printing signs on average. The variety of materials that can be screen-printed is wider than most digital sign printing companies are able to do unless they have a more recently developed digital UV flatbed printer, in which case they may be close to even.

The Basics of Screen Printing Signs

There are many types of ink used in screen printing signs, but the most common ink bases are lacquer-based inks and UV inks. Within those categories there are inks for vinyl, various plastics, wood, and more. It may be good to note here that you can also print cloth/fabric banners with digital UV printers now as well, but we’ll cover that exhaustively in another article later.

The basic process involved in screen printing signs contains several steps. First, you need to start with a good frame with the right mesh fabric for the ink you’re printing with. If you are screen printing signs with UV inks, the mesh will be finer than when screen printing signs with lacquer-based inks, as the color particles are ground more finely. Using a “Newton Meter”, you check to make sure the screen has proper tensioning, usually around 18 to 22 N/cm, but sometimes higher.

Next, you’d coat your screen with a photo-reactive solution (usually) and allow it to dry in a darkroom – this can take 15 minutes to a couple hours, depending on the humidity of the room. After the screen has dried, it’s time to affix the film positive image on the screen printing sign side of the screen (bottom). Film positives can be printed on an image setter or cut from pressure-sensitive vinyl and applied to a clear acetate, depending on how high tech your shop is.

When I started screen printing signs, we literally used a light bulb and a sheet of glass (or the sun if it was shining) to expose our screens…over time, we made enough money to purchase a “proper” vacuum frame and exposure unit, and exposing our films that were for screen printing signs with the proper equipment became much easier.

After the film has been exposed, you remove the screen to a washout tank. We use a 1500PSI pressure washer to develop the film (not too close or we’d blow the emulsion out of the screen). When the emulsion that had been covered by the film positive has been washed out, we have a screen printable image on the screen for screen printing signs, or whatever we are printing.

After the screen is dried, it’s moved to the screen-printing press and set-up with the substrate, micro-adjusted, taped off (so the ink stays on the screen), and we’re ready to start screen printing signs. With UV screen printing signs, the sign is printed on the press and dropped onto a belt that carries it through a UV dryer. The signs are manually stacked or stacked by a stacker, and then are delivered to the client.

Find out more on signage displays and see what other classes of signs can be crafted with other printing processes.

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When you look around, or drive around, if you live in most industrialized countries on the planet, your world is full of signs. If you’re like most people, you simply accept that signs are made by sign makers, but you don’t give it much thought; you pretty much just take signs for granted, at least until you get lost!

I’m going to give you a brief history of signs and sign makers so you’ll know, whether you wanted to know or not, all about signs and printing and sign makers.

Possible Story of the First Prehistoric Sign Makers

In the Stone Age, Grog and his wife, Groggette, sent a smoke signal invitation to Thor and his wife, Thorina, to come over for a mastodon barbecue. However, they never showed up because, legend has it, they got lost because there were no signs. So, Grog and Groggette became the world’s sign makers, then re-sent the smoke signal invite the next weekend, but this time had made and posted some signs in the forest, and the Thor’s were able to come over for some delicious barbecued mastodon after all with the world’s premier sign makers.

OK…I kinda just made that up, but it’s not too far from the truth. Early signs included piles of stones or sticks pointing in a direction that one wanted someone to go…of course, the range of travel was likely somewhat smaller before cars (B.C.), so most people probably didn’t need signs for most things ‘cuz they simply just knew where things were.

Signs that are Still in Existence Today Built by Ancient Sign Makers and the Early Modern Evolution of an Art Form/Industry

As people became civilized and began to travel via trade routes, the Egyptians were among the earliest civilizations to employ sign makers to make signs. The Greek and Roman sign makers carried on the tradition, with the Roman sign makers making what we might consider the first modern signs of terra cotta. Christian sign makers were one of the first groups to use logoed signs, adopting the fish and the cross as a sign of where their churches were, although pagan religions had long used idols as symbols/signs of their temples as well.

Late in the 14th Century, King Richard III legislated that all nobility must hire sign makers to post their lands with their family name or coat of arms, and that all taverns must clearly be marked as ale houses, so all the taverns hired sign makers to make them signs as well. Some have speculated that King Richard III had invested heavily in a local sign conglomerate, but others argue that this early sign legislation was most likely enforced so the tax collectors would know where to go to be able to collect taxes on booze and persons who actually had money, like sign makers, something which was done away with during the American Revolution, but reinstated soon after.

Early signs within towns had symbols indicating what a shop might produce (Ye Olde Sign Makers Shop, etc.) or what service was performed (Ye Olde Sign Makers Shop – Purveyors of Tavern Signs). A bush was an early symbol of a tavern, but as towns grew and there might be several taverns, distinction had to be made by the owners, so you might see a tavern where the ad agency had colluded with the sign makers to come up with the sign of a dragon or a rooster (sorry tavern owners, but a dragon seems just a tad more studly than a rooster!) to signal ownership of the tavern.

So a conversation might go something like this…”Hi Cotswold…let’s go grab a beer at the Rooster Tavern.” Nah,” says Cotswold, “I prefer the Blue Dragon, it’s more manly sounding.” “I don’t care about that,” retorts Harald, “I’m your wife!”

By the 16th and 17th century A.D., most cities were full of businesses trying to attract customers to their store, and the sign makers began creating more elaborate signs. It was during these years that sign makers established their profession as both art and industry, and we’ve been broke ever since. During this time, the sign maker’s signs were the most artistic of any time in recorded history, and often beautiful wrought-iron hangers displayed the signs like this one.

However, some sign makers began making signs too big, and where the streets were narrow, speeding wagons would sometimes collide the driver’s head into an oversized sign (typically purchased by powerful corporate conglomerates like WalMart), especially Cotswold and Harald who were not paying very close attention after downing a few at the Rooster Tavern (she won the argument). It was in these times that the most enterprising government officials learned the truth about signs and sign makers – that you could both regulate the size and tax them at the same time!

Discover a lot more about  sign making in here: http://www.visigraph.com/

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In some past articles I reviewed the techniques involved in how sign makers screen print signs, and I also explored various plastic sign materials for sign prints and how they were used. Today I’m going to talk about the revolution in printing that digital printing has brought to sign makers in the past 10 to 15 years.

In the beginning, Johannes Gutenberg invented moveable type, revolutionizing the world into the modern era. One thing led to another (I will save the history of printing for 20 more articles later), and now sign makers have digital sign printing!

In the Good Old Days, “In the Long Run” was the only way Sign Makers Could Offer Cheap Pricing.

Sign makers have always had a tough time with short runs, and customers an even harder time, because the pricing was ridiculously high due to the set-up costs which most customers simply don’t understand [What do you mean, Mr. Sign Guy, that you need to be paid for set-up and clean up? I only want to pay you for the sign!]. For instance, if you need 10 signs, it costs nearly as much to make 10 sign prints as it would have to make 100. So, you might find that 10 signs cost $90 each, but that 100 signs cost $15.00 each. This is not at all uncommon amongst sign makers.

However, digital sign printing has changed all of this for sign makers and our clientele. It takes pretty much the same amount of time for sign makers to set up for digital printing signs whether it be 10 or 100, but you can do it in 5 minutes instead of 4 hours, which is what it might take if the sign makers are screen printing signs using 4-color process methods. You’ll still pay more money per sign for 10 signs than you would 100, but the difference now might be $30 or $40 per sign versus $90.

For sign makers and customers alike, digital sign printing has made attractive sign and banner prints affordable like never before. Beautiful full color sign prints are now seen in small Mom & Pop stores instead of only big box stores like WalMart or Best Buy.

Sign Makers are now able to Print Direct to Rigid Substrates – Sometimes

Sign makers now may have two main types of digital printers. The first to be developed was the roll-to-roll printer in which sign makers could print vinyl banner material or various types of sign vinyl materials that could be printed, laminated, and applied to rigid materials such as PVC signs, MDO plywood, or plastic yard signs.

And with the advent a few years back of the flatbed UV digital printer, sign makers are now able to print almost anything that can be printed as long as it’s very flat. The flatbed printer also has made it faster for sign makers to produce rigid signs, creating a one-step printing process. On the roll-to-roll printers, sign makers printed the sign vinyl material, laminated the sign vinyl after it cured overnight, then mounted the sign prints to the rigid substrate. Three steps versus one.

And the inks have also improved, both ecologically and durability-wise. Sign makers have found that in our area, the inks have lasted 8 to 10 years, and that has been since the late ’90′s when many sign makers jumped into digital printing. The new inks are even better. And they’re using less toxic chemicals than they used to formulate the inks with, so they’re better for the environment.

Various things that sign makers use digital printing for? Decals and Stickers…this includes reflective decals, static cling decals, product labels, large format window and wall decals, vehicle graphics, floor graphics, decals applied to rigid substrates as discussed earlier, etc. Banners, banners, and more banners. It used to be that vinyl banners were cheap if they were one color, and got more expensive with additional colors. Now sign makers can print a full color banner for cheap…literally. Fabric or cloth banners were pretty much out of reach for small business unless your wife could applique̒-sew a banner.

With the advent of dye-sublimation digital printing media, sign makers can print onto a transfer paper, then with special equipment, transfer the full color images to the fabric…for relatively low cost. The fabric varies, but generally there are a few main categories; sheer, heavy duty, and stretch materials. These prints are used mostly in tradeshow booths and retail displays.

So, in a nutshell, that’s digital printing: inexpensive, durable, attractive! Until next time, remember, the world knows where it’s going because of signs digitally printed by sign makers!

If you want to learn more about signage developers, browse here: http://www.visigraph.com/

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In my last post, I gave you a thumbnail sketch of what it takes for companies that make sign prints using the screen printing process. This time I will deal more specifically with various types of sign prints.

Your Sign’s Appearance is Affected by the Inks Used During the Printing of Various Kinds of Sign Prints

There is a specific ink set for screen-printing plastic sign prints, as there is for vinyl sign prints or glass sign prints or wood sign prints. If you’re going to make screen printed pvc sign prints or plastic yard sign prints, you’d need to contact your ink supplier to ask what type of ink is best for the various materials you’ll be using to create and print your sign prints. Two major ink brands we’ve used in the past are Naz-Dar™ and Sericol™, though there are undoubtedly other good inks on the market that sign makers use.

Our Clients’ Most Popular Substrate Choices for Sign Prints

While there are many types of plastic that sign prints can be made with, I’ll cover a few of the most popular types sign makers use.

#1) (Drum roll) – Corrugated Plastic, or more technically, fluted polypropylene – fluted polypro for short. Brand names included Coroplast™, Plasticor™, and Corex™, among other names. Because fluted polypro is a polypropylene plastic, it doesn’t easily accept ink, but due to it’s cost-effectiveness, the manufacturers of this plastic came up with “corona-treating” to make the plastic receptive to ink for up to a year. Corona-treating is essentially a heat treatment of the surface of the plastic to make it ink receptive so you can make your sign prints on this very cheap material.

Corrugated plastic is a non-yellowing plastic that’s used mostly outdoors, but also can be used indoors, although because the flutes are somewhat visible on your sign prints, it’s not favored for close-up viewing. Uses for these sign prints include political signs, real estate signs, bootleg signs, directional signs prints, yard or garage sale sign prints, property markers, warning signs, towing signs, and a host of other uses I’m not going to take the time to mention here (besides, I just can’t remember everything I’ve seen corrugated plastic used for).

Fluted polypropylene also comes in a variety of thicknesses, the most popular being 4mm and 6mm. It’s also readily available in 2mm, 3mm, 8mm 10mm, and 12mm thicknesses. Corrugated plastic is also quite chemical resistant. We used to clean ink off the plastic using lacquer thinner or MEK (methylethyl ketone) with no damage to the plastic. You cannot due this with polystyrene or polycarbonate plastic sign prints.

#2) PVC, or technically, polyvinyl chloride, is a solid, smooth, non-yellowing plastic that also has a variety of sign prints use and thicknesses. Because it is solid, it is also costlier than corrugated plastic. It comes in a variety of thicknesses up to 1/2″ thick, although the 1/8″ or 4mm thickness is probably the most popular for screen printing sign prints.

PVC is durable in cold weather as well. It is considered shatter-resistant to around negative 20°F (polypropylene is similar, but may be resistant at even colder temps). These sign prints may be used for real estate signs, fence markers, point-of-purchase sign prints (because of its smooth finish), and warning signs (also known as OSHA signs).

#3) Another popular plastic for interior sign prints is polystyrene. Because it yellows (although there are now non-yellowing polystyrene sheets available), it is more often used for indoor sign prints, and because you can purchase it as thin as .02″ thickness, it is popular for laminating digital sign prints to for retail and trade show displays.

Other sign prints we’ve used polystyrene for are interior warning (OSHA) signs, real estate signs (if both sides are covered with a laminated durable digital print), and point of purchase displays.

#4) The last type of plastic I’ll cover for sign prints is polyethylene. Polyethylene (PE) and hi-density polyethylene (HDPE) is a durable, cold-resistant, non-yellowing smooth plastic that accepts the appropriate inks or digital sign prints nicely. Popular thicknesses for this material are 1/16″ and 1/8″, but it can be purchased readily up to 1/2″ thick. You can purchase thicker materials from some manufacturers, but you’d likely have to place a minimum purchase of 50,000 lbs or more.

PE or HDPE sign print types include real estate sign prints, warning signs prints, and interior signs and displays. Because it is a smooth and attractive plastic, it can be used in many ways not mentioned here.

Plastic sign prints – inexpensive, durable, attractive! Until next time, remember, the world knows where it’s going because of sign prints!

In addition, check out some classy signage displays to have a view of how they seem like. See here: http://www.visigraph.com/signs-letters/

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It used to be that sign companies produced full color printing for only the big corporations like Coca-Cola, IBM, or Xerox (back when they were still a dominant player). Full color printing by sign companies was expensive unless it was done in huge volume, especially when sign companies printed larger format full color advertising media such as posters or banners or signs.

With the onset of digital printing in the 1990′s, however, sign companies were able to offer affordable full color printing – also known as 4CP or 4-color process printing – to smaller corporations and companies. Today, most sign companies are able to offer full color printing to even Mom & Pop businesses.

Sign Companies That Offer Full Color Printing May Refer to it as 4-CP or 4-color Process…What is 4CP/4-color Process?

4CP printing refers to the 4 colors of the printing spectrum, also termed CMYK, which stands for Cyan/Magenta/Yellow/Black. You may also see the RGB – Red/Green/Blue – color spectrum referred to at times, but that has to do with your computer or television, not printing. If you are sending full color printing files to sign companies to be printed, make sure those files are saved in the CMYK color spectrum, not RGB, or you may get significant color shifting and your print may not look like what you wanted it to look like.

Sign Companies That Today Offer Full Color Printing Used to Offer only “Spot Color” Printing – How is This Different from 4-color Process Printing?

Up until the 21st century, most signs produced by sign companies, unless they were hand-painted, were generally what is termed “spot color” signs. So the main identification sign in front of the local Coca-Cola distributorship would be red and white, essentially a “one spot color (red) on white” sign. With 4CP printing (full color printing), some sign companies that screen printed signs could create a color separation of the CMYK spectrum, and, using a pattern of dots called “half-tones,” they could create full color printing on various materials – metal, plastic, fabric, and later, vinyl.

Although most main ID signs are still spot color, many companies are now availing themselves of one of the latest developments in main ID internally illuminated exterior signs, the full color printing of digital translucent vinyl media which can be done by numerous sign companies. This process involves printing translucent adhesive vinyl on a roll-to-roll, large format digital printer, usually at around 300 dpi (dots per inch). The print is then laminated with a high quality matte or gloss laminate (gloss usually carries a longer warranty), and mounted to .114″ or .136″ thick polycarbonate sheets (also known by the brand name Lexan®).

Similar to the polycarbonate sheet signs, many sign companies can execute full color printing on pressure-sensitive adhesive vinyl, using a large format digital printer, then laminate the vinyl – after a 24 hour period dry time – and mount the prints to various substrates. Sign companies utilizing this full color printing on vinyl are able to adhere these prints to less expensive business signs on other materials like DiBond®, MDO plywood, Alumalite®, aluminum, and other substrates.

Sign Companies Provide Full Color Printing for Various Uses Including -

• Project Signage – Typically sign companies will use full color printing on PS vinyl, and mount it to MDO plywood or 10mm corrugated plastic, although the latter is not advisable in high wind areas.
• Product Promotion – Full color printing is used by sign companies to print temporary signage on foam board, EPS board like Sintra or Komatex, Gatorfoam, or on banners and posters as well.
• Illuminated Signs – Over the past few years, sign companies have perfected full color printing of translucent vinyl for use on internally illuminated signage. This was elucidated above.

There are many more applications that sign companies make use of full color printing for, read here to check them out.

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