Wide-format Printing: The versatility of lamination

by all | 19 September 2014 1:30 pm

By Ken Halford
Most sign shops today that can digitally print wide-format graphics are also equipped to finish them in-house using a laminator. While some shops specialize in either hot (thermal-set) or cold (pressure-sensitive) lamination, it is fairly rare for them to need to outsource the work. Indeed, a laminator is one of the first pieces of equipment signmakers tend to buy when they start to transition into wide-format graphics.

Even before then, there is usually at least one smaller laminator somewhere in their shop. So, when signmakers buy both a wider printer and a wider laminator, they typically do not need much additional training, as the machines call for the same skill set to oversee the same procedures. And the new owners are usually already well-aware of the benefits—including improved durability, gloss and clarity—of the lamination films available to them.

This is because digital overlaminates are typically formulated to match specific printable films, including cast and calendered varieties. Vinyl-based billboards, for example, can be finished with general vinyl laminates, applied panel by panel.

Many of today’s general digital overlaminates are also quite flexible, enabling them to support a lot of different types of applications. A sign shop might just order one outdoor-durable lamination film for vehicle graphics, for example, and another for exhibits, backlit posters, wall murals, point-of-purchase (POP) displays, wayfinding signs, floor graphics (albeit with an anti-slip coating added) and other popular indoor applications.

Specialty products
Beyond these straightforward short- or long-term products designed for indoor or outdoor use with removable or permanent adhesives, there are also many specialty lamination films for less common jobs.

Optically clear laminates, for example, are designed for finishing perforated window film graphics, to prevent water from collecting in any of the perforation holes. Graffiti-resistant films, meanwhile, contain special coatings that enable vandalized graphics to be rubbed clean with isopropyl alcohol (IPA) or even just soap and water.

Polyurethane (PU) films and fluoropolymer-based formulations have also been introduced that are both easier to clean than other laminates and more durable against impact. Some sign shops are now wrapping graphics on vehicles like fast boats, tractors and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) that can get quickly ‘beaten up’ by bumps against docks, rocks or tree stumps, so they need these tougher laminates to protect the graphics.

Another growing opportunity is the ‘paint replacement’ market, where personally owned vehicles are wrapped not with printed graphics, but with colour-change ‘tuning films’ for a new, customized look. These films come with clear, protective laminates fused to them, as they do not need to go through a printer first.

There is even an emerging market in amateur racing helmets, which used to be hand-painted with graphics but now can be wrapped with a single printed graphic panel and an overlaminate film. To install such a mini-wrap, one person uses a heat gun while another stretches the material around the helmet’s contours.

New opportunities like these are why is important to pay attention to the market with regard to how customers need signmakers’ products to work.

Even less accident-prone graphics need their own level of protection through lamination, especially during transportation. Reflective signs, in particular, need to be properly laminated and shipped standing upright with liners in between them or they would risk picking up impressions from each other.

These and other outdoor graphics also need lamination to protect them against the elements. The Canadian market does not tend to demand customized laminates for its climate, though, as heat and sunlight can do far more damage to digitally printed vinyl graphics than cold temperatures can. Ultraviolet-inhibiting (UV-inhibiting) agents are incorporated into overlaminates for vehicle graphics, pole banners and other outdoor applications for this reason. The materials also tend to be tested for resistance to humidity, wind, rain and particulate-based abrasion.

Indoor protection
Indoor graphics, too, can benefit from specialty laminates. Some retailers are finishing their cosmetics display cabinets with ‘chrome’ overlamination films, for example, both to reflect the products’ colours and to prevent the odd makeup smudge from staining the cabinet walls. These and other ‘metallized’ polyester films are also popular for esthetic effects, as they can add the appearance of stainless steel, brushed metal, pewter and other materials.

Floor graphics are generally applied to pretreated, clean and smooth surfaces like tiles or slightly textured materials like wood or concrete, but casinos and other businesses have also started to mount them on low-pile carpeted areas. These applications require a special floor laminate with a permanent adhesive.

Trade show and exhibit graphics, especially, must stand up to the rigours of long-distance transportation.

Checking compatibility
As durable as a printable pressure-sensitive film and its matching overlaminate might be, the Achilles’ heel of many graphics is the ink. With this in mind, not every inkjet printer can be warranted for performance with every film and overlaminate. So, as much as lamination offers versatility, signmakers must still keep coverage in mind and check application guides for compatibility between products. A product mismatch could lead to adhesion failure, such as delamination or lifting.

Ken Halford is a technical service representative for Avery Dennison Graphic Solutions. For more information, contact him via e-mail at ken.halford@averydennison.com[5].

Source URL: https://www.signmedia.ca/wide-format-printing-the-versatility-of-lamination/

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