You might think that commercial printing is just limited to the printing of images on paper and maybe other kinds of materials like boards, wood and metal. But the fact is as a commercial printer, you could also offer vinyl stickers. You can opt to print on them using the silkscreen process or you can buy a new and separate machine that can print and cut vinyl stickers. It is a relatively new development in the printing industry but it is getting widespread because of its many uses.
Some of the uses of vinyl stickers are for cars, boats, and any other outdoor uses. You can also use them to decorate glass panels in commercial establishments and even homes. These are very nice and if you are already in the business of commercial printing, you can add these among your products. You can also accept cutting services for those who do not have machine cutters.
So how do you make vinyl sticker designs?
1. Choose high-contrast images for your designs. They need to have clean edges, not those with edges that look garbled. The most vibrant colors work the best. If you want, you can also scan simple images like logos for stickers. Or you may want to create your own, such as witty quotes or expressions. Use computer software like Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator for this purpose. The file of the image should be in a JPG format.
2. The vinyl decal should be the exact size of the area specified by your client. So always verify the size before printer. Small stickers should very well fit into the size of the vinyl sheet. For example, if you are making a bumper sticker, your maximum width should be within 10 inches. The largest you can go is 10.5. It is easy to set the size; you just have to know the exact dimensions. But if you need to print a big size, you will have to cut it down into tiles and installation will be necessary.
3. After you have created your design, save it as a .jpg file. You can copy this design in order to make multiple prints. Just make sure that your designs are within the printing boundaries of your machine.
4. Before printing many copies, make a test run first in order to know if the colors are right and the design is what you have envisioned it to be. Doing a test print will allow you to correct the design or adjust the printer settings accordingly. This is important before going into mass production so that you will not waste material and energy for something that is sub-standard.
5. Some vinyl printer units come with built-in cutters. You can print and then contour cut your designs after you print. You just let the design dry a bit before running the cutter to make sure that there are no smears and smudges. But they are more expensive that printers. So if you don’t have a mechanized cutter, you have to do it manually using a paper cutter.
You can actually experiment with many different colors for your design because you can print any design on vinyl stickers. They would really be great additions to your commercial printer because their market is so much different than your existing clientele. As a printing company, you should evolve and innovate so that you will not stagnate in the industry.
