Category: Wide Format Printing

Vinyl Graphics for Windows


Recently we have done several major window vinyl installations, including multiple branches for a local bank, a real estate office, and several other local businesses. As with any kind of marketing graphics, window graphic installations present many opportunities, options, and unique challenges. This is the first blog in a series discussing these specific issues.

Types of Vinyl

There are 4 types of vinyl that most window installation use:

Cut Vinyl – primarily used for simple lettering, such as business hours, phone number, the address number, or other business information. Also frequently used to list services offered by the business. Cut vinyl graphics are fairly inexpensive, but can have significant impact on the professionalism and advertising presence of the business.

Translucent White Vinyl – Similar to a sign, banner, or wall mural, a window graphic using translucent white vinyl allows a business to use more artistic elements in advertising their business. Multiple colors, pictures, and eye catching designs can grab the attentions of people passing by, serving to increase your business presence and attractiveness. This kind of vinyl will block a person’s ability to see in or out of the business, so these can also provide privacy and partial shade to those inside the office, restaurant, or other kind of establishment. If you prefer to keep the view more open, these can also be contour cut to the desired shape, much like cut vinyl graphics.

Static Cling – rather infrequently used, because it is easily removed & less permanent. It has the same properties as translucent white vinyl, but has no adhesive – it sticks to the glass by static attraction to the glass. Easy to apply, easy to remove, and not very secure.

Perforated Window Vinyl – this fantastic product has many of the benefits of translucent white vinyl, with a few additional advantages. Specifically, perforated window vinyl doesn’t block the view of those inside the glass. This allows those inside greater security, a more open feeling, and natural light.

We’ve only scratched the surface in presenting these vinyl graphic options. If you have specific questions about your window graphic project, or to find out what something like this might cost, please contact us at 816-459-7552 or email print@streamlinekc.com. More information will also be available in the blogs to follow.

-Peter

Design Formats: Why does my printer ask for “vector” graphics?

If you have ever had your printer or designer ask for vector graphics, and you had no idea what they meant, this article is for you.  Here is a brief overview of vector and raster graphics.

Raster Graphics (pictures)
Common file extensions: .jpg, .png, some .pdf

 Most digital pictures are made up of pixels.  If you enlarge any picture enough, you will begin to see the pixels – square shapes with a uniform color.  The smaller the pixels are the more that fit per square inch, and the smoother the picture looks when printed.

People often want to print a photo at a larger size than it was originally intended for.  On TV, its a simple matter to “enlarge and enhance” any given photo (or video!).  If you’ve watched CSI or similar shows, you’ve probably seen them “enlarge and enhance” a license plate, face, or other details.  In reality, while you can enlarge a photo as much as you want, all this does is increase the size of the pixels.  A small, blurry image will thus become a large, pixilated, blurry image.  There is no “enhance” function.  Similarly, printers cannot reduce the blurriness of your pictures.  We can only use what is already there.
Raster vs Vector (web)

If your picture is good enough for the size you want to print it, your eyes will be unable to detect the pixels at 100% magnification.  Another way to check your photo resolution is to view the file size.  Most printed photos look better with a bigger file size.  20 kilobytes (kb) is generally too small for print at any size; photos larger than 1 megabyte (mb) are generally large enough to print on a 24”x36” poster with reasonable quality.

Of course, no matter what size your photo is, there is a size of printing at which you will see pixilation.  That’s one reason we have vector graphics.

Vector Graphics
Common file extensions: .ai, .eps, .svg, some .pdf

Vector graphics don’t bother with pixels at all!  Vector graphics are made up of lines and shapes.  Using complex math, vector format files instruct your computer to draw a series of lines and shapes.  Here are some benefits of vector graphics:

You can make them any size, and they won’t pixilate.  100% crisp, clean images.

The file size can be quite small and still have perfect clarity – easier to email.

Vectors can be used to create cutting instructions – for vehicle lettering, contour cut stickers etc.

Vectors can be used to create digitized logos for embroidery.

Vectors can be used by screen burning software for screen printed shirts and signs.

So, why would we ever use raster (picture) graphics?  Well, cameras can’t generate vector graphics.  Pictures of people and other complex color patterns cannot be made into vectors without loss of complexity.  Also, vectors can be more difficult to work with without the right training or programs.

I hope this explanation helps – the more you understand about printing and design, the easier it will be for you to get what you want from your printer.

How Perforated Window Vinyl Works

Perforated window vinyl, or “see-through” vinyl is used to make signs that are solid, bright, and opaque when viewed from the outside, but are transparent from the inside.  When I hear about something like this, I have to know how it works to believe it.  So–how does it work?

Perforated vinyl is exactly what the name says, a sheet of vinyl material with a pattern of tiny holes cut through it. There are so many of these holes that a significant amount of the material is removed. The amount of vinyl removed usually ranges from 30 to 50%.  For example, 60/40 vinyl, is 60% vinyl and 40% holes.

Light-colored perforated vinyl signs are opaque when seen from outside a window because our eyes naturally focus on a bright, well-lit surface rather than on the holes and the relative darkness of whatever is behind the surface.  The inner side of perforated vinyl, however, is dark colored.  Here the eye naturally focuses through the dark vinyl to the light and motion outside the window.  Because of this, people inside a store, home or automobile see through the back of the sign to the world outside.

Designing for Perforated Signs

A good understanding of how perforated vinyl works will help you design better one-way vinyl signs.  Because the printed surface of the perforated vinyl must be brighter than the space behind the sign, it is best to avoid large areas of black, blue, purple or dark brown in the design. Lettering and small areas of a design can be dark, but use light or bright colors–whites,  pastels, red, yellow, orange, light blues and greens– for the large areas of your design.

As you design, remember also that a large fraction of the sign surface is missing. Avoid intricate detail and small fonts. Design instead with broad brush-strokes and fonts of 30-point or larger.

Like filmy curtains, perforated vinyl signs are opaque when seen from the outside during daylight, but transparent from the inside.  Like filmy curtains, however, these sign becomes transparent at night when viewed from the outside into a lighted space.  When you plan to use the perforated vinyl inside, pay attention to the lighting on both sides of the sign.

One-way vinyl signs offer a lot of intriguing advantages.  Next time you’re thinking about a sign for your car, store or home, make it big, make it bright, and perforate it.

Owen Decker