Material choice is an incredibly tricky process and can cause all sorts of headaches for print companies. After all, if you don’t get this decision right, you put the quality of valuable projects at risk and could incur additional, unnecessary costs.
Incorrect media choice could lead to in-house issues such as having to re-print jobs if you selected the wrong material in the first instance, while when working on-site, using the wrong media could damage a surface, which could then mean further costs to repair.
For this reason, you should never underestimate the importance of specifying the correct film and laminate; doing so will save you time and money.
While all print shops may not always have the luxury of being able to test and approve a material, not doing so for a difficult application or particularly challenging installation could cause serious issues.
There are several key factors that you should be looking out for when testing your chosen materials. These include ease of installation, the time it takes to install the material and also how long it takes you to remove the graphic.
It’s important to remember that not all adhesives perform the same way; each product brings with it different features that can help this process. For example, some will carry a dot or air egress adhesive, while others may have clean removal science, allowing for them to be removed after use without leaving any residue or damaging the surface underneath.
Then there is the strength of the adhesive, which again differs from product to product. With any complicated installation, you should always look to perform an adhesive adhesion test to ensure it will apply to the surface, remain in place for the desired amount of time and be removeable when the project is complete.
Similarly, not all surfaces are the same and each will cause materials to perform differently. If you are installing graphics on low-energy or rough surfaces, this may require selecting different products to those you would use when applying materials to surfaces such as smooth walls and floors.
Drytac is the leading solutions provider when it comes to adhesive materials and can work with customers to ensure they select the right product for their project. The unique adhesive science on Drytac products creates print media and protective films that deliver outstanding results time after time.
At Drytac, we have several solutions for rough surfaces. Drytac Polar Grip is a polymeric self-adhesive PVC film, that is designed to deliver up to five years’ indoor or outdoor durability thanks to its unique high-bond adhesive. It is flexible, making it ideal for curved or rough walls and comes in a choice of matte or gloss finishes
Drytac SpotOn products feature removable dot pattern adhesive science, making the media incredibly easy to apply and remove. It is the ideal choice for projects such as window, wall and floor graphics.
Drytac also offers Drytac Retac Smooth products, such as ReTac Smooth 150, for wall graphics. These films feature permanently peelable adhesive science, offer indoor and outdoor durability, are easy to apply and can be removed without leaving residue, even years later.
To make the test and approve process that much easier, Drytac offers printable films in smaller roll sizes of 25.5”x 10ft, as well as over-laminate samples of 25.5” x 15ft and 8.5” x 11” printed hand swatches of most its products.
With Drytac sample rolls, you can produce a sample print, add an over-laminate and present a mock-up to your client for approval, ensuring you are achieving the desired results before committing to the full project.
To reiterate: you should never underestimate the importance of specifying – and testing – the correct film and laminate for certain projects; doing so really will save you time and money in the long run.
Authored by Michael Morano, North American Sales Support Specialist, at Drytac.
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