Printing and Application of Vinyl Graphics

What Is Vinyl Printing and Application?

The Printing and Application of Vinyl Graphics is the term used to describe printing using a vinyl material and its uses are wide and varied. Think floor stickers, window stickers, magnetic vinyl signs and wall signage.

The Print House Uk specializes in printing vinyl graphics for use in retail and marketing. We have found these large-format sticky labels to work beautifully for both indoor and outdoor signage. Using wide-format solvent printers, we print images, logos, and illustrations which are weatherproof. making our Vinyl’s suitable to use both indoors & outdoors.

Vinyl transfer printing is where vinyl is machine cut and heat transferred onto items to create a bespoke look.

How Do You Apply A Vinyl Graphic?

With care…

Make sure the vinyl graphic is stored properly, so don’t let it get wet, frozen or melted by heat.
keep it somewhere dry and safe and give it good dust off with a microfibre cloth before you apply it, this will stop dirt and dust from getting onto the sticky side and causing bubbles.
Clean the surface you are applying the graphic to.
Once you and the surface are ready, remove the backing and apply slowly using a squeegee at a 45-degree angle. Glide over the graphic and press firmly. You can apply wet using an application fluid or dry, the choice is yours.
No matter how professional you are with your application, you can still get bubbles and wrinkles. If bubbles appear after a few days, don’t worry, this sometimes happens when the solvent in the vinyl reacts with the surface (or substrate) it is applied to.
We don’t recommend applying graphics to surfaces that are newly painted or new plastics.
Bubbles and wrinkles in vinyls can be ironed out with fingernails and squeegees and air release tools. Try to avoid pins and knives to poke holes as this can damage the graphic. You can even try applying gentle heat to stretch out a wrinkle, particularly if this is at the edge of the graphic.

Have you ever wondered if there’s a difference between vinyl decals and vinyl graphics?

There is……

A Vinyl Graphic is one piece of vinyl, one shape and peel off the backing like any sticker would. A vinyl graphic will be one design on one piece of vinyl on whatever background colour you choose.
Decals are more intricate, as such, vinyl decals tend to be cut to shape so a decal will have several different parts whereas a sticker will be just one piece.
Once removed from the backing and transferred into position, a decal will appear like image with a transparent background meaning that there is essentially no background at all.
Decals are much fiddlier, and you have to be very careful and precise when applying them to your product.
Vinyl graphics are a little more robust and easier to work with.

Our vinyl prints come with a self-adhesive backing, so we advise that they are applied to a clean, smooth, non-porous surface. They can be removed with ease and rarely ever leave behind any sticky residue.