How would you apply a large graphic to glass wall?

[Robert Lambie]

quick reply…

Butt Join will create a line of light unless perfect, even if perfect there is a chance of shrinkage, again exposing a line of light.

overlapping will create a dark line. reducing the overlap will obviously reduce the width of dark line but will be noticeable regardless.

it boils down to how particular your customer is about his request.
if you have problems fitting something this size then ide advise going for an air release adhesive system, rather than down sizing to help your application.

[John Dorling]

How much of a gap is there between the panes? If it were me I would print one drop per pane of glass and trim to the edges.

John

[Paul Munford]

Theres approx 20mm of silicone in the gaps between the glass.
I have applied loads of drops of vinyl at 1220mm wide to glass before and the wider the width the more difficult it is to turn…I usually wet the window next to the one I am applying to then "hang" the graphic on the wet window while peeling of the release liner. Then wet the glue side and the window Im applying to. The tricky bit is taking the drop off the window turning it around and getting it on to the window that is going to receive it. The wider the vinyl drop the harder it is and with these potenially being 1480mm + a bit of bleed its going to prove very difficult. Rob I appreciate what you say about joins and overlap would not be acceptable in this case. I will look in to air release film at this width and see if any one stocks clear for latex print.

[John Dorling]

I think you might need an extra pair of hands. Shouldn’t be a bad job to do each pane in one drop with two people. I don’t know of a clear air release vinyl, but if you do decide to do it wet make sure the media has solvent acrylic adhesive! (You probably knew that but I’ve made that mistake before 😳 )

John

[Paul Seeley]

quote Paul Munford:

Theres approx 20mm of silicone in the gaps between the glass.
I have applied loads of drops of vinyl at 1220mm wide to glass before and the wider the width the more difficult it is to turn…I usually wet the window next to the one I am applying to then “hang” the graphic on the wet window while peeling of the release liner. Then wet the glue side and the window Im applying to. The tricky bit is taking the drop off the window turning it around and getting it on to the window that is going to receive it. The wider the vinyl drop the harder it is and with these potenially being 1480mm + a bit of bleed its going to prove very difficult. Rob I appreciate what you say about joins and overlap would not be acceptable in this case. I will look in to air release film at this width and see if any one stocks clear for latex print.

That’s certainly how I’d tackle it, but blimey that’s a big un 😮
I’d probably be looking to incorpate some gaps in the design anyway if at all possible . . .
I like the air release stuff, although I applied a couple of big (mere 1000 x 1000) panels at the weekend using std. stuff applied wet without any major problems.
Definately a two hander methinks
Let us see some pics when it’s done
Paul

ps
John I’m pleased I’m not the only one to have done that! 😉

[Stuart Miller]

Applying window film onto glass at that size should not be a problem with the reverse roll which is pretty standard practise for tinters.
Why not print it onto clear film or frost film. Bonwyke should be able to advise on this.
Getting the images to line up and allowing for trimming the edges would need some thought but entirely possible.

[Andrew Weaver]

Hi Paul,

If you have the printer wide enough I would try in one go as I agree with the other remarks, overlap will show especially with the light going through the windows and clear vinyl !
That is pretty big but should be OK if there’s not too much wind.
I wet the actual window I am fitting and put my vinyl upside down on that window, then take off the backing.
I wet the glue side then pick up the vinyle from the bottom and lift until the rest drops down (don’t know if that’s clear enough !!)then things are the right way up.
I have been stuck on my own fitting vinyl to windows with a bit of wind and have found myself using the wind to help turn the vinyl. In that case I put it the right way up, then take the backing off and wet. Then I start lifting the side opposite where the wind is coming from to use the wind to blow (not heavy wind !!!)the vinyl in the right way.
It also depends on the width of your arms and if you are on a platform/ floor or ladders 🙂 Recently I was a bit stuck as I could only use a ladder and the width was 235 cm … it was hard to fit on my own as I had to get off the ladder to move over a bit and couldnt get both sides to stay on !!
If you can get another pair of arms and hands that’s even better
Good luck

[Paul Munford]

Thanks for all the comments guys, greatly appreciated.
We put up a number of sample prints to show client what the finished item would look like and used various medias ie, clear vinyl / frosted and contravision.
They have gone for the contravision on both sides of the window! ie back and front!! to create a screen on the glass.
Ive fitted small pieces of contra before and the samples (800mm x 300mm) went on like a dream…anything you need to look out for when applying large drops? I assume most would apply this dry?
Cheers
Paul.