Long Life Lamination for digital printing

[Peter Normington]

very doubtful unless you keep it in the dark.
most printer makers would pay you a fortune if you find a solution

Peter

[Tim Lucas]

yes Perter, any idea what would the max time you’d get??

[Peter Normington]

I would say 3 years Max, but I’m no expert on print, Then again Why would you need it to last more than a few years? If so try canvas, and oils
Da vinci’s stuff seemed to stand the test of time, parchment and ink also is very durable, the goverment still use it for permanent stuff

Peter

[Les Woods]

I believe our digital prints (from a Canon W8200 with pigmented inks) is supposed to be UV stable for up to 3 years, so with a laminate which has uv inhibitor (or whatever they call it) it should last longer.

Of course, it depends on the positioning of the graphic (full sunlight or shade etc) as that will drastically affect the lifespan.

Our exterior sign which was done with pigment inks on the Canon W8200 has been outside in direct sunlight for almost 1.5 years and isn’t showing any sign of fading and is still as vibrant as when it was first printed. The laminate we used was a crystal laminate (the type you use for exhibition stands) which is scratch resistant and also has the UV coating.

From what I’ve heard (and this could be wrong), pigment has a longer lasting life than dye and solvent inks and so far I’ve not got any complaints with that view – ask me in another 1.5 years! 😉

[Peter Normington]

Les, not trying to be negative, but reprint a a sample of the original and hold it up against the current print, you may be suprised.

Peter

[Mike Grant]

3 years is the norm, but I believe Roland give 5 years on expensive 3M vinyl

[Les Woods]

quote Peter Normington:

Les, not trying to be negative, but reprint a a sample of the original and hold it up against the current print, you may be suprised.

Peter

Lol, you’re probably right on that score! From my point of view its one of our own prints of which I have a critical eye of (as we all are with the quality of our own work) so I would imagine since I’m pleased with the appearance after the last year or so then a customer would also be pleased.

Still, set a reminder to ask me in another 18 months! :lol1:

[Robert Lambie]

it is all down to location of the print. i think!
laminated and on a vehicle its going to be allot less than that of a sign due to wear and tear, general abuse to the vinyls on the vehicle.
however, i would say it has more chance being UV stable on a vehicle as its never really sitting in same position for too long in direct sunlight.
then again, we could argue where it is parked overnight, sunrise and all that…
a sign south facing is going to fade faster than one north facing.
then there is colours… if the print is bright red, then it is going to fade faster than blue, due to direct sunlight.
there are so many things that come into play i doubt you could accurately estimate.

if on a sign or vehicle, ill tell the customer the UV stability is around 2-3 years. but that doesn’t cover damage to vinyls etc on the vehicle.

A while back i had a 15inch logo printed on a pc60 thermal machine laminated with regular clear vinyl and stuck on our vans. 3 years or more later, it still looked spot on, as i was stripping to bin it…
it was a lime green logo, no reds etc….
i have a sign/print 10’x5′ sitting at the top of a hill on posts facing south.
i fitted it the friday after signuk 2005 and it looks great to this day…. no noticable signs of fading at all….

[Stephen Morriss]

I’ve got a south facing sign on a pub, the image is printed on a hp3000 with pigmented inks and the laminate is Hexis something (one of the expensive ones with UV block) and it’s been up for more than 2 years, still looks good, there’s another sign the same east facing and they both still look the same. Mainly black and green image as it’s a bull in a field, Black Bull.

I would think that the image would look good for a long period of it’s life with a sharp drop off near the end as the UV destroys the pigments.

Steve

[Stephen Morriss]

Forgot to add that you have to be careful when choosing a laminate as depending on the sort of UV inhibitor it may be one that only stops the laminate discolouring and offers little protection for the print, you really need to ask the supplier to clarify what it meant by the wording in the specs.