LexJet Enhances, Simplifies PSA Laminate Line: Performance, Elite, Specialty

Laminates for trade shows and displaysLexJet has updated its line of PSA laminates and backers to provide a practical way for print shops to produce and sell laminated large format inkjet solutions to their customers, and provide added value for added profits.

“We’ve taken our 17 years of experience developing inkjet media, laminates and backers, as well as crucial input and advice from our customers, to give them a product line they can sell and depend upon,” says LexJet product manager Dione Metnick. “The whole point of a laminate is to enhance and protect the graphic, and exceed the end user’s design and visual expectations. We used that criteria as our baseline, then built our laminates and backers to eliminate costly color shifts and adhesive failures for the dependability and consistency our customers require.”

Conveniently grouped into three basic product categories – Performance, Elite and Specialty – print shops have a simple yet diverse choice of superior laminates not available elsewhere in various thicknesses, base materials, textures and widths. The adhesives in all three product lines are compatible with aqueous, low solvent, solvent, UV curable and latex inks.

“I have never noticed any discoloration with a LexJet laminate, as opposed to others I’ve seen that tend to yellow over time or give the graphic a different tint,” says Christian Schmid of Essyx Design + Fabrication, Johnson City, Tenn. “When our customers invest in graphics they don’t want them damaged, either by UV or people handling them, so we make sure we give them the peace of mind that comes with a more durable, brighter laminate.”

Performance: The industry’s best-in-class economically priced line of laminates and backers. Like all LexJet products, they come with a 30-day money back guarantee and are built to last. Most products in the Performance line feature the same high-quality adhesives and base materials as the Elite line.

Specialty: This product line was designed based on customer feedback for warranted, durable laminates that meet all the demands of specialty applications, including floor, carpet, vehicle wrap, optically clear and dry-erase.

Elite: Offers the highest possible performance and quality that exceeds the durability and visual expectations of end users. Most products in the Elite line come with a Lifetime Warranty, while all of them feature the most durable solvent acrylic adhesive in the industry and PreLume, an optical reflection technology built into the Elite laminates that ensures brighter and cleaner white areas for a longer period of time. PreLume Inside means greater contrast and dynamic range, producing graphics that stand out and grab the attention of passersby in a variety of indoor applications.

PreLume, licensed by LexJet in 2003, is only one innovation in a long line of innovations since LexJet introduced the first reverse-print polycarbonate (LexJet Clear) to the graphics market in 1994. Since that time LexJet pioneered the first white backer to partner with LexJet Clear, the first polycarbonate laminate guaranteed not to tunnel or delaminate, the next generation of solvent acrylic mounting adhesives, new adhesives resistant to and compatible with solvent and UV-curable inks and the first Lifetime Warranty, to name just a few.

Whether your graphic is short-term, long-term or somewhere in between, with LexJet’s updated and enhanced line of laminates and backers you have a variety of options to choose from that no one else in the industry offers… Proven, quality laminates in a variety of thicknesses, finishes and base materials to protect and enhance your graphic, eliminating costly color shifts and adhesive failures… Guaranteed. 

Design, Print, Build: A Masterpiece in the Park

Essyx Design + Fabrication does exactly what its name implies, and everything in between, which is why Warriors’ Path State Park in Kingsport, Tenn. turned to the all-in-one design-build graphic company for its interactive displays.

Eleven displays dot the walking paths in Warriors’ Path State Park, informing park goers about the flora and fauna that populate the park. The displays were built and installed by Essyx and include any number of interactive features, also built by Essyx.

The main print that provides the primary information is embedded in a layer of epoxy. Essyx used LexJet 8 Mil Production Satin Photo Paper, printed on the company’s HP Designjet 5500. “We used the Production Satin because the paper is very economical and it’s easy to work with in production,” says Christian Schmid, graphics manager for Essyx. “We sent out the print for the epoxy treatment, but it’s the only piece of the project we subbed out.”

The paw prints, hoof prints, leaves and other dimensional pieces attached to the face of the display were fabricated in-house with a type of modeling clay. Essyx made a resin cast from the clay pieces and then sanded and painted them.

Some of the displays also feature sound. Users can push a button to hear the animals speak in their own wild language. Schmid says that the displays have taken a beating but have withstood far more abuse than the typical park sign can handle. “Kids are especially tough on displays like this,” says Schmid. “Because of the interactive nature of the displays we had to make them as weather-proof and vandal-proof as possible.”