The Holy Grail of Banner Stands: Banners that Truly Lay Flat

 

Producing lay flat banner stand graphics

Lou Fiore, owner of Speedway Custom Photo Lab in Daytona Beach, Fla., has been kind enough to share some great ideas, which we’ve posted here at the LexJet Blog (LED Backlit Conference Room Graphics and Creating a Multi-Panel Display).

Printing banners that lay flatTo round out the trio of ideas, Fiore shares his process for making perfectly flat banners for banner stand displays, what he calls the “Holy Grail” of banner stands.

“Regardless of how lay-flat manufacturers say a certain banner material is, you usually get some curl, and it varies depending on the material,” says Fiore. “Recently, I tried LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Polypropylene with GBC 5 Mil Octiva Low-Melt Emboss 50 Laminate. While at first glance, you wouldn’t think this is a good match since the laminate is applied at temperature, but the result is astounding, with absolutely knife-sharp flat edges.”

Fiore’s technique is to print the Water-Resistant Polypropylene on his Epson 9800, then the GBC Emboss 50 is applied using a sled at the lower end of its low-melt temperature range, around 170 degrees F. The laminate is allowed to cure for about an hour and the banners are then trimmed on a Keencut Sabre 2 General Purpose Cutter (120 in.).

Cutting and trimming banners“Initially, the edges appear to have some curl, but once the protective layer is peeled off of the Emboss 50, the banner lays absolutely flat and stays flat when it’s under the spring tension of the banner stand,” explains Fiore. “One nice characteristic of the Emboss 50 is that it’s a 5-mil vinyl, which is very flexible and not bulky. Plus, it has a very light crystal surface that doesn’t kill the pop of the print, yet it kills the reflection off of the graphic. I show this to my customers so they can see how beautiful the laminate is; that’s how much I like it.”

Thanks for the tips, Lou!

LexJet Introduces Versatile New Polypropylene Blockout Media

Polypropylene inkjet media for displaysLexJet introduces two new lay-flat polypropylene inkjet printable materials that have a gray back coat for added opacity: LexJet 11 Mil Blockout PolyGloss and LexJet 11 Mil Blockout Water-Resistant Polypropylene.

Both can be used as a cost-effective alternative to the typical polyester inkjet materials for trade show and in-store point-of-purchase graphics, as well as long-term indoor banners and short-term outdoor banners.

“We already offer a fantastic water-resistant polypropylene, but our customers were looking for something more opaque that wouldn’t allow as much light to shine through the back and detract from their graphics,” says Jeff Leto, LexJet’s product manager. “The great thing about the new blockout polypropylene materials is that you can use them for practically any type of display graphics applications.”

The water-resistant materials have a bright-white inkjet-receptive coating that yields additional color and contrast. LexJet 11 Mil Blockout PolyGloss is compatible with aqueous inkjet printers and LexJet 11 Mil Blockout Water-Resistant Polypropylene is compatible with aqueous and latex inkjet printers.

Both blockout polypropylene materials are available in 24″ x 75′, 36″ x 75′, 42″ x 75′, 50″ x 75′ and 60″ x 75′ rolls. For more information and to order, contact a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538. To find out more about these new blockout polypropylene materials, check out the video embedded below…

New Environmentally Friendly Display Films for Solvent, Latex, UV Curable Printers

Sustainable and economical inkjet display filmDeveloped for print shops looking for sustainable, economical and high-quality inkjet display media, LexJet introduces two new PVC-free, phthalate-free display films optimized for solvent, low-solvent, latex and UV-curable printers: LexJet PVC-Free Display Film (12 Mil) and LexJet PVC-Free Display Film (18 Mil).

Both are rigid polypropylene films with a satin finish and are offered in two different thicknesses to provide greater application flexibility. They are designed as economic and environmentally-friendly alternatives for applications like retail displays, trade show graphics, point-of-purchase and point of sale displays and retractable banner stand displays.

The PVC-free, bright-white base is manufactured to ensure excellent image and color reproduction. And, since the polypropylene base does not curl and stays flat, straight and true all the time, production is quick, easy and efficient.

For more information about the new PVC-free films and to order, contact a LexJet account specialist at 800-453-9538.