LexJet TOUGHcoat Thrifty BannerTag:

The ABCs of Creating Back to School Safety Graphics
Posted on by Jennifer Corn Posted in Technology & Products
Leave a comment

The ABCs of Creating Back to School Safety Graphics

As school bells start ringing and “First Day of School” photos start hitting social media, that can only mean one thing: school is back in session. With many school districts offering in-person teaching, e-learning, and a hybrid of both, there are questions about how to keep students informed of health and safety requirements as they return to class.

To sort through all the information and to discuss the tools and resources available, we brought together two teams of specialists: one for print service providers, offering additional product and application advice, and one for educators who have limited experience with large format printing.

For educators and faculty members, Canon Technical Analyst Pete Wright and LexJet Application Expert Michael Clementi join us to provide some guidance to teachers and educational staff who may be working with large format printers for the first time as school districts consider bringing printing in-house rather than outsourcing graphics.

Clementi and Wright discuss how easy it is to work with the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-Series 2100  and PosterArtist Lite, the free software that comes with the printer and they offer some suggestions for versatile media that can be used throughout the school for a variety of indoor and outdoor signage.

For PSPs, we sit down with LexJet Senior Account Executive, Ramiro Torrez, and Large Format Output Specialist, Nolan Dowdy, to discuss some of the applications and products that are available to help supply schools with health and safety signage for the upcoming school year.

When it comes to messaging in schools, consistency and location is the key. Reinforcing the everchanging guidelines put in place by the school, county, or state means that there could be the need for the quick and easy turnaround to get updated graphics installed.

For an in-house school print shop, some of the versatile and easy-to-install products that are compatible with the Canon printer include LexJet Print-N-Stick Fabric for floor graphics, LexJet 8 mil Production Satin Photo Paper for posters, and LexJet TOUGHcoat Thrifty Banner and Banner Ups for banners. For PSPs, offering the right solution for the right location is paramount to helping keep the students and faculty safe.

The approaches of educators and PSPs might be a little different, but the end goal of keeping students safe and healthy is the same. You can learn more about their efforts by clicking HERE. If you have additional questions, you can also reach out to one of our specialists at 800-453-9538 or visit LexJet.com.

Posted on by Shellie Terry Posted in Tips & Tricks
Leave a comment

How to Choose the Right Media for Your Event Graphics

Whether it’s the big game, a weekend sale or a high school reunion, signage for your event is a vital form of advertising to get people in the door. You’ve got lots of options: posters, window graphics and banners, to name a few.

Each of those serve a different purpose, and choosing the right media to use can be tricky — do you need something to display outdoors that will promote your event for several weeks in advance, or do you need a banner on the day of the event that stands up to windy skies?

Take a look at the video above to learn answers to these questions and many more tips and tricks to choosing the most effective media for your needs.

Call a LexJet print specialist at 800-453-9538 for help choosing and purchasing event media.

Posted on by Shellie Terry Posted in Technology & Products
Leave a comment

All New ThriftyBanner, Now with Blockout


We’ve taken everything you love about LexJet TOUGHcoat ThriftyBanner: its smooth, bright-white finish, weather resistance and budget-friendly price point, and added a blockout banner and made it more durable and long-lasting with an even smoother finish.

The all new LexJet TOUGHcoat Blockout ThriftyBanner is a 15mil, water-resistant aqueous-compatible banner material that offers 100 percent opacity and will last up to six months outdoors.

Key Product Features:

  • Bright-white, super-smooth surface that ensures image quality
  • Black back for 100 percent opacity
  • Water-, weather- and scratch-resistant
  • Durable and consistent
  • Lasts up to six months outside
  • Compatible with aqueous and latex printers

The addition of the black blockout backing adds more versatility to ThriftyBanner when you need a material that hides unsightly views, construction sites, old signage or lighting.

Plus, it’s perfectly designed to partner with Canon, Epson and HP aqueous printers, getting the most out of their expansive color gamuts to deliver rich, vibrant images.

You can feel confident in using LexJet TOUGHcoat Blockout ThriftyBanner for pole, street and hanging banners of all types, and it works great for indoor applications, as well.

Contact a LexJet print specialist at 800-453-9538 to find out how to work this new banner material into your toolbox of offerings for your customers.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
Leave a comment

A Growing Market for Wide Format Printing at PostNet North Port

PostNet North Port Showroom
PostNet North Port’s show room features numerous samples of the store’s wide-format inkjet capabilities with a Canon printer and LexJet inkjet media.

 

The PostNet store in North Port, Fla., like other PostNet locations across the world, provides a full slate of printing-related services. Over the past three years or so, the North Port location has seen its wide-format printing operation grow substantially each year.

North Port PostNet owner Joyce Klingle estimates that wide-format printing now accounts for about 30 percent of the store’s sales, which is quite a jump over three years given the plethora of products and services the store offers its clients.

PostNet North Port Storefront
PostNet North Port’s storefront features LexJet Aqueous Perforated Vinyl used to promote the store’s printing services.

A big break came when a local Perkins Restaurant manager noticed samples of perforated window graphics at North Port PostNet. The manager asked for pricing and a sample to send to Perkins’ headquarters, which led to a contract to ship window graphics all over the U.S.

“Our customer specialist at LexJet, David Iannotti, first told us about what we could do with perforated window film. Any time we have a question about anything all we have to do is call David; he’s our go-to guy for information about wide-format printing,” says Klingle. “We printed more than 1,500 window perf graphics for this project and laminated them since we knew they would be displayed outdoors.”

Backlit Prints by PostNet North Port
This sample at PostNet North Port is printed on LexJet 8 Mil Absolute Backlit.

The project came off without a hitch and helped contribute to the positive word of mouth so crucial to this PostNet location since it’s not located on busy Highway 41, which bisects North Port.

“We’ve been at this location for three years. We were located across the street from here for about two years before we moved into this location,” explains Klingle. “We rely a lot on word of mouth and people coming in to see what we can do.”

And they can do just about anything with their Canon iPF8000S, though the bulk of their wide-format printing is for canvas gallery wraps printed on LexJet Sunset Select Matte Canvas and coated with Sunset Satin Coating, banners typically printed on LexJet TOUGHcoat ThriftyBanner and window graphics on LexJet Aqueous Perforated Vinyl.

“Every year our wide-format printing increases by about 50 percent,” adds Klingle.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
Leave a comment

Afghanistan Comes to Life with Inkjet Printed Fabric

Photographic exhibition printed on fabric
Beyond the Mountains: The Interior Life of Afghanistan by Lisa Schnellinger chronicles the everyday life of Afghanistan's people. This exhibition at the Sharptop Arts Association's gallery in Jasper, Ga., features hanging photographic tapestries printed on LexJet Water-Resistant Cloth by John Seibel Photography.

Lisa Schnellinger is a globetrotting journalist and photographer whose engagement in Afghanistan goes far beyond the scope of her work. Schnellinger has become involved in the rebuilding of Afghanistan, founding the Pajhwok Afghan News agency and raising funds to build a girls’ school.

Photographic tapestries for a photo exhibitSchnellinger wanted to tell the story of Afghanistan through photography using an interactive art exhibition as the means to do so. Having seen other exhibitions printed on a silk material, Schnellinger turned to fellow Georgia photographer John Seibel, owner of John Seibel Photography in Dawsonville, Ga.

“I did some regular prints for her prior to this project. I was fascinated with her new project. Lisa told me that for the past ten years she’s had a vision of a show telling the story of the people of Afghanistan from a non-political point of view. She knew I had an Epson 7900 printer and wanted to know if I could print it on silk,” explains Seibel. “I did a lot of research, including at LexJet, and they suggested LexJet Water-Resistant Satin Cloth. One of the nice things about LexJet is that they guarantee satisfaction: if it doesn’t work for your purposes and you send it back within 30 days it’s no harm, no foul. I had never printed on a fabric before, so that was good to know.”

Once the primary print material for the show was chosen, Schnellinger and Seibel worked together to narrow the images down from 100-150 to the 20 or so that would be printed for the exhibition, called Beyond the Mountains: The Interior Life of Afghanistan.

Printing photos on fabric for an exhibition“The goal was to have them produced near life-size and floating in the room so that when people walked through they felt like they were interacting with the people she photographed in Afghanistan,” says Seibel. “We did some test prints on regular luster paper and then strips on the Water-Resistant Satin Cloth. Once we felt like we had the profile and adjustments right, we began printing. LexJet does a great job of producing profiles for their materials, and the profile for the Water-Resistant Satin Cloth was right on the money for my Epson 7900.”

Schellinger designed the layout for the exhibition, which included an audio tour. Attendees could grab an mp3 player with an audio track Schellinger narrated that provided background and stories about the images featured at the exhibition. The combination of hanging fabric tapestries and the audio tour created a dynamic, flowing, interactive and three-dimensional experience.

Photo exhibition about Afghanistan
Lisa Schnellinger, journalist and photographer, who created the exhibition Beyond the Mountains: The Interior Life of Afghanistan.

“The color resolution on the fabric prints came out very nice. You could lay it on the table and it looked good, but it didn’t blow you away until you hung it up in the room and then had the light interacting with the prints,” says Seibel. “I’ve done other prints with Water-Resistant Satin Cloth, including an early morning marina scene. I have it lit from behind and all the light areas in the print just glow. It’s a fantastic medium to print this type of project on. That’s one thing that LexJet does for us; they give us great advice on what products to use for what type project. I’d also like to try LEDs behind it to create the glow artificially.”