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New Lower Price on Our Upgraded Self-Adhesive Photo Paper
Posted on by Shellie Terry Posted in Technology & Products
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New Lower Price on Our Upgraded Self-Adhesive Photo Paper

Got a great looking photo that needs adhesive? Try our one-step, next-generation LexJet Production Satin Photo Paper PSA, that’s better than ever for posters, signage, packaging mock ups and more.

With this newly re-launched self-adhesive product, you get lots of benefits, such as:

  • New, lower price
  • Backed with a one-step permanent adhesive, so you save time, money and material
  • More durable and thicker paper that’s easier to work with
  • Archival-quality pH-neutral and acid-free paper
  • Excellent white point with higher opacity for true photographic images
Try LexJet Production Satin Photo Paper PSA for product packaging mock ups.
Try LexJet Production Satin Photo Paper PSA for product packaging mock ups.

It is ideal for producing true photographic images that can be easily applied to any substrate, like a poster board, PVC, foam boards, aluminum or even mock-up packaging for design prototypes. The satin photo surface is engineered to dry instantly with both dye and pigmented aqueous inks. If necessary, it may also be used with either thermal or cold laminates.

Plus, your permanently mounted graphics will feature color-rich, detailed photography.

The new LexJet Production Satin Photo Paper PSA is available in 36-, 42- and 60-inch rolls with 3-inch cores; compatible with aqueous printers.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Let’s Drive: Identity and Privacy with Perforated Window Graphics

LexJet Perforated Vinyl

When Legacy Nissan in London, Ky., built its new showroom a few years back one of the primary design features was glass. Visibility is crucial for car dealers; they want people to see what they’re selling inside.

The only problem with that visibility is, well, visibility. The upstairs conference room above the showroom offers no privacy. The owner of the dealership looked into glass walls with dimmers so they could “tint” the windows for privacy on the fly, but that proved to be too cost-prohibitive.

LexJet Perforated VinylThe solution was perforated window vinyl, which allows you to see out of the windows, but not in. Plus, it offers additional branding, also crucial to car dealers who want to cement their identity, showcase a particular car, or both, at the point of sale.

Legacy Nissan’s Missy Reid turned to LexJet, and the dealership’s personal customer specialist Brian Wilson, for help with the project. Reid says she ordered the wrong type and wrong size of perforated window vinyl the first time around: it was designed for solvent printers (she has an aqueous Epson Stylus Pro 9900) and it was too wide. Wilson promptly set her up with 36″-wide (to fit her printer) LexJet Aqueous Perforated Vinyl (70/30).

“He knows I’m very green working with this material, so he took care of me and steered me in the right direction because that can be an expensive mistake to make. Brian took the guesswork out of it for me,” says Reid. “We’re thrilled with the print quality and it’s holding up nicely. When the customer walks into the showroom, it’s front and center with the car and the logo. This printer is brand new and this was the first time I worked with the perforated vinyl. We’ve been exploring other ways we can use it and we’re finding a lot of different applications.”

The graphics were printed and applied in three different sections: the door, the logo and the image of the Nissan 370Z. The graphics were applied vertically on the door in one panel (34″ x 84 1/4″) after the hardware had been taken off, and the other windows were applied horizontally in two 36″ x 155″ panels and one 16″ x 155″ panel.

“We basically chalked it up and wallpapered it on. We have a team of people who work with window tint and decals anyway, so they’re experienced with that. They didn’t have any trouble at all; everything is aligned and it’s pretty perfect,” says Reid. “We approved the new logo in March, and the conference room canvas is helping us show it off. This is helpful because it provides an inexpensive way to achieve some high-impact wow factor, even though we’re slowly phasing it in everywhere else. It’s much more fiscally and environmentally responsible to launch a visual identity with a display like this than to throw away several thousand license plates and dealer decals.”

Perforated Vinyl on a Windshield
“Eyebrows” for the Nissan Altima printed on LexJet Perforated Vinyl (70/30) touting the Altima’s award for Best Retained Value by Edmunds.

Reid adds that she’s been using the printer for event signage, showroom windows and window stickers at the top of the windshields for what are called “eyebrows.”

“The Altima won an award from Edmunds for Best Retained Value and we put that on every Altima. Because you can see out through it, you don’t even notice it when you’re driving it, so it doesn’t hinder the test driver’s visibility,” says Reid.

Reid adds that they plan a much larger window wrap for Legacy Nissan’s used car building. “We’ll wrap that top to bottom as well because it has a lot of windows,” she says.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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More Print-N-Stick for Point of Sale

LexJet Print N Stick Fabric on Coroplast

Amanda Hill, graphics manager for the Odom Corporation in Wenatchee, Wash., says LexJet Print-N-Stick Fabric is becoming the beverage distributor’s go-to adhesive-backed inkjet material for all kinds of point of sale projects.

“It’s very easy to use; it doesn’t stick together when you take the backing off of it and doesn’t stretch when you peel it off the substrate to realign it. You can apply it to a surface and it won’t take the texture off the wall or leave a sticky residue behind,” says Hill. “The colors and imaging are very vibrant. It’s not a very porous fabric, so the colors stand out a lot and are true to the colors in the original file.”

Window GraphicsHill reports that Odom Corporation has been using Print-N-Stick Fabric for windows, cooler wraps and applications to Coroplast.

Since Hill sends out the prints she creates to a staff of about 50 salespeople in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, it’s crucial that the print material is as easy as possible to apply, stands out in a market crowded with point of sale materials, and is durable.

“The sales staff installs most of their own signs, and they say it’s a lot easier to put up alone; most applications don’t require two or more people to help. I’ve only applied it to Coroplast, and it doesn’t take long at all; it’s a very smooth, fluid, quick process,” says Hill. “Here in Wenatchee we’ve had some hot temperatures this summer. I’ve had other materials bubble quite a bit that tend to pull away from the surface, but with Print-N-Stick we’ve it in direct sunlight and it’s been 95 degrees here and it looks just as good as when we put it up.”

For more information and to order LexJet Print-N-Stick Fabric, contact a LexJet customer specialist at 800-453-9538. Print-N-Stick Fabric sold out quickly, so it’s currently out of stock. However, the product should be back in stock by Monday, Sept. 16.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Setting the Scene with Special Event Point of Sale Signage

Point of Sale Inkjet Printed Display for Corona

The Nackard Companies and its P.O.P. sign crew are well known for creating enticing displays for all kinds of special events, whether it’s the astronomical anomaly called a blue moon (tied into Blue Moon beer, of course), the annual Dew Downtown in Flagstaff, Ariz., or anything in between.

The Nackard Companies team always seems to come up with something different to help drive beer sales around these events. The most recent example was a collaborative project between shop manager Steve Lalio and account representative Anthony Copetillo for Cinco de Mayo.

The pair came up with a basic concept that would be translated for various Mexican beer brands and placed in a number of different locations. The two projects pictured here were created for Corona and Dos Equis.

Inkjet Printed Point of Sale Display for Dos EquisEach display included a number of elements, highlighted by a faux water tower and an airplane toting a banner with buckets of beer.

Copetillo built the water tower structure with a combination of plywood circles for the top and bottom, held in place with plywood slats, Coroplast and furring strips. The “roof” of the water tower was cut-out cardboard painted black and brown. Copetillo created a palm tree using cut-out and painted cardboard as well.

Lalio printed a banner on LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Polypropylene that was about 42 inches tall by 115 inches long, which Copetillo wrapped around the structure. For the Corona display, Lalio designed the piece with a wood-grain background and added the Corona logo. It looks strikingly real, which is a testament to what great design and printing can do for a display.

The airplane, which is about six feet long and has a 38-inch wingspan, was printed on LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Self Adhesive Polypropylene, applied to Coroplast and cut out in the airplane shape. The banner the plane flies behind it, as well as the other hanging banners, were printed on LexJet 8 Mil PolyGloss Banner and laminated with LexJet 3 Mil Gloss UV Premium Low Melt. Lalio laminated these banners because the customer wanted to re-use them.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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The Keys to Product Placement at the Point of Sale

Printing cooler wraps for liquor stores

As everyone in the beverage distribution market knows, point of sale sign placement is a crucial component of sales. Though it can’t always be quantified there’s no doubt that a restaurant, bar or c-store account that’s happy with their signage is more than happy to place more orders and try different brands offered by the distributor.

Printing cooler wraps for a convenience store
Cooler wrap printed on LexJet TOUGHcoat Water-Resistant Self Adhesive Polypropylene by Brent Lee and David Raszka, Atlas Distributing, for Renaissance Wine & Spirits, Worcester, Mass.

An excellent case in point of this maxim in operation is Atlas Distributing Inc., and its print shop headed by graphic design manager Brent Lee. Lee says the two most important keys to ensuring high-visibility point of sale placement for Atlas Distributing’s brands – primarily MillerCoors, Samuel Adams, Corona and Heineken – is quick turnaround and colorful, photo-quality graphics.

“Turnaround time is easily the number one factor for us. One of our competitors here promises a turnaround time of two weeks for all their signs. We have a turnaround time of two to three days, so that’s our number one selling point,” explains Lee. “As far as winning signage space at the point of sale, we always use the most current graphics supplied by the brand. Our competitor’s graphics are very simple – logo and price; they won’t use any background graphics, so we have a leg up there as well. Also, we provide the account with a digital proof if is it’s a larger sign before we print and install it.”

In order to fulfill their two- to three-day turnaround promise, Lee says they rely on LexJet’s shipping and logistics infrastructure to get materials into the shop exactly when they’re needed.

“I’ve been using LexJet since I’ve been here, which is almost four years now. LexJet is the leader in this industry. I’ve used a lot of different suppliers and LexJet is the best and shipping is number one; it’s absolutely killer how quickly my orders get placed. If I send Chris [Piersoll, Atlas Distributing’s customer specialist] an email in the morning it’s out before I know it.”

Moreover, the recent addition of a Canon iPF8000S to supplement the shop’s older HP 5500 has also helped speed up the pace. “The Canon printer is incredibly fast. It saves us a lot of time and allows a very quick turnaround, and our clients love that. Plus, when we first got the Canon our sales guys and accounts noticed the quality immediately,” says Lee.

Since the HP 5500 is 60″ wide and the Canon is 42″ wide, larger work is printed on the HP, which allows flexibility and greater efficiency in the print shop workflow. The print shop uses LexJet UV Ink Replacement Cartridges for HP 5000/5500 and Lee says the switch was seamless.

“The LexJet Ink is awesome. We’ve had no problems with it, there’s no difference in color, it’s just as good as the original ink, it was easy to switch, and when you see the savings it’s a no-brainer,” says Lee.

Lee uses Adobe Photoshop CS4 for design and the FlexiSIGN RIP to queue up and send designs to the printers, which also include two OKI laser printers for table tents, case cards, menus and other smaller signage. The print shop’s product purchases and workflow enhancements are driven by those two keys to successful product placement in the field – speed and quality – and it’s working.

Printing point of sale signage for a bar“A few months ago I made a sign for an account and put the wrong brand on it, and instead of returning the sign they actually took the product because they liked the sign,” relates Lee. “We have another account that wanted to make their entire store a Samuel Adams brewery so we made 10 to 12 signs that were just brewery images. That was a very custom job and the account was very happy with it.”

Nor is Lee afraid to experiment with different materials to get that edge in the market. He’s tried any number of banner materials, setting on LexJet Poly Select Heavy fabric reinforced with LexJet Heavy Duty Banner Tape on the edges as his favorite, as well as LexJet Aqueous Perforated Vinyl (70/30) for one-way window graphics.

“We use the Heavy Duty Banner tape to help with fraying on outdoor banners, and that’s been working well. The Poly Select Heavy fabric with the banner tape on the ends is very strong and durable. In New England we’ve had some strong winds, but the banners stay up and the quality is still awesome,” says Lee.