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Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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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!

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Clearly a Good Idea: LED Backlit Conference Room Graphics that Pop

Printing backlit graphicsLEDs (light-emitting diodes) have made it a lot easier to create backlit signs. Simply put, the little diodes pack a punch.

Back in the day, and not too far back, the only viable LED color for sign lighting was red. Improvements in the technology have yielded brighter and more consistent whites, and the price has gone down significantly.

Add LEDs to a well-made thin-panel plexiglass-faced sign cabinet, hide the power source, print a vibrant image and you’ve got the perfect interior sign. Lou Fiore, owner of Speedway Custom Photo Lab in Daytona Beach, Fla., put this winning combination together for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, also based in Daytona Beach.

Backlit displays with LEDsFiore bought the panel from Tec Art Industries, Wixom, Mich. The panel has a cover sheet of plexiglass that can be removed so the graphic can be easily placed inside. The graphic is taped along the top edge and allowed to hang. Then, the cover sheet is attached with eight stainless steel standoffs.

“Tec Art was extremely helpful with the specifications and manufacture of the panel. It arrived here in a huge crate and worked right out of the box,” explains Fiore. “I printed the graphic on LexJet Premium Solvent Backlit Gloss on my Epson GS6000 64″ low-solvent printer. The LexJet backlit material prints a nicely saturated image and the extra thickness of the material makes it easy to handle such a large graphic.”

Fiore adds that the customer’s electrician created a hidden panel for the power supply so that no wires are visible, providing a clean, professional look in the university’s conference room. The power supply is 12 volts and the estimated power consumption is about 80 watts.

The LED lighting is housed on the top and bottom horizontal edges. The edges are also chamfered at 45-degree angles to help provide the edge lighting effect.

“There’s no adhesive involved because they’ll change it out every few months and all we have to do is tape a new backlit graphic inside. The only thing we had to do was make the hanging cleats for it. You lift it up, it comes off the wall and you put it back up on the cleats so that it’s flush against the wall,” adds Fiore.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Clearly a Good Idea: Creating a Framed, Multi-Panel Display

Printing transportable displays

Lou Fiore, owner of Speedway Custom Photo Lab in Daytona Beach, Fla., came up with a unique way to create a six-panel display that Volusia County could take with them and hang up for presentations and trade shows.

The key to this display is in the almost-invisible means by which the panels are held together so that it’s one unit with six parts, equally spaced. Fiore used Clear Power Tabs, typically used as a substitute for banner corner grommets, to evenly space and keep the panels together as one piece.

“If you lay a Power Tab out straight, the loop in the tab is a half-inch on either side. They hang with these invisible connectors, which the customer thought was cool,” explains Fiore. “They wanted something versatile that they could take to trade shows and conferences. You can hardly see the connecting tabs, even if you’re standing in front of them. And as a bonus, because of the flexibility of the tabs, all six panels fold flat over each other to make it the size of a single panel for easy transport.”

Each panel is 3/16″ Ultra Mount foam core panel framed with plastic poster trim. The graphics were printed on Epson Premium Luster Photo Paper with an Epson 9800 and laminated with GBC 5 Mil Octiva Lo-Melt Emboss 50 Laminate.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in News & Trends
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LexJet Acquires On a Roll Color Imaging

LexJet acquires On a Roll Color ImagingOn a Roll Color Imaging customers now have access to LexJet’s extensive and varied digital imaging product line following LexJet’s acquisition of the Orange, Calif.-based company earlier this month.

“We were able to move over to LexJet’s Sunset Select Matte Canvas from On a Roll’s canvas and there were no problems with the switch; we’re very happy with LexJet,” says Lou Fiore of Speedway Custom Photo Lab in Daytona Beach, Fla. “We also get a high level of service and support from LexJet, plus product delivery we can count on. LexJet tells me when I’m going to get my products and I get them the day they were promised, and it’s usually the next day.”

All shipping, product and customer logistics have been transitioned to LexJet and built into its technology infrastructure to ensure no interruption in service to On a Roll Color Imaging customers, who, like all LexJet customers, can expect the following:

  • Personal support: LexJet customers always speak with a person who can help them between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET. Moreover, customers who call in will not be on hold for more than ten seconds or have to navigate through frustrating and seemingly infinite phone trees
  • Products plus: LexJet customers have access to thousands of products that address the entire inkjet-printing workflow and are designed to build their business, all with unlimited and free technical and product support from personally-assigned customer specialists
  • Nationwide shipping: LexJet customers receive products quickly from its nationwide delivery network at a flat rate of $9.99 for every order, every time, no matter how large the order

“Our number-one priority – whether it’s bringing On a Roll Color Imaging’s customers on board, working with a new customer or an existing customer – is to ensure the best possible experience for each customer,” says Pete Petersen, LexJet CIO. “An integral component of that is our continual investment in technology systems so that it’s as easy as possible for our customers to get what they need. With fewer hassles and unwanted surprises in the process, they can focus on developing their core business.”

For more information about LexJet products, customer service and support and its Nationwide Delivery Network, go to www.lexjet.com or call 800-453-9538.