Our All-time Top Wallcovering Prep, Print & Installation Tips

Any time you’re covering a wall floor-to-ceiling it’s a big job. But with some insider tips and the right products for the job, you can break it down into a manageable task. Here are some of our all-time, most helpful tricks and tips for seamless, professional wallcovering printing and installation:

Do Your Pre-Work: Before you can even think about hitting “go” on your printer, be sure you’ve got your site under control. These means doing a site visit ahead of time, testing the wall surface and taking photos and wall measurements (here’s a handy app, Photo Measures, that makes that job easier). Once that’s under control, you can begin creating tiles that you’ll print. Check out the video on this blog for more pre-printing tips and how to set up your tile files.

Know When to Go Short-Term: This isn’t your grandma’s wall paper, and chances are your clients won’t be planning to leave it on the wall for the next 30 years. There are so many options on the market today for short- to long-term wall murals for a multitude of applications. For a low-cost, temporary solution that can be cleanly removed, there’s no better option than LexJet Print-N-Stick Fabric. It’s available for aqueous– and solvent-compatible technologies. Check out this video to learn how we covered a 26-foot wall for less than $2 per square foot.

Understand the Big Picture: If you’re using photography for a customized wallcovering, the photo itself needs to be technically correct to work when it’s printed in a larger-than-life size. We got all the insider tips on photographing for wide-format printing from pro photographer, Billy Elkins. Check out this airport wall mural installation project that he created images for … and all the background on how he made it come out just right.

HP PVC-free Wall PaperMeet Your Client’s Environmental Needs: If you’ve been asked to cover a wall in a sensitive environment like a school or a healthcare facility, the best option for the job is Type II compliant HP PVC-free Durable Wall Paper in Smooth or Suede. This line of wallcovering is engineered to be used with HP latex inks and don’t require top coats to maintain Type II compliance. Unlike some solvent options, this latex-compatible option doesn’t put off odors or fumes that must be degassed before installation. It also meets FSC- and UL GREENGUARD GOLD standards, so it helps designers achieve LEED certification. And because it’s pre-pasted with adhesive, it goes up easily with little more than a water bottle and a sponge. Check out this video to learn how.

Create a Beautiful Finish: Just because it’s made from a digital print and maybe it won’t be installed for decades doesn’t mean it can’t be beautiful. Our line of customizable wallcoverings, LexJet Premium WallPro™ comes in a variety of elegant finishes to create one-of-a-kind, eye-catching walls. The Premium WallPro line includes a variety of finishes, such as smooth, gold or silver metallic, mylar and linen textures that work beautifully in any residential or commercial space with contemporary or traditional décor.

If you’re looking for more tips on creating unique wallcoverings for your customers, give one of our LexJet pros a call at 800-453-9538.

LexJet’s New Inkjet-Printable Materials for Custom Wallcoverings

Hanging a picture on a wall can take on a whole new meaning when the image is supersized, printed in panels on a wallcovering material, and installed by a professional paperhanger.

In a previous post on this blog LexJet showed an example of a restaurant mural that photographer Norman Gilbert had created for the entrance of The Tower Room restaurant in Memphis. He printed that mural on his Epson Stylus Pro 9600 wide-format printer using LexJet’s WallPro wallcovering material for aqueous inkjet printers.

Recently, LexJet introduced a new line of textured wallcovering materials for inkjet printers that use low solvent inks (such as the Epson Stylus Pro GS6000), solvent inks, or UV-curable inks.

These new WallPro SUV materials offer several advantages that will enable interior designers to decorate entire walls, hallways, entryways, or rooms with custom-designed murals. For one thing, the WallPro SUV materials cost about one-third less per square foot than the original WallPro materials for aqueous inks. And because solvent ink printers can print faster than aqueous-inkjet printers, a higher number of panels can be printed in less time.

The WallPro SUV materials incorporate LexJet’s expertise in producing inkjet materials for high-quality photo and art reproduction. For example, the bright white, matte surface of the wallcoverings helps produce the wide color gamut needed to show more highlight and shadow details in an image, support smooth tonal gradations, and reproduce corporate colors. The relatively subtle textures in these wallcoverings were selected to enhance the overall aesthetics of a decorated room without degrading key details in the printed artwork or images.

With LexJet WallPro™ SUV wallcoverings, any photograph, painting, graphic design, brand image, or montage can be converted into a site-specific, decorative mural for corporate offices and lobbies, museums, restaurants, hotels, resorts, healthcare facilities, retail stores, universities, sport and entertainment venues, and homes.

Four textures are currently available:

WallPro SUV Velvet is the most versatile because its smooth, softly textured surface is good for reproducing high-resolution images. It is recommended for use in corporate environments, healthcare facilities, entertainment venues, and retail.

WallPro SUV Canvas looks like a finely woven art canvas. It is ideal for reproducing artwork and photographs and is a great choice for museums, restaurants, and hotels. It can even be used to create short-term economical gallery wraps for indoor or outdoor décor art.

WallPro SUV Fresco has a subtle, plaster-like texture that is perfect for certain types of restaurant décor or printing historical images in museums or themed retail environments. Images printed on this wallpaper can appear as if they have been painted directly on the wall.

WallPro SUV Pebble is a good option for décor clients who want to see a stronger, more visible texture behind an image with softer details.

All of LexJet’s WallPro SUV wallcoverings meet Class A fire-rating standards and EPA requirements low VOC-emitting products. Because LexJet WallPro materials are designed for long-term use, professional installation by an experienced paperhanger is recommended. To find a professional paperhanger in your area, visit the website the National Guild of Professional Paperhangers (NGPP)

For more details about LexJet WallPro SUV and the Epson Stylus Pro GS6000 printer that can be used to print them, call a LexJet account specialist at 800-453-9538.

If you have ideas for murals that you would like to create, an account specialist can refer you to a printing company in your area that is equipped to print on LexJet WallPro SUV.

The creative possibilities for using WallPro SUV in interior design are endless. In the example shown here, Pamela Durkin of New Line Design brought an outdoor look to an indoor space on the third-floor of a design center. She combined faux painting and stone work with a custom inkjet print of an outdoor lanai scene. So that the furniture shown in the print matched the products in the showroom, she reproduced a high-res photograph that had been used in the furniture maker’s marketing collateral.

Custom Photo Mural on Wallpaper Adds a Local Touch to Restaurant Decor

tower room entry-web readyMany LexJet customers know there’s much more you can do with a wide-format inkjet printer than output great-looking enlargements on canvas or make exhibition prints.

For example, many pro photographers now sell custom photography to businesses that want add a touch of local flavor to their interior décor.  Recently, photographer Norman Gilbert sent us this shot that shows him standing in front of an 80 x 120-in. mural in the entranceway to The Tower Room Restaurant on the top floor of the tallest building in Memphis (which is 33 stories high).

The mural is a composite of 14 photos Gilbert shot from the Tower Room. Starting with a dramatic look downward toward the street in broad daylight, the mural transitions through street scenes shot at twilight and culminates with a view of the Memphis skyline at night.

Gilbert printed the composite file in three 40 x 80 in. sections onto WallPro inkjet-printable wallpaper from LexJet. WallPro is an11-mil, commercial-grade, latex-saturated, nylon-reinforced wallpaper.

To print this job, Gilbert used ImagePrint RIP software with his Epson Stylus Pro 9600. After a protective spray was applied to the printed panels, the mural was installed by professional wallpaper hangers using traditional wallpaper paste.

WallPro is just one option for inkjet-printing wall murals. Many photographers now use Photo Tex PSA Fabric for photo murals, because the goof-proof repositionable adhesive on the back makes it possible for anyone to install wall murals. No special training is required.

To learn more about materials that can be used to produce custom wall murals, contact one of the helpful account specialists at LexJet at 800-453-9538. We’d be happy to suggest the right inkjet-printable material for whatever type of décor project you have in mind.

Norman  Gilbert combined 14 images shot from the Tower Room Restaurant to create a mural for the restaurant.
Norman Gilbert combined 14 images shot from the Tower Room Restaurant to create a mural for the restaurant.