Are those large paper posters really waterproof?
Posted by Murray Johns on Thu, Mar 03, 2011
Yes, Virginia, they really are! We're regularly asked to print paper posters for commercial businesses and other organizations, and the question regarding water fastness frequently comes up. These posters, for example, were created for outdoor A-frame signs at a chain of local pet product stores:
How, you might ask, could we subject full color paper posters to the elements and not expect the colors to run when exposed to moisture? There are a couple of key ingredients:
1. Solvent-based, not water-based, inks are used in our large format printer. These are actually "eco-solvent" inks - they're not ultra-toxic and don't require any special ventilation to take away nasty fumes (not that you'd catch us drinking it, but anything "eco" must be good, right?)
2. Specialty coatings on the paper products bind with the eco-solvent inks and keep the inks from running. We've tried uncoated papers as an experiment and ... well, the outcome isn't pretty!
Large format poster printing enables the ability to create oversized posters. In the case of the "It's not what you know" poster below, a church wanted a large (4' x 8') temporary lower cost banner (courtesy of Harpeth Community Church) to use in one of their educational series. The Broadway play poster at right (courtesy of TPAC) was used in outdoor kiosks advertising an upcoming performance and measured 40" x 80".
An additional feature that makes these poster papers unique is their high "wet strength," which indicates that they maintain a fair amount of strength even when wet.
Large paper posters have traditionally been printed with an "offset printing" process. However, there are large set-up costs associated with offset printing. As a result, small volume production runs are not cost effective. Enter, digital large format printing, which is much more cost effective for small quantity "short runs" of paper posters.
Looking for waterproof, oversized posters? Look no further! Call us today to discuss your paper poster projects!
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12-Point SignWorks provides attractive and effective commercial signage including custom car wraps, vehicle graphics, lobby signs, indoor business signs, and outdoor commercial signs.
We provide our services to customers located in Williamson, Davidson, and Maury counties of Tennessee including the cities of Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, and Spring Hill. We also enjoy relationships with clients nationwide from coast to coast.
Call us now at 615-595-6564 or contact us via email. We are located at 1120 Lakeview Dr, Ste. 900, Franklin, TN 37067.
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