Renee S

pigment v dye ink on banners

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If I were to buy the 10oz banner material from USCutter, am I correct to assume that pigment based inks will print to the material and resist fading and running better than dye-based? I'm reading up on the differences between the two and am seeing that dye inks are water-based and don't stand up to the outdoors as well.

Am I missing anything else I should consider when printing on banner material?

Thanks!

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you are missing a lot - dye ink fades faster but both dye and pigment are for indoor printing as they are water based ink . . .you want solvent or latex ink

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Vinyl banners are water resistant, so aqueous inks (dye and pigment) will just bead up and wipe off.  You need an ink that "bites" into the vinyl, like Dakotagrax said.

 

Unless you're printing paper banners, or buying special vinyl with an aqueous accepting coating, that is...

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Crap. Back to the drawing board. Would you happen to have a link to info on solvent/latex ink? Dr. Google isn't being particularly helpful, or I'm just not asking the right questions.

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They do make aqueous banner material.

 

US Cutter is probably not gonna to have any.

 

You can't use solvent, or latex ink, in your pigment printer.

 

Why would you want to, when you can get full color banners for $0.99/ Square foot?

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I already decided to avoid buying a bigboy printer when I can let a wholesaled handle the big stuff and the smaller stuff I can send to Dakotagrafx. No maintenance, no breakdowns and no headaches. I love subbing out work :)

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The reason I'm looking at the banner material is because I've been buying yard flags made from this material. The supplier has the ability to print designs on them, but has a limited selection of designs. If it was possible that I could use the inks for other projects as well, I thought I'd look into doing my own.

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You can get aqueous printable banner material from USCutter or Sihl. Coat it or laminate. Expect 6-12 months outdoor life. Use pigment ink, not dye ink.

 

Here is a decent video explaining pigment ink vs dye ink,

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The reason I'm looking at the banner material is because I've been buying yard flags made from this material. The supplier has the ability to print designs on them, but has a limited selection of designs. If it was possible that I could use the inks for other projects as well, I thought I'd look into doing my own.

 

Send them your design(s), tell them you want this printed, on this material. Wait for the truck.

 

What kind of printer do you have? That would help.

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Right now I've got a Ricoh with Sublijet ink. Looking at picking up an Epson with CIS from Cobra.

Sending my designs is an option, but if I could do it myself I'd prefer it. Something about instant gratification when those 130am ideas hit, lol.

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seriously go to a trade show or find someone in your area with the proper equipment to show you what you are getting into.  I drove 4.5 hrs each way to check out a printer before buying my first one - the info is invaluable.

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I'll ck out what I can find for tradeshows. Thanks for the info and the advice everyone. I definitely appreciate your patience with my questions. :)

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Murphy's Law, lol. The Charlotte event is an hour from my old house. Thanks for the resource though; I'm going to bookmark the site and keep an eye out.

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