jmas 119 Posted September 7, 2018 I'm doing something for a local Nissan dealership that incorporates the current Nissan logo, which is a chrome emblem. I can't make that out of vinyl so I went to a sign/banner/wrap shop and got a decal printed, but it doesn't have the chrome appearance, it looks flat gray. The dealer says it won't work, it has to look more chrome. They know it won't be a mirror reflection like chrome vinyl, but it still has to have the shiny look on the left, not the flat gray look on the right. The place I had them printed said that's the best they could do. I went to 4 other shops and they all said they couldn't do it any better. At one huge, incredibly professional print shop, they called their sign specialist over to look at it and the first thing he said was "We can do it but the bevel won't look right and it'll look gray, not chrome." So, is it just impossible to print this? Can any printers explain why it's so hard? It's possible that everyone in my area is just bad at their job, but I take their word for it. I just can't really wrap my head around it though. The dealership is filled with sales brochures that have it printed on them. It seems so me like if it can be printed on paper, it could be printed on vinyl. I wish I had asked the last place I visited, but frankly, the place was amazing and I was so excited about some of their equipment and the other work they were doing, I forgot about it and asked about those things instead. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haumana 1,220 Posted September 7, 2018 The printed sticker does not look like same image as the one on the right - like the printer used a completely different image. If your monitor can show it looking like chrome, there should be someone out there who can print it to look very similar - it's only colors, lots of white with some grays and black, etc. It would be a good idea to have it laminated too. stickermule.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted September 7, 2018 Think Haumana hit is on the artwork - here is a test print with 2 different artwork from different sites - being a dealer and with their agreement for reproducing the logo Nissan should make very good artwork available to them - I know when I was a echostar/ Houton Tracker dealer they provided all the artwork but all work also had to be pre approved before display 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted September 7, 2018 didn't you have the Gerber printers that could print on chrome too? the above was on some 3165 matte that I already had loaded Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jmas 119 Posted September 10, 2018 Where did you find the one on the left? It looks perfect. I thought about artwork and I'm mad at myself for not bringing it up, but they all gave me the impression that it couldn't be done. No, scratch that, they flat out told me it couldn't be done. I guess I need to work on my communication skills or something because I'm the common denominator in all this. Here's what I did at each shop: I showed them a sales brochure with the logo and asked if they could print a decal to look like that. They all said some variation of "it'll be gray and won't have the chrome look" or something (one wrap shop said they couldn't print silver ). I then showed them the gray decals I had done and they all said theirs would look the same. I just forgot about artwork and assumed it was impossible for some reason. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted September 10, 2018 Just looked online till I found one that looked correct without the gray look. while roland does sell printers that can have silver or white ink in them they are not widely popular because those colors of ink are more expensive and most of it ends up in the waste tank from daily cleanings - and heard it clogs more often - but with the right artwork the silver ink is not necessary. chrome in artwork is often displayed with areas of white, gray and blue as it is a mirror and you have to have the illusion of reflection to a point to look like chrome 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites