Mangos and Peaches

This is the last part of the Sign Making Tutorial. This part covers the application of vinyl graphics onto the substrate. The following process is the most basic and straight forward way to do an application. It is also the key of ANY vinyl application (to a certain extent).

Phase 6: Application

So now I have a substrate cut to the exact size of the sign and the vinyl graphics that will be placed on the sign ALSO cut to the exact dimensions (this is why I cut the straight edges carefully). Now I align the corners and edges of the two pieces and make sure the vinyl is straight and squared with the edges of the substrate:

Now that the image is positioned I take a step back and see if it looks straight. I’ve had several instances where my edges are straight and my measurements are dead on, yet for some reason the text on the sign appears slanted. I alway make the sign LOOK straight even if it means skewing the measurements a little. After I have the positioning down I tape the edge to prevent the two pieces from moving accidentally:

The tape acts as a hinge for the pre-masked sheet. It allows me to turn the sheet like the page of a book while keeping it aligned to the substrate lying under it on the table:

So now I’m free to remove the backing paper from the masked vinyl. This part may be a little confusing so I’ll try to explain in detail below:

Ok here goes:

• The backing paper you see me removing in the image above is what the vinyl was originally on. It’s a non-stick surfaced which facilitates the weeding process by allowing the vinyl to easily peel off. This also allows the masking paper to hold on to the vinyl when the backing paper is peeled off.
• as you can see in the photo above a small piece of vinyl stayed stuck on the backing paper, if this happens I peel it off and place it by hand (takes a few tries to get confidence aligning by hand)

I think I explained that pretty well.
In any case, I only peel the backing paper halfway for two reasons:

1. by leaving some of the backing paper attached to the masking paper it “forces” the sheet to laydown straight when I fold it back over to apply.
2. the fold of the backing paper when laid on the table will keep the sheet with the vinyl elevated above the substrate so that I can apply evenly:

Now I apply with systematic strokes until I reach the fold of the backing paper:

Now I have half of the sign squared and applied. This will force the rest of the sign to apply straight. The tricky part is getting used to holding the masking paper over the substrate making sure that it doesn’t’ touch. I start to apply from the center towards the other end:

After everything is applied and all of the masking paper is stuck onto the substrate I give it one more pass with the squeegee with a little extra force to ensure that the vinyl sticks onto the substrate. Remember the masking paper is also stuck onto the vinyl, but the glue that sticks the vinyl to the substrate is much stronger and will hold on while I peel back the masking paper:

And here’s the final product:

After word:

So there you have it. It must seem a bit complex, but It’s really very simple once you get the hang of it. A double sided sign like this would take me about 5 – 10 minutes to make (without having to redraw the artwork). Sometimes I get to have some fun and use combinations of different color vinyl to make signs and graphics. Since each color has it’s own roll each color has to be applied separately, which is very similar to most printmaking processes.

I have a great time doing it, Hopefully I didn’t bore the life out of you. I plan to try and do a few more tutorials when I get some time on some other techniques and projects we have going on here. And now you have a better idea of what goes into making a sign! Grats!