1 year with DC4, Still Learning!

[signzone]

I've had my DC4 for one year now and her are a couple of the better prints. I love this machine. I love that I can Print 49" wide. I do a lot of 4x8 sheets in one print. Laid out with the help from one of my kids and "The Big Squeegee". I have also done one print 4' wide by 12' long and laid it out in one pass and cut the panel seam after. Great.

[signzone]

And a couple more

[Muts]

Nice! thanks for posting....

Double Dragon 2 - Still got mine.

[wex]

Hi Signzone, hi Muts, hi everyone, i was checking the pictures about Signzone´s works and the web page he has created (very professional web designer he has).
i have a question if you signzone dont have any problem to answer me. what media or material have you used to get the snow motorbike??? we are trying to work on enduro motorbikes (i dont know the name in English, it is the Spanish way to name them, it is a motorbike to be used or extreme conditions across the hills, mud, and stones).
we are trying a 3M vinyl printed on mirror to be stuck on the inside part of plastic transparent thick material, then, when both layers are mixed together we will try to apply it on the motorbike (the good idea of this is having the ribbon itself covered by the plastic material, so only light will be modifying this on time, not water or scratches from environment)
any suggestion we can try? we are trying to find the way to work on it, any idea you can provide will be really appreciated.
thank you very much.

[virus2bg]

Hi Wex

I buy a DC4sx for same thing like you - for motocross graphics(and other but most for MX).I am searching like you materials for this - more cheap.My idea was like your - to print reverse on clear material that not have adhesive and then stick with double side adhesive tape.But is only idea for now.I cant find property materials.I see this on FM racing graphic.They use NITTO DENCO double sided adhesive but don't know what is front clear material.I know for CONVEX but they are too expensive.
What is this transparent thick material that you say and what is prise for him?From where can i buy.I am from Bulgaria in Europe like you.

[wex]

This material i am provided i dont know the exact especifications, i have to investigate as it comes to me straight to work on it, as soon as i have some data on it i let you know.
for me it looks like those plastics used for covering children´s books, anyway any information i can get i will let all you know.
thanks for the interest by the way, and for any answer.

[graphicsandsign.com]

Nice work! I'm looking at buying a DC4 right now which is how I found this forum, so it's great to see some finished product.

[ericopter]

Hi Signzone,

Any luck with the 3M material. Which one are you using. I have been trying to find some thick material to do the same. thoughts on your experiments?

Cheers, Eric

[wex]

Hi again. Regarding the task on the material used from my customer to get the motorbikes mirror printing, i got the kind of thing, they inform me the typeof material is PET (Polyethylene Terephtalate), speaking specially to virus2bg who wanted to know the kind of plastic i used.

[virus2bg]

Wex from where can buy this PET material.Here i find one but he is very thick and is covered with something like white dust and cant print on it.

[wex]

Hi again, the PET material i got i cant print straight on it: well, you can do it, but the problem is movement of material, so the only option i found to apply was to print on 3M on mirror way (with white layer on the top), then stick it on this PET material, so PET is not the final solution, just the cover of the printed vinyl itself. As it was a show sample to get possible job, maybe the customer didnt like our job so i have no more information on it, sorry for not being able to help you more V2bg

[Ez2Wrap]

First off, HOLY HELL! That Super Mario poster was gorgeous.

Second.. oh man! Why has no one posted in years? Is that a bad sign or is the machine just that awesome?

Finally.. the point of the matter. We have recently purchased a DC4.. I realize that with some tweaking it prints vector graphics WONDERFULLY, and I have no issues there. However, when printing highly detailed things I get the obvious "process color process" that makes all the small dots..

Now I've seen prints ALL OVER this site, including this thread, and can't see them anywhere. Am I doing something wrong? Or are they just not visible because the pictures were taken at a distance? How was that Mario poster printed (what format was the original design in, what settings did you use to print, etc..)? Do customers ever complain about the dot patterns...? or have you somehow figured out how to completely remove them?

Thanks again for all your info. You people are awesome.

[Muts]

Do customers ever complain about the dot patterns...? or have you somehow figured out how to completely remove them?

sometimes...even had those "graphic design" people complain... I used to keep a magnifying glass in my desk and then show them any
piece of offset printing I had lying around..usually calmed them down a bit.

sorry no way to remove them...at 3 - 4 feet what's the difference... you just do not see them

.eps or .tiff is the preferred file formats.

[Ez2Wrap]

Woohoo! I got my own personal reply by Muts!

Ahem. Thanks man. It makes me feel better that it's not just me. I take a lot of pride in my work and those dots were severely killing me..

But now I need a touch of advice.

I printed a banner. Now after 10 hours of testing the machine I came up with an odd conclusion:
• Photographic images print best at 100lpi, line shape.

EVERYWHERE I read says that I should be using 35 ellipse, but the damned things come out TONS better (assuming I am not using any spot colors) if I use 100 line. I just don't understand it. Surely I wouldnt be the only person who's noticed this, so why does everyone rave about 35 ellipse?

And while I understand why I'd use a TIFF format (uncompressed data), I don't understand why the EPS format. (The color control manual suggests it even for photoshop exports...)

[signzone]

Good Day....

4 years later and still loving it.

Its been awhile. Had come major personal things to tend to over the last 2 years. So here are some more things I have done. I will try to keep posting as I get more cool stuff.

I started out by buying only Summa vinyl. But this got expensive. So i have gone to using Oracal which I love. I have tried Oracal reflective White for which I made some street signs for the town. I love using the 30in white material because it is cheep and i can do smaller jobs on the DC4.