Name that plate!

As I was working on some projects this week, I thought it might be a great idea to take some snapshots while I was working and put up posts about some of the work that happens “in-house”.  One of my projects this week was custom full color name plates for a customer.  These name plates are made with a technique called sublimation, an interesting printing method where special ink turns into a gas when pressed with heat and dyes the surface of the product it is pressed onto.  Here is my name plate project…

Step 1.  As I mentioned, sublimation inks are a special kind of ink, therefore, I have a printer dedicated to printing my sublimation projects, my Epson 3000 printer.  The printer prints the images in reverse onto sublimation paper.

 

Step 2.  The name plates that I used for this project are made of MDF hardboard.  They are 2″ x 8″ x 1/2″ and have a gold flake edge.  These come “ready-to-go”, and all I have to do is peel off the protective liner on the printing surface, make sure the edges are clean of any overlapping gold, and tape them face down aligned perfectly over the images.

Step 3.  Now that the name plates are taped securely to the printed images, it’s time to turn up the heat!  My heat press is set at 400 degrees and the name plates are clamped with medium pressure for about 65 seconds.  A buzzer goes off when time is up and then it’s time to “carefully” remove the paper (it’s hot!).  Right before your eyes (well, under the press) the ink turned into a gas and transferred over to the name plates which permanently dyes the surface of the plate.

Here you see the finished order of name plates ready to be packed and shipped to my customer!  My customer will use velcro to attach these to the walls.

I hope you enjoy posts like this to show some of the way various projects are handled.  I will post more in the future.  Of course, if I remember to snap some pics while I’m working!

New Decoration Idea

Here is a great idea that is “flexible” as well.  Next time you are in the market for decorated apparel, check out another option besides screen printing or embroidery…3D molded PVC plastic labels!  PVC labels are a unique alternative that are fantastic not only for apparel, but for many other uses as well.  They can be used for hats, bags, shirts, jackets, towels, plush animals, padfolios, reflective, glow-in-the-dark, domes, zipper pulls, hang tags, keychains, magnets, stickers, signs, dog tags, stomp pads, golf items and much, much more!

And the unique part is that you can decorate all of these items using the same mold for each product.  That gives definite flexibility with your advertising dollars.  The labels can be sewn, heatsealed, or glued. They can withstand washing, drying, dry-cleaning, sun, cold and the most demanding situations.