Printastic Media Information: Vinyl Sticker Options

An Introduction to Adhesive Vinyl Print Media

Vinyl Stickers are an important component of your promotional efforts. Vinyl is much more rugged and weather resistant than paper, making them ideal for situations where they will be used outdoors. Vinyl stickers can not be easily torn - they will typically stretch if an attempt is made to pull them apart. The stickers we produce are easy to use - a thin, removeable film effortlessly peels away from each custom vinyl sticker.

The selection of vinyl materials used at Printastic has been selected to provide maximum contrast, brightness and durability for each job. Our range of media (stock) choices give you the ability to utilize stickers indoors, outdoors, on smooth surfaces and on uneven, difficult surfaces. No matter where you plan on installing your stickers, you will get stunning results when you make sure to use the right sticker for the job. On top of that, we offer protective finishes such as UV coating and high grade overlaminates to give your vinyl stickers extra protection from the elements.

Economy Stickers

A smooth material with matte white finish

Our economy grade adhesive back vinyl print material is ideal for all indoor and many outdoor display applications. The vinyl is comprised of a 4-mil, soft calendered PVC film in white with a matte surface. This media offers great versatility along with repositionable, pressure–activated adhesive. This long–term durable and removable product has excellent hiding power and stability, making it perfect for the vast majority of sticker applications. The adhesive component features air release channels for fast and easy installation of bubble-free graphics.

Premium Stickers

A high quality, white semi-gloss material

Our premium adhesive back vinyl print material is ideal for high end displays and professional installations of photo realistic imaging. Stickers printed on this media are just as good looking and become stronger and longer lasting. You can reposition these stickers with ease and confidence, thanks to the pressure activated adhesive that allows you to slide the graphic into position and snap up easily if placement adjustments are needed. Once you’ve got the sticker placed where you want it, reliable adhesion keeps it securely in place.

Reflective Stickers

A white matte finish with brilliant reflections

3M Scotchlite Refective Graphic Films deliver bright, sharp day and night visibility for superior advertising effectiveness, identification and safety, 24 hours a day. Your reflective stickers boast a long term lifespan—up to 7 years expected durability for finished graphics. The superior angularity makes this film well suited for rugged outdoor emblems, commercial vehicle markings, car & bus graphics and sign applications.

High-Tack Stickers

A smooth & flexible gloss white material

This quality reflective material is a 4-mil, high-performance PVC film which ensures excellent weather resistance and durability. The finish is a bright white white glossy surface with a gray heavy strength adhesive backside coating. These stickers are specially designed for hard-to-stick, low-energy plastics (like polyethylene and polypropylene) with a smooth or slightly textured flat surface such as kayaks, ATV’s, coolers and porta-johns.

Perforated Stickers

A versatile and modern material with high-gloss white finish

With perforated stickers, you can display your message on the window exterior without disturbing visibility from inside of the window. People that are inside the window will be able to see outside, while viewers outside the window will see the colorful design of your high resolution sticker. This one-way vinyl material is a white adhesive film that is micro punched with 1.5 mm holes in a 50/50 pattern, meaning that 50% of the material is removed to allow for see-through visibility.

Protective Laminates

TEC Coat UV Coating

ultraviolet cured image coating

Printastic’s UV clear coat laminate is a high gloss, clear finish coating for vinyl stickers to help prevent sun fading and lightly increase damage resistance. Specially formulated to work with adhesive vinyl material, this coating is used to enhance the glossy appearance without risk of harming the print. In addition to providing extra UV resistance, a thick coating of our UV protection may also increase the moisture resistance of your stickers, preventing them from being scratched easily or otherwise marked.

Oraguard 210

Matte finish vinyl protection

Lamination of vinyl stickers is recommended to ensure a longer lifespan and enhanced quality (gloss, color, resistance to physical damage). This laminate film provides moderate protection from moisture damage and is resistant to markings and graffiti. It also delivers excellent protection against fading from exposure to UV rays. Oraguard 210 is a cold laminate with a UV extension factor of two years, providing ideal protection of medium-term indoor and outdoor digital print applications.

3M Scotchcal 8518

Utra high quality gloss overlaminate

3M Scotchcal Gloss Overlaminate is a 2 mil film that can enhance gloss effects and provide additional ultraviolet and durable physical protection for digitally−imaged graphic stickers on all types of vinyl materials. This thin film is flexible, lightweight, reliable and it gives your finished stickers a glossy “wet paint” appearance. It is designed for maximum performance in cold roll lamination applications to deliver a combination of robust performance and affordability.

Cast and Calendered are terms used to describe two different manufacturing processes for adhesive backed vinyl print media - with each process, comes positives and drawbacks to the materials used, the application possibilities and the expected product lifespan.

Cast vinyl films are are formed by taking a liquid PVC, while a solvent is suspended in the mixture, and pouring into a sheet. The mixture is then heated and the solvent is dried out of the mixture, leaving a sheet of cast vinyl film to cool. These films have very little memory and are better to use on surfaces that have curves or bends. Cast vinyl is the preferred material for vehicle wraps and boat graphics, Cast vinyls are generally thinner and benefit from the lack of memory, but due to the intensive manufacturing requirements, they are more expensive.

Calendered vinyl films are formed from an older process of taking the soft PVC and pulling it through calendered rollers that gradually form the material to the desired thickness, thus the name calendered vinyl. This process generally results in a film that retains a virtual memory of it's original shape. Calendered vinyl is the preferred material for signage and flat applications, mainly because of the difficulty of installing a film that retains a memory. Because calendered vinyl is generally cheaper than cast films, using them for short term applications is a common and accepted practice.

Due to the positives and negatives of each, Printastic offers both calendered and cast vinyl films to make sure that you get the product that best suits your specific needs.