Where to print my Bezel?

[Justin]

Any suggestions on where to get my centipede bezel printed?  

I took it to a sign store, and the quality was so crappy I did not take it (or pay for it).  The colors weren't anywhere near solid, --  looked very grainy.  They used a large inkjet printer, and printed on vinyl with adhesive backing as per my instructions.

I walked into another store, and they said their inkjet handled up to 300 dpi  (ain't that WAY too low?)

Should I be looking for laser color printers instead? Should I try Kinkos?

Any advice appreciated.

[neuromancer]

Inkjet printers are what you want for quality of output. Lasers are great for fast, cheap output, but not for quality.

Grainy? Define that better. Could you see individual ink dots, or was it just pixelated?

What you want is "backlit" media, so you can light it up from behind. It's a specialty thing, that not everyone will have. Then you put it between 2 pieces of plexi.

300dpi can mean a lot of different things, and most of them are meaningless. It's best to look at samples they've produced. If you like what you see, then you know that any deficit is with your work.

Bob

[Justin]

Sorry, I had a typo on my original post (correcting it now).  I am printing a BEZEL not a marquee.

Anyhow, the graininess I see is because the inkjet is combining pixels of different colors to achieve a certain tone of green, for example. So it is not pixelation, its just that solid colors look 'dirty'. I know this is how it works, but it is too noticeable IMHO.   I have a printout here from my cheap 3 yr old inkjet, which looks absolutely stunning.

[tbombaci]

Most smaller sign shops have low end plotters. The machines are simply too expensive for the Mom & Pops to keep up.

They probably had a 300 dpi plotter. Depending on their RIP software, the results will vary.

We use HP DesignJet 5000 ps's and DesignJet 3500's. Both the 3500 and 5000 are capable of traditional screening as well as stochastic screening. The 3500 will do 300-600 dpi and the 5000 will do up to 1200 on special glossy paper.

My guess is the sign shop used traditional dots for your bezel (maybe their RIP and / or plotter doesnt support other methods of screening) Most, if not all new(er) plotters use the stochastic screening process. See below for a sample of the two:



OTOH, the sign shops plotter may be a top of the line machine designed to make billboard type displays. Ever seen a billboard up close? The dots are like tennis balls! Those type of machines, geared towards billboards and the like, typically poop on smaller signs designed for close view.

My $.02

-Tom

[Carsten Carlos]

I did all my printings also on a Designjet 5000 and this looks at least good enough for me. Don't go to a shop only offering 300dpi when going with inkjets!

If you look really close you would see the dots also, but not from normal view. Anyway, I tend to look very closely at things 'cause this is my job, normal people don't do this.

[ErikRuud]

I had the GioCade marquee (I know you are doing a bezel) printed at my local Kinko's.  I forgot about the back lit media so they used regular paper but it came out great.  The background was slightly more purple than I intended, but that was probably an RGB > CYMK conversion issue.

[tbombaci]

I used 20# bond on the MiniPac marquee as well as my full size mame machine. Looks okay. I do notice some blotchyness in the Pac marquee (due to the fact that it is white) However, my MAME marquee looks okay on paper.

-Tom

[william1983]

if your in the USA go to OFFICEMAX and have it printed they prints are of very high quality..

i dont know about vinyl prints though just go and check em out..

and i think they charge 12 dollars for ANY size print on anykind of paper..