Printing and Laminating CPs

[fogman]

For those interested, I sent the following query to a company in North Carolina.  Their response follows:

I have a 12x29" Adobe Illustrator file that I would like to have printed, then laminated.  Can you give me a price for doing this?  I can send it electronically.

Can you provide separate quotes for an inkjet print with glossy and matte laminate.  Also, what kind of paper would be used for printing on, vinyl or regular paper?

  The end product is going to be placed under a sheet of clear Lexan, but needs to be protected from any moisture that can accumulate under the Lexan.  Please provide a quote for any of the options that this may entail.

Their response was:
The price for an inkjet print on inkjet paper is $28.00 and $30.00 on photographic paper. High gloss or matte lanination for that size print is $11.50. We also have a normal gloss laminate that is 3 mil. Your cost there
would be $6.00. There is a $6.00 shipping charge for all orders under $100.00.

Not too bad.  For those interested:
Mastercolor Professional Labs
2006 North Church Street
Greensboro, NC 27405
336-275-2846
1-800-252-1042

Note: I have no affiliation with these guys at all.  I haven't even used them as I was trying to get a quote on my final product.  I did tell them that I would post their information on the BYOAC message board.  I was actually hoping they would give a discount to BYOAC'ers!  Oh well...

[eightbit]

I had some stuff laminated the other day at a local place, it was $1.75 a linear foot up to 24"s wide.  I printed it on a plotter at work so I don't have a cost on the actual printing.

[Safron]

I did a lot of research before printing and laminating my artwork.
Here is what I found - in every case, local print shops in my area were cheaper than anything on the internet or the bigger chains.

My advice before sending off to the people you have talked to is to check your local "Mom & Pop" print shops.

[neuromancer]

If you put gloss laminate under lexan, you're going to get parts of the laminate sticking to the lexan. Particularly, anyplace where the surface of the panel is a tiny fraction higher, it's going to push it up to touch the lexan. Any place where you mount buttons, they're going to put some pressure on the lexan -- probably enough to push it down a tiny fraction.

How much moisture are you going to get under the lexan?

I would consider simply sealling the paper with clear acrylic spray (aka spraypaint). Maybe waterproof paints, if you really think there's going to be a problem.

Alternately, with thick laminate, you can eliminate the lexan entirely. Just rubber cement the overlay and mount the controls through it. You probably wouldn't get away with that in a real arcade, but hopefully no one's going to peel up your edges in your house ;-)

Bob