Large Format Dye Sublimation Printing

Direct Dye Sublimation is a powerful, cutting-edge printing method that prints graphics onto fabric material for products such as flags, table covers, or fabric banners.

Direct Dye Sublimation is a chemical process that bonds ink directly to fabric using heat and pressure. The ink begins as a solid, rather than a liquid. This ink is passed through a heat press where it is vaporized into a gas that is infused into the fabric, then cooled back into a solid that is bonded directly to the polymers in the fabric.

As a result, the ink is bonded to the fibers of the fabric itself rather than simply printed on the surface. This means that the fabric can be folded and reused without ever peeling or losing its vibrant color. Your graphic will be bright and clear for as long as you need it.

Because the ink is cooled directly into a solid, Dye Sublimation prints are dry and ready to handle as soon as they exit the printer.

Dye Sublimation is different from normal digital prints because the dots of color (or pixels) will slightly diffuse, creating a blending effect as opposed to the individual pixels of a digital print.

This means that for photographs, dye sublimation will create the most photo-realistic effect.

Our Dye sublimated flags and table covers minimize glare from bright or fluorescent lights.  They’re also lightweight, flexible, and easy to transport. Our in-house Dye-Sub capabilities allow us to print up to 10’ wide at a maximum resolution of 2400dpi.

Frames

There are also a lot of easy to install framing systems which beautifully display dye-sub prints. The FabTrack Frame System is one which can be constructed and installed by basically anyone and just requires a few steps and tools.

For more information, visit ghimaging.com or call 800.678.4041 to learn more about these great products!

From Concept to Creation: Dressing Up a Room with Vinyl Graphics

We've recently completed the project of decorating our creative room! Our company so generously bought us some very comfortable Xorbee bean bag chairs.

This was a great first step to creating a space that flourishes creativity but these fun chairs were in a room with empty walls – we needed to add something more. After a brainstorming session on the room, we decided we wanted to play off the natural wood that comes in the building and wanted to make it feel like our own indoor tree fort. So we went to the drawing board and came up with some concepts.

Option A

Option B

Option C

We took a vote through our company and customers and the winner was option A. Our fist step was to take measurements of all the walls and carefully map out our plan. Then we started designing each wall with the idea to bring the outside in. Once the walls were designed we sent the files to be printed. 

From there the fun started: Installation – Bringing the idea to life! 

Each wall is applied with custom printed adhesive vinyl that doesn't affect the paint on the wall underneath. Interested in creating your own fun room? The possibilities are endless! Learn more here.

Voila! The development of a custom Tree Fort room made possible with adhesive vinyl decals from GH Imaging. To start collaborating about ideas or to order your own, click here!

Designing Custom Calendars is Easy as 1..2..3..

Designing a standard 12 month (saddle stitched) calendar in InDesign:

1. Create a new document with the following specifications



Number of pages: 28

Width: 11"

Height: 8.5"

Margins: .25"

Bleed: .0625"

Explanation of setting:

- All booklets (calendar or otherwise) must be set up as single pages (not printer spreads) hence the 28 page document.

- Margins are used to mark the safe zone area. All non-bleed items (such as text) must be .25" from the trim line.

- If you have background colors or images that need to run right to the trim you must extend those elements 1/16” past the trim on each side to account for the bleed area. 

2. Start designing!

Page 1 and 28 will become the front and back cover
of your calendar. 

The inside pages should follow this pattern:
page 2 design/photo for above January
page 3 January’s calendar
page 4 design/photo for above February
page 5 February’s calendar
... and so on until you get to page 25.

page 26 & 27 are often used for January of the following year or for an view of the entire year (totally your preference though!)

page 28 - The back cover needs to be rotated 180 degrees. It must face the opposite direction from the other pages. The reason is so that the back cover is right side up when the calendar is closed. 

Tips and tools:
- Pre-made  PDF calendars you can just place
into your design: here

– InDesign Calendar Wizard Script: here

- BE MINDFUL of the drill hole location when designing your calendar. The hole falls approximately .37" from the trim. We recommend downloading a template for reference. 

3. Save your document and then export as a PDF (in single page order). 
Your final PDF file should have 28 pages. 

Prefer to have a template? Download our calendar templates here

The Difference Between Cast and Calendered Vinyl

When working with adhesive vinyl there are two types of vinyl film you can choose: Cast and Calendered.

Cast Films

Cast Films are a premium-grade vinyl that starts life as a liquid, which is then spread out to an extremely thin layer.  Cast films will not noticeably shrink and will conform to irregular textures and curved surfaces, making them the best option for the most extreme outdoor applications – especially vehicle wraps.  Cast Vinyl provides vibrant, paint-quality color and the highest level of durability, lasting for years.

Calendered Vinyl

Calendered Vinyl begins as a lump of plastic that is then flattened by being passed through two pressure rollers.  Though not as high-quality as cast films, calendered film is adequate for less demanding conditions.  Calendered films come in two types: Polymeric and Monomeric.

Polymeric 

Polymeric calendered films have added polymers to reduce shrinkage, so they will fare much better in exterior applications than monomeric films but are not suitable for application over irregular surfaces.  For less demanding exterior work such as transit graphics that are frequently changed, polymeric films offer a workable alternative to cast.

Monomeric

The least expensive vinyl film is monomeric calendered.  Over time these films will shrink, collect dirt, and eventually curl up and flake off.  Monomeric films are best suited to short-term exterior applications or interior work.

These vinyl films can last anywhere from 6 months to 5 years or more, so it’s important to give us all the parameters of your install.  Talk to a GH Sales consultant or submit a QuickQuote so we can recommend the right vinyl for you.

4 Preflight Steps to Take Before Sending Large Format Print Files to GH Imaging

Before sending a file to GH Companies to be printed, there are some steps you should take to ensure that your file can be used for printing. These simple steps help ensure your art will be printed the way you intended it to and will also help expedite the printing process of your job.

Convert all Fonts & Text to Outlines

This is very important because if you don’t, it can cause your fonts to crash when the file is opened and be replaced with a computer’s default font.  Creating outlines guarantees your art and text will look exactly as you intended them to look. This can be achieved in Adobe Illustrator by selecting Type > Convert to Outlines (CMD + SHIFT + O mac or CTRL + SHIFT + O pc) while all the live text is selected. This changes the text into vector shapes instead of type. It will no longer be editable.

Art is CMYK

Ensure that the color of every part of your art is in CMYK color mode.  If colors are in RGB they will have to be converted which can result in an undesired change in color. This can be determined in Adobe Illustrator by selecting File > Document Color Mode and ensuring CMYK Color is checked.

Convert Strokes to Outlines

If using strokes in your design, convert your strokes to outlines.  That way, if your image needs to be resized it will still look the way you intended. This can be done in Adobe Illustrator by selecting Object > Path > Outline Stroke.

Embed All Images  

This saves the images into your file, ensuring that the computer can find it.  If not, the computer will replace the image with a blank box. This can be achieved in Adobe Illustrator by selecting the "Embed" button at the top bar of the file while the image is selected.

These simple steps will ensure that we can use your file and print your design exactly as you envision it.

The Difference Between Raster and Vector File

Every file saved on a computer has an extension after it.  A dot followed by letters that designate the file type.  It’s important to know the difference between some of the common file types.  With images and graphics, the most important distinction to know is the difference between Raster and Vector images. 

Raster Files or Bitmaps

Raster (or Bitmap) images are made up of pixels, dots of color that together form the image, similar to a mosaic. Photographs are always raster images, and most images you find online are likely to be raster too. Raster images will gradually lose quality as you scale them up, creating a low quality, pixelated appearance. 

The most common form of raster images is .jpg (or JPEG).  Most digital cameras will store images as jpegs by default, and most images found on the web are jpegs as well due to its small file size. 

PNGs and GIFs are similar to JPGs, but they also support transparency of an image.

Photoshop files, or PSDs, include the original layers of a Photoshop file to be edited, but can only be opened and edited with the Adobe Photoshop program.

Vector Files

Vector images do not use pixels.  Instead, they use math equations to determine how the image is formed.  Because of this, the image can be scaled up or down to any size without ever losing quality or becoming pixelated. 

EPS and PDF files are often used when saving vector images.  This is a great file type to use for large scale printing.

Two other ways to save a vector image are from the native file they’re created in .ai (an Adobe Illustrator file) and .cdr (a CorelDraw file).  These can be opened using Illustrator or CorelDraw as vector images and individual layers can be edited.

Keep in mind that these vector files can be opened with any image-viewing program, but will only remain vector images when opened with a vector-based program like Illustrator or CorelDraw.  Opening a vector image and saving it in a raster program (like the Mac’s Preview, Windows Image Viewer, or Photoshop) will rasterize the image.

When sending files to GH Imaging for printing, it is best to send files in a vector format to allow us to scale them to fit your printing surface without losing image quality.  Talk to your GH Sales Consultant for more information on file types and when to use them.

The Difference Between First Surface and Second Surface Decal Installations

GH Imaging offers clear vinyl decals in static or pressure sensitive forms. They are printed full color and are very easy to install. Graphics are always printed on the non-adhesive or static side

They can be applied two ways: First Surface or Second Surface.

First Surface

First Surface refers to applying a decal directly to the glass surface. The art is on the front side of the print. When standing outside, you view the print directly.

You can also choose to use a spot white underbase on your first-surface decal. This is a layer of white ink printed behind the art to make your design more vibrant while keeping the background transparent. A decal without the underbase isn’t as bright and can be slightly washed out from sunlight.

Second Surface

Second surface refers to applying decals to the interior side of glass. These will be viewed from the outside by looking through the glass. Second surface decals are always reverse-printed. Reverse printing is simply a mirrored image of the art so it can be viewed correctly from the outside once installed.

Second Surface decals can be printed with a spot white underbase or with a white flood coat. A flood coat is a layer of white printed over the back of the image. This is used when you want the whole decal needs to be white instead of the default clear.

To recap this are the 5 ways to produce and install clear window signs:

First Surface Install – No White Underbase

First Surface Install – With White Underbase 

Second Surface Install – No White Underbase

Second Surface Install – White Underbase

Second Surface Install – White Flood Coat