posted by Ahijoy on November 18, 2022
How Does Printable Vinyl Work?
Vinyl has always been a crafter’s favorite. It not only transforms a space making it beautiful and eye-catching, but is also easy to use and does not burn a hole in the pocket. There are various designs, patterns, and colors available in the market for vinyl that you can use to make captivating decals.
But do you know that you can print your own design too on vinyl? Yes, you can easily have any design printed on it that your heart desires, completely personalizing your craft. What is this vinyl and how does it work? Let’s see…
What Is Printable Vinyl?
When we speak of the printable category, it comes under adhesive vinyl. It has all the qualities of adhesive craft vinyl except that it can be printed as well using any printer you have at home.
Simply insert the vinyl into your printer and print beautiful images with ease. Just like adhesive vinyl, it also comes in two types: removable and permanent. Depending on your usage, purchase the type that will best suit your needs.
Using the software of your choice, you can create endless patterns; even photos can be printed on the vinyl. One side of the vinyl is lined that goes downwards in the printer. On the other side, which is matte, the design is printed.
Benefits Of Printable Vinyl
There are quite a few benefits of using printable vinyl. Here’s how it is completely worth investing in:
- Printable vinyl gives you freedom of creativity. You can create any design that you want on the software of your choice and print it in vibrant hues. It will be distinctive and an attractive testimony to your inventiveness.
- It is the best option when you are working with intricate designs. It saves you the hassle of complex layering. When you layer vinyl, there is a chance of it not adhering properly hence affecting its longevity. With printable vinyl, you can easily show different hues with simply one command.
- When you don’t have to layer vinyl, you save a lot of time and hard work. There is also no need for weeding out the extra vinyl since it comes out all ready to be pasted.
- You can use permanent printable vinyl for advertising your product or services. It will be a profitable business decision. You can print durable signage and logos that will last for long. This will prove to be a cost-effective marketing tactic. Not only will your advertisement be vibrant and eye-catching, it will help you get a quick turnaround.
- When graphics are printed on vinyl, they appear brighter, more vibrant and defined. Vinyl brings out the true shades, as if the colors are popping out. The difference between printing on paper and vinyl is highly noticeable.
- Printing on vinyl is not expensive at all. Investing in a good quality vinyl and printer does not break the bank. Hence you can make crafts or decals for your car, laptop or phone easily giving your work a professional look.
How Does Printable Vinyl Work?
Printing on vinyl is quite simple. You select the design that you want to print then insert the vinyl In your printer. The vinyl works with all normal household printers but be careful when using a laser printer as it gets heated up and can damage your vinyl.
Once you have printed your design, cut it out with a pair of scissors if needed then paste it wherever you want to. Just make sure that the surface is clean, smooth and dry.
If your design needs complex cutting, you can use any electronic cutter of your choice. For example, if you are using Cricut, the ‘print then cut’ feature will be of great help. Open Design Space, the software that supports Cricut machines, and upload the image. Let’s dive deep into the process and have a look at it step by step.
Step 1: Choose The Project
The first step obviously has to be selecting the item that you will be pasting your printed vinyl on. Since this is adhesive vinyl, anything that has a smooth, clean and dry surface will do, such as a laptop, phone, drinkware, mirror, wall, glass panel or even your car.
Step 2: Measure the Area
Once you have selected your project, measure the area that will be occupied by the printed design. This will help you in setting the dimensions of the design before printing it on the vinyl. Correct measurement is of utmost importance. You don’t want your deal to be too big or too small for the surface.
Step 3: Come Up With The Design
Now that you have an item that you want to decorate, it’s time to choose your design. Hence, comes our next step of selecting or creating the design on Design Space. This software has a library of its own designs as well if you want to choose from there. If you have created your design in some other software, you can transfer it to Design Space easily. This is how it works:
- Choose ‘New Project’ then add the image.
- Resize the image according to the application area of the project. You can do this by typing your required dimensions into the size tab.
- Once you’re certain of the size and the colors, and your design is final, you need to now print it. Make sure the feature ‘print then cut’ is on.
- Click the green ‘Make It’ button on the top right.
- Now you will find yourself on the print screen. Here you will choose the ‘send to printer’ button.