UV Printed Clear Acrylic Prints
Acrylic printing is a beautiful and stylish way to display your favorite pictures. Acrylic printing brings your images to life with brilliant colors and dark blacks. Clear acrylic is a much better and safer choice than print on a glass or mirror and they do not break. Available in custom sizes and many style choices.
Printing Directly onto Acrylic
The acrylic substrate is offered in many different thickness options to suit your taste. 1/4″ acrylic is a very common and affordable substrate to use. They are lightweight and easy to install. For 3D effect, we highly recommend using standoffs to mount your print against a wall. We also have assorted standoffs in stock with satin or polished chrome finished. You choose what is best for your needs. Need help to decide? we are just a phone call away. Choose the dimensions, width, and height, of the area that you want to install your photo acrylic to, and do not worry about how large or how small the area is, we custom make these acrylic prints, all you need is a good photo and just submit your order.
2nd Surface Printing Technique for Acrylic Prints
Image Square Printing gives the utmost attention to details in your orders. You will be amazed at how our technique of printing on acrylic actually looks. Thanks to white ink, we use 2nd surface special technique printing on acrylic sheets that will give your finished product the look and feel that you imagined. We can make your acrylic prints custom size and as many sections that are needed to be fit in the location that is visible to your needs.
Image Square Printing has been providing 2nd surface printing on acrylics for years. We have perfected this technique so that your signs and messages have the greatest impact. This process allows us to make signage that is durable and eye-catching. We can print a second surface on any clear substrate such as acrylic signs, backlit sign inserts, static clings, etc. Our pricing and know-how make us the “clear” choice for your acrylic prints.
Printing Onto Clear Acrylic Using White Ink
Typically white ink printing cannot be achieved by your average printer. Printing with white ink, allows printing onto transparent medias, such as mirrors, window clings and clear acrylic substrates. Using white ink on dark substrates produces a high contrast look, one that is visually sharp and striking. Printing a layer of white ink behind your design acts like a light block, preventing light from passing through and making the ink appear solid. Printing with white ink is also necessary to do layer printing. Much like white ink acts as a light block on transparent substrates, it can also be used as a way to normalize the surface of any substrate that is not white without losing the vibrancy of the original color. If you wanted to print a colored image or graphic on dark stock, applying a base layer of white ink before applying colored ink mimics the look of printing on white substrates and keeps the color output from becoming dull, muted, or muddied.
Printing on Acrylic Sheets
Acrylic is a very commonly used material in signage, manufacturing, fixture displays, and décor applications. Acrylic is an industry favorite because it is visually attractive where it has a glass-like look but is more durable and easier to fabricate to custom shapes and sizes. Using acrylic for signage can immediately improve the image of a business or product to help it stand out and add perceived value. After all, a beautiful and expensive-looking sign can make the brand or product appear luxurious and of higher quality. From printing onto full acrylic 48”x96” sheets to router cutting them to custom sizes for point of purchase display signage, Image Square Printing offers custom printed services and solutions.
Usage Of Acrylic Plastic
Acrylic is a highly transparent, rigid, clear plastic that resembles glass but is superior in nearly every way. Frequently referred to as plexiglass, acrylic is a common printing substrate used throughout the retail display industry.
The optical clarity of acrylic is among the most admired characteristics and makes it the preferred substrate for 2nd surface printing applications. Not only does acrylic give off the most high-gloss and visually appealing aesthetic on all of your art, but it also provides genuine optical depth, adding dimension to your images. Another considerable benefit of acrylic sheet prints is that they’re significantly more scratch and wear-resistant than most other types of media.
Attributes of acrylic plastic
- Superior optically clarity and transparency, making it the ideal plastic for high-definition 2nd surface printed images
- Impact resistance 17 times greater than glass
- Hueless at any thickness
- Easy to machine to shape (CNC router cutting, laser cutting)
- Has a high-gloss finish
- It is a thermoplastic which means it will soften with heat, making bending and reshaping possible.
- Half the weight of comparable glass by volume
- 1/3 less expensive than polycarbonate
- Rigid at all thicknesses
- Machined edges and scratches can be removed by flame or polished
- Doesn’t scratch easily which makes it easy to clean and maintain
- Available in white, colors, frosted, and others
Lastly, it’s the durability that matters. Acrylic is an extremely rigid and hard material that is much more scratch-resistant and thus easier to clean than polycarbonate or PETG clear materials. It is a great choice for most print applications but is brittle and can shatter from impact if struck. While it is 17 times stronger than glass, there are applications where a more impact-resistant clear plastic (PETG or polycarbonate) may be a better option. If impact resistance isn’t a concern you should consider acrylic because it will impress, and keep its quality, and shine for years and years on end.
UV Digital Flatbed Printing on Acrylic
Digital Printing is the process of inkjet printing where microscopic ink droplets fire out of a nozzle in perfect precision then land on the acrylic plastic. At Image Square Printing, we use UV ink exclusively which dries instantly when exposed to UV light and creates no harmful VOC emissions. Digital printing is the preferred printing method for the printing process of CMYK images on acrylic. The digital flatbed printing technology is designed to print directly onto the plastic surface. Furthermore, some digital printing machines like Image Square Printing’s Mimaki JFX200 -2513EX printer can print white ink in addition to the CMYK process. This capability makes printing on clear materials possible!
