The Manufacturer

How Does Laser Engraving Help You Accomplish the Work?

To remember someone you admire or respect, you can buy or do some memorial productions to accomplish the goal.  For example, a friend of mine is a big fan of DIY, and the other day she showed me an amazing work made by laser engraving system.  It is an album in rememberance of Michael Jackson, and the cover of the CD is engraved by the laser machine.  

I have to say, thanks to the invention and improving technology, the artwork with various looks is getting easier than before.  Besides, you can apply the equipment to engrave your wedding photo or even the picture of your lovely pets on the surface as memorial item.  Maybe I will try to make one in the future.  By the way, here's the video of the process of the laser engracing.  Let's be amazed by the technology together!  

 

 

How to Print on Plastic Bottles?

       Plastic bottles are used to package a wide variety of things, from juice to soft drinks, and they play a ubiquitous role in the lives of many consumers, along with other plastic products. Most plastic bottles are made from polyethylene terephtalate (PET) plastic, and almost all water bottles come from virgin plastic; an estimated 30% of the world's PET goes into plastic bottles. The plastic used in plastic bottles is made by mixing hydrocarbons extracted from crude oil with chemical catalysts, triggering polymerization.

       Commercial bottle tags are printed by bottle printers. But if you want to do bottle printing by yourself, it would be tricky. It is because bottles made from glass or plastic are non-porous, which means that printing words or designs can be a challenge. If you choose the right tools and printing materials, you can print on bottles made from glass or plastic, whether the bottles are textured, colored or smooth. The tools you need for printing on bottles are sandpaper (light grade), stencil, permanent marker, grid block, adhesive, rubber stamp, permanent solvent ink pad, etc. Use them wisely, you can make your unique bottle printing patters.

Want to Creat the Unique Wedding Card, You Must Apply Hot Stamping Printing Skill

Recently I was helping my friend to design her wedding card. We want to make it special, different from  the usual ones. Therefore, we look for various website to find directions for designing our card. After writing the content, the next step is to make it real - print it out! It's not an easy task at first. Cause the material of wedding card is special, the normal printer can't print the images and words properly. Also, we want our designs can pop out! Finally, we find a good way for printing beatiful wedding card. It's called hot stamping printing technique.

Hot stamping is a dry printing method in which a heated die and foil are used to apply graphics to a surface. This is one method of security printing. It uses heat and metallic film in a specialty printing process that produces a shiny design on paper, vinyl, textiles, wood, hard plastic, leather, and other materials. Hot stamping, also called foil stamping, can be combined with dimensional embossing to make letters and images on business cards, book covers, gift cards, office folders, and a whole host of professional or personal items.

It is a straightforward process in the following three aspects: first of all, a die is mounted and heated. Secondly, foil is positioned above the material to be imprinted. Finally, a combination of heat, dwell time, pressure and stripping time control the quality of the stamp. Foil stamping is environmentally friendly due to it being a dry process. It does not use solvents or inks and does not create any harmful vapors. A successful hot stamping job is directly related to the quality of the original artwork. In order to insure the highest quality reproduction of an imprint, the original artwork should be “camera-ready”. The better the artwork at the beginning, the better the imprint reproduction result.

To start with making vinyl sticker, you need proper equipment

Vinyl stickers are popular these days, and it can be applied to things like T-shirts, signs and vehicles.  You can buy stickers in specific stores or you can try to make it by yourself.  Things good about making on the stickers on your own are various.  For example, you are free to design it with your favorite colors and styles.  But before you start your design, you should get proper equipment, that is, vinyl cutter. 

The vinyl cutters are offered in a wide array of sizes, so you should know the purpose and presee the result of your stickers.  In this way, you can decide the size of your cutters without making too many failed stickers.  Then, choose the right vinyl.  Vinyl is usually sold in rolls with different colors and sizes.  Generally, there are two types of vinyl that you probably will consider.  One is calendered vinyl and the other is cast vinyl, and the former one is better for flat or uneven surfaces.  Besides, the calendered vinyl is durable for outdoor application, for 3 to 6 years.  On the other hand, the cast vinyl is ideal for flat or curved surfaces, which is commonly be seen on rivets and corners, and this kind of vinyl has stronger durability for outdoor applications.  

After you know the characteristic of the vinyl, you can start to choose the right one for your own vinyl stickers.  Most of the vinyl cutters have the manual, so you should read it first before you start.  Generally, you insert the vinyl into the cutter by using the fixed rollers and adjustment dial.  Then, cut the design via cutting software and remove the vinyl when the process is done.  After you remove the excess vinyl from the cutter and apply the pre-mask tape over your design, make sure the grip on the both sides is tight enough for apply to your design.  Finally, transfer the stickers to your target surface, or maybe you can keep it for your sticker collection as well.  

Create Your Own Unique Mark by Vinyl Cutter

       For sign making, you must be familiar with vinyl cutter for sure. It is a great helper to create the unique letters, colors, and styles you want for billboard or slogan board.  A vinyl sign cutter (sometimes known as a cutting plotter) is used by professional poster and billboard sign-making businesses to produce weather-resistant signs, posters, and billboards using self-colored adhesive-backed vinyl film that has a removable paper backing material. The vinyl can also be applied to car bodies and windows for large, bright company advertising and to sailboat transoms. A similar process is used to cut tinted vinyl for automotive windows.

       Sign cutters are primarily used to produce single-color line art. Several colors can be cut separately and then overlaid, but the process quickly becomes cumbersome for more than a couple of hues.

       In the mid-to-late 2000s artists and hackers began to rediscover pen plotters as quirky, customizable output devices. The quality of the lines produced by pens on paper is quite different from other digital output techniques. Even 30 year old pen plotters typically still function reliably, and many are available for less than $100 on auction and resale websites.

With 3D Laser Engraving Technique, You Can Create Vivid 3D Image with Depth

       The engraving form known as 3D laser engraving is a special type of engraving that involves either engraving on a three-dimensional surface on more than one edge at a time, or creating a 3D image with different levels of depth. Laser engraving, which uses a laser instead of a cutting bit, is better at this 3D process, because it can easily dig into the surface without a bit accidentally getting in the way or hitting previous engraving marks. The image to be used with 3D laser engraving is typically taken from a grayscale image, and the operator must know how to calibrate the grayscale to achieve the right depth and effect. There also are special laser engravers that are able to engrave beneath the surface of glass or crystal to create 3D images inside the material.

       The simplest version of 3D laser engraving is when more than one side of a 3D object is engraved into at the same time. More commonly, 3D laser engraving is used to create a 3D image with depth. For example, with a regular engraver, a flat image with lines suggesting depth will be placed into the material. Carving is similar to 3D engraving in that both actually dig away at the material to create a visually distinct foreground and background. With engraving, this is done via differing laser intensities.

       Sub-surface laser engraving (SSLE) is the process of engraving an image in a transparent solid material by focusing a laser below the surface to create small fractures. Such engraved materials are of high-grade optical quality (suitable for lenses, with low dispersion) to minimize distortion of the beam. BK7 glass is a common material for this application. Plastics are also used.

       In the past five years, use of SSLE has become more cost effective to produce 3D images in souvenir 'crystal' or promotional items with only a few designers concentrating on designs incorporating large or monolithic sized crystal. A number of companies offer custom made souvenirs by taking 3D pictures or photos and engraving them into the crystal. Quality of the designs and images varies greatly between vendors in the promotional and personal services sector (photo engravers) – the mass producing curio vendors have the habit of reducing resolution of the points and lowering output to maximize their laser diode's lifespan.

Things You Need to Know About Vinyl Cutting

       Vinyl cutter machinery is a common tool used for lettering on T-shirts, car bumpers, decals, store windows, and numerous other items. It can produce delicate vinyl letters and graphics. As a peripheral of computer, you can use computer software to create the design you want of vinyl cutting. Using a cutting blade and the cutter controls to determine the depth of the cutting and the speed, your design is cut from the vinyl. It is just like a printer, but instead of using ink, it cuts it out of the vinyl for your creation.

       For vinyl cutting design, it’s controlled by the graphic art software program. Sign cutting software is the most efficient way to do this. Like sending an image to a printer, your design is sent to the cutter. The vinyl cutter program determines the action of the rollers and blades to exactly reproduce your image with all its curves and lines.

       There are three kinds of vinyl cutters on the market today: flatbed, roll-fed or laser.

1. Flatbed cutter: it has a flat bed where your vinyl film is laid and remains stationary while the blade moves around to cut the design.
2. Roll-fed cutter: the vinyl film is fed from a roll and rollers move the vinyl film along as the blade moves back and forth to do the cutting.
3. Laser cutter: it most resembles the flatbed cutter; however, lasers rather than blades cut the design/lettering into the vinyl.

       Although vinyl cutter and its creative software can reproduce anything you want, there is one major disadvantage to keep us all from going out and getting our own: the cost. The initial cost of a reliable cutter can run into the thousands of dollars and that is before the accessories needed to get the results you want. All of this adds up to a sum that discourages a one time only project.

Want to Have a Tattoo But Still Hesitate? You Can Try Temporary Tattoo First!

       A temporary tattoo is a non-permanent image on the skin resembling a real tattoo. Temporary tattoos can be drawn, painted, or airbrushed, as a form of body painting, but most of the time these tattoos are transferred to the skin. Temporary tattoos of any kind such as temporary airbrush tattoo are used for numerous purposes including self-expression and identification. For example, actors who wish to add to their character's distinctiveness might take temporary tattoos painted on the skin by hand or using stencils as part of their cosmetic ritual.

       Like other forms of temporary tattoos, temporary airbrush tattoo are applied to the surface of the skin and do no damage to the skin. Airbrush tattoos are created by placing a stencil to the skin and delivering the tattoo ink or tribal airbrush tattoo paint with an airbrush. Unlike temporary transfer tattoos, the artist can control delicate elements of the temporary tattoo while it is being produced, which is more similar to the true permanent tattoo experience.

       Temporary airbrush tattoos have been in existence since about 1998 and are largely used in marketing, advertising and the entertainment industry. Because of the constant research and development of airbrush equipment and inks, airbrush tattoos today so closely resemble real tattoos that many people cannot tell the difference.

The Design and Technique of Airbrush

       Airbrush is a small, air-operated tool that sprays various media including ink and dye, but most often paint by a process of nebulization. When talking about airbrush kits, spray guns are one of the necessary accessories. Spray guns were developed from the airbrush and are still considered a type of airbrush. It works by passing a stream of fast moving (compressed) air through a venturi, which creates a local reduction in air pressure (suction) that allows paint to be pulled from an interconnected reservoir at normal atmospheric pressure. The high velocity of the air atomizes the paint into very tiny droplets as it blows past a very fine paint-metering component. The paint is carried onto paper or other surface. The operator controls the amount of paint using a variable trigger which opens more or less a very fine tapered needle that is the control element of the paint-metering component. An extremely fine degree of atomization is what allows an artist to create such smooth blending effects using the airbrush.

       Airbrush technique is the freehand manipulation of the airbrush, medium, air pressure and distance from the surface being sprayed in order to produce a certain predictable result on a consistent basis with or without shields or stencils. Airbrush technique will differ with the type of airbrush being used (single action or dual/double action).

       Double action airbrush technique involves depressing the trigger on the top of the airbrush with the index finger to release air only, and drawing it back gradually to the paint release threshold. The most important procedural dynamic is to always begin with air only and end with air only. By observing this rule, precise control of paint volume and line width and character can be achieved. The single most important airbrush stroke consistently utilized by professionals is the dagger stroke. This describes a stroke which begins wide and ends as a narrow line, created by starting with the brush far from the support and moving it evenly closer as the line is drawn.

The Applications of Polycarbonate Sheet

       As an extremely strong, durable, transparent material, polycarbonate is often used in places where security is indispensable. So, in such places, the easily broken or cracked glass would not be the perfect match. PC sheet is often used for vending machines for this reason because the window must be clear, but also strong enough to resist breaking and entering. Accordingly, the construction industry is regarded as the second largest consumer of polycarbonates. Polycarbonate sheet is often used for domelights, flat or curved glazing, and sound walls.

       Polycarbonate sheets are similar to sheets of plexiglass. They are as clear as glass but 250 times stronger. Also, they’re 30 times stronger than acrylic sheet plastic. These sheets have many different uses, including skylights, store fronts, covered walkways and displays. The main use of polycarbonate sheets is for installation on a roof.

       Other uses for polycarbonate include greenhouse enclosures, automobile headlights, outdoor fixtures, and medical industry applications, though the list is virtually endless. Somewhat less toxic than polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to produce, polycarbonate nevertheless requires toxic chemicals in its production phase. It is, however, recyclable and environmentally preferable to PVC in applications for which either material can be used.