Advanced Sign Vinyl

We’re going to go look at how to deal with more complicated vinyl designs. Here, I've cut out a skeleton and pulled off the the excess around the image. Now I’m going to weed the design.

Step 1: Tools and Weeding

You can buy weeding tools online, and they work great, but chances are you have a pair of nail clippers with this little curvy bit on the end, and they work just as well. (Make sure they are clean first….because….gross.)

All weeding the image means is that you are pulling out the bits and pieces of the vinyl you don’t want in your final design.. Make sure you take your time with this, because you don’t want the vinyl to tear if you have a section that hasn’t been cut all the way through.

You can use other tools for this as well, including things like orange sticks and dental tools, You just need something you can use to pick up the edge of the vinyl to help you remove it from the backing.

Step 2: Transferring the Image

You might be wondering how we’re going to line up all of the individual pieces of the image when we move it to our new surface. Unlike the last instructable where we just pulled it off and slapped it on, doing it with this design - piece by piece - would be almost impossible.What we need is a transfer medium.

You can buy transfer or application tape on line, and it works really well, but I’ve found that clear shelf liner works just as well, is WAY cheaper, and you can just get some while you’re at target or walmart. We’re talking a price difference of $6 vs $30 or more for the professional stuff and they give the same results. .

Cut it to the size of your image and peel off the backing. Then just lay it down uniformly over the image and rub over the entire lightly using your finger. Then start slowly pulling it off of the backing,

Step 3: Troubleshooting - Vinyl That Doesn't Transfer

If it doesn’t pick up a piece of the vinyl, just lay it back down and press a little more firmly. Just remember to go slowly, and use light pressure.

This is just temporary, and we don’t want it sticking so well it’s hard to get off. They sell commercial brayers and things, but we aren’t making a professional storefront sign, so don’t bother with those for your personal projects. It’s just money you don’t need to spend.

Step 4: Application

Once he’s free, we’ll just take him over to the new surface and lay it on gently. Again, just take your finger and rub it over the image. Then gently peel off the tape, going back and rubbing down anything that hasn’t adhered to the new surface before pulling the tape all the way off.

Ta-da! You are done.

If you missed the introductory sign vinyl post, you can catch it over here: https://www.instructables.com/id/Intro-to-Sign-Viny...