Vehicles + Vinyl

Paint-Mask Vinyl

How to effectively use paint for graphic applications

Published

18 years ago

February 2, 2006

Jim Hingst Signs of the Times March 2009 Issue

Why paint graphics when using vinyl is easier? In truth, paint is more economical than vinyl in some cases. This is especially true when the graphics cover a very large area. I know this sounds like a sacrilege coming from a vinyl-graphics columnist, but that’s the way it is.

Here’s a time-tested method to faithfully reproduce a design using paint. Some old-school signpainters use opaque projectors to transmit their design onto a paper or plastic sheet. After drawing the design onto the sheet, the painter uses a pounce wheel, a tool with very sharp points that punches small holes into the sheet. Then, he tapes the sheet into place.

Tapping a pad filled with graphite

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