I mean they also ship, there are plenty of DTF sticker places out there. But yeah having an idea at 10AM and being able to pick up my prints during my lunch break is pretty great.
I mean they also ship, there are plenty of DTF sticker places out there. But yeah having an idea at 10AM and being able to pick up my prints during my lunch break is pretty great.
@Paradox916 - here's a pic of some stickers, with a mm scale (actual size) so you can sense small features.
And if you look near the reflections, you can see the narrow clear surround part (it's slightly raised, as @CheapSuitG noted earlier) of the stickers (i.e., surrounding the colored areas).
That's what I thought, they required heat to transfer.
The UV vinyl stickers I've used just need a clean surface to stick to, no heat. And they are great for stompboxes.
What I can't address is how sturdy vinyl stickers are to heavy boot stomps. I play at home in bare feet or socks, lol...
@Paradox916 - here's a pic of some stickers, with a mm scale (actual size) so you can sense small features.
And if you look near the reflections, you can see the narrow clear surround part (it's slightly raised, as @CheapSuitG noted earlier) of the stickers (i.e., surrounding the colored areas). View attachment 104824
I can tell you for certain using a cricut is a waste of time for small detail. Weeding out tiny little pieces of vinyl with a metal pick is worse than just leaving the surface blank.
I mean they also ship, there are plenty of DTF sticker places out there. But yeah having an idea at 10AM and being able to pick up my prints during my lunch break is pretty great.
Apparently ninja doesn’t ship to PO Boxes (BOOO!) and the mail has never been delivered to this house in over a 100years so they were out, Sumo for some reason did like the P.O. Box in the address field strike two! . So I went with Eagle even tho they seemed to be a little more expensive. We will see how it turns out. Thanks man!
I can tell you for certain using a cricut is a waste of time for small detail. Weeding out tiny little pieces of vinyl with a metal pick is worse than just leaving the surface blank.
Yeah I have a Cricut, and while I think it's neat and can be useful for some things, that list is getting smaller and smaller, and I probably haven't used it in almost a year.
Here's another one I did w/ vinyl stickers, topped with a spray of shellac
These are UV printed, i.e., so they can print any color as well as white.
I sent them SVGs w/ 1200dpi.
@Paradox916 - here's a pic of some stickers, with a mm scale (actual size) so you can sense small features.
And if you look near the reflections, you can see the narrow clear surround part (it's slightly raised, as @CheapSuitG noted earlier) of the stickers (i.e., surrounding the colored areas).
Also, look at this photo from the Ninja website:
See the clear backing part being peeled off - if you send a design for the front of the pedal, then everything comes in the right position and you just align/stick/peel. On the photo above, look close and you can see that the letters on 'SUNSET' are separate with no clear background in between. But the clear peel-off layer puts everything in the right position, provided you align things right - which takes a little practice, but there's things you can do to make that easier.
In my designs, I include visible hole circles (slightly smaller than actual OD - see my Tacit Blue post, you can see them) for any hole positions (pot, switch, LED, etc), to assist with sticker alignment. On more discontinuous labels (like on my Variac), you might cut the front panel sticker into 2 smaller pieces to make application easier - retaining at least 2-3 hole circles per piece to enable accurate alignment. On large continuous stickers (like the Pig Mine above), until you've acquired enough application experience, I would suggest printing 2 copies so you have a backup - these stickers are VERY sticky! Begin with discontinuous labels (like the Variac example) to build application expertise. It's not too hard once you figure it out. When applying large continuous labels, fold the white backing partway down (exposing maybe ⅓ to ½ of the sticker), then align the sticker VERY carefully, then apply the first (exposed) part of then sticker, then pull on the white backing and progressively apply the rest of the sticker - while lightly pulling on the label so it goes down flat and unwrinkled.
"UV printing" is a technology that prints all colors including white, and the colors are generally accurate
"DTF" means direct to film, i.e., a film w/ the design + a backing layer
"custom UV transfers" are heat transfers intended for clothing
"Custom UV stickers" are vinyl stickers for applying to hard surfaces
Also NOTE - with transfers, the design needs to be left-right mirrored so it reads properly after application. With stickers the design does NOT need to be mirrored. If this seems strange, look at how they are applied. On the transfer you place the exposed top of the design FACE DOWN (inverting it left/right), then apply heat, and then peel off backing. I.e., with transfers, the backing is on the FRONT surface of the design. On stickers, you remove the backing first, and the sticky part is on the UNDERSIDE of the design, so you don't need to flip it.
Note added: as @vigilante398 notes below, many/most vendors will do the mirroring on transfers for you.
Regarding what is separate vs part of the same sticker segment, look again at my Tacit Blue Fuzz Label above in #34.
In the letters "TACIT BLUE" - there are 4 different stickers forming it. The first T in TACIT doesn't touch the other letters, so it's a separate sticker segment. But the ACIT letters all touch, so they form a second sticker segment. The BL letters also touch, so they are a third individual sticker segment. But there's space between the L and the U, so those aren't part of the same sticker section. And the UE are a separate 4th sticker, as they also touch (from the extended horizontal crossbar of the E).
And these 4 separate segments are all held in proper position w/ respect to each other by the clear backing, which is then removed during application.
I've ordered transfers from all three companies I listed above and all three mirror the design for you during printing, you don't need to mirror it for ordering.
