How To Create Professional Magnetic Signs?

In the present day, the popularity of magnetic signs has increased a lot and there are genuine reasons behind this. These magnetic car signs are known to be a low-cost alternative to lettering directly on a car or any other vehicle. Any customer can easily put and remove these and this is the main reason behind their rising popularity among a lot of small businesses. Due to this, magnetic signs are a must-have for any complete sign-making business. The best thing about these signs is that they can contribute to providing two very integral ingredients for the success of any sign business new customers as well as high margins. But, there are some of the limitations that come with magnetic signs that one needs to essentially consider. Now, let's get started with the detailed discussion on magnetic substrates taking into account the necessary tools, your equipment options, target market, and, lastly, care as well as maintenance requirements.

Types Of Substrate And Paper That Are Utilized For Creating Magnetic Signs

Magnetic signs are the vinyl graphics specifically from your vinyl cutter. The application of this takes place in a substrate that is both flexible and magnetized. Another thing that you need to keep in mind is that the substrates are available in two varieties i.e. magnetized paper as well as magnetized vinyl. Talking about the magnetized vinyl, the thickness of it is about 12 – 30 mil. Also, it is designed in such a manner so that you can use it with self-adhesive vinyl. Not only that, but, it is also known to be suitable for large format digital printing. You will find its availability in white and some other popular colors that specifically come with a matte or gloss finish. Depending on your preference, you can either go for white or red, matte or gloss. But, you should know that many important differences are existing between magnets of different thicknesses. The thickness of the magnet is something that decides its magnetic property. A thicker magnet possesses more magnetic properties. This is crucial as the magnetic sign’s stability resides totally in its pull strength. The magnet's pull strength is its resistance to lifting. It is measured in grams per inch or grams per square centimeter. Only 30 mil magnetic sheeting has this level of pull force, which is more than enough to keep a vehicle door from peeling off at highway speeds. So, it is important to make sure, you round the corners perfectly, Magnets of 12 as well as 20 mil are good to be used as temporary signs on buildings, industrial work sites, filing cabinets as well as other metallic surfaces, but they are unlikely to function well as car or vehicle graphics.

Whenever it comes to surfaces, it is worth noting that not all metallic ones will function well. Magnets will fail to stick to non-ferrous metals as well as alloys which include stainless steel and aluminum. Some surfaces look like they can hold magnets but they don’t. One good example of it includes Corvette bodies. The body parts of the Chevrolet Corvette have always been constructed of fiberglass. To effectively reduce weight, other modern vehicles consider making use of aluminum door panels. Carbon fiber may be used in rarer vehicles, such as race cars. Plastic composite doors, such as those used on some GM minivans, are more likely to cause problems.

Now, the main question that arises in this aspect is whether is it possible to use magnetized paper. Talking about magnetized paper, it is a small format inkjet substrate that is designed in a manner to use in desktop printers. Typically, this refers to an inkjet coated paper that is magnetized in sheets of thickness between 6 – 8 mil. These are perfect for craft as well as hobby projects. These papers can be used with most vinyl cutters, due to their relatively weak magnetic properties and thinner construction. Again, the cutter must possess an optical registration mark sensor installed which makes it useful for these small-scale print as well as cut processes. Magnetic paper can also be used to make full-color magnetic business signs and cards with a standard trimmer. 

Tools And Supplies For Magnetic Signs

A heavy-duty utility knife, a corner rounder as well as a safety ruler, are all you need to make magnetic signage with 30 mil sheeting. With a good safety ruler as well as a knife, you can easily cut a 24" roll of magnetic vinyl to the correct size. After that, you need to apply your vinyl graphics and finish it by rounding the corners. Surprisingly, a corner rounder is used to do this. When applied to a vehicle, this tends to effectively minimize the sign's aerodynamic drag. It also effectively reduces the chance of the sign scratching the paint of the vehicle as it is moved. Another easy option is to consider purchasing pre-cut magnetic sign blanks with rounded corners. Now, let’s have a closer look at the magnetic signs margins as well as markets. 

Markets And Profit Margins 

Magnetic signage's target market differs depending on its form as well as size. Entrepreneurs and micro-businesses such as tax preparers, realtors, and landscapers, who need to market their businesses but don't have commercial vehicles, have long employed magnetic signage. Why not offer to create matching magnetic business cards when you take the order for a pair of magnetic car door signs? This type of small-scale commercial signage can be exactly what that customer requires for effectively boosting the growth of their business. In this way, you would be able to help them to become a steady repeat customer of conventional commercial signage.

That is why it's critical to establish the charging principle based on the value of your signs rather than the cost of production. Even small magnetic car decals are considered to be more effective because of their multiple colors, appealing designs as well as digitally printed graphics so, these are more valuable. As the market of crafts and hobbies is rapidly growing, the demand for digitally produced graphics is also boosting at a rapid pace. There are several other applications for images output specifically to magnetic vinyl as well as paper. These are the customers who do not see magnetic signage as an investment, but they treat those differently. However, even if your items are exclusively for personal use indoors, don't sell those too cheaply as you are investing your talents and time in them. 

Digital Printing Options 

You should simply print on vinyl as well as mount the vinyl to the magnetic sheeting in case, you are making use of a digital printer. To achieve the look of a direct printed magnetic sign blank, all that you need is to trim the sign and position it in a corner rounder.

Alternatively, you can use a printer to print as well as contour cut the vinyl so that it can fit with your magnets. After that, you can mount those to the pre-cut blanks. Remember that utilizing the power of full color and photographic elements results in more effective and valuable magnetic decals for trucks or any other vehicle. So, you need to charge according to it. It would be best, in case, you try your hand at printing as well as cutting magnetic vinyl. You should be cautious about loading magnetic sheeting in your cutter or printer. These devices possess components that are controlled by electromagnetic currents which are accurately calibrated. A strong magnetic field can interfere with the operation of some of these components, causing the device to malfunction. So, one should proceed with caution. As already stated above, the thicker the magnetic media, the more magnetic strength it has. Some of the printers come with platens that are loaded with ferrous metals. Magnets respond accordingly as well as stick to the platens which means that they cannot be fed through the cutter. Although one thing that you should keep in mind is that putting transfer tape on the magnet does not work so, it is better to not try this. 

Vinyl Cutting Options 

Most of the magnetic signs for trucks or any other vehicles are nothing more than flexible magnetic sheeting with vinyl letters adhered to it. To create an extremely effective and great magnetic sign, you do not always need to print digitally. It is very quick to produce and can be very much effective. 

Care and Maintenance of Magnetic Signs

These installations as well as maintenance instructions should be necessarily included with every magnetic sign sale. This article about magnetic car signs is not possible to be complete without talking about some important cautions about proper care of applied car door magnets. Magnets tend to present some unique challenges because these are intended as detachable and repositionable graphics that are affixed without adhesive. These types of issues with applied door magnets generally occur due to improper installation and also inadequate care. As installation is a very important job that you need to perform, so now let’s understand the proper way to install. We are focusing to discuss this well in the below-mentioned section. Installation: In this regard, the thing which you need to avoid is migration.

Whenever moisture becomes trapped specifically in between the magnet as well as the painted metal surface, it results in causing different chemical reactions which ultimately lead to migration. These chemical reactions then migrate to the surface of the vehicle. It is something that results in causing permanent bonding as well as staining to the automotive finish. You will find that the migration is considered to be much more prevalent in magnetic sheeting of lower quality. This type of issue is not generally seen in higher-quality products. So, you should always focus on choosing better quality and migration resistance products from a professional web to print service provider to successfully avoid these types of issues. But, it is also true that there are even chances for a good quality magnet to migrate if three conditions are present which include inadequate maintenance, high surface temperatures, and uncured paint.

So, it is suggested that you should never consider the application of magnetic door signs to a completely new or newly painted car or any other vehicle. Automotive paint is chemically not stable, if the case, it is less than 90 days old. So, in this case, if the application of a magnet is done in such a vehicle, then it will experience migration, especially in high surface temperatures. You will typically find this in the Southwestern and Southern U.S. Before you complete the sale, it is always recommended that you ask about the condition of the paint as well as the age of the vehicle. Then, you can emphasize whether continual maintenance is needed or not. In this way, you would be able to avoid the permanent sticking of the sign to the vehicle door. In case, you find yourself facing a customer with magnets stuck to their vehicle, one of the best options for safe removal which you can suggest to them is to steam the magnets off. But, as prevention is always better than care, you should essentially focus on the maintenance aspect.

 Maintenance:

After you have completed the sale, you should always ensure that your customer is well aware of the best ways to care for the amazing magnetic vehicle signs that they have bought. If they fail to care for it correctly, then it can lead to damaged paint or damaged signs. You must focus on regularly removing the signs. Try to do this at least weekly to achieve good results. In this regard, you need to clean, dry and wax the area that is present underneath before you consider reapplying. To make them understand well, you can hand out a maintenance instruction guide so that, the customers can easily read those out and implement them. Whenever any customer buys this product, you should always provide it to the customer. Also, you need to invest some of your time to explain to them the key points whenever they are buying the signs. Consider setting the expectations of the customers properly and you will surely get repeat business.  

Closing Thoughts

With all of these tips in mind, you should now be more prepared for adding lucrative magnetic sign blanks specifically to your sign. We hope, after reading this guide, you have got a clear understanding of how to make magnetic signs. If you find the overall procedure difficult to perform, then you can take the help of a professional and reliable web to print store like WTPBiz. So, get started with your magnetic sign or vinyl lettering design creation journey today.