Vinyl plotter cutting and shopfront window lettering

I cut self-adhesive vinyl on a plotter and apply it to shop windows, and every job starts with the artwork rather than with the film. Send me your layout or let me draw one from your notes: all type goes to outlines, and before anything reaches the blade I check the thinnest stroke and the counters inside the letters. A half-millimetre hairline looks elegant on a screen and tears during weeding, so I tell you straight away what has to be thickened and what is easier to redraw. I do not cut anyone else's logo without written permission from its owner, and that rule has no exceptions. Placing lettering on a facade also has to be agreed with the building owner and with the local rules; I can tell you which sizes usually pass, but the approval itself stays on your side.

Film is chosen by how long it has to survive outdoors. A seasonal promotion that lives two or three months is fine on monomeric calendered vinyl. Opening hours, a phone line or a permanent name go on polymeric film: five to seven years outside, and no shrinkage creeping in to thin out delicate strokes. I always make a test cut on the corner of the roll, because the blade must go through the vinyl and leave the liner whole. Then comes weeding, done cold and with tweezers, with the small counters lifted separately so a neighbouring line is not pulled out with them. The finished set is covered with application tape and squeegeed down, so the whole sign travels to the glass as one piece instead of falling apart into loose letters.

On site I prepare the glass first: wash off the dirt, scrape away paint specks and old adhesive, degrease and wait for the edges to dry. I position by spirit level, tape the top edge and work with the hinge method, which is the only honest way to keep a long line from drifting half a centimetre. Large solid panels go on wet, because soapy water buys time to slide the piece and push the bubbles out; it needs one to three days to dry fully. Letters and small text go on dry, so they do not float. In frost the adhesive simply will not grab: below five degrees I work only with the glass warmed, and I say plainly that a job done in plus temperatures lasts longer. Old film comes off with a heat gun, the residue with adhesive remover, and I hand the glass back clean.

What is included:
— artwork prepared in outlines with the minimum element thickness checked;
— film selected by outdoor life span and colour;
— cutting, weeding and taping up with application film;
— travel to site, glass preparation and levelled fitting;
— removal of the old lettering and adhesive residue;
— care notes for washing the glass in the first weeks.