Cut vinyl lettering or printed vinyl?
Cut vinyl lettering for text and logos in one to three colours: coloured through, crisp edges, up to 8 years, the surface stays visible between the letters. Printed self-adhesive vinyl for photos, gradients and many colours: the design as one area, several years with a laminate. Often the combination is best — a printed picture panel and the company name cut above it.
The comparison
| Cut vinyl lettering | Printed self-adhesive vinyl | |
|---|---|---|
| Design | Text, logos, pictograms in solid colours | Photos, gradients, patterns, any number of colours |
| Film | ORACAL® 751C cast vinyl, 60 µm, gloss | ORAJET® print film, white or clear, permanent or removable |
| Colours | 25 on the shelf, all 117 of the chart by code | Full colour (CMYK), white ink on clear film |
| Lifetime | Up to 8 years outdoors | Several years; longer with ORAGUARD® laminate |
| Edges | Every letter on its own, no border | Rectangle or contour cut around the design |
| File | Vector (PDF, AI, SVG) with outlines — or type the text right on the page | PDF, PNG, JPG, TIFF — sharp at final size |
| Smallest type | From 1 cm letter height | Any, part of the print |
| Largest piece | 122 cm on the short side, larger lettering in panels | 148 cm on the short side, wider from panels |
| Pricing | By film area, letter height and count | By printed area |
Which when
- Company name and phone number on the van, opening hours on the door, logo on the window: cut.
- A photo as a window picture, a gradient across the whole door, a product image: printed.
- A wall graphic with picture and text: the picture printed, the text cut — the type stays crisp, the picture stays free.
Products in this guide
Questions
Why can a photo not be plotted?
A plotter cuts outlines from single-colour film; a photo has no outlines, only millions of colour values. Photos are printed.
Can cut lettering be laminated?
It does not need to be — it is coloured through and weatherproof by itself. Laminate belongs on a print.
How do I get my logo as a vector file?
From the program it was designed in, as PDF, AI or SVG with fonts converted to paths. If only an image exists it can be redrawn — that is design work we offer.
Which colours are available for cut film?
ORACAL 751C in 117 colours by code — 25 of them from stock, the rest to order.
Can I deliver text and logo together as one file?
Yes — a vector file (PDF, AI, SVG) with fonts converted to outlines; plain text can also be typed straight into the configurator and is shown at actual size on glass or a wall.
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