SECOND SURFACE PRINTING
Second surface printing add complexity to the surface that makes your image eye capturing.
What is second surface printing and how it is different from first surface printing?
In the printing world, you may hear the term “printed 1st surface” or “printed 2nd surface” and wonder what that means. When dealing with clear materials like acrylic, polycarbonate, PETG, Lexan, or vinyls as a printing substrate it is important to know which side of the clear material the print should go on. While all materials have a front side and a backside, clear materials can be printed on the front or the back for a different visual effect.
Printing on the front side is always considered the 1st surface and is the most common practice. When printing on a standard paper at home, you are essentially printing on the 1st surface no matter how you orientate the paper in the printer. However, only when printing on clear materials does the printing industry need to designate which side. Printing 2nd surface means that the provided artwork will be mirrored (i.e. reflected) and printed on the clear material so that the end user looks through the material to see the printed graphic in the correct orientation. Think of it as if you’re printing on the back of the material but will be looking at the image from the front side and through the material.
Print white and second surface printing:
All printing requires a white backside behind a printed image. Usually the printed substrate is white and it’s an after thought to how the colors achieve their vibrancy. Having a white is necessary behind a print because it acts as a primer for the transparent CMYK digitally and screen printed colors. .
Since 2nd surface printing is done on a clear instead of white material, a primer must be added after printing as an additional step. This additional primer can be a laminated white material that covers the entire printing surface or it can be printed using a white capable printer so that the white primer is selectively added to go behind only the printed areas.
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