Outdoors sign printing

[gintonic]

I'd like to get an A4 (approx) sign (full colour) printed on something (Aluminium) I can mount outside in an unsheltered location

Needs to last a few years, and be as cheap as possible (<£50)

any recommendations for online services?

 

[PaulMB]

Don't know if it can help, but I just went to the printer-plotter-photocopy place down the street and bought a pair of adhesive decals(?) of a name, to put on the side of a boat. It is a sheet of plastic with the word written on it. You peel off a protective sheet from the back, stick it on and then peel off the clear part leaving the letters sticking to the boat. If it can take getting wet maybe you could buy a piece of aluminium or plastic and stick on whatever you want the sign to say.

 

[PaulMB]

Just to be clear, I gave them the name, the font, the size and the colour. They had to send out to have it done so it took a couple of days.

 

[Vinny]

Most colours that are not VERY specifically intended for outdoor use will fade appreciably within a very few months. If you can, stick to black and white.

I have not searched, but your limit of £50, not least colour, sounds very unlikely. That said simple screen-printed(?) signs from local specialists can be cheap. It may well be cheaper to get several done that are likely to last a year each, at most. They would be on plastic board of some kind - could be mounted on ply for rigidity.

If you really want aluminium, that sounds way expensive as that would need several coats of paints that are designed to expand and contract with the plate. Sounds expensive to me.

 

[gintonic]

Most colours that are not VERY specifically intended for outdoor use will fade appreciably within a very few months. If you can, stick to black and white.

I have not searched, but your limit of £50, not least colour, sounds very unlikely. That said simple screen-printed(?) signs from local specialists can be cheap. It may well be cheaper to get several done that are likely to last a year each, at most. They would be on plastic board of some kind - could be mounted on ply for rigidity.

If you really want aluminium, that sounds way expensive as that would need several coats of paints that are designed to expand and contract with the plate. Sounds expensive to me.

plenty cam print on aluminium but it is costly, and not all is suitable for exterior use.

In the end a bit of thought, and vehicle decal printer is printing a vinyl sticker for me, says it should be stable outdoors for a good 5 years. For my full colour A4 sticker it was £4 for printing. (P&P was something else.

The sticker will be mounted on a piece of A4 4mm acrylic.

Total material cost £9