# What is the difference in Premask, transfer tape (clear and paper)?



## SewDarnHot (Jul 14, 2008)

I will be doing shirts as well as decals to sell for retail and making signs & applying decals.
Will I use all the tapes? and are there any good sites to see them in use or tell me what to use for the vinyl I have?
Also I see the paper rolls being sold on Ebay cut as you wish. Has anyone bought off ebay for tape? Is it good? I need something inexpensive to get by a few orders then use $ I make to get more.
thanks for your advise


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## tdeals (Dec 13, 2006)

SDH,

If you are using apparel material with an adhesive backing, then you will not need to use application tape (or, premask) for this. Application Tape and Premask are generally the same type of product. However, for decals and sign vinyl, yes, you will need some type of application tape/premask.

To determine what tac (or, adhesion level) of premask you should use, I would suggest following these guidelines as quoted by an Oracal Product Specialist:



When you are applying a large graphic (3ft x 4ft or larger) *low* tac works well because of the large bonding surface for the tape.


Graphics of average size (8 inch x 24 inch) use *mid* tac.


Anything smaller (fine details, letters less than one inch etc.) does better with *high* tac.
You can learn more about Premask here. Oracal, 3M, MACTac, American Biltrite, Main Tape, Webermade, and R-Tape are all premask manufacturers. I recently tried the Oracal Oratape HT55 premask for decal application and it worked well. I have read in this forum that the R-Tape model AT60 product is well liked.

Also, there are different levels of premask clarity. Some are clear (like glass clear), others are not though you can still see through them for proper application. Attached are a couple pics of premask to see the difference. Furthermore, there are different types of premask based on what your application is or how you've created your output. 

Does this help a bit?


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## SewDarnHot (Jul 14, 2008)

Thank you for the summary! That gives me a nice guideline to follow.
I ordered some of the AT60 6" to start and do my practicing with. I appriciate the insight and I will check out the link to learn more too.
Thank you!


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## tdeals (Dec 13, 2006)

SewDarnHot said:


> Thank you for the summary! That gives me a nice guideline to follow.
> I ordered some of the AT60 6" to start and do my practicing with. I appriciate the insight and I will check out the link to learn more too.
> Thank you!


You're welcome.


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## littlemarie (Nov 23, 2008)

AdriaticBlue said:


> SDH,
> 
> If you are using apparel material with an adhesive backing, then you will not need to use application tape (or, premask) for this. Application Tape and Premask are generally the same type of product. However, for decals and sign vinyl, yes, you will need some type of application tape/premask.
> 
> ...


I just wanted to say thank you very much. I think that explains why my vinyl words were not lifting up and sticking to the application tape. I have been going nuts trying to figure out why and in the process bought 3 different kinds of app tape. you are a lifesaver ty


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## kctrader (Dec 26, 2008)

If you are using Oracal 631 for your words, there is a new application tape that is made just for that type of vinyl. You can get a free sample on the Oracal ebsite.


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