# Need advice on Wall Decal Business



## Kitjaii (Aug 14, 2010)

Greetings guys,

I'v decided to start my own little business as a side job. I'm totally new to this type of business as i work in the finance industry but i'v always wanted to do this for fun. My idea is to make custom Vinyl wall decals. I wanted to get some advice on which equipment to get as i been doing some research and i heard the Roland is fairly good. Are there any other vynyl cutters out there that provides good quality thats lower on cost? For an example , would getting these be a bad choice:

New 54

Also, i'v been seeing some wall decals that have several colors, would i need to double layer myself. Or does the printer does all the job itself?

Example would be this:



Thank guys in advance for the help,


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## veedub3 (Mar 29, 2007)

I can say that the cutter you linked to is an off brand Chinese press and they are terrible. 



> would I need to double layer myself. Or does the printer does all the job itself?


 I think it could be the Patrón but I have no idea what you are trying to say here.


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## Kitjaii (Aug 14, 2010)

veedub3 said:


> I can say that the cutter you linked to is an off brand Chinese press and they are terrible.
> 
> I think it could be the Patrón but I have no idea what you are trying to say here.


Sorry, what i meant was if i were to make color decals... would i need to make my own different layers of color , or would the printer be able to print everything onto the sticker paper?


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## LB (Jul 25, 2009)

The design that you have shown in your post is rather complicated for an inexperienced person. Cutting this design with just a vinyl cutter (plotter) would require knowledge of the software, proper registration technique and application techniques. If you have the budget for this, and are really serious, imo you need to consider a machine that print and cuts, such as a Roland Versacam. Be prepared to spend $15k +-. No machine is going to output everything required without expertise to design it, process it and install it. Good luck.


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## Fidel (May 6, 2010)

I don't fully agree.
I'm starting out with a "cheapo" cutter myself and there is no major downfall. Even if you do decide to sell it in two months, these machines hold their price pretty well (atleast here in Europe). You will probably want to buy it from a company that has experience so they can provide support and service.
I learned to use my cutter in about 30 minutes. The software (SignCutPro in my case) is easy and straightforward and only about 60$ for a yearly licence subscription. You will need to learn about vector graphics and Adobe Illustrator. You don't have to buy anything other than AI from the Adobe product family. I also suggest getting books like Adobe Illustrator CS2 (or CS3) by Dave Cross and Matt Kloskowski. There are tons of great books with color pictures and a tutorial CDs ou there.

The cutter does not print. It cuts shapes out of colored foils, so for your picture, you'd buy the appropriate length of brown and pink foils. Since your cutter example is 54", you'd be buying 48" foils so that large tree (the brown part) would probably have to be devided into two parts and connected later (ie. by overlapping an inch), and then you'd cut the pink leaves.

I have heard of static foils, that "stick" to the wall using static electricity. I don't have experience with vinyl house decorations so read around, I'm sure you'll find some info.

I would certainly start out with smaller things, you will make mistakes, but its not nuclear physics 

I'll be glad to help out with any questions you might have.


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## Kitjaii (Aug 14, 2010)

thanks guys for the response and help,

i thought there are some vinyl cutters that comes with ink cartitages and prints? Or the only option is to purchase vinyl paper .... the thing is my printer is not high quality so does that mean i need to buy a better printer? Please suggest some tips for that problem.


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## Kitjaii (Aug 14, 2010)

Thanks guys for the response and advices..

So as far as i'm concerned... there are no such things as Vinyl machines with ink cartitages /prints? I thought there were some vinyl machines that actually prints out the design and cuts it out. 

Does that mean i would need a high quality printer... as the current one i own is only good for printing docs.


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## rvaughn (Aug 10, 2010)

yes, there are printer/cutters. they are expensive.

VersaCAMM SP-300i & SP-540i


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

for wall words an Expert 24 will get you started... 
Studica.com - GCC America Expert 24 Cutting Plotter with Academic Discount

Lots of videos on youtube showing you how to cut and install them....


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## 34Ford (Mar 19, 2010)

I think she is confused between a cutter/plotter and a printer/cutter.

Cutter/plotters cost between $300 to $2000 for home use. All it does is cut vinyl or draw on paper.

But a printer/cutter starts at what, $15,000 and up?

They use ink cartridges, print onto the vinyl and then it will cut it out.

You could do that tree with just a cutter/plotter. Two colors of vinyl and some piecing together.


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## Fidel (May 6, 2010)

I would go with the 54" if you plan on doing large projects.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think printing and cutting the abouve project would be very expensive. I would purchase one of those for professional full-color car wrapping projects, but after at least a few years of experience in the business.
Especially the return on investment with a 15K machine is incomparable with the 700$ cutter. You can cover the initial ~2000$ investment within months if you do it right.


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## Kitjaii (Aug 14, 2010)

thanks guys for the help!

yeah i think i should start out with that cutter/plotter plan since i'm inexperienced with this whole new project and the price is far overwhelmed for an actually print/cutter machine. 

In terms of the cutter/plotter machines, would any machines do? (the one i listed from Kijiji /craiglist), they cost around 600-800 for a 54" . I do plan to make large vinyl. The one royster susggested looks great, should i stick to 24" or get a bigger one if i plan to do larger vinyls. Any more suggestion on a reliable and money saving machine would be great.

As far as what 34Ford commented, what does it mean by drawing on paper for the plotter machine? 

So for plotters, i guess my main obstacle would be learning how to overlap different color vinyl if i want my product to come out colorful.


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## accentstudios (Oct 15, 2010)

Before I purchased a machine I was going to buy the Roland as well but found another machine for about half the price. Ive been using it for a year now and it hasn't failed me yet


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## Corel Whisperer (Sep 1, 2010)

The design you show is a simple two color matte finish removable vinyl that can be cut on just about any cutter. When I say simple, it is a tree and pink leaves or flowers. If you are only doing one of these then you would apply the tree to the wall first then start placing the leaves/flowers. The flowers if not needing to be in the same exact place on more than one tree could be cut in a sheet and applied one, two or more at a time. If you look at the other designs on the site you liked to you will see most of them are one and two color designs. I know of a person locally that started doing these to supplement her slowing embroidery business. She did her daughters room (a cheerleader) and the next thing she new she was doing room for all the cheerleaders in the school. Key is to find a good supplier of the matte finish removable vinyl and have a color chart of the colors you can get to do the designs in. Also a good marketing strategy, why they should purchase them from you, instead of getting them online or going to a craft store and purchasing them. This is where you can offer custom designs to what they want, as long as you also have a program you understand how to use and how to set up the designs. As far as cutter I like the Roland’s good hard working units. Yes you can get less expensive ones just make sure they will do the size you need. Some of the cutter will say you can do 42 inch letters, then you find out you need to piece together the letters from several smaller pieces. A 24 inch cutter will cut about 22.5 to 23 inches wide by whatever length you need, well large enough for a wall in the average home. 
Then you have to think about installation; ladders, tape, clean up and insurance when you are in someone’s home! Unless you are going to have them install the cut shapes.
CW


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

If you are going to do this type of work I would suggest buying a good cutter,, the reason why is if you are going to do long cuts like the one that is illustrated you will need a cutter that can track the vinyl film, otherwise you will be fighting the tracking issue on everyone you do.


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## Flakman (Apr 29, 2009)

I don't want to oversimplify this, but larger graphics like the one you showed us can be cut using a smaller format cutter if the software you are using supports tiling. When I first started out, I had a Roland Stika 15 and made many large scale projects by cutting them as tiles, more or less like a jig saw puzzle, and then assembled them into one large graphic. As for the two colors, use your software to remove all but the the tree trunk, then cut it iin tiling. Then bring back the leaves, remove the trunk and cut the leaves, then cut them in tiling and then assemble the whole package. Just take your time and you'll figure it out.


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## agusroig (Mar 28, 2011)

PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME!!!! my name is agustina roig. i am very new at this..blogging, posting, asking...all of it! I want to start my own business in wall decals. I want to design them and print them and sell them! like cartoon designs for kids rooms and things like that. i am a graphic designer by the way. I have no idea how these decal wall works!!! how much money should i invest to do so? as a starter, like how much would be the cheapest investment in order to have something in good quality? i know i would obviously need a decal paper roll, and which printer? lasser? ink? should i need a lasser cutter printer? (that one is very very expensive right?) please if somebody could help me, guide me on this!! Id be delighted!!!!! i really want to do this but i have no idea if it is going to be possible for me or no. please contact me...i am nos studing in United states. my phone number is 917 833 3099. my e mail is agusroig[USER=135513]@Hot[/USER]mail.com
PLEASE is you could advice me!!!!!thanks


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## Corel Whisperer (Sep 1, 2010)

Agustina
First I would suggest never posting your phone number on a forum, rather ask members to post a resonce of contact you via PM. 
Second, do you use a computer now? If so, what programs are you using. To get into doing wall graphics can be very expensive, however they are companies that can print the graphics for you, for your customers. I'm sure other member will be happy to recommend equipment or offer to print designs for you. However we need to know what if anything you have now, computer (you're posting so I guess that would be a yes) what programs, printer...


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## agusroig (Mar 28, 2011)

wow!! can believe somebody answered me!!! this is the first time I do this! please dont go and help me. ill tell you everything. I am a graphic desiger, i am studing here in the us until may. after that i will go back to my home country Uruguay. i want to start the business there. the thing is that machines and printers and all of that in uruguay is way more expensive than here. As i am taking my things on a container to uruguay i want to buy the printer or cutter or whatever i need, here in usa before i leave. I dont want to spend thousands of dollars, as i said, i want to know if it is possible to do wall decals and sell them as a small business for an investment no more than 3000 dollars. I have apple computers, i use very well adobe illustrator, photoshop, in design....more or less every design program. but have no idea on printers or lasser cutters or vynil papers o decal papers...have no IDEA what I need. ok, I know i sound crazy, but i'm not jaja i just want to know it all because i really want to do this and im vey lost. thanks for answering me!!!!


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## agusroig (Mar 28, 2011)

I have a very simple 11 inches printer inkjet...Obviouslly i am aware that i need a totally different one, but WHICH ONE?? jaja
I get the idea of what you say of getting companies for me to print my designs for my costumers, but...in Uruguay??? there are no such companies. and so is I order a company for another country then i will end up being very expensive for my clients because its like as if im importing them. thats why I want to be independent like, i do them and produce them. but maby thats nos possible. what do you think? thanks so muchhhhhh you are really helping me out here!!!


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## Louie2010 (Feb 26, 2010)

I have a related (wall art business) question.

Are there room templates anywhere that people use to show the vinyl graphic in a room setting. I know there are shirt templates, but didn't know about room settings for wall art. I can't imaging so many of these people selling wall art online are actually taking pictures of such a wide variety of graphics and rooms.

Thanks


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## Corel Whisperer (Sep 1, 2010)

For $3000 you will not be able to get a Print and Cut machine in one unit. I would suggest starting a new post rather than connecting to this one stating you are looking to purchase a equipment to do full color wall graphics. You may get more replays and more help from other members. I am not a Mac person so I'm not sure what cutters will work well with a Mac, you should put this in your post as well. 
You might be able to start out with just a simple cutter and removable sign material for doing graphics on walls for kids. The other issue it think about is once you get all this wonderful equipment home where do you get additional supplies from? This is a very big step to me making in a short amount of time. Do a search of some of the Cutter posts of other people asking about cutters to find the one best to fit your needs.


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## Corel Whisperer (Sep 1, 2010)

Louie2010 said:


> I have a related (wall art business) question.
> 
> Are there room templates anywhere that people use to show the vinyl graphic in a room setting. I know there are shirt templates, but didn't know about room settings for wall art. I can't imaging so many of these people selling wall art online are actually taking pictures of such a wide variety of graphics and rooms.
> 
> Thanks


 I seem to remember someone posting this question before...did you do a search?


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## agusroig (Mar 28, 2011)

you are right! thanks so much my friend!!! I know its a big step, thanks so much for guiding me! bye!!!


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## Corel Whisperer (Sep 1, 2010)

agusroig said:


> you are right! thanks so much my friend!!! I know its a big step, thanks so much for guiding me! bye!!!


No problem that is what the Forum is for! I hope you can find the answers to your questions and more so the equipment that fits your needs. Good Luck!


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## Louie2010 (Feb 26, 2010)

Corel Whisperer said:


> I seem to remember someone posting this question before...did you do a search?


 
I did, but had no luck.


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## Corel Whisperer (Sep 1, 2010)

Louie2010 said:


> I did, but had no luck.


You might look at something like this Free guest suit, living rooms, living room photos,Decor-Photos.com Taking it from a different point of view, you need nice photos of a nice room then you can insert your graphic/wording in the photo using a program. Hope this helps
CW


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## mxmom3 (Dec 30, 2008)

I just got my roland gx 24 and in the learning phase, but I am wanting to make a wall tree for my niece that is expecting. I have found videos on how to apply the tree: som are two to four applications wide. I understand how to apply them to the wall so that it makes the whole tree but how in the world do you cut it? Anyone know of a video showing the design aspect of it?


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## BroJames (Jul 8, 2008)

plan b said:


> If you are going to do this type of work I would suggest buying a good cutter,, the reason why is if you are going to do long cuts like the one that is illustrated you will need a cutter that can track the vinyl film, otherwise you will be fighting the tracking issue on everyone you do.


I don't know what "vinyl film tracking" is for.

The tree design the OP posted is indeed simple and can be done with cheaper China cutters. But I would also suggest a good cutter for the reasons that cheaper China cutters, as I understand, can have cutting problems with meter long designs. Probably memory issues but whatever, it is something to consider.

24" cutters should do the job but the wider the cutter, the more professional you look to your customers. A customer may not know much but a contiguous, rather than tiled, design is more likely to impress.


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## Can-Am (Dec 13, 2008)

I bought a UsCutter 24" Laser point about 5 years ago and have cut thousands of designs on it with no troubles. It started out as something to begin with for lettering our racecars, but has became our main cutter for all these years. Now over the years we have progressed to store front windows and signage, t-shirts/hoodies, as well as car lettering all with the same cutter. Affordable and long lasting, what else can we ask for.
USCutter


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## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

Can-Am said:


> I bought a UsCutter 24" Laser point about 5 years ago and have cut thousands of designs on it with no troubles. It started out as something to begin with for lettering our racecars, but has became our main cutter for all these years. Now over the years we have progressed to store front windows and signage, t-shirts/hoodies, as well as car lettering all with the same cutter. Affordable and long lasting, what else can we ask for.
> USCutter


I also have the same cutter for 3-4 years never a problem and I have had this thing cutting 12 hrs strait before.


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## BroJames (Jul 8, 2008)

Can-Am said:


> I bought a UsCutter 24" Laser point about 5 years ago and have cut thousands of designs on it with no troubles. It started out as something to begin with for lettering our racecars, but has became our main cutter for all these years. Now over the years we have progressed to store front windows and signage, t-shirts/hoodies, as well as car lettering all with the same cutter. Affordable and long lasting, what else can we ask for.
> USCutter



Is that the laserpoint?


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## headfirst (Jun 29, 2011)

Kitjaii said:


> Thanks guys for the response and advices..
> 
> So as far as i'm concerned... there are no such things as Vinyl machines with ink cartitages /prints? I thought there were some vinyl machines that actually prints out the design and cuts it out.


If you're looking to do that you want a solvent printer/cutter. 
They're much slower than just a vinyl cutter. Most of the wall gfx you see are done with cut vinyl rather than printed/cut vinyl due to the time and the cost.

Heres a video of a print/cut in action to give you an idea.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aDISUFFVsA[/media]


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## headfirst (Jun 29, 2011)

Also going to jump in on the US cutter laserpoint. I have a 24" as well and for the price it cannot be beat. It's not as good as the roland, but I think we paid $400 for it in a package with 40 yards of vinyl.


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## BroJames (Jul 8, 2008)

headfirst said:


> Also going to jump in on the US cutter laserpoint. I have a 24" as well and for the price it cannot be beat. It's not as good as the roland, but I think we paid $400 for it in a package with 40 yards of vinyl.


The laserpoint is sold as "CUYI" here in the Philippines. I heard it is a good cutter for its price but in our case the main problem is lack of parts. It is also less sturdy than other brands in the same price range.

I am wondering if the uscutter release is an upgraded version of our CUYI (would anyone know?).

`


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## ludicrousman (Oct 1, 2010)

If you get your business going, let me know. My wife and I are looking for a wall decal printer company.


Kitjaii said:


> Greetings guys,
> 
> I'v decided to start my own little business as a side job. I'm totally new to this type of business as i work in the finance industry but i'v always wanted to do this for fun. My idea is to make custom Vinyl wall decals. I wanted to get some advice on which equipment to get as i been doing some research and i heard the Roland is fairly good. Are there any other vynyl cutters out there that provides good quality thats lower on cost? For an example , would getting these be a bad choice:
> 
> ...


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## ThatGuyWhoPrints (Jul 11, 2012)

veedub3 said:


> I think it could be the Patrón but I have no idea what you are trying to say here.


HAHA Priceless. gotta love this forum


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## jrzworld (Mar 14, 2011)

All you need are vinyl cutter, removable wall vinyl and weeding tools and you're good to go. Startup cost should be under $5K.
@ludicrousman We also do wall decals printing. 





ludicrousman said:


> If you get your business going, let me know. My wife and I are looking for a wall decal printer company.


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## edpax (Jul 31, 2011)

Sir for that particular design that you've shown all you need is a cutter/plotter.The design is not too complicated as it does not require high accuracy what makes it complicated is just the size of it.A cheap plotter/cutter can fairly do the job.and if you decide to buy and use a large format printer you dont have to cut your design as you can simply stick the sheet of sticker on the wall.


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## FastEddie2 (Nov 3, 2012)

Roland vp 540 is a good printer/cutter. We use to have them. Posterhead now uses mimaki's 160sp, 250sp and the jv3 sp75. You can get a plotter to cut them.


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