In our last article, we spoke about oversize printing for trade shows and conventions.
If you’ve ever been to a trade show, convention or any event with a lot of signage, you’ve probably come across a foam core mounted sign of some kind.
Foam core is lightweight, and easily cut material used for the mounting of photographic prints. It is made up of three layers. The inner layer is made of polystyrene foam clad, with the two outer layers made of white claycoated paper.
The board is then used as a backing for large color posters and banners so that they are sturdier and can stand up straight.
It is usually self adhesive, so special techniques (that vary depending on size) are needed to mount the printed poster onto the board so that it looks flush and free of bubbles or any other imperfections.
The video below shows a large poster being mounted onto a piece of foam core.
After the print is mounted onto the foam core board, the board then needs to be trimmed so the artwork is flush to the edge of the board, and so that the edges are even on all sides. We use a KeenCut Excalibur A-Frame Vertical Cutter to cut our foam core here at Replica Printing Services. Below is a video of a piece of foam core board being cut on the Vertical Cutter.
Once the foam core sign is printed, mounted and cut, it can then be placed on a small stand so that it can stand up straight at a trade show booth. Below is an example of a map that was printed and mounted onto foam core.
So next time you are at a trade show or convention and you see a large floor standing promotional sign, you will have an idea of how that sign was printed and mounted!
For more information on foam core and other mounting and laminating services that we offer, click here.