'Printing' graphics in panels

[Grimreaper 0]

How would I go about producing the white graphics on this panel. I can make the panel but have no idea how to 'print' the white graphics on it.

[Chock 17,769]

Typically for printing that sort of thing, you reverse out the text from the blue colour, leaving it transparent, then print the blue part on the reverse side of some polycarbonate or other transparent material, then you laminate the rear with a white material which shows through the transparent areas of blue to give you white text. This gives you a scratchproof surface with the colour of the panel and the text under the plastic.

Alternatively, you can use either tampo printing or screen printing, both of which can print white onto colour surfaces. You will know what screen printing looks like; it is typically used for this sort of thing where the blue is printed onto white plastic:

You will know tampo printing if you look at your computer keyboard; the white letters are recesses into the slightly concave keys:

 Most local print places can probably do screen printing for you, tampo printing is a bit more specialised.

With regard to what you are trying to create shown on your picture, notice that the recessed screw holes could easily be produced by laminating one piece of material above another. If you printed the blue on the upper piece with transparent text, and blue on the lower piece, you could then laminate a white piece behind the topmost blue piece so that you had a three layer sandwich, with the text appearing white.

 

[Garys 209]

On 1/19/2021 at 1:58 AM, Chock said:

Typically for printing that sort of thing...

Nice detailed explanation. I have found before repling that you check the op post count. Its a sad fact of late that writing a detailed response is becoming nothing more than just a waste of ones time these days here in this forum. Just take a look again at the dc3 post from last month.

Edited January 23, 2021 by Garys