Guide · artwork & materials
Vehicle wrap or decals?
Decals if you want your name, number and website on the road this week. A wrap if the vehicle itself is the advertising and you want it to look designed rather than labelled.
The three options
- Cut decals — individual letters and logos cut from coloured vinyl and applied. No background, so the vehicle's own paint shows through. Cheapest by a wide margin.
- Partial wrap — printed panels over part of the vehicle, usually the lower half, the doors or the rear. Reads as a designed vehicle at a fraction of a full wrap.
- Full wrap — printed vinyl over effectively the whole body. Complete design freedom, including changing the vehicle's apparent colour.
What we print for this
Proofed before they run
Start from a free design
Magnetic car signs · edit it online
What each is for
| Cut decals | Partial wrap | Full wrap | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relative cost | $ | $$ | $$$$ |
| Install time | Hours | Half a day | 2–3 days |
| Lifespan | 5–7 years | 5–7 years | 5–7 years |
| Design freedom | Flat colour only | Full colour, part coverage | Anything |
| Protects paint | No | Where applied | Yes |
A partial wrap is the value option and it is underused. Coverage of the lower panels and rear doors reads as a fully wrapped vehicle from across a car park, at roughly a third of the cost — and it covers the panels that collect stone chips anyway.
Leased vehicles
Quality cast vinyl removes cleanly from factory paint within its rated life, and a wrap generally protects the paint underneath rather than harming it. Two real cautions:
- Removal takes time and costs money. Budget for it at the end of the lease rather than being surprised.
- Vinyl left far beyond its life is a different story. Sun-baked adhesive after eight or nine years can take clear coat with it. Remove on schedule.
Never apply vinyl over aftermarket respray work without asking. Vinyl bonds to factory paint reliably; it bonds to a cheap respray by lifting it.
Designing for a vehicle
- Three things, maximum: who you are, what you do, how to reach you. A vehicle is read at speed by someone driving.
- Big phone number, on the back. The rear is what people sit behind in traffic, and it is the only panel anyone reads at length.
- Design around the hardware. Handles, mirrors, fuel flaps, body creases and window rubbers all interrupt artwork. Nothing important crosses them.
- Windows need perforated vinyl if graphics cross them, and there are legal limits on the driver's field of view — rules vary between states, so we check before quoting. What is legal where.
- Give us make, model and year. Panel shapes change between model years, and a template that fits a 2019 van will not necessarily fit a 2023 one.
Next
Last updated .