What if you could cut your sign production costs in half?
Sounds unlikely?
Well, do us a favor then! Take 30 seconds and plug your numbers (or use the defaults) into the calculator below and see for yourself.
What you’re seeing there is the real cost difference between eco-solvent and UV printing.
We’re not just playing around here.
In real numbers, the difference can be as much as $130 per 100 signs.
And the more signs you produce, the more significant that difference becomes.
Which is exactly why we built this calculator. To make that difference impossible to ignore.
Which naturally leads us to the obvious question: where is that cost coming from?
This (and others) are kinds of questions that we hope to answer in this written piece.
We’ve got a mountain to climb. So let’s take it one step at a time.
UV vs Eco-Solvent Corrugated Sign Cost Calculator
Compare the cost of producing corrugated signs with your current eco-solvent workflow versus a UV flatbed printer. Adjust the inputs to match your shop and see your estimated savings, labor recovery, and ROI.
Calculator Inputs
Default assumptions are based on a common 24" x 18" corrugated sign workflow and a UV flatbed comparison using the ColDesi UV-300H3F. Update inputs as needed for your shop.
Results
Eco-Solvent
UV Flatbed
Cost Difference
Capacity and ROI
ROI is estimated by dividing the UV printer price by projected annual production savings. This is a directional estimate and does not include financing, maintenance, or additional revenue from increased throughput.
Introduction: Corrugated Signs Are Simple But Labor Adds Up
Whether you’re just getting started in signage or have spent years (or even decades) in the industry, you already know how often these signs show up.
You see them everywhere; from construction sites and real estate lawns to job sites, political campaigns, and retail promotions. You’ve seen them so many times you’ve probably stopped noticing them. They just kind of blend into the background.
But have you ever stopped to ask why do they show up so often?
It’s a question worth asking.
And the answer starts with just how ridiculously common corrugated plastic signage really is. It’s one of the most produced items in just about any sign shop.
That kind of volume isn’t random.
It’s a sign of steady, ongoing demand. And steady demand usually points to…?
It’s not hard to guess…
It points to a problem that needs solving over and over again.
And in most sign shops, that problem is handled the same way it’s been handled for years.
Eco-solvent printers, vinyl and manual mounting onto corrugated plastic.
It’s a workflow ‘’everyone’’ knows. But familiar doesn’t always mean efficient.
You have to print the vinyl, trim it, weed it, mount it, and then check alignment, along with dozens of smaller steps along the way. It all adds up, and it has to happen for every single sign.
It works, yes, but it’s far from the fastest or simplest approach.
Let’s take a closer look at each step and understand where the work piles up.
Understanding the Eco-Solvent Workflow for Corrugated Signs
Still with us? Good, because we’re about to make simple things look surprisingly complicated.
Not because we want to. It’s just how eco-solvent printing works.
By its very nature, it involves multiple steps, each one practically unavoidable.
…and each step stacks on the last, turning a “simple” job into a surprisingly involved project.
So, in this section, we’ll walk through the process step by step so you see exactly what goes into every single piece.
Ready for this? Let’s start at the very beginning and work our way up.
Step 1: File Preparation & Workspace Setup
Every corrugated sign begins as a digital file. Simple enough, right? Well, not quite. That file must be properly prepared, with correct size, resolution, and color settings. Because even small mistakes here will show up in the final print. And once they do, you’re looking at reprints, wasted material, and lost time. On top of that, the workspace needs to be organized, tools within reach, and everything set up so nothing gets in the way.
Step 2: Printing the Graphics onto Adhesive Vinyl
This is where the digital file actually becomes physical. The design gets printed onto adhesive vinyl using an eco-solvent printer, such as a Roland BN-20 series. The printer reads the file and sprays tiny droplets of ink as the material moves through the printer, until the full design is complete. From there, the print is left to dry and allowed to gas out before moving on to the next step.
Step 3: Mount Vinyl to Corrugated Plastic Sign
The surface is cleaned first to remove any dust or debris. The vinyl is then positioned and secured with masking tape before being applied. A squeegee is used to press the vinyl down, working out air bubbles and wrinkles. This has to be done slowly and carefully to make sure the vinyl lays down clean.
Step 4: Cut to Size and Finish Edges
This is where any excess vinyl or overhang gets cut away so the sign matches the exact dimensions. Depending on the setup, this might be done with a knife, a cutter, or a razor blade. This keeps the edges clean and straight.
And that’s the entire process. A series of deliberate steps one must take to make coroplast signs.
But what you just walked through is only one way to do it.
So the natural next question becomes: what are the alternatives?
What changes when you switch materials, or go with a different printing method altogether?
That’s what we’ll get into next.
How UV Flatbed Printing Changes Corrugated Sign Production
Most of what you just read describes the traditional way of producing corrugated plastic (coroplast) signs.
However, there is a simpler and often more efficient alternative. UV flatbed printing.
It skips most of those steps entirely.
How does it actually do this?
Instead of printing on vinyl and then applying it, as with eco-solvent printing, the ink is printed directly onto the material itself.
And this method is commonly known as direct–to–object printing.
What makes it different is that it simplifies the entire workflow. It removes the need for transfer steps, like manually positioning the print on the material and taping it down.
Because of that, you reduce both production time and the chances for error, since there’s no cutting, trimming, waiting for drying or outgassing, or alignment work.
As a result, there’s also less material waste.
To understand how this simplifies production in practice, let’s walk through the UV flatbed printing workflow step by step.
Step 1: Design Your Artwork
It starts the same way as any other print process, with your design. You’ll create your design using graphic design software like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, CorelDRAW, or similar programs. Within these programs, you prepare the files for printing by adjusting dimensions, resolution, color mode, and other settings to make sure everything is print-ready and compatible with the equipment.
You can design it yourself, hire a professional, or use a ready-made design. The key is making sure the file is properly set up with the correct color mode, resolution, and dimensions.
It’s worth noting that the design phase itself is largely identical across both UV flatbed and eco-solvent printing methods, since both require properly prepared, print-ready files before production begins.
Step 2: Prepare and Load the Board
Next, select the coroplast sheet that will be used for printing. Clean the surface thoroughly to remove any dust, dirt, or oils that could affect print quality. Then, place the board onto the flatbed and secure it in position. If needed, you can use additional supports or jigs to stabilize the board.
Step 3: Set Up and Print
Once the material is in place, you’re now ready to hit “print.”
First, the printer’s software takes the digital file you prepared and converts it into a series of precise instructions for the print head. The UV printer then moves its print head over the material, depositing UV-curable ink directly onto the surface. As the ink is applied, powerful UV lamps are activated to cure it immediately.
So there you have it, a typical and widely used approach to producing corrugated plastic (coroplast) signs using UV flatbed printing.
As you’ve seen, the process itself is fairly simple and straightforward (at least once everything’s set up), and it can take anywhere from just a few minutes to over an hour, depending on things like whether your design is ready, how many pieces you’re printing, and their overall size.
Of course, the exact steps can differ from one person or workshop to another, and they can also vary depending on the make and model of the UV printer and the type of substrate you’re working with, and how someone prefers to work.
But in practice, while the details may shift here and there, the core principles behind the process stay pretty much the same (and that’s really what matters).
So now that you’ve seen how the process works, let’s make it a bit more real this time.
Say you need to print 100 corrugated plastic (coroplast) signs. What does that actually take?
Example Production Comparison (100 Corrugated Signs)
So did you get around playing with the corrugated sign cost calculator?
If you did, you probably noticed how quickly the numbers can change depending on how you produce the signs.
So let’s make it a bit more tangible this time.
Say you need to produce 100 single-sided 24″ × 18″ corrugated plastic signs, and your shop labor rate is $20 per hour.
If you run this job on an eco-solvent printer, you’re printing onto vinyl first and then mounting it to the board. On the materials side, you’re typically looking at somewhere between about $0.45 and $0.90 in ink per sign, plus another $0.75 to $1.05 for the vinyl itself. That puts your material cost at roughly $1.20 to $1.95 per sign, or about $120 to $195 for the full run of 100.
But that’s only part of the picture.
Mounting is where the time really starts to add up. At around 2 to 3 minutes per sign, you’re looking at somewhere between 3.5 and 5 hours of labor just to get everything applied. At $20 per hour, that adds another $70 to $100 or so. Then you’ve got setup time on top of that—usually another 30 to 60 minutes, which brings in an extra $10 to $20.
By the time everything is done, your total cost for those 100 signs lands somewhere in the range of $195 to $305.
Now compare that to running the same job on a UV flatbed printer.
Here, you’re printing directly onto the board, so there’s no vinyl and no mounting step. Ink cost is slightly higher per piece, usually around $0.60 to $1.05 per sign, which puts your total ink cost for 100 signs at about $60 to $105.
From a labor standpoint, the workflow is much simpler. Instead of mounting, you’re mainly loading boards and letting the printer run. In most cases, the entire job can be completed in about 2 to 2.5 hours. At the same $20 hourly rate, that works out to roughly $40 to $50 in labor.
So all in, you’re looking at a total cost of around $100 to $155 for the same 100 signs.
And this is where you start to see the difference.
At this volume, the difference between the two methods is already sitting somewhere between about $95 and $150. And once you start producing more, that difference doesn’t stay the same. The extra handling and mounting time on the eco-solvent side keeps adding up, while the UV process stays a lot more consistent.
That’s really what you’re seeing here.
It’s not just the process. It’s how the time and labor add up once you’re actually producing at scale.
Of course, every shop runs a little differently, and your mileage may vary.
And once you start looking at the numbers like this, you naturally start asking yourself: am I burning money on every print? And is now the right time to switch to a UV flatbed printer?
Ready to expand your business into high-profit custom signage and promotional products? Learn how ColDesi’s UV Flatbed technology can transform your shop’s capabilities here.
When Shops Start Considering UV Flatbed Printer
When you realize your eco-solvent setup may be costing more per print than it should, that’s often the moment you start considering a UV flatbed printer.
Now… most shops don’t act on it right away.
They stick with what they have. Tell themselves the current setup is “good enough.” Promise to look into it later.
Because, to be fair, everything works. The workflow works. Jobs get out the door. And in many ways, staying the same feels easier than making a change.
But if you’re still reading this, we’re guessing you’re not most people.
And if you’re honest, this nagging need for change didn’t show up overnight.
It builds slowly.
It usually starts with small things. Little patterns you begin to notice.
You might notice your eco-solvent printer is constantly tied up with sign work, while other, better-paying jobs have to sit and wait their turn.
You tell yourself it’s just a busy week.
But then it happens again.
And again.
Soon, you notice something else. Jobs that shouldn’t take that long… somehow do.
Mounting vinyl, lining things up, redoing parts that didn’t sit right… time just slips away in places it shouldn’t.
And somewhere in the middle of it, you catch yourself thinking:
“This shouldn’t be taking this long… should it?”
You already know it shouldn’t. And you’re right.
What you’re feeling isn’t just about one bad week anymore. It’s often a sign of a bottleneck.
The honest answer is that your current setup is holding things back. And it’s been happening longer than you might want to admit.
And every week you keep working this way, you lose time you can’t bill for.
Hours spent on work that shouldn’t exist whether you track them or not.
What’s usually happening in situations like this isn’t that something is broken.
It’s that the shop is growing into more work than the setup was originally meant to handle.
That’s not unusual. But it does raise a question:
Does your current setup still fit the work in front of you?
Because if it doesn’t, it may be time to look at what would serve you better.
For a lot of shops in that position, that’s where a UV flatbed printer comes into the conversation.
Not as a replacement for everything… but as a way to take some of the pressure off the parts of the workflow that are slowing things down.
At some point, it’s not about whether things can keep working this way.
It’s about whether you want them to.
And only you can answer that.
If the answer is no, then it’s time to look at UV printers that fit the work you’re doing today.
Where UV Flatbed Printers Fit in a Sign Shop
What kind of work are you currently producing on your eco-solvent printer? Signage? Banners? Labels?
Most likely, yes. But what else?
Vehicle wraps and decals, window graphics, stickers?
You must be already doing at least one of these.
And that’s the point.
Because most of what comes out of an eco-solvent printer tends to fall into one of those same categories.
And when the majority of your work lives there, your business can start to feel boxed into a narrow range of applications.
But what if you could move beyond vinyl and start working with a much wider range of products?
Think about dimensional, rigid items your customers can actually hold.
What if you could print directly onto those surfaces in a single pass, across materials like acrylic, wood, metal, and glass?
What if those materials did not need lamination, mounting, or extra finishing steps because they were already the finished product?
Instead of printing for application, you print onto the final item itself.
That opens the door to an entirely new category of work:
- Promotional items
- Merchandise
- Accessories
- Toys & Models
- Sports Gear
- Drinkware
- Office and stationery products
- Gifts and specialty applications
In other words, you are no longer producing just signage. You are creating products.
And with that comes something every sign shop is looking for: higher margins, faster turnaround, and the ability to take on more work.
