Weeding
Peeling away the extra vinyl around a cut design by hand, so only the letters and shapes are left on the backing.
The cutter cuts the shapes, but it does not remove anything. Weeding is the hand work of picking out every piece that should not be there: the background around the letters, the gaps between them, and the holes inside letters like o, e, a and P.
It is the reason fine lettering costs more than its size suggests. A 2 foot sign with a few big words weeds in minutes. The same size with a paragraph of small text can take an hour.
Designing for easier weeding
- Keep letters at least about 1/2 inch tall for cut vinyl.
- Avoid hairline strokes and tiny dots. They lift with the waste vinyl.
- Thin script fonts are the hardest of all. Choose a bolder weight if you can.
After weeding, the design gets a layer of transfer tape so it can be moved to the wall or window in one piece.
Related
Transfer tapeA clear or paper tape laid over a weeded decal so all its loose pieces can be lifted and applied at once, in the right spacing.Cut linesA path in the file that tells the cutter where to cut. On stickers and decals it traces the outside of the art.Frosted vinylA translucent film that looks like etched or sandblasted glass, used for privacy bands and elegant window lettering.
