Vinyl decals have been around a long time, most commonly used in advertising. With the increased popularity of vinyl being used for decorating purposes, there is much confusion on the difference between printed vinyl decals and cut vinyl decals. Both mediums will produce stunning decals for decorating purposes. However, there are some differences and those differences may determine which type you choose for your decorating project. Let’s explore those differences below.
PRINTED VINYL is much easier to install and will closely resemble what you think of as a “peel and stick” sticker. Printed vinyl is basically what it sounds like, inks are used to print a design onto clear or white vinyl and because of that, printed vinyl can produce a decal that has many multiple colors. Printed wall decals are also ideal for gradients and shading, photographs, illustrated artwork, and when specific colors need to be maintained.
CUT VINYL takes a little more time and patience to install, but once installed it can appear to be hand painted. Cut vinyl decals have no background, the background that you see behind the cut vinyl design is what you install it onto. Cut vinyl decals are die-cut from pre-colored rolls of vinyl and because of that you are limited by color selection. We compare cut decals to cutting shapes out of construction paper. You have a single color to work with, and multiple colors can be layered during installation.
