Your vehicle wrap provider needs as much information as possible about your vehicle before work can begin on the design. Start your car wrap advertising project by providing the year, make, and model of your vehicle. Wrap providers use special software that grabs the precise measurements of most vehicles and pulls them into a design template. Make sure to note specifics about the vehicle, such as whether it’s a convertible or whether you’ve made aftermarket modifications that won’t appear in most databases. If you’re wrapping a leased vehicle, you may need to provide documentation that the wrap won’t violate your leasing agreement.
Next, determine the look and feel of the design. Start with a general idea of what you want the wrap to display: sales messages, photographs, splashy designs, or calls to action. Experienced vendors will have suggestions for what works best for businesses like yours, but your input is necessary to create a finished product you’ll be happy with.
Most vendors will create a design for you from scratch. If you supply some of your own artwork, make sure it’s high-resolution – at least 150 dots per inch (DPI) – and sent in a file format that the dealer can work with. Never send logos or images taken from your web site – they offer very poor resolution and quality.
If you don’t know how to create artwork in the appropriate file formats, contact the company that prints your business cards or letterhead. It may be able to provide you with electronic files to send to a vehicle wrap vendor.
Wrapping vehicle windows
If your design covers the vehicle’s windows, the vendor will print the design on window perfs, which allow you to see through the covered windows while driving. You’ll have to decide if you want the window perfs laminated or not.
Laminate protects the material from blemishes, harsh weather, and chemical damage, but the added thickness can make visibility hazy. Non-laminated window perfs provide a clearer view most of the time, but can greatly impair visibility during inclement weather.
If you live in areas with frequent snow or ice, it’s best to avoid window perfs altogether. Using an ice scraper to remove ice from a window perf could scratch, stretch, and even possibly tear the material.