Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/637632
110 • WRAPS • 2 0 1 6 TOOLS & EQUIPMENT M ore and more sign makers are har- nessing the watery magic of water- transfer printing to add contour-hugging images to practically any object. It does take skill, and the right equipment, to do it right. If you've done a fair share of vinyl wrap jobs, you understand the amaz- ing, contour-hugging results you can get. And you're also well aware of the Introduction to Soaking up the skin-tight images of hydrographics B Y A N D Y S T O N E H O U S E Andy Stonehouse is a Boulder, Colorado- based freelance writer, who has covered the automobile industry for the past decade. frustrations faced as you try to add a flat, two-dimensional image or pattern to a complex three-dimensional surface. But for those who'd really like to be able to completely wrap their designs around the most challenging of objects, the emerging world of hydrographics is beginning to allow sign shops to abso- lutely customize a broad array of cus- tomer products. First seen in the U.S. as a way of pro- viding faux wood relief trim on automo- tive parts—dashes, door inlays, or even air conditioning vents—the hydrograph- ics process has now expanded to allow Hydrodipping H Y D R O D I P P E D G R A P H I C S