We would rather check a file than print it twice
Most of what goes wrong in this trade goes wrong before the machine starts.
Twelve years and one habit
Nishaan opened in 2014 with one desktop printer and a laminator, doing cards and flyers for the shops on the same street. The large format press came in 2017 and the acrylic and signage side in 2020, and there are nine of us now including two fitters.
The habit that built the business is looking at the file. Every job that comes in gets ten minutes of somebody's attention before the machine is switched on: is there bleed, is the resolution enough at the size it is being printed, is it in the right colour mode, are the fonts embedded or outlined. It is free and it is not generosity. A reprint costs us the material and the hour, and about a third of the files that arrive here would have needed one.
The other thing we do is say no to impossible deadlines rather than accepting them and disappointing somebody. Solvent printed vinyl needs about twenty four hours to release its solvent before it can be laminated, and laminating it early traps the solvent and the print bubbles within a month. Every shop in this trade knows that and not all of them will tell you, because the customer wanting it tomorrow is standing in front of them.
We print, we cut, we laminate and we fit. What we do not do is design, and we will tell you which of the three designers we send people to suits the job you are describing.
The people at the counter and on the machines
Ahmed Naufal
Opened the shop in 2014 with a desktop printer. Quotes the signage jobs and goes and looks at the site before he does.
Mariyam Hudha
Checks every file that arrives. She is the reason about a third of the jobs here do not need reprinting, and the person who will ask your de...
Ibrahim Sujau
Runs the 3.2 metre press and the laminator. Will not laminate a solvent print on the same day and has been arguing about it for nine years.
Hussain Riyaz
Fits the signage and the vinyl, usually at night. Knows which lanes a lorry fits down and which walls will hold a fixing.
How long it takes
How quickly can you print?
Two working days for most digital work, three for booklets and anything with a spot finish, and four for a fabric backdrop, which comes by air.
The one thing we will not rush is laminating a solvent print. It needs about twenty four hours for the solvent to leave the print, and laminating it early traps it and the print bubbles within a month.
Do you fit signage yourselves?
Yes, with our own two fitters, in Malé and Hulhumalé. Fitting at night or on a Friday morning for shops that cannot close costs nothing extra if it is arranged in advance.
We look at the site before quoting. On some jobs the fitting costs more than the sign, and that is better known early.
How long will an outdoor banner last?
In full Malé sun, expect the blacks to start going at about ten months and the reds at fourteen. Heavy material buys perhaps four months more.
Nothing sold in this country lasts three years outdoors whatever you are told. Ask any shop to show you a banner that has been outside for a year rather than one off the roll.
Come and see the samples
Abadhah Feshi Magu, Malé. Ask to see a banner that has been outside for a year, not one off the roll.