Red & Green Ink Advisory

Signs that have graphics printed with red and green inks are believed to attract more attention than almost any other color. Because of this they are among the most popular colors used when it comes to designing outdoor signs. For customers that choose red or green colors, we want to caution you that using them does come with a tradeoff.

Red and green are the worst colors when it comes to fading. These colors typically fade much faster than other colors when exposed to direct sunlight.

About Our Inks

Blue Wool is an industry accepted measurement scale used to measure the permanence of the coloring dye lightfastness of ink colorants when exposed to daylight: 1 (least resistant) and 8 (most resistant). The inks we use to print your signs are of the highest quality and have a lightfastness rating of 7+ on the Blue Wool rating scale. However, a higher lightfastness rating may not be enough.

Why Signs Fade

All signs will fade eventually regardless of the type of ink or colors used. While the inks we use to make your signs have an excellent lightfastness rating it’s only one of many variable that determine how quickly your signs will start to fade. When placed outdoors other variables are at work including sunlight, exposure angle, rain, humidity, temperature, and atmospheric pollutants. All of these determine how soon you’ll notice fading.

Under the harshest conditions some inks like red or green can start to experience fading in only 2 to 4 weeks. Even under normal conditions (out of direct sunlight or with UV protectant) you may experience fading in less than 2 years.

What can you do to prolong fading?

• Choose colors other than red or green.
• Place your signs in a location that reduces exposure to direct sunlight. For example, orient them to the Northwest or locate them in the shade.
• While we do add a UV protectant coating to your signs, you can add additional protection using spray on surface treatments that can be purchased at stores like Home Depot or Grainger.

The bottom line of using popular colors that attract the most attention is that the colors will fade faster and will have to be replaced more often.