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Fast Stencil Tech compared to Self-Adhesive Paint Mask

Which is Better?
Paint Mask or Stencil?

This is a brief article to determine the best product for your project, using a side-by-side comparison of features and drawbacks to each method.

Let's start with Stencils.

What's a stencil? 
Stencils were made of oil board, a resin-impregnated paper card stock, roughly from the 1920s to the 1990s. At that time, several specialty plastics and metals became more popular replacements for the paper and not as easily damaged. Currently, most street markings like the word "STOP" or turn lane arrows are made in sections from metal panels due to their size and the need for flat storage between uses. Polycarbonate plastic and styrene have all but replaced the original oil boards for stencil material.

Stencil shows letter bridges to keep letterforms intact.
How is it used?
A stencil is essentially a panel with cut-outs in it, which mask the non-paint areas.
The cut-outs are the place where paint will be brushed, rolled or sprayed, masking off the non-letter parts to make repetitive wording simple to create.

The rigid material helps to keep the stencil in shape for repeated use, but care must be taken to make sure that the stencil is perfectly flat against the surface to be marked, otherwise overspray or paint leaking into non-marking areas will occur. Large plastic stencils are excellent for parking area markings such as the example here. However, to keep the stencil useful for a longer period of time, some care must be taken to clean and properly store it so it will work properly.

What's a Paint Mask?
Paint masks are typically single-use, computer cut vinyl material with a self-adhesive backing. The fact that the paint mask is cut from vinyl means that it is cut to be as economically made as possible, as the thinness of the material will likely stretch or get distorted as it is removed.
Paint masks allow for more detail, as the coarse and utilitarian nature of stencils do not permit the details available with a computer or hand-cut mask. The self-adhesive backing makes this work where stencils can't, in louvered or uneven surfaces such as this container.

The ability to stay put on a softer surface, like awning or tent fabrics, means that you can get a tight seal between the mask and the surface to be marked or decorated. Once the paint mask is used, it is discarded.

So to recap,
the situations where you would order a stencil is for repeat projects where economy and reusability are key, like parking lot markings, field markings, fleet markings and more.
Perfect for stencils.

The field markings are sometimes "painted" with lime, chalk dust or paints.



The projects where precise letterforms are required without the stencil bridge connecting the letter parts, or where you are applying paint to a flexible surface like an awning, or where the project requires high accuracy and delicate flourishes are best suited for paint mask or another form of markings, including but not limited to:

Painted vinyl
These have links for further information.

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