Summary: The Business Case in Brief
For temporary outdoor advertising (election posters, sale signs, festival announcements), vinyl is often too expensive and regular paper too weak. Blueback paper (Billboard paper) is the industry standard for billboards. Why?
- It has a blue backing that is 100% opaque. You can paste it over old posters without the underlying image showing through.
- It is resistant to rain and glue.
- It is dirt cheap (prices around € 0.50 per m²). For copy shops and repro houses, this is a margin-killer (in a good way): low purchase price, high volume, satisfied customer.
The Technology: Wet Strength and Opacity
Standard white paper becomes translucent when it gets wet (from glue or rain). Blueback has a special coating that prevents it from deforming or tearing during wet pasting. The blue back blocks light, keeping colors on the front bright, even when the sun shines brightly on it.
Business Fundamentals: Margin Calculator
Let’s do the math.
- Purchase Blueback: € 0.60 / m².
- Ink (PageWide): € 0.40 / m² (low coverage).
- Total material: € 1.00 / m².
- Selling price: € 15.00 / m² (standard poster price).
- Margin: 93%. Compare this with Vinyl or Canvas, where the material costs are x10. For campaigns of 2 to 6 weeks, Blueback is unbeatable in ROI.
Media & Supplies: HP PageWide Pro
In the past, Blueback could only be run on solvent printers (slow, smelly). Now there is Blueback media for HP PageWide XL Pro. This means you can print posters at 30 m² per minute. An order of 500 election posters is finished while the customer waits. No drying time, no harmful fumes, immediately ready to paste.
Europlan Service: Try a Roll
Have you never printed on Blueback before? It does require the correct color profiles (ICC) to prevent colors from becoming dull on the slightly grayer paper. We install these profiles for you free of charge.
Conclusion: The “Billboard” Experience for Everyone
You don’t have to be a multinational to be on a billboard. With Blueback paper, you make professional outdoor advertising accessible to the local bakery, the sports club, and the political party.
Would you like to broaden your offer with outdoor posters?