# How Do They Print on Cars?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-print-on-cars/542919>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 12, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-print-on-cars/542919 "2010-06-12T15:03:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-print-on-cars/542919/1 "2010-06-12T15:03:57Z")

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A few years ago, I saw a car with a unique paint job-the roof was a two color “houndstooth” check print.  
How is this done? Do they use a stencil to paint the pattern? Or is it some kind of stick-on thing?  
I liked the look-but only saw one of these.

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**Author:** ![gang\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f07891/32.png) [@gang\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gang_green)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-print-on-cars/542919/2 "2010-06-12T16:31:00Z")

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It’s most likely a [decal](http://www.carwraps.net/). You see the same type of thing used for advertisements on buses. They can be printed with whatever you want, and they last for a year or more.

They aren’t cheap, though.