Cutting straight seams on wall covering?

Can anybody share information on creating perfectly straight seams on wallpaper? Equipment, best practices, etc.?

We're excited by the WallArt application, and for commercial applications (retail murals, commercial space, etc.) having an overlapping seam will most likely be fine. But for true custom designers and residential applications of rep patterns, a thick wall covering (think Dreamscape products) won't look too hot with overlap, and I can't see designers or true interior professionals being accepting of that. And certainly no amount of dligence in cutting by hand can ensure a "perfect" seam alignment.

The only cutter I have seen is the Fotoba XLD 170 WP, which is incredibly expensive, particularly for a beginning wall covering profit center in our shop. Are there any other more practical solutions? How are those that have been successful in this area handling this until they have the volume to justify such a large investment in this cutter? Is their an outsourcing solution (though that doesn't seem practical)?

Thanks to anyone who can offer insight. We're excited about this application, but concerned it may not be an easy hurdle to overcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFlj8a0qPxE

Min 4:32

We use it all the time with HP PVC FREE wall graphics, but with Phototex we just leave the overlap.

I hope the video helps.

Francisco - Thank you very much, I appreciate your reply. I see now that this is pretty standard. In talking with HP, their description was that the overlap stayed as is. But it looks like with true wallpaper, this is the method. I see they even make a joint slitter for this specific purpose.

Thanks again!!

Hi Graphikal,

There are several ways to cut wallpaper. We've made a video some time ago about the different ways to cut wallcovering which could be helpful. Let me share some of this videos with you:

Different trimming methods for wallcovering: This video will show you several different trimming methods that can be used when printing a wallcovering.

Different medias and application methods for wallcovering: In this video you will be able to see several different wallcovering application methods, from the HP PVC-free wallpaper to Magnetic substrate.

How-to install a wallcovering: Pasting the wall method: In this video our applications specialist Roman Barba install a wallcovering using the overlapping technique.

Hope you'll find this videos helpful.

Yes - very helpful. Thank you Marc.