I was wondering how many guys out there make their own decals. I bought the paper from FoamEZ and was told to put in my printer taped to a piece of paper. Will Ink Jet printer work ? or does it have to be laser ? thanks DR
Howzit Dronai, I think you mean laminates for a board that are printed on rice paper. You can use an ink jet printer with no problem. The Epson printer I use works great and you don’t have to tape the rice paper to a sheet of regular paper. If you want to do decals Avery makes ink jet decals for windows media which is pretty cool since you can do reverse printing and put the decals on the inside of the window. Aloha,Kokua
Yes Laminates is what I meant. Thanks for the advise Kokua. Now to try to find something that will look good.
Using the thin rice paper I bought at Fiberglass Hawaii I had to tape it to a regular piece of paper or it would just bunch up and jam. I was using one of those ink jet printers that double back on themselves though, an Epson.
I posted a close up of one of them here http://www.swaylocks.com/forum/gforum.cgi?post=256445;search_string=first%20board%20pics;#256445
I used the Foam E-Z logo paper in my inkjet printer. It worked. Sort of. I thought the edges were a little fuzzy. Not nice and sharp like a lot of laminates I see used by the pros.
I wasn’t really satisfied. I’ve been thinking I need to try a different printer type or a different paper. Maybe the rice paper like Kokua said.
We have a saying in my business, one test is worth a thousand expert opinions. I’d suggest you print a small version of what you might like with the colors and detail you expect. Print on the edge of the sheet so you don’t waste it, then laminate it. Just use a little resin and glass to stick it to a piece of foam or wood. That should give you a pretty good idea of how it’s gonna work.
Anybody know what materials and printing the big boys use for their lams?
Most are silk skreened on rice paper
-chris
you may have printed on the wrong side of the paper…
Yah, I remembered they told me one side was the print side. Of course I lost track by the time I went to print. When I printed the first one it was a little fuzzy so I flipped the paper and printed again and it was basically the same.
The printer was old. That might’ve been part of the problem.
I’ve been meaning to get some rice paper and print a trial piece.
I use the logo paper from Foam EZ. Mitch’s also sells the same stuff. Print onto the shiny side. I’ve run it through the printer without taping it to a piece of paper. Some sucess some failure. Taping it to paper works better and gives a more crisp print. Of course I’ve screwed it up taped to paper also.
Currently using an HP photosmart printer but the old Ebson made good logos.
I had difficulty with the rollers on the printer bunching up the rice paper when it was simply taped to a sheet of paper. Rather agressive paper feed on my printer! I found I had much greater success by cutting the rice paper slightly smaller than the paper sheet (1/8" border) and then gluing the rice paper to the sheet with a small line of glue stick all the way around. Smooth it out and print as normal.
Just thought I’d let you know that I’ve recently tried printing my own decals on rice paper using a ink jet printer. I had a few hassles getting the paper through but managed it in the end. Proudly laminated said decals along side my usual screen printed decals. Lovely I thought but after one month the jet printed decals had faded radically ,( it was in tropical Balinese sun admittedly, but never the less). I will be using a laser printer next time.
I’ve heard about the fading with inkjet printers. I hear there’s a big difference in the fade resistence of different inks for inkjets.
The key for good light fade is a pigmented ink instead of a dye based ink. Currently that means you will probably need to use an Epson for color graphics. I have used a Epson C86 and an HP5500 (this is a large format) for all the logos I have done as well as some full board graphics.
Many Black inks Hp, Epson, Canon are pigmented. Though the HP Vivera branded inks are heavily advertized and have good fade resistance for dyes, they can’t touch a pigmented system. There are a few HP printers that were announced at a trade show over the weekend that utilize pigmented inks. They won’t be available for a few months and will be pricey 8 ink systems, but very cool if you wanted to do photo quality stuff.
Howzit Stevil. I was reading an article about printer rollers the other night and after a while they get a slicl surface and don’t grip the paper like they should. Go to a computer stroer and ask for some roller reconditioner which will make them work like almost new. I use an Epson C-82 and never tape the rice paper to another sheet and very rarely does the paper wad up. I do a lot of logos for other shapers and my Epson just keeps rolloing along, plus Epson uses Durabrite ink in some of their printers and it won’t fade for at least 40 years.Aloha,Kokua
If you are glassing your board with Polyester, using labels printed on a laser printer won’t work. The powder toner used in laser printers is made with styrene. Your laminates will bleed terribly.
Iv’e been outputting art on an Epson 1520 printer with Lyson Archival inks on rice paper and have had very good results with light fastness. I do full panels on an Epson 7600 plotter with Epson Ultra Chrome inks on cloth. There is a color hue shift with the Ultra Chrome inks that occurs when the boards are glassed - kind of a green cast. I can color correct this by profiling with the Monaco color calibrator but its a big pain in the ass. Have you noticed if this occurs with the HP 5500 plotter? I’m considering purchasing one.
I haven’t noticed a green cast, but I don’t have a keen eye for color. If you want a sample printed on the 5500, just pass on the file, I’ll print it and send it back. PM me if and we can work out the details.
Matt
I use a standard inkjet printer to print decals or pictures. I then cut the decal or logo out. I usually use thick photo paper on flat surfaces especially if there are light colors in the decal. If you are going to wrap the decal around a curving surface you need to use very thin paper and choose colors carefully. Neither Expoxy nor Polyurathane damage the picture however a small drop of water will ruin it. I normally put two or three small drops of white glue on the back of the picture to hold the picture in place and then I lay the glass over it and glass in place. I prefer to sandwich the picture between layers of glass but that adds an addittional step.
There is a tremendous variation in paper handling from one brand/model of printer to the next. When the job calls for printing on media that is of unusual thickness or composition, it helps to look at the paper path from the source to the output drawers. The straighter the path, the fewer the feed problems, all else equal. That’s why the manual feed on printers equipped with that feature typically eliminates at least one 180-degree turn, compared to the main feed drawer.
-Samiam