home made decals
Discussion
Okay, quick rundown.
You need waterslide decal paper of the correct variety. There are essentially 4 types, inkjet clear, inkjet white, laser clear, laser white. The stuff I use I import from the States as it is very very thing and is blue backed (very handy when printing white decals).
As I suspect you'll be using an inkjet, you need to buy either inkjet clear or inkjet white. The difference between the two is that the clear will produce a decal on a clear film, the white will produce a decal on a white film.
Once you have printed your decals, you will need to allow them to dry and then clearcoat them. If you try to use them without a clearcoat, they will turn into a good representation of a tie-dye t-shirt. I used to use Halfords lacquer to clear coat my inkjet decals, but make sure you use very very light coats. If you soak them with clear coat, tie-dye time.
Artwork: This needs to be as high a definition as you can. I work in 600 - 1200dpi. The better the image going into the printer, the better the image coming out. You need to check your printer settings and do some test prints to find the best options. With my Epson R310 (I think) I set the media to glossy photo paper and photo print, but this does depend on the individual artwork, some differs depending on what it is, hence a test print. Sometimes the higher the print quality the more puddling of ink you will get, which is a bad thing.
The biggest hurdle to overcome is density of colour and this is where you have to balance up which decal paper to use, clear or white. If you are putting the decals onto a dark surface, you will lose the image on clear paper. Now, you could print onto the white paper and everything will be okay, but you need to leave a bit of space around the print when you cut them out or the water will get to the print. If you're using white paper this will obviously leave a white ring around the image. Maybe not something you want to see. One way around this is to print an outline of the image onto white paper, cut out and apply to the surface. Then, print the actual image onto clear paper, cut out, and apply over the top of the white decal you applied earlier.
If you want to achieve white text using the above methods, you need to use white paper, and try and match the surface colour on the decals, so if the surface is black you need to surround the white text on the decal with the closest black match you can print. However, you will still be left with a faint white halo around the decal where it is cut out. Another method is to again use a white paper base, as above, but print the black (for example) surround onto clear paper and then overlay onto the white you've already applied.
So, a shopping list would be;
You need waterslide decal paper of the correct variety. There are essentially 4 types, inkjet clear, inkjet white, laser clear, laser white. The stuff I use I import from the States as it is very very thing and is blue backed (very handy when printing white decals).
As I suspect you'll be using an inkjet, you need to buy either inkjet clear or inkjet white. The difference between the two is that the clear will produce a decal on a clear film, the white will produce a decal on a white film.
Once you have printed your decals, you will need to allow them to dry and then clearcoat them. If you try to use them without a clearcoat, they will turn into a good representation of a tie-dye t-shirt. I used to use Halfords lacquer to clear coat my inkjet decals, but make sure you use very very light coats. If you soak them with clear coat, tie-dye time.
Artwork: This needs to be as high a definition as you can. I work in 600 - 1200dpi. The better the image going into the printer, the better the image coming out. You need to check your printer settings and do some test prints to find the best options. With my Epson R310 (I think) I set the media to glossy photo paper and photo print, but this does depend on the individual artwork, some differs depending on what it is, hence a test print. Sometimes the higher the print quality the more puddling of ink you will get, which is a bad thing.
The biggest hurdle to overcome is density of colour and this is where you have to balance up which decal paper to use, clear or white. If you are putting the decals onto a dark surface, you will lose the image on clear paper. Now, you could print onto the white paper and everything will be okay, but you need to leave a bit of space around the print when you cut them out or the water will get to the print. If you're using white paper this will obviously leave a white ring around the image. Maybe not something you want to see. One way around this is to print an outline of the image onto white paper, cut out and apply to the surface. Then, print the actual image onto clear paper, cut out, and apply over the top of the white decal you applied earlier.
If you want to achieve white text using the above methods, you need to use white paper, and try and match the surface colour on the decals, so if the surface is black you need to surround the white text on the decal with the closest black match you can print. However, you will still be left with a faint white halo around the decal where it is cut out. Another method is to again use a white paper base, as above, but print the black (for example) surround onto clear paper and then overlay onto the white you've already applied.
So, a shopping list would be;
- Decal Paper: Of the correct variety, one supplier is Craftycomputerpaper
- Artwork: In as high a quality as possible
- Clear coat: Halfords Lacquer, Johnsons Klear if you can airbrush it on
- Warm water: warn water is better than cold water
- Sharp scalpel or scissors: you don't want to tear the image with blunt tools
- Patience: you can never have too much of this.
Edited by Red Firecracker on Thursday 13th January 11:09
Red Firecracker said:
said, quick rundown.
Thanks that covers most of my questions - I had guessed the edges would be the problem area you have given me plenty to think about and trynow all I need a go !
btw I have a laser printer if that makes any difference
Edited by Whitefly Swatter on Thursday 13th January 11:22
Whitefly Swatter said:
Thanks that covers most of my questions - I had guessed the edges would be the problem area you have given me plenty to think about and try
now all I need a go !
btw I have a laser printer if that makes any difference
Same procedures, just make sure you buy the laser jet paper rather than the inkjet paper (very important).now all I need a go !
btw I have a laser printer if that makes any difference
Edited by Whitefly Swatter on Thursday 13th January 11:22
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