Smallbear Laserjet Decal

[woulfer]

I have used inkjet waterslide labels in the past, with pretty good luck. But it seemed to me that from what I've read here, the laserjet labels were superior. So, I bought a few sheets from Small Bear. They printed nicely on the office laserjet at work. I took them home and did my usual 3 light coats of clear coat to seal them. I waited a day to apply them.

So, as the back is pealed off, I notice that they aren't clear. I assumed they would be. They applied relatively easy, but as they dried, they curled up around the edges. A couple of them didn't stick at all.

I post this not in disrespect to Steve or Small Bear, but to find out if there is something I need to adjust in my label application technique. Has anyone had this problem before?

[Papa_lazerous]

Ok now someone correct me if I am wrong here......  (I am confident I am corect though)

Ok inkjet first,  you print on the paper and then you spray with acrylic then once dry soak and apply.

You need to look at the reason you sprayed acrylic....  Inkjet printers use ink that is water soluable so when soaking the decal the ink will run.  The decal paper still works fine but the ink runs.  With me??

Well Laserslide next,  Laser printers use a toner which is not water soluable.  So we already no that spraying acrylic protects the ink not the paper.  So there is NO need for this when using laser slide

My thinking with the curling and colour problems are that.  The acrylic has discoloured it slightly, its not actually clear.  Look in a tin of acrylic varnish, its like a honey colour!

the laser paper is a different animal so its fair to assume that with the 3 light coats of acrylic applied to its face that it isnt designed to deal with compunded with the fact that its soaking wet has probably made it curl as it dries.  Just like a piece of wet paper would dry if it was laminated with plastic on one side but plan on the other.  It will curl.

This is just a logical observation.  But I think I am not far off the money.

hope it helps

John

[zarathustra]

I think lazerous is correct. There's no need to spray laser decals with a fixative; that's one of the benefits of using them. I never suspected that it would be a bad thing to spray them, but that could very well be the case. Either way, I've used laser decals a few time in the past (no fixative) and didn't experience any of the problems you're having. They worked great.

[theundeadelvis]

I use them on all of my pedals, yes Papa_l is right. You just print them, soak in water, and slide them onto your project (I usually wet the enclosure a wee bit too). Then I clear over them.

[woulfer]

Cool guys. I went back and forth on whether to clear them or not. I thought I found a thread here that recommended to clear coat. But I will reprint them Monday at work and give it another shot.

Here's what they looked like:






Thanks for your advice. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[woulfer]

Man, I am an IDIOT!!!

The only reason I'm putting myself through this public humiliation is that hopefully someone will see this and not make the same mistake.

My decals didn't look clear and pealed of easily probably not so much because of the clear, but because I didn't take off the protective covering of the decal!!! They shipped with an onion skin type of cover sheet attached to each sheet. Not having seen this before, I didn't realize that it wasn't part of the decal sheet!!!

Anyway, I reprinted, cut out, and applied the decals without incident this morning. Thanks for all the advice and help.

[Papa_lazerous]

Glad its all sorted out.

I let out a big belly laugh when I read that 

[Cardboard Tube Samurai]

The only reason I'm putting myself through this public humiliation is that hopefully someone will see this and not make the same mistake.

Thanks for taking an E-beating for the team!  I am going to be using this method shortly and really wouldn't have known to look for that either, so your embarrassment was not in vain

[audioguy]

I just tried some laser water slide, and they went on fantastic! HOWEVER,  when I tried to do a top coat of high gloss lacquer from Rust-oleum I got some image degradation and browning... Is there a prefered way to add a top coat of protectant to the finished product without messing up the laser images?

Thanks!

[Papa_lazerous]

Clear coat has a habit of melting the toner. 

There are various ways round this.  Use a Different clear coat just to get a covering on the decals, and then once its dry continue to clear caot with your usual choice.  I've heard extremely light coats that are left to dry between coats is a good way not to damage the lettering.

Let me know how you get on it will be good to see if you find another way round it

[audioguy]

Yeah I was thinking about several extremly light coats. I only have patches of bad spots, so I wonder if that sjust where I hit it with a little extra pressure, or maybe a little extra spray accumulated there... other than the bad spots it looks and worked fantastically... I cant wait o get this mothod perfected.

[Papa_lazerous]

So you gona show us some pics?

[solarplexus]

I just bought some of those laser print sheets.  What kind of clear you guys use on it?  how many coats do you usually apply?  (It's the first time I am even TRYING to put decals on my pedals).  Is is possible to print a complete surface (top of the pedal with knobs, etc) and then apply it/coat/let it dry ??

May I also point woulfer that as a school teacher, I must reward your question and point out that there is no dumb questions!