help with first etched board!!

[Marc.yo]

i'm really frustrated...i'm not getting this right. i've got it printed on the paper and all but when i use the iron to transfer it...it just smudges it...what's the issue?

[John Lyons]

What are you using as a transfer medium?
Let us know some details and we can help you out.

John

[Cardboard Tube Samurai]

Sounds like you might be using an inkjet printer instead of a laserjet?

[alteredsounds]

Make sure you give it a good while to dry, the temptation is to get going but it needs to dry first.

[Ice-9]

The only results ive had with this is to print on photo glossy paper in laser printer at its highest res. (still pretty poor and costly as you ned to print everytime you want a board

I just went to B&Q and bought a small 30mm floro light fitting for £14 and bought a uv bulb at RS for £4 and a ream of gateway tracing paper to print to, transparencies not neccessary.  Now i am getting excelent results. (making surface mount pcb's as well as through hole components. Well worth the the little money i spent) Also once printed you can use over and over again

[Marc.yo]

i think the dry time is the issue. but it's also an inkjet printer

[PerroGrande]

For the toner transfer process (i.e. print on shiny paper, use iron to transfer to board) you *must* use a laser printer.  An inkjet printer will not work for this method.

[markusw]

If you're using an inkjet you might want to try photosensitsed boards. They are not much more expensive than plain boards.

See: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=24890.msg162456#msg162456

To develop the PCB after exposure you don't need to use 1% sodium hydroxide if you are not familiar with that kind of stuff.
There are a lot of premixed developing solutions you can buy and they last for quite a lot of PCBs.

Initially, I exposed the boards with a plain writing desk lamp (took 30-60 min).
Later I switched to a simple 250W bulb (not a UV lmap. thanks for the hint lowstar!  ).
Now exposure is done after 10 min.

I would never go back to toner transfer....

There are lot of tutorials if you google...

[Marc.yo]

i might have to go with photosensitive. that seems a lot better. thanks