DIY Clear Decal Sheet for Laser

[TheOneTrueZon]

Any tips on DIY printed decals? I've repurposed plenty but got a few sheets of laser decal sheets. What from I've gathered people say they usually up the print density to get more toner applied to make it more opaque. Anyone else have experience / tips in this regard?

 

Decal sheet brand is Experts-Choice Clear Decal sheet for Laser. Printer is HP Laserjet 500

 

I'll post pictures of image, print and results in this chain.

[TheOneTrueZon]

Decal printing progress. First sheet - disaster. But I was kinda expecting this to happen. Had my media type set as "color transparency" but I guess the fuser in the laser printer didn't set the ink correctly so it bled like a mofo. Looks kinda cool though but since it didn't set the ink flakes off pretty easily. I might try wiping all this off and printing on the decal paper again to see what happens.

 

http://i.imgur.com/aJQXs8a.jpg

 

Second try worked out much better. Setting the media type to "Opaque FIlm" seemed to do the trick and the ink set nicely on the second print. I was really holding my breath since I only have three sheets to experiment with.

 

http://i.imgur.com/QBJnfMx.jpg

 

And finally on a model. The decal took a little longer to slip off the backing and the brush I used move it onto the model and apply some micro sol might have been too rough as it flaked a bit at this point. Looks weathered, but I'd rather do that with paint.

 

http://i.imgur.com/ZdrwLML.jpg

 

There are going to be decals used over painted white. I am doing another print of the same design but since white is extremely hard to do on this kind of process (unless someone out there has a four color printing press they'll let me use) the next set will have a slightly grey / marbled look to them which will print out nicely. Question is how well will it hold up over black. More test results and some army pics soon to follow. Just finished priming all the troops, and now for the long road of painting everything.

[Dosjetka]

Looking good! That second decal sheet looks nice and crisp! Any more pictures for us to see? :)

[Techmarine Harkus]

I use paper that is suited for inkjet printing and I find that a coat of UV resistant varnish helps a lot to keep the colours from running or the transfer from tearing. Not sure if that will help or is necessary for laserjet. Setting the printer to the highest quality and 'gloss' paper does the trick for me. Also,if I can, I also use white rather than clear so that the colours are nice and strong, but that does mean doing some colour matching.

[Carlson793]

I use paper that is suited for inkjet printing and I find that a coat of UV resistant varnish helps a lot to keep the colours from running or the transfer from tearing. Not sure if that will help or is necessary for laserjet. 

You don't. The operation of the laserjet fuses the image to the surface of the paper, so you don't need to seal it. With inkjets, the image just sits on the surface of the paper. A clear coat after printing basically locks the image onto the paper.

[Race Bannon]

With inkjet, I'd let the ink settle overnight before sealing it.  Depending on the amount of sealer used, the ink my "bleed".  Learned the hard way ;)