O.K. Here’s the problem. I made up some decals on clear Micro Mark decal paper (for Inkjet printers) and ran them off on my HP 895cse printer. The decals are gold in color but when applied to the red surface they just fade away into the background. They do not run, I applied a clear coat after they came out of the printer and allowed them to dry a full day, they just blend into the red background. Has anyone run into a similar problem and successfully solved it?
I’ve some thoughts on a solution: buy some white decal paper and apply white decals first on the red background and they overlay that decal with the gold. But then I would have to very, very carefully trim the decals eliminating all the white background between and around the lettering. I’m good with a #11 blade, but don’t think I’m up to micro surgery! The decals are for a project I contracted for (now wishing I had more common sense) and assured the customer (a cousin) I could personalize the model (Christie fire engine) as one from the Denver Fire Co. circa 1916.
Any ideas, suggestions, solutions, theories, etc., etc., would be most appreciated.
Dick McC
Dick,
I ran into similar problems with my first use of homemade decals. The only way I could fix the problem was to reapply the decals, but over a light-colored base paint.
One thing you could try is to print your decals out again, but on regular paper. Then cut the decal out of the paper and use the paper as a mask. Apply several coats of white, or light grey paint to the mask. Then apply your decal to the white area you just painted.
Good luck!
I had the same problem with the Micromark clear decals. It was red decals over blue background. Even after doubling up, it was still no good. So I went back with the White decal paper and problem was solved. Since you have to cut of the ‘holes’, I don’t see much of a workaround with either the mask idea or white paper. If you go with the white decal, test them out first (I printed 3x more than I needed just to be safe!), you may not need to put the clear over the white. As my white printed decals worked with one layer.
This is why ALPS printers are so popular for decals - very high color density, especially for metallics and light colors.
Swanny has a valid point. Be sure you are getting the absolute best color saturation your printer can produce.
Go the “properties” section on your printer and check the settings - IE: paper = photo quality glossy paper; quality = super fine; etc. Settings and options will vary depending your speicific brand and model of printer.
Certainly appreciate all the input. I’ve had another thought. I’m going to run the sheet through at least twice, after coating it with gloss between each run. May even go for three times. Plan on doing this over a two or three day period just to insure that everything is dry. Needless to say, alignment is a critical issue here or the lettering will definitely be off register. However, I tried it on plain paper yesterday and after three passes everything was looking good. I’ll post something back here to advise how it all turned out.
Dick McC
That’s an interesting idea, one of those ‘why didn’t I think of that?’. Please let us know how it turns out.
The reason that the color disapeared is that the formulation of inks for these printers rely on the white backgroung of the paper to make them work. The inks themselvs are semi transparent to allow the white to make the color show properly. To test how this works and if miltiple passes will work, print your artwork onto a colored sheet of paper and see what happens. for example, if you print yellow over blue you will get a green color. Alps printers can overcome this by being able to print white first then putting the color over that. The other nice feature of an alps is the ability to be able to register layers accuratly over one another.
Dan Pikulski
www.DansResinCasting.com
This is just a thought, haven’t actually tried it…
Use white decal Paper, and then design your decals with a red background? Then you wouldn’t have to be so “surgical” with your #11 blade. Should be able to get almost the exact color red you need by scanning a sample of the color into your computer. Just make sure as stated above, use maximum color saturation.
I, too, have had problems with light color decals on dark colors, now that I am really getting into it. Using white is one way to go. I have been working with using a background color in Word, takes some time and a bunch of print outs, but get pretty close. In this section, see the post called “Matching FS Colors on my PC”. Scroll to Waikong’s response, he has a link to a site that gives Red/Green/Blue settings for FS numbers. This gets you in the ball park for sure.
I print out “proofs” on glossy picture paper before I print on the final decal on decal paper to make sure it will look right. Final printing is done on white decal paper when I am using a background.
Though about doing multiple printings, but worried about alignment. Any suggestions on how to get it alligned every time?
Well, I ran the same decal sheet through the printer twice, after letting the clear coating dry for a day, but all it did was darken my lettering. The first pass was with a light gold, what I wanted, but the second they came out to a shade that was nearly red.
Alignment was not a problem; the wife says I was lucky, but I credit the HP895cse - gotta credit someone, and it can’t be me. The leftering came out just as crisp on the second pass as they did on the first on the two tries, first on plain paper and the second on the decal paper.
Actually the wife had suggested getting some white decal paper and adding a red background to the lettering which is created in a Word doc. She’s the Word, Powerpoint, Access, etc., etc. guru around here. So, what with briflight’s suggestion, plus the wiffy’s, I ordered some white decal paper from Micro Mark yesterday. Will give that a go and see how it turns out.
Dick McC
What about the inverse approach?? Undercost the area where you want the lettering with your desired Gold. Then using clear decal paper, print your decal in Red, but without the letters (i.e. the letters are still clear). Place the decal over the gold area and … voila??? I must admit - I have never tried to do my own decals, so I might be completely wrong [:S]
I am having trouble locating decal paper. I’m sure part of the problem is that I’m in Canada, but does anyone know specifically where I can get them? No offence but I’m looking for a place in Canada due to shipping, duty costs etc.
Thanks.
Darren
DarrenS where do you live in Canada?, here in Calgary PMHobby has testors decal sheets, clear, white and mix of clear and white., plus the fixative needed. I’m sure if you have a good size LHS, they should be able to get it for you.
http://www.pmhobbycraft.ca/
FINALLY! Last week I got in a supply of white decal paper from Micro Mark, and after a number of attempts this past weekend I finally got a shade of red which comes close to matching the red of the Christie Fire Engine. The gold lettering and numbering really stands out and red background blends into the red paint.
Thanks to all for the assistance provided in getting this project back on track.
Dick McC