Hey, folks, I'm in need of some immediate help with decals.

I obtained a large sheet of decal material from either The Rod Room of Fishsticks4U but it's late on Fri night and I'm stuck on how to use it. I've printed what I wanted on the film with my inkjet printer, but I'm not sure (a) that I did it on the correct side of the material and (b) how I now make a decal out of it that I can put on a rod.

This stuff is called ScotchCal ElectroCut.

Can anybody help me? I'll be monitoring this board for the next hour or so - - -

Thanks
Uncle Russ

OK. I figured out which side to use, and how to peel it off. Now the question is how long does it take to dry so that it's usable? Should I heat it?

Uncle Russ



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2006 09:27PM by Russ Pollack.

Russ,
I wish I could give you some advice, but I have had no luck at all with inkjet printers and decals. Not money well spent in my opinion on inkjet decal paper. I am trying to get an Alps Printer and then I will go to town on decals..............Good luck with your decals.........Take care

Big John
Rio Hondo, Texas
Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting

Russ,

Normally you have to "clear coat' inkjet decals. Just like dipping an inkjet copy in water, the colors will run when you apply finish. I haven't used an inkjet peel & stick in ages, but I THINK it's the same procedure as an inkjet waterslide decal, where you simply spray it with clear Krylon (Lowes/Home Depot) before application. That will seal the ink so that the coat of finish won't make it run or bleed.

Mark Griffin
[]
C&M Custom Tackle
San Dimas, California

If you're using an inkjet, you'd most likely want to coat the ink with a clear fixative or similar. As Mark says, it will run if you don't. I use Krylon Clear Acrylic for this very purpose.

..........

Thanks, all. I think I found a partial solution - use the Staples Ink Jet mailing labels in white. They seem flexible enough and the ink dries well on them. I like the fixative spray idea and will try it too. They are made for Staples by Avery and I use Word to select the Avery label template and then replace the template "model" labels with the image I want to use. The clear labels also seem to work but turn out very dark against a dark blank. I think this best use for these might be for silver or gold coloured imprints of the "Made For" and "Made By" labels.

They also make goldf and silver foil lables but I haven't tried them yet.

If you have white in the pattern apparently it will show through clear where you wanted white to be - what I've found out so far is that white won't be printed on a transparency setting.

It's also true that I'm trying to avoid buying a separate printer for this purpose. I can hand-letter my rods using pens and inks specific to the application, but it's "pictures" I'm trying to do that have generated the need.

Uncle Russ