Posted by:
James Hicks
(---.hsd1.md.comcast.net)
I do labels with my inkjet and the comments above are correct and Dave's tutorial is gerat. The ink is transparent and the colors beneath your clear waterslide will show through so you need lots of contrast. Black ink shows up well against light pastels but other colors will take on a tint from them. The white label paper provides the contrast through the opaque white paper backing.
You can get some really neat effects with the clear paper. Try printing a label that can wrap around the blank using a print area that is a black background with white lettering. The white lettering is clear and the thread beneath the label shows through so you end up with a black decal and the words formed by the under wrap. This same technique works with shillouette images too; I took a black and white image of a bass and reversed it so it was a negative image and I put that into the black print area with the text; with the label placed over HT gold thread I had the lettering and bass standing out in bright shiney gold. Black lettering and images with a clear background look great when put over a light metalic under wrap with a thick coat of epoxy; it looks like the images are floating in thin air. When using colors you'll need to consider the the under wrap color will add a tint; the eyes tend to compensate for it some though.
Do try the white waterslide paper too. With this you won't need to worry about the background colors because they won't show through the paper backing. The edges of your label will be white even if you printed a black background. You can color the edges with a marker to match the ink but go lightly so the marker ink doesn't bleed into the label too much. You may also want to give the label another shot of fixative so the marker ink doesn't bleed into the epoxy.
When you print you should use the "Photo" print seting rather than "Plain Paper". Take your time with the process and make sure everything is dry before you move on to the next step. I use a bottled fixative and I also have the spray. The bottled stuff will give you a much thicker coat resulting in a thicker label that is easier to manipulate on the blank but it is bulky and the edges are are more likely to curl. With the spray fixitive I find that an initial thin coat, let dry, followed by a thicker coat works well for me. The spray fixative labels, especially with the clear paper, will be very thin and easily torn or stretched so you need to be careful when placing the label.
When you're printing a label that will wrap around the blank keep in mind that the rod tapers. Your label may wrap around the blank and meet its other side perfectly at one end and the other end will have a gap. With the thin labels you can just print the labels oversized and overlap some without it looking bad. The thicker labels can be trimmed on the blank if you're carefull. If you have printing or lines on your label right up to the eges that meet on the backside then you'll notice that they aren't parallel once the label is wrapped around the tapered rod. You can try measuring the taper and angling your text or lines to match or you can simply print seperate (thin) labels and collage them.
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www.rodbuilding.org]
