I tried to print on the Experts Choice clear inkjet decal paper, and I must be doing something wrong. The art prints great on plain paper, but looks awful on the decal film. Splotchy and less detail. I'm using a Cannon S800 printer.
The bottom of the package of paper says to coat the paper first with Microscale flat before printing with an inkjet. I'll have to try that.
If you have any wisdom to share regarding how to apply the flat (airbrush or hand brush) how thick, other types of flat that will work ( Testors Dullcoat, Future and Flat base) I would be grateful.
I used that exact paper and have no problem whatsoever. I use HP DeskJet
930c. I set the maximum printing quality and resolution and quality is almost as good as from inkjet photo paper.
YOU CAN'T COAT the paper before printing!!! The ink will not adhere to ANY varnish! The structure of the paper itself is microporous and this lets the ink "attach" to it. Once you coat it, this feature is lost ank ink will not adhere at all. You HAVE TO cover the printed decals with Microscale Liquid Decal Film AFTER the printing to seal the ink. The ink is water soluble, so you need to seal it with liquid decal film, or some other clear varnish to make it waterproof. You should spray the film, cause application with handbrush may smear your designs.
I used that exact paper and have no problem whatsoever. I use HP DeskJet
930c. I set the maximum printing quality and resolution and quality is almost as good as from inkjet photo paper.
YOU CAN'T COAT the paper before printing!!! The ink will not adhere to ANY varnish! The structure of the paper itself is microporous and this lets the ink "attach" to it. Once you coat it, this feature is lost ank ink will not adhere at all. You HAVE TO cover the printed decals with Microscale Liquid Decal Film AFTER the printing to seal the ink. The ink is water soluble, so you need to seal it with liquid decal film, or some other clear varnish to make it waterproof. You should spray the film, cause application with handbrush may smear your designs.
I think you've just identified what you did wrong: failure to follow the instructions that came with the decal film.
Ink isn't like paint. It has to soak into the surface of the paper. It can't do that on decal film because the film is waterproof; the inks just form a puddle on the surface, like water on a sheet of glass. You have to coat the decal film with something that the ink can grab onto, or use a decal film that already has a special coating. And the inks aren't waterproof (at best they're "water resistant"), so you have to seal it after the ink is dry by spraying another clear coat.
Whats kind of cheesy is this paper is billed as "Inkjet decal paper" and the instructions on the front don't mention anything about having to flat coat it first. It's only on the back side at the bottom under "Ink jet update" does it say you need to coat the paper first before ink jet printing. Does anyone make a decal film that is pre-coated so it actually will work with a Inkjet printer right out of the bag?
Although the gentleman in a reply says it prints just fine out of the bag on his HP inkjet.
What about the glossy photo paper? it must be real special, because it looks glossy, but it must have some tiny ink-holding holes or something. Maybe my Cannon is a little different than other inkjets, because I can't use the super-cheap Fry's glossy photo paper at all to print photos, they look like heck on that stuff, but on Cannon photo paper it looks just like a phot lab print.
I was just trying to find someone who has used the paper with a flat coat and could tell me if it works.
I'm surprised that there is such note on your Experts Choice paper. As I wrote before I use this exact paper (both clear and white - but I find white useless, it has too thick film and almost no adhesive, so decals are almost impossible to apply). There is no mention about the coating it first on my paper, and as I wrote before I don't see how the flat coat could make the ink adhere.
Yes, it prints fine! Take look at my model of MiG-29 here:
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The large "67" numbers, the blue parts of mermaid logo and some of the stencils were printed on Experts Choice clear inkjet decal paper, without any undercoat, just coated with Microscale Liquid Decal Film after printing.
Yes, exactly. It is microporous. If you try to print on regular photographic paper you will notice that ink will not dry for a long time and then it will smear easily at slightest touch. But on inkjet photo paper the ink dries fast and is resistant to touch - despite the fact that both papers look the same.
You are right, Canon printers use different technology then others. HP and Epson printers are regular inkjet printers, but Canons are actually "bubblejet" printers. Technology of appling ink is completely different. I think in regular inkjets the ink is applied through some piezoelectric nozzles, while in bubblejets it has something to do with the temperature. Don't remember all the details, so will not try to explain it any closer.
I never tried to apply the flat cote on the ExpCh paper, but I tried it one on the regular decal paper. I coated the paper with flat enamel varnish. And it didn't work! The ink didn't stick and at touch it just smeared all over the paper :-(
I use this paper without any kind of precoating, on my HP Officejet G55, and it works reasonably well. I set my printer to print on glossy photo paper (in the print options) with maximum drying time. Do not increase ink quantity, it will only smear the paper. You have to coat after printing. I use their spray fixative, which smells awful. I'm not really happy with the results however : the ink is quite translucent, for example black ink will show up with dark green edges. You have to use the decals on light surfaces. I still have to use their white paper (which might solve the opacity problem, but create two others : you might have white edges to cut away, and some gentleman just mentioned, the film does not adhere as well). I think I will also look for a copy shop willing to print on decal paper.
in article 3f1f66c9.12218374@68.6.19.6, Larry Grapentine at snipped-for-privacy@cox.net wrote on 07/24/03 12:08 AM:
I don't care for Experts Choice. The base is almost rubbery and doesn't take ink as well as I would like. I use an Epson Stylus Photo 820 and its inks are a little particular as to what they adher to well.
I have found that SuperCal makes a paper for Ink-Jet printers that works very well. The paper comes in both clear and white and needs no preparation prior to printing. I does need a coat of clear fixative afterward however. A sampler box with spray-can of fix and five sheets of 5.5 x 8.5 inch paper cost me $20. I've bought refill packs of paper (white, clear or mixed) which have ten sheets of paper for $20. I'm still working on the original can of fixative.
I usually cut the paper into smaller sizes for printing, then do my layout artwork to fit the smaller size. Makes the paper go a lot further. And I usually print multiple images as well, just in case.
I don't like the Experts Choice papers either, mainly because it doesn't work well with my Lexmark printer. I have had very good sucess using clear and white decal papers from Micro-Mark. I design artwork or copy some existing decals, print them out on their papers and follow-up with a light coat of decal fixative-(I use Krylon Matte clear). After the fixative is dry, I cut out the decals and apply them as normal using my favorite setting solutions. On my first try, I re-printed kit decals for an Italeri 1/72nd scale F/A-18F and the model won first prise at a local IPMS contest! For the Micro-Mark brand decal paper, go to
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Good luck and happy modeling!
Greg Williams IPMS/Roscoe Turner Chapter Indpls. IN.
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