I have seen a few posts on this topic, but was wondering if anyone has used the decal paper for ink jet printers that Micro-Mark sells. I understand the issue with printing white lettering, but I don't think I'll be putting down a couple of hundred $$'s for an Alps printer.

[:)] Ryan

Hey Karlb,

[:D][wow] Yea, not to shabby at all for a first attempt!

I like your web site too!

Thanks for sharing,

Ryan

Purchase an Epson printers that use the dura bright inks as this ink is OIL based. Solves the water problem.

BOB H Clarion, PA

Ryan

The newer Epson all use the dura-bright inks. So if you have an older machine it may now be able to use the OIL based ink. In which case you may have to invest in a new machine.

My son worked a Staples and was able to test almost all of the machines.

BOB H Clarion, PA

I have a high resolution HP printer and have been working on this decal issue, too. I made a 1200 dpi Photoshop document to print from. So far, I've found that the print quality as far as detail is concerned, is great...as long as I print with dark or black ink. Lighter colors look fine on white paper, but aren't opaque enough to cover dark paint. I'll have to design a railroad color scheme that uses a light main color and dark lettering, all freelance, of course.

Good Luck, Everyone,
smyers

Ryan,

I'm at the office now, but I'll post the details for you when I get home in a few hours.

Best,
smyers

Well, Ryan, the little box on my PC says "HP Photosmart 7150 series". Mine is probably a low end model as it lacks the slot for a digital camera memory card and an LCD preview screen. It takes a 57 color cartridge and a 56 or 58 black. It's USB connected. It'll do 4800x1200 dpi. I'm amazed at the quality of detail of even the smallest text I've done. That would be some of the warning data like "Fuel Cut Off" or "Danger 600 Volts" etc. Every letter has crisp, clear serifs even though I need a magnifier to see them! Maybe not Microscale quality but certainly adequate for the non-contest modeler, especially under a coat of weathering. The ink appears to be oil-based as it takes a while to dry and has that "texture" to it. I ran a 20 year old sheet of decal paper through it with no problems.

The other aspect of this decal thing is the source file and application. I set up a 1200 dpi document using Photoshop to print from. Any good image editor will work as you can adjust the resolution of the file. I don't know if a word proccessor will do that. A 1200 dpi image creates a huge file that takes some time to print and modify, but the results are worth it. It won't do as well from lower rez files. Until I started using high rez documents to begin with, my print-outs were Joe Average, even with the photo printer.

Of course, you can't print white, though you can knock white out of another color with a paint program and print on white paper . And the light colors are not opaque enough to cover dark paint on a model. But for dark or black letters and graphics the potential is high. This weekend, I hope to actually use some of my test shots as decals after clear coating them. I hope it works! The PC has great potential especially for free-lancers. I've hated lining up dozens of teeny little letters on the hood of a diesel!

Good Luck,
smyers

Ryan

The Epson printer that we are using are the C80 and the RX500. The last one has 6 color tanks but we have not had time to really get into using this machine.

Now to do white, we use the white decal paper and just print the body color around the letters. It has worked out ok but we need access to a pantone chart so we can color match the colors to the unit body color so the decals blend in better. We have the CR blue down pat!

We have made road signs, route signs, police decals, Pennzoil decals, Conrail, Pittsburgh & Shawmut RR and a lot of special industry decals for various freight cars.

The system works but I wi***here was a way to double print the color as the lighter colors (Yelloe, Orange) tend to be somewhat translucent.

BOB H Clarion, PA

Ooops;
Spraying my test shots with clear Krylon acrylic enamel, as recommended by one decal paper vendor, caused many letters to bleed and run, and had the same effect as spraying weathering chalk with a clear overcoat. The colors "thinned", becoming even more translucent, even solid black.

Oh well, back to square one.

Best,
smyers