"Any advice on printing your own decals with inkjet printer?" Topic

Inkjet ink is water-soluble. I do not recommend using inkjet printers, period.

Scan it, using a high resolution scanner: 1,200 dpi resolution.

Reduce it to the size that you need, on your computer. Print it using a 1,200 dpi Laser printer…

Note that when reducing the scanned image, everything will be compressed, and distorted, likely ruining the image in the process. The higher the resolution of the scanned image, the better chance you will have of it surviving the reduction process.

The laser printout (toner: melted microscopic plastic balls, 1/1,200-inch in diameter), on regular paper, can be Mod-Podge'd (decoupage technique) to the models, if printing a reduced size does not ruin it for your tastes.

I've done this sort of thing for 60mm Viking figures (painted as Frost Giants for my AD&D games), applying a laser-printed shield design to the figures' molded shields. It works well enough for me, but I am a, "good enough at 3-feet, is good enough," person. Cheers!

Remember to use a fixative spray after you print them. Failure to do this will result in the decals self-destructing when you try to apply them to the figure (ask me how I know this…).

Microscale Industries makes Liquid Decal Film.

SG, if you don't want to buy a laser printer just to do a decal sheet then there's a few things you can do to get a good decal:

Leave the printed decal for 24 hours, under cover to keep dust off it, so the ink will completely dry. Then spray it with a decal fixative, such as Testors Decal Bonder. You can brush on Microscale Decal Film, but it tends to smear the colours. Let that dry for 24 hours, under a cover so dust doesn't stick to it, and it will be right to go.

The next bit seems complicated, but it gives good results.

Once you have scanned the image then use a vector graphics programme (there's a couple of freebies out there if you don't have Illustrator or Draw) to re-size it. When you save it set the resolution and make sure "Anti Aliasing" is off/not ticked.

Using the decal- don't cut up to the colour or the ink will wash out. Make sure the surface it's going on is at least semi-gloss. Leave about 0.5mm of film around it. Don't immerse the decal in water, put it face down tissue or paper towel and wet the backing paper with a paintbrush or cotton bud. Use them to move the decal into position, once you've got it placed.

Lastly, decal softener can remove the bonder and ruin some decals. Use a tissue wet with boiling water to soften the decal and press down to help if conform to the surface.

+1 Dal Gavan

I have done most of that, but I will try his exact method because it sounds better than what I do.

I have used just plain Testors Dullcote and Glosscoat to fix the decal, with mixed results. I like his idea of waiting 24 hours before using fixative. i never heard of Testors Decal Bonder so I will look for that.

Lots of companies make decal paper, usually it is clear or white. Typically you can't print in white so you use white decal paper and the "white" part of your design is the paper not the ink.

I have used inkjet printers without problems. Don't use the Epson Eco-Tank printers they don't support decal paper.

Good luck.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek

Mike, the bonder gives a nice thin, even cover. Some of the spray lacquers are thick and make the decal semi-rigid, so it doesn't sit down well. Supplies here dried up over the last couple of years, but hopefully it will turn up in the local shop, soon.

Thanks for the tip on the eco-tank printers. My old machine is nearly due for replacement and I was looking at them.

You could also print them to laser printer at a FedEx/Kinkos.

At what cost for the print and how much time to get there and return, mate?

Besides, laser prints aren't fool-proof either and need to be sealed. Some toners are designed for paper, not a plastic surface, are soft and scratch easily.

The advantage of home printing is cost and convenience. It's not a perfect solution- I also deal with a custom decal printer for some things. But for printing several copies of a shield design, a few heraldic badges or similar, perhaps the same design in different sizes, DIY is convenient.

I've used inkjet printers for this purpose and used Testor's aerosol Decal Film to eliminate bleeding of the colors.

The simplest means of sizing that I've found is to open a Word document and insert the image to be printed, dragging the corners to increase (or more commonly) to decrease the size of the image. This retains fine detail information. I'll print the document on plain paper and then attach a small sheet of decal paper with double- sided tape over the printed plain paper image and run through the printer again. This saves on decal paper.

I've made decals with an inkjet printer. Really easy. Just needs two coats of spray varnish (I use Army Painter anti-shine). Leaving everything to dry properly between coats.

You can buy decal paper for inkjets. You need to fix the ink with a fixative spray before use. The other thing to be aware of is that you can't print white areas; you need a special printer for that.

Or white decal paper!

In middle of own custom decal project. What I've learned so far:

Irfanview graphics viewer
irfanview.com
and paint.net ('paint-dot-net') digital picture editor
getpaint.net
are very good software, pay-what-you-wont, should be all you need for the job

Tried asking for 'decal paper for inkjet printers' at art supply stores in Manhattan. Got blank looks. Finally ordered some from Amazon UK website. Is from Hayes Paper of San Francisco, hayespaper.com

Used 'Rust-Oleum Satin Clear Enamel' after printed decals dried. Seems to work well to make ink waterproff.

Photos coming soon, real life must be dealt with first