Has anybody tried this?

[Stephen Freeman]

As some may be aware it is possible to use a Laser Printer to produce a resist

pattern for etching onto copperclad laminate. The design is ironed or heat

transferred onto the copperclad, I just mention this in passing as you might be

interested in how it worked, however this part is not really relevant to the

matter in question.

 

You have to print your design on to suitable paper, which isn't going to absorb

the toner, one suggested paper is Inkjet Photo paper.

 

Now if you are still with me, once printed the design appears to be raised up

from the paper, which leads me to wonder.

 

If you used a colour laser printer with say Inkjet photo labels (shipping

size) could you produce self-adhesive embossed brickwork sheets?

 

I can't answer this, as I only have a monochrome laser printer but if anybody has a colour laser

printer and would like to try it out I'd be very interested to know the outcome.

[Campaman]

Can't see this working as if you print a page full of brick paper both the brick and mortar is printed as part of the whole image so as there is no plain non printed paper betwern each brick it would not end up being embossed, just one large lump of brick paper sitting on top of your inkjet paper.

 

But could be wrong.

[eastwestdivide]

So could you use an inkjet to print the mortar colour, then overprint the bricks (only) with a laser? Seem like a lot of kit to potentially gum up if it goes wrong.

Even if it worked, I suspect it wouldn't look too realistic, as the bricks, while "embossed", would themselves be very smooth.

[Mod6]

Stephen, could you edit the title to describe the topic a bit more clearly please? (edit OP using Full Editor option). "Has anybody tried this?" could refer to almost anything.

 

Thanks

[Baby Deltic]

More detail would be useful, or perhaps some photo's of the process you are trying to describe?

[Stephen Freeman]

Hi,

 

1) I still can't see how to change the Title even with the Full Editor.

 

2) Paper - success would depend to a certain extent on using the right paper (Best result so far on Glossy Inkpen Plotter paper). Experiments to date show that unless you use solid colours, it isn't really worth the hassle though.

[Mod6]

1) I still can't see how to change the Title even with the Full Editor.

 

 

You go to your opening post (it won't work with any subsequent ones). Click on Edit and Full Editor and you will be presented with the topic title as well as the first post to edit as you see fit.

[Ceptic]

As some may be aware it is possible to use a Laser Printer to produce a resist

pattern for etching onto copperclad laminate. The design is ironed or heat

transferred onto the copperclad, I just mention this in passing as you might be

interested in how it worked, however this part is not really relevant to the

matter in question.

 

You have to print your design on to suitable paper, which isn't going to absorb

the toner, one suggested paper is Inkjet Photo paper.

 

Now if you are still with me, once printed the design appears to be raised up

from the paper, which leads me to wonder.

 

If you used a colour laser printer with say Inkjet photo labels (shipping

size) could you produce self-adhesive embossed brickwork sheets?

 

I can't answer this, as I only have a monochrome laser printer but if anybody has a colour laser

printer and would like to try it out I'd be very interested to know the outcome.

 

Hi Stephen.

A good idea, but, if I read you correctly, you contemplate using inkjet photo paper in a laser printer ?.

Just a word of warning, if you are

Laser printers use heat to (I don't know the exact term) melt ? the ink powder, and, in doing so, this has a temdency to lift the carrier surface from inkjet photo paper, thus spoiling the image.

Printers and paper may have improved recently ?, and I haven't tried it the other way round, i.e. laser photo paper in an inkjet printer. I should imagine that would work though.

 

Regards..

[Guest jim s-w]

Hiya

 

Pretty sure that's how the Exactoscale brick sheets were produced, using just the thickness of the ink for relief.

 

Cheers

 

Jim

[Stephen Freeman]

Hiya

 

Pretty sure that's how the Exactoscale brick sheets were produced, using just the thickness of the ink for relief.

 

Cheers

 

Jim

 

Yes but they used a silk screen method - done in Australia, several layers of ink.

[Stephen Freeman]

Hi Stephen.

A good idea, but, if I read you correctly, you contemplate using inkjet photo paper in a laser printer ?.

Just a word of warning, if you are

Laser printers use heat to (I don't know the exact term) melt ? the ink powder, and, in doing so, this has a temdency to lift the carrier surface from inkjet photo paper, thus spoiling the image.

Printers and paper may have improved recently ?, and I haven't tried it the other way round, i.e. laser photo paper in an inkjet printer. I should imagine that would work though.

 

Regards..

 

Hi,

It's a commonly used technique for printing toner transfer resists. A lot depends on the model of printer and paper used. Some laser products won't work well in an inkjet machine.

[noiseboy72]

I have printed Scalescenes sheets in this way. By running the printer at it's highest quality and telling it to print on card, it deposits a very thick layer of toner with a few microns of relief, certainly enough to notice and feel. I have also tried running the paper through a few times and this has some effect, but the paper handling on my OKI is not that accurate and about 50% of the sheets show double printing due to mis-alignment.

 

Original toners seem to be much more dense than generic non brand replacements. I found this also makes a huge difference.

 

I would use photo paper with care, as the surface coating has a nasty habit of sticking to the fuser roller, before being deposited on every print for the next day or so. Maybe try it at work first...

 

It goes without saying you need the mortar to be as pale as possible. Any colour will add toner and thus lessen the relief.

[iak]

I have printed Scalescenes sheets in this way. By running the printer at it's highest quality and telling it to print on card, it deposits a very thick layer of toner with a few microns of relief, certainly enough to notice and feel. I have also tried running the paper through a few times and this has some effect, but the paper handling on my OKI is not that accurate and about 50% of the sheets show double printing due to mis-alignment.

 

Original toners seem to be much more dense than generic non brand replacements. I found this also makes a huge difference.

 

I would use photo paper with care, as the surface coating has a nasty habit of sticking to the fuser roller, before being deposited on every print for the next day or so. Maybe try it at work first...

 

It goes without saying you need the mortar to be as pale as possible. Any colour will add toner and thus lessen the relief.

 

Now then

Would this not be possible with the Scalescenes kits then?

And what type of printer is one using? Some ink may be better for this dodge than others maybe?

I think an experiment is in order here - to the lab!

[Campaman]

I have access to Inkjets as well as a top end Colour copier / printer. As far as I am aware from what I have found when printing scalescenes and bricksheets etc, you do not get any releif between the brick and mortar as you are printing the bricks & mortar as one item as in its one complete image.

 

If you print out the scalescenes test sheet which has plain whitespace between the squabs of brick you can feel a very, very, very slight ridge of the toner, but it is that small that you can not actually see it, and I think its actually the black line that you can feel that surrounds the squabs.

[noiseboy72]

I use an OKI LED printer and with OEM toner and the heaviest setting, you can feel and see the white (un printed) mortar against the coloured (Printed) brick.

 

Yes, it does work with all their kits as well.

 

I use the "Print to Acetate" setting as this puts the toner down most heavily.

 

No type of ink jet is going to acheive the same, as the ink is absorbed into the paper. Toner is melted to the surface, so on a smooth, heavy card, the effect is excellent.

 

I am going to try it on our digital printer at work when no one is looking. I can actually set the print depth on that and should be able to produce event better results. The only issue will be if the finishing layer to give a matte finish flattens off the relief too much

[iak]

Well I know I need a printer and here is another reason why...

Which model are you using?

I also wonder if hairspray would work as a finish?

[Campaman]

I use an OKI LED printer and with OEM toner and the heaviest setting, you can feel and see the white (un printed) mortar against the coloured (Printed) brick.

 

Yes, it does work with all their kits as well.

 

I use the "Print to Acetate" setting as this puts the toner down most heavily.

 

No type of ink jet is going to acheive the same, as the ink is absorbed into the paper. Toner is melted to the surface, so on a smooth, heavy card, the effect is excellent.

 

I am going to try it on our digital printer at work when no one is looking. I can actually set the print depth on that and should be able to produce event better results. The only issue will be if the finishing layer to give a matte finish flattens off the relief too much

 

 

I have tried the scalescenes brick on a Konica Minolta Bizhub C252 colour copier/printer and there is no difference between the bricks and mortar, but that is due to what I have already stated that motar on the scalescenes papers is not the pure white of the paper, its a printed colour.

 

I created a small test print using just small block of 3mm x 1mm red colour with a .25mm gap, and there is a very feint embossing effect, but to be honest the scalescenes paper looks better even without relief.

[noiseboy72]

A couple of points:

My OKi is a 3200, which is quite old. These probably uses more and thicker toner than more modern, efficient designs.

If you are printing onto plain paper, the effect is much more subtle. Try Tuff (Plastic) paper or bright white card for maximum effect.

 

The lighter the printed colour, the less toner used, so even with grey or off white mortar, you will still see a difference.