Does anyone have a printer that can print out white lettering? I've checked out http://www.railgraphicsdecals.com I'm just wondering if there's anyone who can do just a few sheets for a lot less...
White decals?
- Thread starter V&AL
- Start date
Larry
Long Winded Old Fart
Everyone's printer will print out white letters. The problem is seeing them to make sure all of the lettering is correct. I use printShop 12 to do all my Decals, but I have to put a Border around any letters that I do in white. You might think of a design that would have a very lite yellow border around the letters so you can see them. Just a thought.
Larry
Long Winded Old Fart
Decal paper ain't cheap. That's why these custom decal companies charge what they do. It's not the printing that brings up the price, it's the decal paper. Have you looked at what a pack of Testors decal paper goes for. I bought mine about 5 years ago & the price has gone way up since then. You want to use up a whole sheet when you print a decal set because you have to spray the sheet w/a fixative to seal it up. I use a super clear sparay paint. I don't know what they do for dry print. I still say all printers do white ink. Period.
jbaakko
Diesel Detail Freak
Larry
Long Winded Old Fart
Here's a decal that has white lettering printed on a clear sheet of decal paper. The only reason it's on a red background is so you can see the lettering. If you wanted white lettering you would have to put a frame around the name so you would know where to cut the decal.
When you print white letters on a clear sheet it comes out white letters.
When you print white letters on a clear sheet it comes out white letters.
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Larry
Long Winded Old Fart
Couldn't find a price on what it would cost to do your own Dry Transfers.
Great Idea though.
TMLW
Thunder Mt. Loco Works
I am not able to print white. I do not have a dry ink printer and i do not have a good inkjet printer for making decals anymore. I have another company make most of mine and i am currently looking into another company to make another project i am working on.
Wastrel
Member
Actually Larry, unless your printer has white ink, ie a dry transfer printer, printing white on a clear decal sheet results in a transparent letter. This lettering will show as whatever the background is painted, superimposed by whatever your border color was to determine your cut. So, if you want white lettering you must paint the surface that it is to be applied to white, and hope you have your bordering as close to color matched to the finished paint as possible. Another solution is to buy the white sheet and overprint with the background, again tho this requires color matching to the finished product to make it look right. For simple colors this isn't a problem, but for some of the more unusual schemes it can be a real nightmare.
CP9302
Member
Would you be able to print some white decals out for me?
I need some to do up a few of my freelanced road. PM if you can, and we'll talk prices...
For that scheme, I'd print the blue stripe on white decal paper, then the white lettering would show through. If you have a colour printer you should be able to do them yourself very cheaply. You can get white decal paper from micro mark or bare metal foil. Just remember to seal the decals after printing with a clear coat so the ink doesn't run.
You can use a microscale lettering set for the cab side numbers.
CoolRuehle
Member
Get an Alps printer
Alps MD series of printers will print white graphics on clear decal film. Unfortunately, Alps stopped making and supporting this line a while back.
The printers can be found on ebay, as well as the print cartridges.
Get your wallet out.
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=alps+printer&_sacat=See-All-Categories
--Jon
Alps MD series of printers will print white graphics on clear decal film. Unfortunately, Alps stopped making and supporting this line a while back.
The printers can be found on ebay, as well as the print cartridges.
Get your wallet out.
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=alps+printer&_sacat=See-All-Categories
--Jon
S
southshorechuck
Guest
hi, no printer can print in white. if you need white lettering you should look into a silk screen printer. maybe a guy how silkscreens custom tee shirts might be able to help you.
RW&C
N Scale with Stone Tools
I've been thinking for a while, this can't be this hard to fix. I've got an old printer sitting in the basement, retired because Lexmark quit making cartridges for it. Why not just drill a hole in the black ink cartridge, fill it with thinned white-out or something, and give it a go? Toughest part would be finding a suitable ink, but I'll bet an art supply store would have some kind of acrylic that would do the trick. (Well, that and cleaning all the old black ink out of the system!)
Yet another project to add to my list.
Next time I'm at an art supply place I'll take a look, see if I can't find some white ink... what could possibly go wrong?
Yet another project to add to my list.
Next time I'm at an art supply place I'll take a look, see if I can't find some white ink... what could possibly go wrong? The Alps printers are still being made ... they're just not available in this country any longer. And don't purchase a used one on ebay - they are there for a reason.
Over here, Kodak took over the Alps line and made it part of their proof printer line. These printers (like the former Alps) WILL print white and metallic silver and gold. I have some of the gold lettering from one of these printers and it IS a metallic gold.
The reason the guys that use these machines charge what they do, is the fact ink cartridges have nearly quadrupled in price over the last few years. There is also different white inks as well - underprint white is used under other colors (including white) to make them opaque and overprint white which is used as a secondary pass over the underprint white to make it very opaque.
One unique feature of these machines (aside from the fact they can print spot white) is that they can produce multiple color layers in perfect registration. The paper is not ejected after the initial pass like ALL other printers. The paper remains in the machine as multiple layers (or passes) are applied to the sheet. Try feeding a sheet through a standard printer three or four times and get it in the EXACT position every pass .... won't happen. For example - the artwork shown above has a very dark blue stripe. To reproduce that dark blue stripe WITH the white lettering would require two passes of white and at least three or four passes of blue to attain that dark of a color.
I had to chuckle at a few of the posts in this thread .... the last one being just priceless - seriously ? thinned white-out or acrylic paint in a printer ? That'd be the last time that machine would ever print anything ! LOL
Mark.
Over here, Kodak took over the Alps line and made it part of their proof printer line. These printers (like the former Alps) WILL print white and metallic silver and gold. I have some of the gold lettering from one of these printers and it IS a metallic gold.
The reason the guys that use these machines charge what they do, is the fact ink cartridges have nearly quadrupled in price over the last few years. There is also different white inks as well - underprint white is used under other colors (including white) to make them opaque and overprint white which is used as a secondary pass over the underprint white to make it very opaque.
One unique feature of these machines (aside from the fact they can print spot white) is that they can produce multiple color layers in perfect registration. The paper is not ejected after the initial pass like ALL other printers. The paper remains in the machine as multiple layers (or passes) are applied to the sheet. Try feeding a sheet through a standard printer three or four times and get it in the EXACT position every pass .... won't happen. For example - the artwork shown above has a very dark blue stripe. To reproduce that dark blue stripe WITH the white lettering would require two passes of white and at least three or four passes of blue to attain that dark of a color.
I had to chuckle at a few of the posts in this thread .... the last one being just priceless - seriously ? thinned white-out or acrylic paint in a printer ? That'd be the last time that machine would ever print anything ! LOL
Mark.
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