Laser printing decals successfully..?

[mattbacon]

Not being the owner of a colour laser printer, I took some artwork and 5 sheets each of Specialist Crafts (I think they are what used to be CraftyComputerPaper) white and transparent paper to my local print shop. They've done loads of work for me and people I know, ranging from glossy brochures to roll-up posters and large photo prints, so I have no reason to think that they don't know what they're doing. Anyway, they just can't get the ink in their colour laser to stick properly to the paper. They swear they have followed the instructions (each sheet comes with a copy of the how-to). The instructions mention that the paper must be at room temperature to prevent the ink dragging, but it's been in the office for a week, and it's not exactly "cold and damp winter months" when the instructions say that this could be a problem...

I'm at a bit of a loss. Are some laser printers able to print decals and others not (their printer is brand new, so it's state of the art, today)?

More importantly, how am I going to get my decal artwork printed? Anyone know of a "known good" combination of paper and printer that definitely works?

best,

M.

[PaulBradley]

I've had mixed experiences also. One issue is that the printer can get too hot, causing the paper to jam. Another is that the paper is so thick that it won't run through the printer and jams. I've also experienced situations where the colours don't properly adhere to the paper for reasons unknown. I've had my best success with 'large office' HP colour laser printers, where the paper is taken up from the front or back pull-down tray rather than a bottom drawer, thereby taking a more direct route. I also tried to run them at the start of the day before the printer had warmed up too much. I'm no longer at that office so can't it do any more.

I'll also ask the obvious - are you using laser paper, and not accidentally using inkjet paper?

Of course, our resident decal guru, Mike, will probably have a better answer.

[PaulBradley]

Oh, and another issue was that the decal paper wouldn't run through the rollers at all because they couldn't get a grip. So I started cutting pieces of decal paper and taping them to regular paper and that seemed to cure that issue.

[JamesPerrin]

I've only done decal printing on my inkjet I'm afraid, I don't even know if laser printers will work on any glossy medium. You could try giving the decal paper a light mist of a matt coat.

[TeeELL]

I use a Xerox Phaser 6180 and set it as printing on ‘thick glossy paper’. This seems to work although the printed result is quite delicate and I’ve found that a very light coating of varnish is a good idea.