Rub-on Transfers - Laser Printed Transparencies

Now it's time to see if these rub-ons I've been experimenting with work with laser prints.

The Products:

• Apollo Color Laser Printer Transparency Film (CG7070)
• Samsung ML2010 Black & White Laser Printer

The Process:

Again, pretty simple. I just printed off my images onto the Transparency Film, using my laser printer this time, cut out my image, and then rubbed it onto my surface. I tried this in my art journal, which had a coat of gesso on it. I just wanted to see if it would work, so I wasn't worried about following the procedure I used in the 1st experiment, where I transferred an inkjet print onto a piece of plain copy paper.

This time, I went ahead and tried my transfer right away. I do believe that the sooner you make the transfer, from the time of printing, the easier it is to rub-off. I forgot to mention that the transfer I made in the 1st experiment, with inkjet prints, was done within one hour of printing, while the transfers I did for the 2nd experiment were done over 2-3 days after I'd printed them. It seems I had to rub much harder on those 2nd experiment transfers. Just a word to the wise, if you're going to try this.

The Results:

(click image to enlarge)

It worked!

Conclusions:

I think it worked even better than the inkjet prints I tried, in that it's clearer and darker (i.e. more ink came off of the transparency). However, the image itself printed more clearly with the laser printer (which makes sense, as the transparencies are made for laser printers). I also did this transfer within 5 minutes of printing it, so it's hard to tell if it's the laser toner that's making the difference, if it's the time factor that's making the difference, or if it's both.

I will be re-running the same experiment that I did with acrylic mediums, using these laser prints, over this next week. I want to see, again, how well they stand up to abuse and wet mediums. Because the prints will be older by the time I transfer them (I printed off a bunch of the same image on the same transparency), maybe we'll be able to tell if time makes a difference in how much ink comes off the transparency and onto the surface.

ETA: From some of the comments and emails I've been getting, I realized I wasn't being clear about something on these rub-on transfer experiments. I've been printing on the "right" side of the transparency, the side that's a little bit rough to the touch. This is the side that has the coating, that allows the ink to stay put on the film, without it beading right off. This is also the side that's recommended when doing Leslie Riley's technique for inkjet transfers. That's why I was so surprised that it worked - I didn't need a wet medium for me to be able to rub the print right off the transparency.

I do know that there is a technique where you can print on the "wrong" side of the transparency, the smooth side with no coating, and then immediately do a transfer onto your substrate. I've had problems with this in the past, where the ink would just bead up way too much for me. I have yet to try that technique with these printers, but I've added it to the list. But, it's another reason why I was so excited that these worked - the need to transfer immediately seemed to be taken away. Of course, I've noticed that it's easier, when it comes to the rubbing, to do it sooner than later, but it's not necessary. I was able to print off a whole slew of images onto one transparency that I can save for later.

Just wanted to make sure I'm being clear. :D

Rub-on Transfers - Results of some experimenting

In my last post, I was prompted by Zom (from Pinch Me to See if You're Dreaming...fabulous blog, go check her out) to ask the question "Ok, how well do these rub-on transfers hold up to abuse, or being painted over?" So here is the experiment to answer that question. Because I use mostly acrylic and craft paints, the experiment is focused on how well these transfers do with acrylic mediums.

The Products:

I transferred my rub-ons onto 4 different acrylic painted surfaces, and then one set of images I transferred onto uncoated paper. These were all done on the back of a piece of Canson Acrylic Paper (my pad of paper looks like what's in the link, but Canson has changed it to look like this now).

Here are the four acrylic mediums I used:

• Delta Ceramcoat Craft Paint- Fleshtone
• Golden Heavy Body Paint - Titan Buff
• Golden Gesso - White
• Liquitex Matte Medium

The Process:

(This is lengthy, so if you want to skip it, I recommend heading to the Results section, and looking at the pictures.)

I wanted to see if transferring these rub-ons to various acrylic mediums would alter how well they stood up to abuse. So, I tried a craft paint, a high-quality acrylic paint, gesso, and matte medium. I chose to try craft paint vs. a high-quality acrylic paint, because craft paints use fillers and non-pure pigments, and I wanted to see if that made any difference in how well the transfers held up. Again, like in my previous post, I also transferred the rub-ons onto plain paper, with no medium under-coating, to see if that made a difference as well.

First, I printed out the same, highly-detailed image onto one Apollo Color Laser Printer Transparency Film (Product Number CG7070), 20 times (so I would have extra), using my Epson Workforce 500 all-in-one printer. Then, I painted three swatches of each acrylic product onto the back of a piece of Canson Acrylic Paper. Canson Acrylic paper has a canvas-like texture embedded in the paper, and the front is coated with a gelatin-like substance. I used the back of this paper, so the gelatin coating wouldn't interfere with the results. I wanted a thick, canvas-like paper that would withstand the "wetness" of acrylic mediums, to prevent any wrinkling when I painted on the mediums. Plus, I wanted to see what these transfers would look like on a rougher surface, while I was at it. :D

I cut out each individual image, and rubbed one onto each of the three acrylic-coated surfaces, as well as rubbing three transfers onto the plain, uncoated paper. So, we have a total of 15 transfers to examine.

For each acrylic medium, and the ones on plain paper, I left one of the transfers alone, so we could see what it looks like if it's not touched. I smudged the 2nd transfer on each medium with my finger, to see how much ink would come off. You should know, I rubbed VERY hard with a clean finger, because I really wanted to put these transfers to the test. I painted the 3rd transfer with matte medium, to see how well these transfers behave with a very wet acrylic medium.

Ideally, it would have been better to use one transfer, and then smudged it (and then taken before and after pictures), and then used another transfer, and then painted it with the Matte Medium (and then taken before and after pictures), but I just didn't think of it at the time I did this experiment. Just wanted to mention that. :D

This is all easier to understand when you see the pictures, I promise.

The Results:

Here is the image that I used, as it looked printed out onto the transparency film:

And here is the first set of results, on the Delta Ceramcoat Fleshtone, the Golden Heavy Body Titan Buff, and the Plain, Uncoated Canson Acrylic Paper:

(click on image to enlarge, to really see how these turned out)

And here are the second set of results, on Golden White Gesso, and on Liquitex Matte Medium:

(click on image, please)

There are two transfer results for the "Plain paper, Matte Medium Undercoat, Matte Medium Overcoat", in the first results image, because my first transfer came out so light. I just wasn't rubbing hard enough to get it transferred. So, I did a second rub-on transfer, and did the experiment on both, just to see what would happen.

As far as rubbing on the transfers, it was easier to get the ink off the transparency on the Delta Ceramcoat paint, the Golden Heavy Body Titan Buff and the Golden Gesso, with the Gesso being the easiest. I had to rub hard on all of these transfers, but it seemed I didn't have to rub as hard, or for as long, to get the ink on to those three mediums.

Here are the results for which transfers looked the best when just left alone (not smudged and not painted over with Matte Medium), ranked from best to worst:

1. Golden Gesso - White
2. Delta Ceramcoat - Fleshtone
3. Golden Heavy Body - Titan Buff
4. Plain, uncoated side of Canson Acrylic Paper
5. Liquitex Matte Medium

These results are a bit skewed, because what really mattered was how well I held the transfer still, and how hard I rubbed. Therefore, the Plain, uncoated paper looks all smudgy, but that's because the transfer moved while I was rubbing. So, take those results with a grain of salt. While I think the Golden Gesso really did outperform the rest, how hard you rub and how still you hold the image while you're rubbing, THOSE are the things that matter the most.

Here is how the transfers performed when I rubbed them with my finger, ranked from best (no smudging) to worst (look at all that smearing!):

1. On plain, uncoated side of Canson Acrylic Paper (tiny smudges)
   
2. On Golden Heavy Body - Titan Buff (tiny smudges)
   
3. On Golden Gesso - White (obvious smudging)
   
4. On Delta Ceramcoat - Fleshtone (total grey halo, lots of smudging)
   
5. On Liquitex Matte Medium (total grey halo, lots of smudging)
   

And here is how they are ranked, from best to worst, when painted over with Liquitex Matte Medium:

1. Golden Heavy Body - Titan Buff (no smudging -those greyish lines in the picture are a shadow, created by the brushstrokes, since the paint wasn't totally smooth)
   
2. Delta Ceramcoat - Fleshtone (no smudging)
   
3. Golden Gesso - White (no smudging)
   
4. Liquitex Matte Medium (some streaking)
   
5. Plain, uncoated side of Canson Acrylic Paper (wow, now there's some serious smudging)
   

Conclusions:

Personally, I was surprised with how well these transfers held up. Yes, painting matte medium over the plain transfer resulted in a smudgy, grey mess, but otherwise, overall, they did pretty good. Of my results, I was also surprised to see how poorly these transfers did over Matte Medium, in just a plain transfer, in being smudged and in being re-painted with more Matte Medium. I can't even begin to fathom why that would happen, but, ok, lesson learned. Don't do these transfers over Liquitex Matte Medium.

It looks like your/my best bet is to try these transfers over an acrylic paint or gesso, and then paint over them with matte medium (or perhaps another acrylic sealer, like gel medium or gloss medium), to ensure no smudging. I honestly don't know how well other sealers will work, but if I try a different medium, I'll let you know (I'm a Matte Medium kinda girl).

Ok, so will some of you go out, and try these rub-ons with the transparencies that you have, on your printers, to see if this works with other brands? I'm really curious if other combinations of inkjet transparency film and inkjet printers will let you do rub-ons. Heck, I'd love to see if this would work with laser transparencies and printers as well. Come Play with Me!

ETA: From some of the comments and emails I've been getting, I realized I wasn't being clear about something on these rub-on transfer experiments. I've been printing on the "right" side of the transparency, the side that's a little bit rough to the touch. This is the side that has the coating, that allows the ink to stay put on the film, without it beading right off. This is also the side that's recommended when doing Leslie Riley's technique for inkjet transfers. That's why I was so surprised that it worked - I didn't need a wet medium for me to be able to rub the print right off the transparency.

I do know that there is a technique where you can print on the "wrong" side of the transparency, the smooth side with no coating, and then immediately do a transfer onto your substrate. I've had problems with this in the past, where the ink would just bead up way too much for me. I have yet to try that technique with these printers, but I've added it to the list. But, it's another reason why I was so excited that these worked - the need to transfer immediately seemed to be taken away. Of course, I've noticed that it's easier, when it comes to the rubbing, to do it sooner than later, but it's not necessary. I was able to print off a whole slew of images onto one transparency that I can save for later.

Just wanted to make sure I'm being clear. :D

Rub-on Transfers - Happy Accident

So, I was messing around with my Epson printer the other day, trying to get it to print on a transparency, and made a new discovery (well, new to me, maybe not new to others) - the transparencies I have make great rub-on transfers. Read on for the story, as well as some pictures of the results.

See, the folks at the inkjet_transfers Yahoo Group, per artist Leslie Riley, recommend that you print your transfer onto Apollo Inkjet transparencies, instead of on paper. These transparencies have a special coating on them, that not only allows the inkjet ink to settle down on a surface (without smearing), but also will let you transfer the image cleanly. You lay down your transfer medium (I've seen Golden's Soft Gel medium, Golden's Matte Medium and Elmer's Squeeze n' Caulk- Clear all mentioned) on the surface you want to transfer to, lay down your image printed on the transparency over the medium, burnish, and then lift. Much easier than using paper, because you don't have to wait hours for the medium to dry all the way, and there's no rubbing and removing paper.

Only, it's not quite as easy as it sounds. It takes a lot of practice. You have to find the right amount of medium to use - enough so that the image will transfer, not so much that your image will slide right off when you're burnishing (although some recommend using a brayer, to prevent slipping). The amount of medium has been likened to the amount you use to butter toast, but, heh, I use a LOT of butter, lol.

Then you need the right transparency film, and these aren't cheap. I've seen people recommend whatever version they make for your printer (from Apollo - and NOT the quick-drying kind), as well as, specifically Apollo Inkjet Transparencies CG7039 (can't find this particular product on the ACCO website, so this is a link to a store. This may not be in production anymore). Some people also recommend 3M's Multipurpose Transparency Film #CG6000 for inkjet transfers (still in production, it looks like).

I think my problem is that I have the wrong kind of transparencies. I decided to try Apollo's Color Laser Printer Transparency Film (CG7070), because it was on major sale at Office Depot. I bought this about 2 years ago, and on ACCO's website, the product number is now CG7070E, so the formula may be different now.

Now, I used to be able to get transfers to work, via Leslie's method, with my old Canon printer, with these transparencies. But I couldn't get them to work with my HP printer - the inks would slide all over the place, and if my surface had any kind of bump, anything around the bump wouldn't transfer. Since I didn't have the "right" transparencies to begin with, I just figured that was my problem, and didn't do much more experimenting. I just stuck with the old tried-and-true paper methods.

But, the other day, I was having a discussion with someone on the inkjet_transfers Yahoo group, about how I couldn't get transparencies to print on my Epson anyway, and this prompted me to try again. See, my Epson (and possibly all Workforce Epson All-in-One's), won't read transparency film coming through your printer. It thinks you're out of paper. So, you need to tape a carrier page (just a piece of plain copy paper) to your transparency, and then your Epson will "see" your transparency, and print on it.

Well, the last time I tried to print on one of these transparencies I have (after having taped it to a carrier page), back in October, the ink smeared horribly. I had told it to print on "Glossy Photo Paper", figuring a transparency was a glossy surface, and it printed it on it's 2nd highest ink setting. I didn't think about it at the time, but that was using a LOT of ink. And the other day, I wondered if I tried it on the "Plain Paper Setting" (uses less ink), on high-speed (so it wouldn't smear), if it would print out correctly. I figured it would be good to test it, on transparencies that didn't work for transfers anyway, to see if I could even get a decent print.

And it did, it worked! Eureka! Now, if I could only get it to do a transfer? Well, that wasn't working so well, again. I think I need to use a lighter touch with my medium, because it was smearing again. And because there are bumps in my art journal (I glue in a lot of paper), it slid all the more easily. The transfer won't lay down completely flat, because it's a plastic film. Arg!

But then I noticed something. The ink on my transparency image looked like those rub-on tattoos and rub-on transfers you see. I wondered if the ink would just rub-off the transparency, if I burnished along the image with a popsicle stick.

And wouldn't you know it, it worked! Here's some pictures as proof:

Ornament on Apollo Color Laser Printer Transparency Film (CG7070), pre-transfer

Ornament on new sheet of paper after transfer


How the ornament looks now on the Transparency Film, post-transfer

You do have to rub pretty-hard, and as you can see, not every bit of ink is going to transfer. I also recommend cutting your image out from the rest of your transparency, if you have multiple images printed. As you can see, some of the ink from the other ornaments transferred to the new sheet of paper.

I've only tried this with black-ink images, so I don't know how well color inks will work for a rub-on transfer. Also, the product I have, CG7070, is now CG7070E on ACCO's website, so the formula may be different now. And this is from my Epson Workforce 500, with Durabrite inks. So, while I can't really say "Oh, go out and buy these transparencies, it will work for you and on your printer", I can encourage you to try this out, with the printer and transparencies you already have. It may work the same for you.

In case you're wondering, those images are free Photoshop brushes from various sites, that I have gathered over the years. Photoshop brushes are a great way to find free clip-art images, that you can resize and recolor to any size and color you want.

ETA: From some of the comments and emails I've been getting, I realized I wasn't being clear about something on these rub-on transfer experiments. I've been printing on the "right" side of the transparency, the side that's a little bit rough to the touch. This is the side that has the coating, that allows the ink to stay put on the film, without it beading right off. This is also the side that's recommended when doing Leslie Riley's technique for inkjet transfers. That's why I was so surprised that it worked - I didn't need a wet medium for me to be able to rub the print right off the transparency.

I do know that there is a technique where you can print on the "wrong" side of the transparency, the smooth side with no coating, and then immediately do a transfer onto your substrate. I've had problems with this in the past, where the ink would just bead up way too much for me. I have yet to try that technique with these printers, but I've added it to the list. But, it's another reason why I was so excited that these worked - the need to transfer immediately seemed to be taken away. Of course, I've noticed that it's easier, when it comes to the rubbing, to do it sooner than later, but it's not necessary. I was able to print off a whole slew of images onto one transparency that I can save for later.

Just wanted to make sure I'm being clear. :D