Heat Resistant Transparencies

[angstrom]

I am looking for an inkjet printer and heat rated/resistant transparency film to print color images and project onto a wall using an ETC Source Four lighting fixture with a 575 watt lamp. If you have any ideas or suggestions please let me know, thanks.

Bruce
866.275.9211 (toll free)

 

[fadeaway]

It is not a problem finding general purpose inkjet transparencies. Those that I have found in office supply stores are coated with a swellable polymer as the ink receiving layer. Somehow I suspect that this layer may not be as resistant to heat as the substrate, which I believe is polyester.

A much more heat stable coating can be found with nanoporous coated transparencies since the coating is a ceramic material. These are harder to come by. Look for a company called Pictorico (in the US) -the sheets are actually made in Japan by Asahi Glass. One problem you may run into however is delamination with these types of coatings since the adhesion to the substrate is more prone to being weakened by stresses which may occur due to thermal expansion and heat degradation. These sheets have a slight blue haze due to the coating, and they will shift the light slightly towards red, otherwise they do not distort light projection geometry whereas the swellable polymer types I have used are actually a bit rough in texture and may do so.

Consider using OEM ink since virtually all 3rd party inks AFAIK are more prone to fading which may be an added concern when you are exposing the image to both high light and heat levels. You probably want to stick with dye-based inks if you want the projection to be maximized.

I cannot be more specific than this. I think you have some options that you can try -you will have to do some actual tests.

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

They make 'all-purpose' transparencies that work in both inkjet /and/ laser printers. One side is smooth for laser and the other side is 'gelatin coated' for inkjet printers. Personally, I think it would be a bad idea to run this through a laser since the inkjet layer is probably going to leave some kind of residue inside of it, but it /should/ be reasonably heat resistant.

Some brands are 'clearer' than others, so you should see if you can look at any samples.