Printing on plastic - non glossy?

[beatmania_king]

Hi there,

I am a university student and for a recent project I am undertaking I will need to print on platic. This may be a newie question but I am wanting to print a non-glossy picture onto plastic but everytime I try with my inkjet printer (Canon MP810) the ink does not stick and easily wipes off. So my question is:


* What type printer should I use (I can access many printers at uni)?
* What kind of ink should the printer use (need high quality, non-gloss finish)


If you need further information on anything please let me know.

Thanks

 

[Grandad35]

Papers used on inkjet printers have a special surface coating which quickly absorbs the ink until it has time to dye the mordants in the paper and dry out. This link gives some basic information on inkjet papers.

Most plastic surfaces also have a very low surface tension so the ink will not wet out on the surface. When coupled with its non-absorbing nature, printing on plastic surfaces is usually a disaster (as you have found).

Try Googling for Inkjet transfer paper, and look for a product that can transfer the image to the plastic that you are using. These products have an inkjet compatible coating which can then be transferred to another product (usually cloth) with an iron.

 

[Molitor]

Are you stuck with one specific type of plastic to print on? There's certain materials you're never going to get ink to stick to no matter what you do. A color laser printer might do better bonding printing to plastic, but running mystery plastic through a laser printer might not be so good for the printer.

You can buy Inkjet Transparency media, which is clear plastic for overhead projectors. I've never used it, but I suspect it's glossy. It may be possible to scuff the surface up to a matte finish with something like a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser before you print on it, but I don't know.

Laminating is another possibily. They do make "liquid" laminators that produce satin finishes over inkjet prints, such as this:

https://www.laminator.com/Product_D...P~Daige-EZ-Glide-38-inch-Liquid-Laminator.htm

If you're getting good prints on a plastic sheet, but the ink remains smeary, that might be something to consider. You may be ables to track down something like that at your university. Or, you could try a can of spray fixative:

http://drawsketch.about.com/cs/howtoindex/ht/sprayfixative.htm

I wonder how what would happen if you sprayed your plastic with fixative (and let dry) before you printed on it.... Anyway, they specifically say not to use hairspray, so I know what I'd try first...

 

[Smile]

I wonder how what would happen if you sprayed your plastic with fixative (and let dry) before you printed on it.... Anyway, they specifically say not to use hairspray, so I know what I'd try first...

Yes hairspray works miracles. There is a few techniques like 1 coating or 3 etc. You must try to get best results on different surfaces. And in Printer driver you must reduce intensity to -40.