Printing onto black card

[madfrankie]

Hi,

I've got a project I need to do, it involves printing white text onto black card, is this possible?? Using white card and printing the rest in black is not an option.

thanks in advance

 

[Grandad35]

The short answer is no.

Inks absorb color, and black absorbs the entire spectrum of colors. When a very bright, white surface is required, a white coating that reflects most of the light is usually applied to the paper. This coating must be thick enough to completely mask what is underneath. For conventional photo paper to get an acceptable white, this coating is usually about 20-30 microns thick and contains about 30% of Titanium Dioxide (if my memory serves me correctly). Try applying "White-out" onto a black paper to see how thick it must be to cover the black.

When commercial printers want good whites, they usually start with a white substrate and print the darker colors over it.

 

[tyamada]

Yes there is a way if you can put your hands on an Alps printer. You might find one on e-bay.

The Alps printer has a white ink ribbon that can print white on black.

The printer has been out of production for a few years but can be found.

From what I understand Oki printers makes one like the Alps that has a white ribbon but I don't know the model number.

You might do a Google search for printers that use ribbons.

 

[Nifty]

You are right... It would have to be an "impact printer" that would actually strike the ribbon and press a thin (well, thick compared to ink) layer onto the paper.

Footnote: Something a little along these lines is the new iron on paper that has a white background instead of transparent so you can print onto dark colored shirts.