Decal Paper and Laser Printers

[mooproxy]

So I want to use some laser decal paper for my minifigures (from what I can gather it's preferable to inkjet) however I've heard stories of the paper melting inside the printers and jamming up the machinery, and my local print shop is cautious about printing them for this reason. I don't know enough about these things to guarantee I could print them safely, so was hoping someone here might be able to help me out. Is there a particular type of paper or printer which should be safe for this sort of thing? Is there anything I could do to stop them from messing up which won't affect the quality of decal I get out the other end? What would you recommend I do?

EDIT: Just to add - I've been messaging a few sellers of laser decal paper, and a few suggest only putting it in the printer immediately after it turns on so it's not too warm, or not using it at all (apparently it's only designed for home printers). Now my local print shop aren't exactly busy so it's unlikely they'll have just printed a hundred sheets and heated up the printer super hot right before I put them in, but obviously I don't want to damage their printer (and be left with a hefty repair bill). Can anyone here who laser prints their own decals give me advice about what to do here? They use a brother hl-4150cdn if it helps.

Edited September 1, 2016 by mooproxy

[mattb483]

I've purchased my decal paper from decalpaper.com. They have different types of decal paper for inkjet as well as laser. So im not sure if the laser paper is made a certain way to withhold the heat maybe? Check out the site and see if there are user reviews who have used laser decal paper. Hope this helps.

[Foxw]

Yes! A topic where i can actually contribute and NOT sound like a gawking bystander.

Okay, first off, you really do want your own, look at the pixma line from cannon. Thier actually fairly sharp solid laser printers, used several over the years and usually once a year about now wallmart deep discounts one with all the back to school hype.

Far as paper, I've used many many brands over the years (was a scale mecha model builder as budget allowed for last 25+ yrs). One of the BEST i've ever, ever used and most versitile was http://www.modeltrai...calpaper.html

It goes on clear, dries white, little veggie oil after drying makes it clear again. Bit pricy, but ohhhhhhh so good. N worked fine in my pixma's as shown in this pix

https://scontent-yyz1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/fr/cp0/e15/q65/12983457_10153951410486131_267447738002373383_o.jpg?efg=eyJpIjoibCJ9

[mooproxy]

Yes! A topic where i can actually contribute and NOT sound like a gawking bystander.

Okay, first off, you really do want your own, look at the pixma line from cannon. Thier actually fairly sharp solid laser printers, used several over the years and usually once a year about now wallmart deep discounts one with all the back to school hype.

Far as paper, I've used many many brands over the years (was a scale mecha model builder as budget allowed for last 25+ yrs). One of the BEST i've ever, ever used and most versitile was http://www.modeltrai...calpaper.html

It goes on clear, dries white, little veggie oil after drying makes it clear again. Bit pricy, but ohhhhhhh so good. N worked fine in my pixma's as shown in this pix

https://scontent-yyz...fg=eyJpIjoibCJ9

That's really helpful, thanks. I'll keep an eye out for the pixma line but id I'm to get a printer I don't really have the money for a new one so it'd have to be a used on collection only in my area, and so I'm not going to get quite as much choice in what I can get. That paper looks pretty nice though, I might keep an eye out for that if I can find a UK reseller. I've also had Experts Choice Decal Film recommended to me - I don't suppose you know anything about that brand?

[davesbrickroom]

I've had great success with Testors decal paper: http://www.testors.c...s/tools/decals/

I'm sure there are other brands that work equally as well. This paper says it is made for inkjet printers, but I use it with a laser printer. The trick is to print your decal image as a transparency. You can do this by selecting "transparency" as the paper type in the print dialog. This causes the printer to use a lower temperature to bond the toner to the decal paper. The lower temperature prevents the decal paper from being melted and creating a gooey mess in your printer.

Here are some of the images that I've printed using decal paper ...