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design software (image transfer)

updated mon 16 feb 98

 

Russel Fouts on tue 10 feb 98

Mary,

>> I have found that images drawn with any graphics program, or text, or
scanned images, can be printed on an inkjet printer and laid face down on
wet clay. After a short time, the ink will have migrated into the clay
enough to guide you for carving or slip trailing or underglaze painting-
whatever. The ink itself is burned out in the bisque firing. Of course
text must be flipped so that it will read correctly on the clay.

Could you describe this in more detail? I've heard of doing this with a
LaserJet or laser photocopier (pull the "printed" page out before it goes
under the fusing roller) but never an inkjet. Should the image be "fresh"?
Do you wet the page? What make/model of inkjet printer are you using? I know
that ink in the original cartridges for the HP DeskJet and HP DeskJet 500
was not waterproof and would come off on ANYTHING if it got wet.

Russel

Russel Fouts
Mes Potes & Mes Pots
Brussels, Belgium
32 2 223 02 75
Http://users.skynet.be/russel.fouts
Http://www.japan-net.or.jp/~iwcat

Danny Bird on wed 11 feb 98

I have found that images drawn with any graphics program, or text, or
scanned images, can be printed on an inkjet printer and laid face down
on wet clay. After a short time, the ink will have migrated into the
clay enough to guide you for carving or slip trailing or underglaze
painting- whatever. The ink itself is burned out in the bisque firing.

I've heard of doing this with a LaserJet or laser photocopier (pull the
"printed" page out before it goes under the fusing roller) but never an
inkjet.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I've done a bit of rasslin' with these ideas myself. I've wondered if an
oxide or stain of some sort could be substituted for the toner in a
laser printer. Of course, it would require dumping the oxide into an
empty toner cartridge, and putting that into your printer. Would it
still fuse to the paper?

Would the pigments used in printer toners always burn out in a firing?
Seems like there must be something in toner that would leave an image?
Any help?

Of course I'm reluctant to put manganese dioxide in my new laser printer
to test it. Has anyone else tried this? :-)

Bird

Carrie Shields on thu 12 feb 98

Many laser printers print with iron oxide...meaning that's what is in the
printer cartridge that you buy off the shelf at the computer store. Make sure
you pull the image out of the paper before it goes under the fusing roller.
At SDSU people put laser prints on their pieces by laying the image face down
on the clay, then coating the back with xylene from a printmaking blender pen.
The other possibility is to print the images onto blank ceramic decal paper
and then apply that to the piece. I'm afraid that I can't provide anymore
specific information as I haven't tried any of this myself and my professor
and classmates have experimented with so many variations that I'm not sure
what's what any longer.

Russel Fouts on thu 12 feb 98

Mary,

>> I have found that images drawn with any graphics program, or text, or
scanned images, can be printed on an inkjet printer and laid face down on
wet clay. After a short time, the ink will have migrated into the clay
enough to guide you for carving or slip trailing or underglaze painting-
whatever. The ink itself is burned out in the bisque firing. Of course
text must be flipped so that it will read correctly on the clay. Maybe I'll
scan in some images of what I've tried with this- let me know off list if
you are interested. <<

Could you describe this in more detail? Should the image be "fresh"? Do you
wet the page? What make/model of inkjet printer are you using? I know that
ink in the original cartridges for the HP DeskJet and HP DeskJet 500 was not
waterproof and would come off on ANYTHING if it got wet.

I've also heard of doing this with a LaserJet or laser photocopier (pull the
"printed" page out before it goes under the fusing roller) but never using
an inkjet. (Danny Bird, replacing toner with RIO is a real interesting idea
to try on YOUR printer. It would have to be ground REAL, REAL fine. With
normal toner, you get a light even staining after firing. It's in one of
those little paperback books; "Ceramic Printing" or "Printing on
Ceramics". )

Since sending this the first time, I've tried it several different ways but
have got no transfer.

1. Wet the paper = Paper(!) transfered to the clay.
2. Don't wet the paper = Nothing transfers.
3. Pulling hair out = premature baldness

I'm using an Epson Color Stylus 800 (black cartridge).

Russel

Russel Fouts
Mes Potes & Mes Pots
Brussels, Belgium
32 2 223 02 75
Http://users.skynet.be/russel.fouts
Http://www.japan-net.or.jp/~iwcat

Dana Carlson on fri 13 feb 98

Lighter fluid does the same thing as the "blender" magic marker. I think
you'd have to burnish the back of the paper to transfer the image. Probably
why the magic marker works well.

Dana

George Mackie on fri 13 feb 98

At 10:15 AM 2/11/98 EST, Danny Bird wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I have found that images drawn with any graphics program, or text, or
>scanned images, can be printed on an inkjet printer and laid face down
>on wet clay. After a short time, the ink will have migrated into the
>clay enough to guide you for carving or slip trailing or underglaze
>painting- whatever. The ink itself is burned out in the bisque firing.
>
>I've heard of doing this with a LaserJet or laser photocopier (pull the
>"printed" page out before it goes under the fusing roller) but never an
>inkjet.
>
>I've done a bit of rasslin' with these ideas myself. I've wondered if an
>oxide or stain of some sort could be substituted for the toner in a
>laser printer. Of course, it would require dumping the oxide into an
>empty toner cartridge, and putting that into your printer. Would it
>still fuse to the paper?
>
>Would the pigments used in printer toners always burn out in a firing?
>Seems like there must be something in toner that would leave an image?
>Any help?
>
Danny - the toner used in some photocopiers contains about 30% iron and will
survive firing, so you can glaze over it with a transparent glaze and
produce a permanent image that is proof against scratching or fading. The
iron image is like that produced by red iron oxide if fired in oxidation.
Les Lawrence at Grossmont College in california has experimented with
putting coloring oxides into the toner cartridge but I dont think he got
anywhere with it. I dont know if theres anything in ink jet print that would
survive firing, but laser print uses a similar toner to that used in
photocopiers and would doubtless work if you could transfer it to the clay
with a suitable solvent applied to the back of the piece of paper or get the
paper out before it went through the fuser- Ive tried with a HP laserjet and
its too full of safety features to be much use. .

Fred Paget on fri 13 feb 98

Two or three years ago I posted that method of pulling out the paper
before it was fused. Works fine with the toner in a HP Laser Printer. As
for timing, there is a blinking light on the front of my 4MP printer and I
pop the cover on the 17th blink and get it right every time. With this
method you cannot get a full page image as the top of the page goes about 2
inches into the fuser before the bottom clears the toner cartridge.

Since then I have a better method where I can get a full page and which
works mainly on glazed tiles. I purchase tiles with a plain white glossy
glaze. I print the image in reverse on release paper* and let it go right
on all the way through the printer. I then coat the glazed tile with "Gold
Size" ( available at Art Stores - it is used for gold leaf) and after it
drys to a tacky state I apply the paper to the surface, rub it down good
with my hand and then rip it off - like taking off an adhesive bandage the
hard way! The toner comes off the release paper and stays on the surface.
Then fire to cone 04. Works good on white tiles as an overglaze. I used it
to make a cone table to post on the door of a kiln.

I have not tried this yet on wet clay or bisque and there may not be
enough adhesion to remove the image. If someone tries it please post. I
will get around to it sometime.

HP toner seems to be very weak under a clear glaze. Everything I tried
bleached it out (under clear glaze) but as an overglaze it gives a good
image - a crisp dark brown. I wonder if about 1/2 percent of Cobalt
carbonate were mixed into the toner if it would go through the printer and
give a strong image. Ditmar please copy!

*OK what is release paper? It is the backing paper that you throw away
when you peel sticky labels off the backing. I used the backing from 8 1/2
x 11 sheets of Avery labels after the labels were removed. You can use the
release paper over several times if you get all the image off. Residue can
be removed by using Scotch tape to clean the sheet. Be shure to print on
the front side as the back of the paper is usually not treated for release.

For software we have a lot of different programs available here as my
wife does newsletters on the Mac. Photoshop is good for manipulating a
scanned image. For creating your own images Adobe Illustrator is a bit
much for the neophyte as it has a steep learning curve but once you learn
it is amazing.. I picked up a paint program called Pixel Paint in a surplus
and outdated software place down in Silicon Valley. It once sold for
several hundred dollars but I got it for 15. It is no longer supported but
works fine. It is a lot like Correl Draw.
Fred Paget
..
>Many laser printers print with iron oxide...meaning that's what is in the
>printer cartridge that you buy off the shelf at the computer store. Make sure
>you pull the image out of the paper before it goes under the fusing roller.
>At SDSU people put laser prints on their pieces by laying the image face down
>on the clay, then coating the back with xylene from a printmaking blender pen.
>The other possibility is to print the images onto blank ceramic decal paper
>and then apply that to the piece. ....
>Carrie Shields .

>I've thought about trying different "stuff" in the toner too. Only thought,
>so far though, since a failure can get pricey, trashing a copier or printer
>in the process. The main problem I see is to get the particle size small
>enough. It's not on the top of my priority list, I know I'll do it sooner
>or later. I'm always keeping my eyes open for used / cheap copiers to
>experiment with.
>Ditmar/Gayle


From Fred Paget, Marin County, California

M. S. Davis on sun 15 feb 98

Russel and CLAYARTers,
We have an HP Deskjet (inkjet 540) which produces a highly
soluble print. Even the hint of water will make a smudge on the page.
We printed a cartoon and laid it on rolled out porcelain. It immediately
transferred beautifully to the clay. It works! Now, we'll try other
clays but I do believe it will work on all clays. We will use our Paint
programs to make our own designs.
Dorothy Davis
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
msd@unc.edu

On Thu, 12 Feb 1998, Russel Fouts wrote:

> Since sending this the first time, I've tried it several different ways but
> have got no transfer.
>
> 1. Wet the paper = Paper(!) transfered to the clay.
> 2. Don't wet the paper = Nothing transfers.
> 3. Pulling hair out = premature baldness
>
> I'm using an Epson Color Stylus 800 (black cartridge).
>
> Russel
>
> Russel Fouts
> Mes Potes & Mes Pots
> Brussels, Belgium
> 32 2 223 02 75
> Http://users.skynet.be/russel.fouts
> Http://www.japan-net.or.jp/~iwcat
>

George Mackie on sun 15 feb 98

At 11:16 AM 2/13/98 EST, Fred Paget wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>
>method you cannot get a full page image as the top of the page goes about 2
>inches into the fuser before the bottom clears the toner cartridge.
>
Fred- Ive been doing this with unfused phtocopier images but with HP
laserjet 11P I can only get 2inches of unfused image. I used your letter as
a sample. The part as far as WILL GET AROUND TO IT SOMETIME was fused and
the part after NOT TREATED FOR RELEASE unprinted (no toner) - doesnt give
much room for artwork. With an old Ricoh photocopier I can 4- 5 inches of
good stuff.
>
> HP toner seems to be very weak under a clear glaze. Everything I tried
>bleached it out (under clear glaze) but as an overglaze it gives a good
>image - a crisp dark brown. I
>
Are you firing too hot? I find my Ricoh toner images disappear into the
glaze progressively above cone 06. So I bisque fire with the image in place
at 04, then apply transparent glaze and fire to 06. I use frit 3195-based
glaze. For some unknown reason frit 3134 completely dissolves out the toner
image. Maybe its because 3134 has no alumina, but why?

Yourmethod with gold size looks interesting. Others have recommended
Citra-Solv but it didnt work well for me. Much the best of my results are
from applying unfused images direct to wet clay surface but as you point out
there is the problem of not being able to use the whole of the picture
because of the way those damn companies design their machines. George