Looking for an easy way to print transfer a logo or image? Don’t have time to get transfer paper? Did you know you can use… regular paper? Turns out there’s a pretty awesome method that just uses Acetone to transfer the ink!
Using a laser printer, print off your desired logo or image. Don’t forget to mirror it! Place the paper onto the material you would like to transfer the graphic to, face down. It works best on wood and cloth, but can also be done on metal, glass and even plastic!
Tape the corners so it doesn’t move around on you, and then get out the Acetone. Wet a cloth with it, and gently rub the back of the paper over the logo. Continue doing this and letting the paper dry until the ink has fully transferred. Once you’re done you’ll have a permanent ink transfer on your new material!
We’ve shared toner transfer methods before, which can aid in PCB fabrication, but we don’t think we’ve ever seen this method before — certainly a handy tool though!
May be an coincidence, but just seen it with PCBs …
http://www.instructables.com/id/Heatless-cold-Toner-Transfer-for-PCB-Making/?ALLSTEPS
What a clever way to transfer toner, definitely worth a try!
Thanks for the link
:o)
thanks! hadn’t heard of that before, but makes sense
TL;DR mix is – 8 parts alcohol to 3 parts Acetone.
Brilliant! I’m looking forward to trying it out. I guess using it on ABS prints should be possible and it would also be probably very durable (if you manage to apply it without melting the printed part).
Aye, there’s the rub. The good news is that if it DOES work, the toner will probably stick extremely well. The bad news is that you’d have to be very sparing with the acetone solution, or dilute it with ethyl alcohol as described in the Instructable mentioned above by Jens.
I’m kind of warming up to this idea. I’m thinking that by limiting the exposure of the base object to acetone or acetone/ethanol, by using a spray bottle that can be set to make a fine mist, just might work. This should make for nice permanent markings on ABS prints or other ABS or PVC objects.
Be very, very, very careful with a fine mist of acetone.
How durable is the print? Does it smudge if you scrape a finger over it? A wet finger?
Me and my wife have been doing this for well over 4 years now. Its doesn’t smudge, it just as if it was printed onto the new surface.
Me and my wife have been doing this for a few years and its fairly durable, I wouldn’t take screwdriver to it or anything, but on surfaces like wood or paper its stays fairly well. less so on hard non porous surfaces, we did this onto dinner plates and after drying you could scratch it off with a finger nail.
If you really want it to stay on and be extremely durable, you can always seal it with something.
You could possibly heat it to the melting point of the toner to make it stick better. Bake it in the oven.
Fantastic, now if only I could find a laser printer that used ink. Every laser I’ve seen uses this “toner” stuff instead.
I bet you’re the type of person that tells people that pencil lead is predominantly graphite too.
Is there a process that will allow me to transfer the lead from a pencil drawing onto a PCB? And will the lead resist the ferric chloride or cupric chloride etchant? ;)
You could mix pencil lead into acrylic paint and draw the circuit directly on FR4.
We used to do this in high school to make t-shirts. Did’t survive a lot of washes, but fun for novelty shirts you might only wear once.
That brings back some memories.. we used to use b+w photocopies, white spirit and an old laundry iron to make Tshirts at school.
Yeah, that’s pretty much what we did. I couldn’t remember the solvent we used, I assume it’s basically the same action. B&W photocopies are not much different than laser print.
I’ve used the heat method to do pcbs before but was never really satisfied with the outcome – I’ll have to give this method ago as per Jens link.
My thoughts exactly. Never had a good result with heat toner transfer – I always got incomplete coverage, resulting in holes in the copper.
I’m also thinking that the acetone/alcohol method in the Instructable linked by [Jens] would work for front panel markings, possibly even in colors, as long as the resulting panel is then clear lacquered. I’m not sure about colors – the layers would be in the opposite order from what they’re meant to be printed, so the colors may not be right. I’ve GOT to try this.
One of the most useful articles in recent memory.
I have used this method for quite a while to put “dealer stamps” in my car log book. I like to do the minor servicing myself but I still want a complete service history for when I sell the car. I use paint thinners. For best results I use very little solvent – too much and the transfer gets messy.
So you’re basically forging a service history for your car? Isn’t that legally a fraud?
No legal background, but I would guess it depends on if he is copying actual stamps, or making his own.
Could still be considered a fraud if it’s not readily apparent that the service stamps aren’t real.
The buyer is interested in seeing that the service has been done dutifully in a real establishment that has responsibility over the quality of the work and materials, and the fake stamps – whether they’re copies of real dealer stamps or not – give the impression that it is so. A buyer would not be willing to pay as much for the car if they knew the owner had done the services on the car himself.
Anyone could write down that they’ve changed the oils and belts, plugs and filters at regular intervals even when they haven’t. A shop that puts a stamp on your papers should have some sort record or bank statement to show that the car indeed has been to the shop, so when it later turns out there is no such thing as “Jim’s Garage”…
In the UK at least:
“Creating a false service history for a car is covered by the Trade Descriptions Act 1986, which prohibits applying a false description to an item. The law views as more serious selling something to which a false history has been applied. Even if you didn’t create the ficticious paperwork yourself, but tried to sell it on to someone else, you would still be guilty. In a magistrates court, the punishment can be a fine of up to £5,000 per offence. But if it goes to a crown court, a judge could specify an unlimited fine or a prison sentence of up to two years. The law applies to individuals and traders”
It is my own design with a fictitious business name, and it does have my phone number. So I would say not fraud as I am actually doing the service. An official looking stamp just looks much better than just my signature, date and odo reading. Now if I didn’t service the car and put an entry in the log book – that could be fraud.
If you happen to have an inkjet printer and not a laser, and also happen to have a sheet of adhesive paper, you can try this guys’ method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq2O66QGCwg
Great!! Now re-printing the “Nintendo NES” logo from 1986! Looks like brand new!
I have seen similar technique (using paint thinner) for making cheap and simple PCB silkscreen. Done it once. It was somewhat successful (I know guys who can do it much better), but I never had an idea that it could survive etching.
Is there any difference between using ethyl alcohol and IPA?
both do the job with described process, but the first you can drink later, if bored , with IPA suggest not to drink… it will convert into acetone in your body…
Acetaldehyde which is also what normal booze is converted into by your liver. Which kills a few cells every time it happens which 200,000 drinks later may be cirhossis. And acetaldehyde is only one molecular mess above formaldahyde! Heck I might be able to do a transfer with my liver juice! 😂
This should be registered as an invention. Great idea !
So, this is for laser or inkjet printer? The article is kind of confusing.
this is for laser. More specifically, toner.
aidionidis you are not the only one :)
I heat transferred toner printed images onto plastic but it peels off quite easily. How do I make it permanent? Also, will clear acrylic or lacquer sealing work?
Can you use just regular nail polish for it?
Well, I had high hopes as was trying to transfer laser image done at Staples. The minute the acetone was applied the ink went running all over the place. Why? It didn’t work at all. If anyone reads this post and can tell me why it didn’t work, I would appreciate it as so disappointed.