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Turpentine Method
For any paper, whatever the texture, and absorbent
surfaces from plaster to wood or cork.
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Paint the paper with an even coat of real turpentine.
White spirit or turps substitute will not work!
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Immerse the Lazertran image in clean water (it
will roll up into a tube) and allow to soak. Remove
from the water and place face down on an absorbent
surface to remove excess moisture. Place hand flat
on paper and partly slide the clear decal, with
the image on, off the white backing paper.
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Lay the image face up on the paper you want to
print on, and slide out the white backing paper.
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With a small shorthaired roller moistened with
turpentine, expel all air bubbles and roll image
flat. The turpentine dissolves the decal and fixes
the image to the paper overnight. Some subsequent
bubbling may occur but will disappear. Do not touch
or over work as the image will be sticky until all
the turpentine has evaporated.
- For difficult surfaces such as brick, rough wood,
stone, plaster etc. use the above method. To encourage
the image to follow the curves, holes and texture
apply a fine mist of turpentine occasionally until
all of the image has collapsed onto the surface of
the object.
Problems
If a lot of black toner is used in the image then you
may get adhesion problems in those areas. If this occurs
then use a heat gun after the above process is completed
and the image has dried to re-melt the black toners
into the paper.
If small areas of decal remain on the surface of the
substraite after drying then you can re-apply more turpentine
to these areas to re-activate and they will be absorbed.
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Acrylic Medium Method
If you do not want to use turpentine then the image
can be applied to paper and canvas using acrylic medium.
"Golden" do a good range.
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Stretch your paper over a board and apply 1 or
2 coats of acrylic medium.
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When dry apply a further coat of medium to the
surface, soak the Lazertran in water and slide the
decal onto the wet acrylic medium.
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Use a short haired paint roller (do not use a foam
roller as this will produce lots of bubbles) to
remove any excess medium and air bubbles. Allow
to dry.
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For curved surfaces apply acrylic medium to the
surface, then apply the decal onto the wet medium
and use a hairdryer to stretch out any creases in
the decal.
Layering and tiling
Lazertran can be layered, one image on top of the other,
to give some quite unexpected results. As the images
are transparent be careful not to use too dense an image
otherwise the overlay will be difficult to see. A good
trick is to hold the 2 layers up to the light to get
an idea of the final overlay.
Use the acrylic method as above, but be sure to allow
each layer to dry properly before applying subsequent
layers.
Colour photo copiers use only up to A3 or 17"x11"
paper size. To make an image larger than this you can
use the tiling facility on the copier to enlarge up
to 16x.
Often the tiles have an overlap so trim these off before
applying the decals.
For canvas, prime with acrylic gesso. Always support
the canvas, or best of all stretch the canvas over a
solid board, to avoid the canvas stretching when applying
the image.
Problems
If (when tiling) the tiles end up overlapping, then
whilst the decal is still wet run a scalpel blade through
both layers and peel away the overlap.
If the edges pull apart or you have a small gap, then
heat with a hairdyer and stretch the edges of the decal
together. Use wet fingers so as to avoid the decal sticking
to them.
If after drying you have any air bubbles remaining
pierce with a needle, heat with a hairdryer and press
flat with a wet tissue.
Finishing
Lazertran can be finished with either oil based varnishes,
including UV varnish, or water based varnishes.
If painting on top of the Lazertran image, apply a
coat of painting medium first. You can use acrylic or
oil based paints.
If pooling, or the liquid gathers, then contine to
roll or brush the waterbased mediums or varnish around
until they get tacky and begin to hold
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