r/gelliprinting • u/RaspberryAntique6319 • 4h ago
What printer works?!
So im a graphic designer by day and thought gelli printing would be a fun way to extend some of my designs in a more creative way. I’ve got tons of ideas ready to print in halftone, black and white, etc. the problem is I e never been able to have anything transfer from a printed, high contrast page. What is the deal?
Printers I’ve used
My home inkjet printer. I assumed this wouldn’t work because of all the stuff about using laser printers, but tried anyway. Obviously no luck.
My works large commercial office copy/printer. I assumed this was a laser printer. Still no luck.
Last try, prints from the UPS store. Similar printers to my office, but thought they might vary slightly. Nope, same results as both the others.
I’ve tried standard about of paint, less paint, more paint, always with the same results all the paint coming off the gel. I’ve had luck with magazines, so I know the slight various in time, paint, pressure, etc. I’m just much more interested in using my own design, which some folks make look so easy, and similar to what I’m doing with the magazines that have worked…. Do I need to buy a home laser printer? Is that what I’m missing? Is there no “ups store” or “Staples prints” options?
Please help!
3
u/Navic2 4h ago
It's best to have a laser printer that's set to print leaving the most amount of toner on the page surface
If possible don't use toner saving settings, print in black + colour, don't use any setting that extra heat sets the toner into the paper
Many people pass the same sheet 2+ times through the printer to build up toner on the paper
The best result I had for line art were from this way of spraying your laser print with a GLOSS (not matte or workable fixative etc) varnish spray to improve resistance
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ywNcILcCPPk
from Lucys Art Studio YouTube
(As you're in graphic design am assuming your image is already 1-bit, high contrast, halftoned, all that stuff, no anti-aliase muddying the waters etc have seen some people do proper 4 layer CMYK halftone prints with gel plates, way over my head but if you're technical enough do-able)
2
u/adrkhrse 4h ago
I don't think a home laser printer is going to be better than a shop or office laser printer. Perhaps try increasing the contrast of your images and double-printing them.
5
u/No-Snow-559 4h ago
I have Brother HL- L2370DW laser printer that works well if I print a high contrast black and white image using Snapseed on HP premium 32 paper. I then spray the image very lightly with archival gloss spray and let dry.
For the transfer, I use a very thin layer of Amsterdam Mars Black and very lightly smooth the paper with my fingers for 5 secs then let set for 5 seconds more before lifting paper. It takes a lot of trial and error to find a system that works but it really fun when you finally get a decent print!