Questions on Decal Printing

[VirgilJ]

I recently have had a lot of interest from customers in printing various logos on pens. After reading up on the technique of putting waterslide decals on pens I made one using The Free Masons logo. It turned out ok (I posted a picture of it in the Show Of your Pens section), but I'm not really happy with the quality of the decal.

I used a logo downloaded from the web, Testors decal paper, and an Epson NX625 printer on the highest quality photo settings. I reduced the size of the logo using Photoshop Elements.

My question is how do I improve the quality of the decal? Should I get a higher quality decal paper? If so any recommendations? Should I look into a better printer? Should I be looking for a higher resolution picture of the logo than the one I downloaded from the web? Is there a source for buying high resolution graphics.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[hewunch]

I use a color laser printer and I get my decals from "robin's eggcectera" on eBay. She has clear and white. And that gets to blank color, if your blank is too dark, it will wash out a clear decal.

 

[wouldentu2?]

I have found that the quality of downloaded graphics can vary, be very picky about the ones you copy.

Laser printers are a step up from inkjet and the brand of decal does not matter.

 

[Pjohnson]

Did you use the clear label or the white?
I have 2-3 labels under my belt - so not a ton of experience. What I did determine is that for colored graphics to really pop I needed to use the white label waterslide decals.

 

[navycop]

I've done a few decals. I usally just print them in regualr setting. Saw someone mention setting the picture quality higher like printing a regular picture..