Lazertran Products

Lazertran Waterslide Decal transfer paper for use with older style photocopiers and some desktop laser printers.

Caution! Lazertran Waterslide Decal transfer paper is designed for use with dry toner based Colour Photo Copiers that use silicon release oil. Some desktop Laser Printers work well. (See our list of printers supplied by customers.) If you are unsure or cannot find a machine, then we will exchange your Lazertran for the Inkjet version. Please let us know if you have knowledge of other Laser printers that work! Please be aware that many new photo copier machines have changed their technology making them unsuitable for Lazertran.

See a list of printers we know work with Lazertran .

To purchase any of our Lazertran papers or our workshop video/CD please visit either our UK Or USA Lazertran shops. You will also find more information in the 'How to Order' section.

How to user Lazertran for photocopiers

To fix to glass, ceramic tiles, perspex and shiny sheet metal

For non-absorbent shiny surfaces, no glue other than the gum on the back of the transfer is required. Simply soak Lazertran in water and slide the transfer onto the carrier. Expel all air bubbles with a rubber squeegee and allow to dry for 24 hours. The image can be varnished for protection with both acrylic and oil based varnish.

A good tip if you want to stretch the decal around a difficult shape is to use a tiny drop Methylated Spirits under the decal and apply the wet decal onto this. This will soften the decal allowing it to stretch around almost any shape. When dry it will also give very good adhesion.

To bake onto ceramics, glass and metal to give a hard waterproof finish

Copy the image in reverse. Put the sheet of Lazertran with the images on in a hot domestic oven or use a heat gun to make sure the toners are completely fused on the paper before cutting and soaking in water. This will avoid small air bubbles later. Soak the transfer off and apply face down, toners next to the ceramics and wash away any gum on the surface of the decal. Then squeegee out any air bubbles. Put immediately into a domestic oven on the lowest possible heat setting for at least 1 hour then slowly increase the temperature as little as possible every 15 minutes until the image goes shiny like a glaze. This should take at least another 2 hours to reach (about 200 degrees C gas mark 7) or 350-400 degrees F. The longer you take the better the result.

Using water based adhesive method for paper or canvas

Stretch your paper or canvas over a flat board. Prime canvas with acrylic primer and for paper, seal with clear acrylic medium to avoid cockling and increase mobility of the transfer. Watered down P.V.A. may be used instead of acrylic. Note. Acrylic can be any good quality flexible medium, Liquitex, Spectrum, etc.
Trim your image to size and lower, into clean water. The paper will roll up. Allow to soak for a minute or so until the transfer releases
Apply a fresh coat of acrylic to the area you wish to fix the image, with a shorthaired roller
the Lazertran onto the wet acrylic medium. Position, then slide out the backing sheet from under the transfer. Now squeegee out any bubbles
Allow to dry flat overnight. Matt Acrylic can then be applied to give a flat finish

To apply over oil paint see Fixing with pure turpentine.

Pure turpentine method. To fix Lazertran to paper, wood, stone, plaster, leather, PVC and difficult surfaces, without acrylic

Trim your image to size and lower, wide edge first, into clean water. Allow to soak for a minute or so then pat off any excess water
Soak your receiving surface with pure turpentine and slide the transfer onto the surface
With a soft brush paint a little turpentine onto the surface of the transfer. Not too much or the transfer will break up. Leave to dry for several hours
For putting over existing oil paint, wipe the painting or brush over with pure turpentine. Then lay transfer onto the surface. If too much turpentine is used the image will break up. Always lay flat till dry. n.b. Turps substitute or white spirit will not work

To fix Lazertran to vacuum forming plastic before forming

Lazertran can be used to put full colour images onto clear and opaque vacuum forms.

Soak the Lazertran as usual in water
Slide off the backing paper and lay onto the plastic
Remove all bubbles with a rubber squeegee and allow to dry. This is very important as any moisture under the transfer will boil and blow a hole in the image during forming
When dry, put in former and bring up to temperature gently
Form your plastic as normal

The image will weld into the plastic and will not split or crack.

For heavier fabrics ordinary Lazertran can be ironed on

We now have a very good inkjet Textile paper for both light coloured textiles and dark coloured textiles that will give a great result.

Place Lazertran face down on the cloth
Set iron to hot and iron onto the cloth until it is well stuck
Wet the backing paper and peel off. Wipe away gum from image and allow to dry
Place baking parchment, not greaseproof paper, over image and iron. Allow to cool then peel off baking parchment and repeat until the image sinks into the cloth. The more times you repeat this stage the better the result

Lazertran as an etch resist

Some new colour photocopiers have toners that dissolve in turpentine so we have introduced a new solvent to remove the decal. Isopropyl Alcohol (used as a rubbing alcohol) is much more user friendly. It is also known as I.P.A. 2-Propanol, or Isopropanol. It is available at your Pharmacy.

Copy image in black and negative using a colour photocopier onto a sheet of Lazertran. Now you should make sure the toner have been melted onto the Lazertran properly by putting the sheet into a hot oven. In a short time the black toner will go shiny. This will avoid bubbles forming later in the method. Now cut to size of your etching plate
Soak in water, for a minute or so, then place the transfer, image side down, onto the degreased plate, slide off backing paper, then, using a soft rubber squeegee, expel all air bubbles, creases and moisture
Put in a domestic oven set to its lowest temperature and leave for a least one hour. After this slowly increase the temperature as slowly as possible until the transfer melts and gets shiny, then allow to cool. This will take at least another hour. The first 100 degrees are crucial and must not be rushed as this can cause bubbling. The longer you take the better the result
Wash away the decal using Isopropyl Alcohol leaving only the toners on the plate. You will feel the clean metal under your fingers. All traces of the slimy decal must be removed
Lift out and carefully wash off the Isopropyl Alcohol in warm soapy water
An aqua tint can now be applied if required. You are now ready to etch

Before printing remove toners with solvent, or heat until melted and wipe off with rag and white spirits. (Nail polish remover or wintergreen oil work well). Note. This method can also be used on glass and metal if you want a full colour image and wish to remove the decal.