STICKERS ... Advice on printing a really good sticker please...

[debbie]

I thought i'd try and print stickers..but they turned out really c**p. The heat started to lift the sticker sheet this seemed to be worse where it was rolled, although the whole lot were rubbish, do i press for 10 sec or so before (like when you get moisture out of fabric)..do i cut into smaller pieces but then what happens if you want an A4 sized sticker....grrr..suggestions, hints & tips very much appreiciated.

[Stitch Up]

Is it Flex? If so, what brand/type?

What temp & time did you use?

[debbie]

I used temperatures as on the BMS shop thats where i purchased from..so there was no other hints/tips only the pressing guide 190/50sec. med pressure, white vinyl sheet.

[Paul]

I may be wrong as I never print those but is't there any protective film to remove before pressing the image?

[purpledragon]

i used the bms stickers the ones i printed were about 6x3" stickers i found that if i pressed them as 1 a3 sheet i had same result as you but if i cut them to size first then they seemed to work ok

[bms]

I may be wrong as I never print those but is't there any protective film to remove before pressing the image?There's no protective film on these. We've always cut the sheet to the size of the image in the past, possibly laid multiple pieces in the press with a sheet of silicon paper on the bottom and top.

[JSR]

I may be a little thick here, but what's the advantage of these stickers? Why not just get some that you feed through a regular inkjet or laser printer? Using heat-presses and dye-sub ink for stickers seems like overkill.

[Matt Quinn]

I may be a little thick here, but what's the advantage of these stickers? Why not just get some that you feed through a regular inkjet or laser printer? Using heat-presses and dye-sub ink for stickers seems like overkill.

Waterproof maybe?

[JSR]

Waterproof maybe?
Pigment ink or laser would be waterproof on the right labels, I'd have thought.

[bms]

I may be a little thick here, but what's the advantage of these stickers? Why not just get some that you feed through a regular inkjet or laser printer? Using heat-presses and dye-sub ink for stickers seems like overkill.Not everyone will have a colour laser as well as sub printer.

[JSR]

Not everyone will have a colour laser as well as sub printer.

Pigment inks in an inkjet can be just as waterproof. Several years ago, they even made dye inks waterproof on the right kind of paper (and that was before the days of Claria ink).

Given all the colour-correction malarky required with dye-sub inks due to the phase-change during heating, and the potential pitfalls of overheating a sticker, putting regular stickers through a regular printer would seem to be more sensible.

I know we all love our dye-sub systems and we want to use it to do more and more things but this is more like reinventing the wheel than using the right tool for the right job.

[bms]

Yes the pigment inks would be waterproof, but not so sure of the availability of exterior quality vinyl using a standard inkjet printer. I'm sure I'll be corrected swiftly!