Everyone I knew was making their own. They would tell me how easy it was. Just go to the store, buy some transparencies and print them. I wondered if it really was worth it and if it really could be so simple. I do love the look of transparencies on my layouts.
The first step was to determine whether I had an inkjet or a laser jet printer. Once I knew I had a laser jet printer, I headed out to my local office supply store. After looking at box after box of transparencies, I asked for a recommendation from the clerk. I bought the biggest box I could afford. After all, I planned on printing a ton of these things!
Upon arriving home, I headed up to the laptop. I would need some digital stamps or brushes. I will admit I was a bit annoyed that each digital stamp was a separate file. I had hoped for a letter size file full of digital stamps. Since this was not to be, I opened up Photoshop Elements and began creating my own.
After filling a blank document with digital stamps, I saved it as a JPEG and then hit print. Nothing came out. I should have known nothing would. There isn’t a setting on my printer for transparencies. I headed over to the Epson website and confirmed it was not designed to print on a transparency. Lesson learned. Make sure your printer is designed to do the job!
At this point, I could have given up. I decided to search the web to see if there was a way to trick my printer into printing on the transparency. Indeed there was. If I taped a transparency to a sheet of paper, the rollers would feed it through the machine. Trial one, I placed the wrong side of the transparency up. You see, one side is rough and the other is smooth. The rough side is designed to hold the ink. My first print came out alright, but the images came right off onto my hands. I also noticed that the images had printed onto sections of the tape.
The second try came out pretty well. I got the correct side up to print and I was able to adjust the tape so that he images did not print over it.
Was it worth it? I think so. There is a slight learning curve, but now that I know how to handle my particular printer, creating transparencies is easy.
Tips:
Make sure your printer is designed for transparencies. Not all printers can print on them. Though I was able to trick my printer, you do so at your own risk if it is not designed for transparencies.
Determine what type of printer you have and choose the correct product. I have learned that there is a type of transparency which enables you to print on either side. This means you don’t have to worry about how the transparency feeds into your printer.
Create documents with sets of transparencies and save them. I created a summer themed set which I can store with my summer themed papers.
Project Life Insert by Christy Strickler Supplies: Patterned Paper,Tape: My Mind’s Eye; Digital Stamp: SimpleScrapper.com; Flower: Hero Arts; Jewels: Making Memories; Other Transparency