bond plastic to photo paper?

[peter]

I'm thinking of printing my own business card with an inkjet.
Is there a way to bond a thin layer of transparent plastic sheet over a
photo paper to make it totally smear proof and add rigidity?
Lamination would add a border and a layer in the back which I don't need.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Well, of course it can be done, but do you expect to do it at home on
your own, or get it done after the printing is completed.


There is equipment to transfer hot or color laminate onto the printed
surface. It isn't cheap however. The larger lamina tors which use thin
material are more costly but the rolls of laminate saves money. Then
there are smaller versions which run about 9 " across. The problem is
one sided hot lamination usually warps the paper badly as the plastic
shrinks as it cools.

The cold laminate is more forgiving, but again you need a lot of control
and the right equipment. It isn't likely to warp with one sided
laminate, but it costs more.

You could try using wide clear packaging tape, but you have to be
careful to line everything up and apply even pressure to prevent air
bubbles from being trapped.

Art


If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

 

[NotMe]

| I'm thinking of printing my own business card with an inkjet.
| Is there a way to bond a thin layer of transparent plastic sheet over a
| photo paper to make it totally smear proof and add rigidity?
| Lamination would add a border and a layer in the back which I don't need.
|

We use a spay on clear coat (I'll have to find the can and post the vendor
name etc) that's made for studio (artist) work. It's also used by folk that
make paper
crafts.

 

[mr deo]

Well, of course it can be done, but do you expect to do it at home on
your own, or get it done after the printing is completed.


There is equipment to transfer hot or color laminate onto the printed
surface. It isn't cheap however. The larger lamina tors which use thin
material are more costly but the rolls of laminate saves money. Then
there are smaller versions which run about 9 " across. The problem is
one sided hot lamination usually warps the paper badly as the plastic
shrinks as it cools.

The cold laminate is more forgiving, but again you need a lot of control
and the right equipment. It isn't likely to warp with one sided
laminate, but it costs more.

You could try using wide clear packaging tape, but you have to be
careful to line everything up and apply even pressure to prevent air
bubbles from being trapped.

Art


If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

I used to work in the printing industry.. We made a lot of cards and books
and newspapers.. sigh.. I hate ink ;P
Anyhow...
I never remember us (this was probably 10 years ago) doing any laminates on
paper like the op is asking about, but I know we did use a powder that you
could use to get something similar.. You would spread a wet coat on the
paper, then cover it with the powder, and bake the powder..

If the op REALLY wants something nifty and clean, he could look into
printing on plastics

 

[Arthur Entlich]

I don't disagree with your comments below regarding cold laminate, but
the one caveat is that the cost is much higher for cold laminate than
hot. 3M also makes a manually driven (using a hand crank) cold
laminator in several widths, and a number of laminate materials.

Art


If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

 

[Arthur Entlich]

They still have this powder you speak of, although I mainly see it used
on wet ink and then baked to make a raised surface on the type area.

I just wanted to address one more thing the OP mentioned. Thin laminates
cold, or hot type, do not require a border around them. You can coat
the whole surface and then cut the laminate right up to the edge of the
product (such as the business card).

I don't know how many the OP is thinking to print, but it may be much
cheaper for him to simply contract the lamination out to a big box store
which has a printing center, as the cost for lamination, especially a
very thin hot type, is pretty reasonable. Print your cards ganged to
fill the sheet on a card or cover stock, or something equally heavy, and
then have them laminate it with a 1-3 mil glossy, semigloss or matte
hot laminate on both sides, probably one dollar per sheet is that. Then
bring home and cut to size (again borders are not needed for this kind
of application.

By the way, depending on the inkjet printer you use, some papers/card
stock and ink mixture are smear and waterproof once dry.

Art
If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/