(Topic ID: 55987)

Best Vinyl Adhesive Paper for Printing Your Own Decals?

By Crash

10 years ago


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    #1 10 years ago

    I was looking around for some good 8-1/2"x11" inkjet vinyl sticker paper and found Papilio's matte white waterproof vinyl adhesive paper. I saw a video of someone who made some decals for his MAME cabinet and they turned out pretty good. Anyone else used this brand before?

    ebay.com link: 5 Papilio Inkjet Contouring Waterproof Matte White Vinyl Decal Paper

    #3 10 years ago

    Excellent topic - any tips on sellers offering to ship the sheets to Europe?

    #4 10 years ago

    I have used several of Papilio's products, including the white waterproof vinyl. It was 3 mm thick and matte white. It gave me great results. The "permanent white vinyl" was 5 mm thick and a glossy finish, but also gave great results. The "white adhesive polyester" was also nice ( I must've liked it cuz I just noticed my box is empty ). Personally, I use both the inkjet and laser papers in a laser printer and have had no problems.

    I would steer away from their rub-on decal paper. If you need ultra thin contouring decals, the water slide will give better results.

    #5 10 years ago

    I'm mainly wanting to do target decals, so they will be applied to a flat surface. Would the matte white be good for this?

    #6 10 years ago

    I have used a ton of different Papilio products, including the one you mention. If you want this for target decals, it will work with two caveats:

    1) you will want to protect the face of the decals either using self adhesive Mylar or Papilio's clear overlay product. You do not want balls banging into the ink.

    2) how are you planning to deal with the raised rivet spot in the middle? You can just try to ignore it and apply the decal to the uneven surface. I would personally apply a thin layer hard foam using an ultrathin 1 mm craft foam sheet like:
    ebay.com link: 1mm CRAFT FOAM SHEETS 12 X18 12 pcs best in market
    You can trim a hole in the center to accommodate the rivet, and then you can apply the target sticker on top of a perfectly level surface.

    #7 10 years ago

    I can probably use an xacto knife to cut a hole in the center. I have some Mylar I can use, definitely not a good idea to leave it unprotected. They say it lasts a year in outdoor conditions but...

    #8 10 years ago

    What's the best way to get the "rectangle with round corners" size we need for a drop target? Does any vendor custom pre-cut a size good for drops?
    -mof

    #9 10 years ago

    It's best to get the exact dimensions, round off the image in GIMP, and cut out along the edges of the printout.

    #10 10 years ago

    I have used most of their products and they are better than anything else I've come across. Much better than anything you'll find in your local hobby/crafts store.

    +1 on covering the decal with mylar or Papilio's clear overlay product

    #11 10 years ago
    Quoted from Crash:

    It's best to get the exact dimensions, round off the image in GIMP, and cut out along the edges of the printout.

    Do you use a nice straight edge paper cutter at home to get the 4 edges, then do the corners by hand?
    -mof

    #12 10 years ago

    Just scissors works for me, ours are route games so they don't have to be perfect.

    #13 10 years ago

    BTW, I discovered the hard way that you can't use Papilio's stuff in a Samsung laser printer (color or B&W). According to Papilio's tech support, their stuff can only go to 400' and Samsung runs their fusers much hotter than that. In my case the water slide decals wrapped themselves around my fuser and I had to take half the machine apart to fix it. They said it would apply to all their products, not just the decal sheet.

    I don't blame Papilio --there are so many printers out there... (but it would have been nice if they had documented what was apparently a common known issue to them :O ). If in doubt, check your fuser's temperature is 400 or lower.

    #14 10 years ago

    If you inkjet decals make sure you bond some kind of plastic to the decal or it will last a week.

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