UV-Resistant Decals on Glass

Getting a Colorful Finish

TK Asked: I read with enormous interest your tutorial on Home "Curing" Lazertran Decals. I have a question.

I will be using Lazertran Inkjet. When you home-cure this, do the colors become opaque? I want my images to be transparent.

Does the baking make the colors more opaque than if you didn't bake?

I haven't used Lazertran yet and from the browsing on the web I've seen, the finished product on glass comes out more translucent than transparent. I want something closer to transparent, but I'm willing to live with translucent if I have to.

Thanks so much!

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Eileen Answered: The two plaques pictured in my article were made using Lazertran Inkjet decals. The colors are not transparent like stained glass. They are pretty opaque. Any white areas are transparent (clear), so that the substrate shows through.

The colors stay pretty true when you bake the decals. But they are opaque - not translucent or transparent.

You may be interested in this alternative decal technique using finish coats of clear acrylic (rather than baking).

This technique adds both durability to the decal and translucency to the colors.

Here's an index to all The Artful Crafter articles on Lazertran Decals - including individual projects.

I hope this helps. If I had more specifics on your project, I might be able to be more specific in my answers.

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TK Asked: Thanks so much for your prompt reply!

These are images I'm putting on glass. I want a stained glass window effect with respect to light coming through, thus the transparency. They are intricate geometric patterns that I want to be illuminated by light.

I have two glass sizes in mind so far: a square 3 ½-inch and a rectangular 5 x 7.

I'm very interested in durability. I'm going to sell these and I want them to be good quality. Another thing I'm interested in, although this may be harder to obtain, is resistance to fading in sunlight.

Thanks so much for your info and interest.

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Eileen Answered: Are these glass plates for display or are they items that will be used with food? I don't recommend the decals for food items.

Check the photos in this article on Putting Decals on Soap to see if this is the look you want. After doing the bars of soap, I used Lazertran decals to make a matching glass. Since the sides of the glass slope, the decal did not conform exactly and you can see small ridges in a few places if you look closely. Note that the glass is rarely used. It's more for decoration. I hand wash it after it is used during guest visits.

UV protection is easy. If the inked side of the decal will be against the glass surface, pre-seal with a UV-resistant spray like Krylon UV-Resistant Clear Acrylic before soaking and sliding the decal into place.

If the inked side will be on top of the glass, position the decal first. Then spray with Krylon UV-Resistant Clear Acrylic.

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TK Asked:Thanks for your email. Your soaps are stunning! My glass will not be used for food.

Another question. I want my image to be transparent and I recall vaguely that you shouldn't use acrylic if you want the blank areas of the image to be clear.

I purchased oil varnish, which was what was recommended by Lazertran. But the oil varnish is not UV-resistant.

Could you explain to me the logistics of this - if I apply the Krylon UV-resistant to my image on the glass, will it make the blank areas clear or will it cloud them? How do I get the transparent image with the UV-protection?

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Eileen Answered: From the Lazertran site: "After application the decal will dry with a white background. To make this clear and show the surface colour and texture below, apply 2 or 3 coats of any oil/spirit based varnish. Good ones are polyurethane, and sprays like Holts Clear Car Lacquer all applied in fine coats until the finish is shiny."

My Lazertran projects are all for indoor use, so I haven't tried the Krylon UV-resistant spray myself. The Krylon label calls it acrylic, but doesn't say whether it is oil- or spirit-based rather than water-based. However, the Krylon Crystal Clear I used also says it is acrylic and it did a beautiful job turning the white parts of the Lazertran decals transparent.

Here's what I would do.

1. Cut a small test strip of Lazertran inkjet decal and apply it to a small piece of plate glass (from a broken window or small photo frame). Spray with Krylon UV-resistant spray. If the creamy decal turns transparent, you're good to go with a clear fade-resistant finish.

If the creamy decal doesn't turn transparent, try the following approach.

2. Prepare another test plate of glass as above. Apply a coat of the oil varnish you purchased. Once the creamy decal has turned transparent and the varnish has cured completely, spray a finish coat of Krylon UV-resistant spray to protect against fading.

If the decal remains transparent, you're all set with one clear coat to turn the creamy decal parts transparent and one to keep the colors from fading in UV light.

My guess is that method #1 will work and save you the mess (and extended curing time) of working with an oil-based varnish.