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Adding Digital Designs to Handmade Christmas Ornaments

Transferring Digital Images to Ornaments

Put Your Own Digital Designs on Christmas Ornaments.

Lazertran Inkjet waterslide decals are the best method I have found for transferring computer images to a curved surface. And they’re very quick and easy to use.

I made the ornament above to commemorate our 40th anniversary December 30th, 2007. First I’ll show you the good side and tell you what to do. Then I’ll show the side that didn’t come out very well and tell you what not to do.

How to Transfer Images to Christmas Ornaments

First read my article on the basics of Lazertran waterslide decals. The most important thing to remember about the inkjet version is that areas you leave clear in your design will be white when the decal dries; unless you use certain solvents either as a glue or a varnish.

Turpentine used as a glue will melt the decals onto a porous surface and turn the white areas clear. Household alcohol will do the same for non-porous surfaces. An oil- or alcohol-based varnish used as a sealing coat will turn the white areas clear. Keep these things in mind when you plan your design.

The decals don’t stretch to accommodate a curved surface. To make this work, I recommend large ornaments and/or designs that don’t extend too far into the curved areas. The Scrap Girls KSC_LoveLetters_Tickets_EverAfter label shown above worked pretty well.

Design you images in your graphic design software. I used Photoshop CS.

Print the images using a low print quality. Too much ink will result in a blurred image. I used Draft mode on my HP printer.

One at a time, soak each image in a shallow bowl of water until the decal slips off its backing paper – less than a minute. Lift the decal from the water. Pat the top with a tissue to remove excess water.

Position the image on your ornament and smooth it as much as possible with your fingertips. If there are wrinkles you can’t smooth by hand, hold a heat gun 4 to 6 inches above the surface and briefly heat the area. Then smooth with your fingertips again.

How Not to Transfer Images to Christmas Ornaments

Lazertran Inkjet waterslide decals are pricey so you want to make the most of your precious sheets. Perhaps you can benefit from my experience learning what not to do.

First of all, choose your images carefully. This wedding photo of my DH and me 40 years ago doesn’t have enough contrast to show up well on the copper ornament.

This is how my photo looked before I put it on the decal. I thought it would be OK.

The pretty frame is Dinny Moore’s DMI_Typo_frame from Scrap Girls.

Secondly, size your image so that it will not need to curve too much. You can see some wrinkles on my image despite my best efforts. A heat gun can help, as I explained above, but it can do damage as well.

If you look closely you can see where I overdid it with the heat gun and the plastic started to melt!

Third, be very gentle as you try to make the decal lay flat all around. Again if you look close you can see where I actually made a tiny tear at the bottom of the image.

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