Inkjet Teslin, advice and sources ?

[Kennyd]

I'm looking to experiment with cards made from inkjet Teslin and I had a few questions.

Are there any cheap sources to buy small amounts of Teslin (20 A4 sheets or so) ? Ideally a UK supplier or US supplier with cheap international postage.

Will a Canon inkjet printer work ok (I really don't want to buy another one) ?

Will standard laminating pouches work and seal the Teslin without a border ? I want to print the card onto A4 Teslin, laminate, and then trim (instead of using a butterfly pouch)

Many thanks

 

[Kennyd]

...........

 

[Kennyd]

No one ? :sick

 

[division 6]

I hate to say it but have you tried a Google search?
Teslin Paper, Butterfly Pouches - Complete ID Card Kits Make ID Easy - Brainstorm ID Supply

Someone was asking about this stuff a while ago so the search feature may find it for you.

 

[AKVai]

I looked a while ago for teslin sheets within the UK and found it pretty hard to find a supplier. The US would be your best bet.
Canon OEM ink would be best as there pigment based I believe, compatible inks probably aren't.

 

[Kennyd]

Thanks, I bought some Artisyn from the US, just waiting for it to arrive

 

[exoray]

Are there any cheap sources to buy small amounts of Teslin (20 A4 sheets or so) ? Ideally a UK supplier or US supplier with cheap international postage.

As you might have discovered look for the knock off Artisyn, it's generally all over ebay if you snoop around with searchs like "not fake ID" or "not teslin"

Will a Canon inkjet printer work ok (I really don't want to buy another one) ?

Prepare for a lot of trial and error, try different settings, aka transparency, photo, high gloss paper, blah blah blah... And find out what works best with your printer... OEM inks are highly recommend... The material is very temperamental to the amount of ink applied to it and can result it a bunch of different results... Start out with the transparency print settings and see how well that works...

Will standard laminating pouches work and seal the Teslin without a border ? I want to print the card onto A4 Teslin, laminate, and then trim (instead of using a butterfly pouch)

If you mean heat laminate yep, it will become one that can be trimmed right up the middle and not delam, no need for a border... With the cold laminates your mileage will vary but I personally wouldn't even bother...

 

[Kennyd]

Many thanks for the advice :thumbsup I'll see how it goes

Would you say Artisyn is better than Teslin ? I'm reading some conflicting stuff on the net, but generally Artisyn comes out on top.

 

[exoray]

Better is debatable, it's all depends on your printer and inks... The amount of ink and the type of ink the printer lays down makes a world of difference on this PVC material... It VERY easy to over saturate the material with ink resulting in a dark print, bleed and fuzzy edges just like when you print on cheap copier paper...

You will or likely have already found out that most people highly recommend Epson printers for printing on these materials... I have also found that the vintage Alps dry transfer printers (since I own a few) work well but they are costly machines to run and sometimes grumpy...

 

[Kennyd]

Well, the Artisyn arrived today and I have to say the results so far have been awful :sick I've tried just about every setting but the print quality is worse than the cheapest paper.
I also tried a British paper called Toughprint, the print results were better but it doesn't laminate as well as the Artisyn.

All in all, not happy.

 

[AKVai]

Well, the Artisyn arrived today and I have to say the results so far have been awful :sick I've tried just about every setting but the print quality is worse than the cheapest paper.
I also tried a British paper called Toughprint, the print results were better but it doesn't laminate as well as the Artisyn.

All in all, not happy.

Sorry to hear your results were disappointing. If your still looking for some sort of ID's to be printed on to PVC cards (credit size cards) I have access to 2 card printers and can print some off for you (You would have to pay for the cards and shipping but I do live in the UK so shipping would be cheap and fairly quick, depending on royal mail )

 

[Kennyd]

Thanks, that's much appreciated, but I want to crack it.

Can I ask how much those card machines are, and are they expensive to run ?

 

[AKVai]

I'm only kind of familiar with Zebra card printers. I believe they start at around £800 for entry level model then go upwards. Cards themselves are fairly cheap, depending if you bulk buy; work out at around 15p to 6p each. The ribbons though are around £40-£60 and do 200 or so prints.
If you have an inkjet printer that can print to CD's you can on some models modify the tray to hold cards and print directly to them that way (With outstanding results with the right printer, inks and cards) You can't buy just regular PVC cards for use with inkjet's though they have to specially made to accept the ink so they do cost more per unit than cards used on ID printers.

 

[Kennyd]

Thanks for the info.

I've decided to stick with the UK Toughprint paper, the print quality isn't bad. The only problem is it will only stand going through the laminator once, a second time, even after cooling, seems to cause the surface to bubble up, strange effect really.

 

[AKVai]

Fair enough
The print quality should be fairly good on that paper, since one of it's selling points is waterproof maps. I'd assume whatever coating on the paper that makes it waterproof doesn't take too kindly to being heated up in the laminator, maybe after one cycle the heat changes the properties of the paper making the second application of heat bubble the paper. Then again I never took chemistry at uni :confused
Best of luck with it though.

 

[Kennyd]

I think that's what happens.

I'd love a real card printer, but it's a bit too rich for me.

 

[exoray]

Well, the Artisyn arrived today and I have to say the results so far have been awful :sick I've tried just about every setting but the print quality is worse than the cheapest paper.

Almost certainly your printer and ink... I know you can get great results with Epson printers, I have done it myself and come close to near photo quality once you dial in the settings...

 

[exoray]

The more expensive laminators such as the Banner American's are absolutely great. If you plan to make many IDs you'd be doing yourself a favor by using one of these. They have precise temp control, and a thermometer.

Well I'm unbiased and I have to agree the difference between the cheap Wal-Mart laminators and a high end model is night and day...

I learned this many years ago when I was contracted to do a large run of All Access backstage laminates... Figured I would just get a cheapy laminator for the job, and it was a big mistake, using 10 mil pouches the , results were terrible 3-4 passed just to get them to seal and it still wasn't sealed properly... Went out and grabbed an Ibico EL-12 II (vintage now out of production model) think I paid about $250 for it at the time, that was 10 years ago and it's still flawless...

 

[Kennyd]

Thanks for the info, lots of food for thought

I finished doing some cards, persevering with the Toughprint, and my little cheapo laminator, and i'm quite happy with the results.
There were a good number of spoiled cards due to poor results with the lamination, but eventually they came right and it was still cheaper than buying another one. It's still a budget hobby for me so I don't want to spend too much.