This article was written for and first published in Art Dollz the Zine issue number 4.  You may not copy, reprint, or redistribute it without explicit written permission from Barbara Strembicki

Do you want to buy Lazertran?  I carry all three varieties; Inkjet, Silk and Regular.  Click HERE to see the Lazertran!

 Working with Lazertran

If your goal is to transfer an image, be it a photo, magazine image, or some other original and the original image is suitable to be copied on a color laser copier, then Lazertran is your transfer medium of choice.  That’s a fairly broad brush statement, but this product is amazingly versatile. 

The official Lazertran website promotes the three Lazertran products as “decal papers” which is as good a description as any.  If you can run an original image through a color laser copier (Lazertran Original and Lazertran Silk) or can print an image on a color inkjet printer (Lazertran Inkjet), then you have the ability to transfer that image or “decal” to virtually any surface you can imagine.  Fabric, plastic, glass, ceramics, painted surfaces, polymer clay, wood, metal, ceramic tiles…  the list is virtually endless.   

According to the folks at Lazertran, Lazertran Silk “is for use with closely woven silk or satin, ribbons, metal foil, Polyclay and with 3M Photo Mount Spray onto almost any surface.”  Regular Lazertran ” is a water slide decal paper that allows you to transfer your own full colour images onto almost any surface including, paper, canvas, fabric, wax, ceramic tiles, glass, sheet metals and foils, plaster, wood and stone. It can also be used as an etch resist and to make stamped and embossed decals and as a way to put images on vacuum forming plastic.” 

The website has many examples and projects using the products on various surfaces, though for the purposes of our discussion the surfaces will be limited to silk and cotton fabric and polymer clay.  The Lazertran website is a wealth of information, but be warned that it can be downright overwhelming to sift though the multitude of directions and variations of those directions for using the Lazertran products. 

The only major obstacle I encountered while playing with Lazertran was overcoming the prejudices of the copy center staff when they were asked to run Lazertran Original and Lazertran Silk through their color copier.  I went to a national office supply chain store near my house and was told that they were not permitted to use anything other than their own paper stock in the copier.  Undeterred I went to another location of the same chain and after speaking with the copy center manager was allowed to use Lazertran in their copier.  There are limitations relative to the maximum temperature the copier can reach and still be safe with Lazertran.  Once I discussed those limitations with the manager his objections disappeared.  My suggestion is that you bring the packaging and instructions with you to the copy center so you can educate them about the product and its safe use in their copiers. 

Copying Images onto Lazertran 

I began my adventure by copying some color postcards of Pre-Raphaelite paintings onto Lazertran Original and Silk.  Naturally I forgot to ask the clerk to use the “mirror image” mode of the copier on the first couple of images we copied.  If your image doesn’t contain words or lettering, then mirroring the original isn’t critical unless you absolutely do not want your final image to be the opposite of the original.  Be sure to keep that in mind though if you do wish to copy anything with words.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 1 and Figure 2 show the results of my postcard copies.  The original postcard is on the right and the copy on Lazertran is on the left.  The only real difference between the original and the Lazertran copy is that the copy has a slightly “aged” look.  The colors are a bit deeper and the entire image is slightly yellowed.  For images of paintings I didn’t feel this was a problem at all and to some degree I think it enhances the look. 

The floral images were culled from a gardening book.  It took all my strength to cut the first page out of the book, but I did it!  Once I cut out the images I wanted to reproduce on Lazertran, I assembled and tacked them lightly on sheets of 8.5” x 11” paper. 

Figure 3

Figure 3 shows the results of my book copies.  The Lazertran copy is the right with the original on the left.

Transferring Images to Cloth

I started with Lazertran Silk and transferred it to 100% cotton.  The natural characteristics of Lazertran Silk do not enable it to adhere to cotton, so before the image is ironed on it has to be sprayed with 3M Photo Mount spray.  I gave my image a couple of very light coats of the Photo Mount spray and then laid it face down onto the fabric.  Using an iron set to “medium cotton” I ironed the image to the fabric... and then I ironed some more.  It’s somewhat difficult to know when to stop ironing and the directions don’t define any way to quantify when you’ve ironed enough.  I made very sure to get heat and pressure to the entire image before I was satisfied that I’d ironed enough.  Once the image cooled I took it to the sink, filled the sink with several inches of water, and then laid the fabric with the ironed on image in the water.  You can see the water absorb into the fabric and Lazertran and it only takes a minute or two before the paper begins to separate from the fabric.  One word of caution though – don’t rush the process and try to peel the paper off before it’s separated or you’ll damage the image.  I took the image out of the sink and laid it on a towel to air dry.  Once the fabric is dry you’re ready to use it however you choose. 

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figures 4 and 5 show the results of Lazertran Silk on cotton fabric. It’s not visible in the photos, but the transferred image is fairly shiny on the cotton fabric. 

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Do you want to buy Lazertran?  I carry all three varieties; Inkjet, Silk and Regular.  Click HERE to see the Lazertran!

Questions? Comments? Please email barbara@joggles.com

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