Flood Alert - Part 7: DIY Decals for 3D Prints

A Great Solution to a Niche Problem: DIY Decals for 3D Prints!

Finally, You’ve Arrived At The Secret to Getting Cheap, Quick, and Durable Decals on Your 3D Printed Projects, to give them that professional look!

As mentioned in Part 1 of this build process of a Flood Alert, I’d tried using stickers on 3D prints, but often they fall off. I found one solitary, yet ingenious video in 2022 showing how to use a laser printer and acetone washes, (link), but this was still costly, seemed very fiddly to me, and I didn’t have quick access to a laser printer, and a bunch of old magazines!

After many hours of searching, I eventually found Water-Slide Decals, (75p per A4 sheet), that could be printed on an Inkjet Printer, but could be made ‘stable’, with a coat of Clear Gloss Spray (say 25p to seal a sheet), so £1 in total for the whole project!

In case you’re curious, this is what it looked like with Dymo Stickers (home-printed self-adhesive label maker), which are great for sticking to gloss surfaces like plastic or glass, but terrible at sticking to matt and slightly (microscopically) imperfect/dusty surfaces like 3D prints.

You can purchase expensive ‘high tack’ industrial stickers, as I did for RadioGlobe, as in 2020 these were the only option, but since finding Water Slide Decals that are home-printable, it really is a game-changer!

Nonetheless, the process above was handy for working out font size and positioning, so not all was wasted time.

Economy: Fill The Sheet!

You could potentially cut the A4 Sheets into A5 Sheet, but either way, it’s good to try to pack as much in as you can, as once you spray the sheet, you can’t print again on it.

Wear a mask, (nasty stuff if inhaled) and ideally spray outside also. I use this Mask and these Filters, though please check your MSDS for what you're working with.

Just a light coat will do, so that the paper shines, but is not ‘soaked’ wet with the gloss spray. Leave to dry for a couple hours at least. You will also note I’ve taped down the edges so as to prevent the sheet from blowing away or curling up too much!

You will notice there are ‘tick marks’ or ‘cutting lines’ in red. This is to show where to place my ruler to cut the right sizes, without resorting to printing a black border line, which gets messy. Depending on how many you are doing, it’s wise to have a few extra - ‘Bakers’ Dozen’, just in case you mess a couple up.

This is frankly quite hard to show in photos, so I’ve also created two videos so you get the idea. (Decals Video - Front and Back). However, the general idea is that you’ve printed ink onto a water-activated glue, which is then waterproofed by the gloss spray. When you cut these out and submerge them in water, the ink is waterproofed, so does not bleed, but the glue now softens, and after about 2 mins it will likely separate from the white backing paper.

Before this happens - and this is the knack - you want to take it out between 1-1.5mins with the backing paper still attached, as this allows you to position it. You may feel or see the transparent later ‘slip’ slightly on the backing paper - this is perfect, and allow it to rest gently on the 3D print. Safe to say, ensure the 3D print is clean and free of oil and dust beforehand!

As you can see in the video, you can slide off the transparent part, and remove the backing paper. You can very gently adjust the alignment slightly but take care not to tear it. Lastly pat with some soft tissue paper, to absorb any excess water.

Leave to dry overnight in a warm place.

There is a tiny bit of ‘sheen’ on the Decal, which is more noticeable on a Matt surface than a gloss one, but even though I deliberately emphasise it here in this photo, as you can see from the following one - it’s not that noticeable, if you photograph at the right angle.

I found that the Decals worked on the ‘face’ as well as the ‘sides’ of the 3D Prints.

I also tested scratching the Decals off with my fingernail, and it’s honestly pretty stable, and certainly no less good than paint (as in if you really go for it - it’ll come off, but not in general use).  For the price, ease and convenience they seem like a great way to label up a console or prototype with the minimum of fuss.

Water-Slide Decals, and Clear Gloss Spray on Amazon or likely available in Hobby Stores.

Decal Application Videos: