Double Tack Printing

by PC Smart

sandbox serendipity (my art blog)

Double Tack is a clear double sided adhesive film with a paper backing by grafix . Unlike the red lined tape, it has a "paper" backing. The paper backing is key to this technique because you can print on it. (note: to make printing easier, I use the pouch first - scraperfect ). You can also use other double sided adhesives as long as they have a paper backing, but i have found this one to work the best. The cool thing about this technique is that you can use so many different media with it. I have used foil, glitter, microbeads, mica powders, sand and more. For the stepped out examples, I am using glitter and glitter mixed with pearl ex powders.
I first published this technique in 2003 in Scrapbook Premier Magazine (now Scrapbook Business Magazine). I followed up with features in Beadunique, Scrapbooking & Beyond and my Craftlab tv appearance (Printer Play ) . It is a favorite technique of mine as it is so versatile and super easy.


For the cd case shown here, I used fabric foils to get the silhouettes of the ladies to appear silver. This was a project for my daughter's room. The cd case was sprayed with Krylon fusion paint before the ladies were added. I prnted the silhouettes on the Double Tack, trimmed them out carefully and applied them to the case. Because the Double Tack is super sticky, I had no trouble getting the foil to stick to the silhouettes. By carefully peeling the second paper layer off the silhouette, I exposed the adhesive and applied the foil. After the ladies were applied and foiled, I outlined the ones on the pink drawer with a black permanent pen. The effect of the foil is much cooler in person as the photo does not show the metallic nature of the silhouettes.











Let me take you through the step by steps with two very simple examples....
First of all, a few things about double tack:
*you may have to cut the sheets to size, packaged sheets are larger than letter size (I cut mine very small to be economical about using it, pieces are cut to 4x6 or 5x7)
*use the printing pouch (scraperfect) before printing on the double tack liner. I also reduce the opacity of the image or print on draft. The paper liner is not very porous and will not soak up the ink jet ink
*only do this technique on ink jet printers - never a laser printer or copier - the heat may cause the adhesive to leak into the mechanism
*if you mess up, don't panic...flip it over and print on the other side (you will be discarding both sides of the paper backing anyway)


I printed a simple clip art image of a lime on a branch with some leaves (duh, you see that right?). I cut it out and removed the UNprinted part of the liner, adhering the image to yellow cardstock. You can trim with a craft knife or small scissors but be aware the adhesive may gunk them up a bit, keep your undu handy (or use teflon coated shears)














In this next image you can see I have removed only the leaves from the top liner (exposing the adhesive) and sprinkled some green glitter on them. (glitter will not show well in scans, sorry) I tapped off the excess and used a funnel to put it back in the jar. I did not worry about the veins here because I was trying to keep the example simple.
















Here is the "finished" image. I have used black glitter on the stem, dark green on the lime and clear on the highlight spot. A simple image like this would be great on a card, tag or as an embellishment on a layout. If you will be handling the finished project, I would recommend a spray sealer like Crystal Clear by Krylon to keep the glitter on the paper and not on your clothes (you should see my shirt right now!)












Another use for this technique is to highlight a portion of an image. By printing the same image on the double tack and on photo paper, cardstock or fabric, you can cut out only the portion you need and glitter it. The image on the left was printed on photo paper, the one on the right is printed on double tack. I reduced the opacity by 50% to save ink and reduce smear. I am going to glitter/color only her dress, leaving the rest of the photo untouched. normally you would try to do this with diamond glaze or other such adhesive...but the inkjet print would probably smear and bleed into your glitter. I cut out only her dress, removed the unprinted paper backing and applied it to the photo.

















Here is the finished "glittered" image. You can see I made the bodice a different color than the sleeves by removing that section first and glittering it with a light purple. Since the glitter was very transparent, I added some lavender pearl ex powder to the area (it added color but didn't reduce the shine factor of the glitter). The sleeves and skirt were glittered with light pink glitter and pink gold pearl ex powder. When using the pearl ex, be careful not to get it in the areas outside the adhesive as it may not brush off completely. The overall effect of this glittering is a bit over the top and "altered" looking. You might want to tone things down a bit more but for scanning purposes, I had to go a bit darker. You can use this technique to simply add clear glitter/microbeads to part of an image to call attention to a part of it. Create sand paintings by using colored sand (something i am working on for a "sandbox" sign for my room). This technique is great for paper crafting as well as traditional craft projects such as embellished boxes, canvas and more. I have even used it on walls for a funky decor effect (in that case i did all the glittering and sealing first, then removed the unprinted backing to apply on the wall) Because of the versatility of this technique, I may have a tendency to overuse it....but hey, I am not apologizing.....



















This is one of my favorite examples.... I printed the image on photo paper and then again on double tack. I cut out only her snow suit and glittered it with sugar glitter. Because the double tack is clear, you see the glitter and can still see the details of the snow suit underneath....