ALPS Thermal Waterslide Decal Printing
The ALPS Thermal printer uses a wax/resin "ink" that is transferred onto the decal paper. ALPS ink colors are NOT UV RESISTANT and will fade quickly if used outdoors.
Another unique benefit of ALPS Thermal printers is their ability to print with white and metallic colors. Since most printers can't print these colors, this gives you some nice options that you otherwise wouldn't have access to.
White?! That's right, white is a printable color with the ALPS. This is invaluable for most decal artists since you can print additional colors right over the white ink. Colors laid over white are more vivid and allow the decal to look great when applied to anything; regardless of the object's color.
Besides these benefits, ALPS printers can quickly and cheaply print a single sheet thus avoiding expensive setup costs associated with some other methods of printing.
So what's the catch? Well, there's a pretty big one: You can only make about 10 actual colors with the ALPS Thermal printer. You're basically limited to a selection of black, white, cyan, magenta, yellow, red, blue, green, metallic silver, and metallic gold. Not only that, but the ALPS can only reliably print with 3 colors at a time due to the thickness of decal paper. Any more than 3 layers of color can result in scratching of the inks as the paper passes through the printer multiple times.
Oh, and if you do want to use red, blue, or green in your decal, you should know that the ALPS creates these three colors by "mixing" two other colors. So if you're printing red (yellow + magenta) you've already used up 2 of the 3 available colors for your decal, leaving you with only one more color to choose from.
In spite of these limitations the ALPS printer is still the most popular option for waterslide decals since most decals aren't overly colorful or have complex shading. Oftentimes, decals are simply black or black and white.
Gold
Silver
Custom printed Waterslide decals for model railroad, model building, automobiles, trains, airplanes, helicopters, cars, boats, vehicles, ships, railroads, rockets, slot cars, bicycles, motorcycle, restorations, nails, guitars, company logos.
You must have Ready to Run artwork created to our file specifications, in order for us to print custom decals. (see below)
We don't print halftone values on the ALPS printer only 100% solid colors. We don't cut custom shaped or die-cut decals, decals have to be cut out by hand by customer.
We do not reproduce copyrighted or trade marked material without written permission.
Application Instructions| Guitar Headstock Decal Samples | Restoration Decal Samples | Other Decal Samples |
 965guitars.com |
   www.robertdaulton.com |
 rc float plane  |
8" x 10" Image Area 3 single colors max per sheet or one 2 color overlay max per sheet White, Black, Magenta*, Process Yellow*, Cyan*, Metallic Gold, Metallic Silver Single Color= Single ink color that doesn't overlapping or touch any another ink color. Overlay Color= Two ink colors that are overlapping or touching another. We don't print full color ALPS water slide decals. ALPS Standard Solid Ink Colors Offered
ALPS White Ink
Kadee® decal thickness should be about 0.0003 in. or 3 ten-thousandths thick once applied. The ALPS printer is not a "traditional" printer.
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