Printing on the back side of a photo paper... Is this safe?

[John V.]

To be honest, I'm not even sure how serious I consider this idea. It is more of a curiosity than anything. Not a curiosity of what may result.. on paper, but whether or not it can ruin a print head.

I have, in the past, as a noob, which I very much still am in regard to this print stuff--so... more of as  a "new" noob.. I have, a time or two, printed on the incorrect side of a piece of photo paper.

A time by accident, and one time on purpose, actually. The idea there was to print on the reverse side, where the ink would not be absorbed, with hopes that I could "dab" into this "pool" of ink, and "paint" onto a print that had a minor chip in it. This resulted in the to-be-fixed print going into the trash can. I didn't expect much anyway. No big loss.

Fast Forward... I have a collection of artwork, oil paintings, that I sometimes play around with digitally and make different "versions" of... I and gots to thinkin the other day...

What if I were to print out one of these paintings on the backside of a photo paper, and then plop that print onto a piece of watercolor paper (etc) to.... "transfer" it.

Detail wise, I understand.... there would be no detail left after the "transferring" .. It would just be for the colors man.

How would a print head behave given this task? What may it not really appreciate? I would imagine setting a wider platen gap would be OK and keep the head healthy...

?

[enduser]

I've done this on a Canon ipf using clear film, which worked because the ink takes a long while to dry. It was a clear film made for inkjet printing.  I've also printed on timber veneer and non digtal, traditional water color papers. No harm in either case but you need to punch up the colors.

[Iluvmycam]

No, does not hurt mine. I've done it thousands of times.

[hugowolf]

It just takes a long time to dry.

Brian A

[JeanMichel]

I've done this on a Canon ipf using clear film, which worked because the ink takes a long while to dry. It was a clear film made for inkjet printing.  I've also printed on timber veneer and non digtal, traditional water color papers. No harm in either case but you need to punch up the colors.

Hi,
About the clear film for inkjet printing: could you let me (us) know what kind of film you used. I am looking for such a material to print on my Epson 7890.
Thanks,
Jean-Michel

[enduser]

Unbranded cheap Chinese just to try.

[John V.]

If you go to lexjet.com and filter the Media section by "aqueous" and "clear" (finish) you''ll get a handfull of products to look into.

[JeanMichel]

If you go to lexjet.com and filter the Media section by "aqueous" and "clear" (finish) you''ll get a handfull of products to look into.

Thank you for the advice.
Jean-Michel

[framah]

If you are going for the colors, man!! ...  you want to have the receiving paper wet. NOT sopping wet , but damp enough for the inks to interact with the water and flow into the paper. Then use a brayer roller to help transfer the inks from the film to the paper.

You should be able to use any paper for this. I used to do Polaroid transfers to brown shopping bags.
 
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Post some photos of your results!!