Desktop printing technologies support a variety of output media, such as decorative and translucent papers, labels, and cards. In addition to traditional and non-traditional papers, overhead transparency film that is ready to print and present is available. To use these clear sheets in your printer, select the appropriate stock to ensure trouble-free output.
Media Selection
Transparency film manufacturers create versions that are optimised for use with specific output technologies. Products are packaged for laser and inkjet printers, as well as colour copiers. Always match the media to the method for the best results, both in terms of output and hardware health. Transparencies designed for laser printers can withstand the fusing heat inside these machines while still properly accepting the toner bond. Inkjet transparencies accommodate the dyes and pigments sprayed onto output surfaces by these machines, as well as the drying requirements of the technology. Impact printers, such as dot matrix and daisy wheel devices, are the only printer types that do not use these media because they cannot withstand the printer-head hits that these devices require.
Loading Techniques
Transparency film feeds best when it is placed in the printer tray by itself. Removing paper and loading transparencies separately, or designating a specific tray in a multi-tray printer for these media, best suits the low-friction surface they present to your device’s feeding hardware. Transparencies can slip and skew when mixed with paper, resulting in a jammed sheet. If your device has a manual-feed tray with adjustable sliding guides, snug them up against the stack of transparencies just enough to hold and support them – but not so much that the sheets curve up in the middle.
Uses
Transparencies, in addition to their traditional use as presentation materials, can be repurposed to create a variety of useful printed items, such as special section dividers for documents, exhibits that show multiple elements of a design or timeline on separate overlays, and design alternatives placed on a floor plan or map to show alternative ways to build. You can achieve relatively good registration among the various elements of your printed sandwich because you can print on transparencies using the same applications you use to create the base art onto which you set these overlays.
Other Considerations
Store unused transparencies away from sources of light, heat, and dust, and avoid unnecessary handling that can scratch their surfaces, to keep them in good ready-to-print condition. Because they are made of plastic, they generate static electricity that can cause them to stick together, so carefully inspect your stock as you load it into the printer. If your office has a variety of printers, keep the consumables – paper and transparencies – for each one separate from the others to avoid potential mixups.
