DREWspective

I recently got into scrapbooking, having had an idea of doing something extremely practical and rewarding. I’ll let you guys in on it in the near future.

One of the challenges I faced was getting picture-perfect text onto the front cover of a sketchbook. A previous attempt to copy the font, using a printed outline and pencil rubbing proved fruitless, as my hand was too wobbly. So I began to think of better ways to do it. I didn’t want to print, cut out and paste a piece of paper; that would have ruined the effect.

My mind cast back to those good old days, when I used to hoard and play around with rub-on letter transfers. (I recently found out they’re referred to mainly as Letraset, after the company that specialises in them.)

After doing some digging around, I came across the Letraset web site, who - as well as selling their standard letter transfers - offer a service where you can create your own. In addition to not being able to find a good font to purchase, I had my own created font that I wanted to use. How cool would it be to have my own transfer sheets with my font on them, I thought?

I was certainly game, until I realised just how expensive it would be to purchase. Unless I was mistaken, we’re talking about £50 per sheet, and you have to order in bulk. I don’t think that goes for the various other, wonderful options such as metallic finishes.

So being the resourceful, experimental person I like to think I am, I wandered around Google looking for DIY solutions. There’s a good tutorial over at Scrapjazz, which shows you how to make them using transparencies and inkjet paper.
I gave it a go, and the result was pretty good. The only problem was that the transparency (I used a thick sheet of plastic) attracted dust like nobody’s business. You also have to be careful how you place the transfer on the surface, or at least give the ink a lot of time to dry.

There was another tutorial that involved using hairspray and spray gel, but that was a complete waste of time. I bought a whole box of OHP transparencies just for that, and the ink would not budge.

Everything seemed hopeless, until I came across a site selling rub-on transfer paper. You can’t find it in shops in the UK, and only one online store operating in Europe sells them. Once again, eBay was my friend.

So on Saturday I finally received the paper all the way from the US, having ordered on Monday. The instructions weren’t very clear, and it took me a while to figure out how to use them, but the end result was very rewarding.

But I was disappointed to find out that, rather than the rub-on transfer paper I was expecting, the product was actually for rub-on decals.

Let me clarify:

- Letraset sheets, where you rub each letter individually onto a surface, are what I call transfers.

- The sheets I bought require you to print a design on them, stick adhesive paper on the printed side, cut out the design and then stick it on a surface; kinda like temporary tattoos. These are decals.

Unfortunately the terms transfers and decals are used interchangeably, which led to the confusion. It’s safe to say that you’ll find decal paper on sale whenever it’s referred to as transfer paper; I’ve not yet seen a consumer product that replicates Letraset sheets.

I suppose having decal paper is good enough, because it will save on printing compared to having custom transfer sheets. There will always be the problem of not having enough “e”s or “s”s to finish a word with transfers, but with decals you can arrange letters (and have different sizes, etc.) with next to no fuss.

Give them a try.