New digital ground products from Golden
May 9, 2008 by Cyndi Lavin
Filed under Arts & Crafts
I was recently sent a sample pack of several new Golden products. The first three that I’ve had a chance to play with are the new digital grounds. These products are made to enhance the quality of work done using inkjet prints onto all kinds of surfaces.
It boggles the mind what wonderful possibilities this may open up for artists who like doing image transfers or who like working with non-standard materials. Instead of being limited to toner copies for image transfers, inkjets will now work just fine…including on non-absorbent surfaces! Instead of being limited to pre-coated papers, artists can now create their own, out of just about anything!
Original Image
Transfered Image
Testing them out, I treated a piece of waxed paper to use for an image transfer. It took awhile to treat the surface: the ground tended to want to bead up, but as I patiently stroked it over the waxed paper with a foam brush, it began to spread out and form a film. Then I printed out an image…it was magical! Although the image was still moist, it stayed in place with no running or streaking until I was ready to make the transfer onto a piece of paper that I had spread with a thin layer of matte medium.
Amazing!
Here’s some of the info from the Golden’s website; you can visit them for much more in-depth information.
The Three Grounds
Digital Ground White (Matte) is a porous, opaque, white ground, for use on a multitude of surfaces. Like other porous ink-jet coatings, it allows prints to dry extremely rapidly, making it the safest choice for use with unmodified desktop printers that still have ‘pizza wheels’ or ejection rollers. It is also an ideal starting point for the first-time user looking for the most trouble free application on a wide range of materials.Digital Ground Clear (Gloss) is a clear ground with a gloss sheen for use on most absorbent surfaces, allowing the underlying material to show through. Similar to other swellable ink-jet receptive coatings, prints dry much more slowly, which can sometimes present problems for desktop printers that have ejection rollers or ‘pizza wheels’. While there are rarely if any problems when used on very porous surfaces like paper, we do not recommend using relatively non-porous substrates coated with the Digital Ground Clear on a desktop printer unless the printer’s ‘pizza wheels’ or ejection rollers have been removed. However, such modifications of your printer are at the users risk and may negatively affect printer performance, void printer warranty, etc.
Digital Ground for Non-Porous Surfaces is similar to the Clear described above but optimized for increased adhesion and performance on non-porous surfaces such as aluminum or plastic. We do not recommend using the Digital Ground for Non-Porous Surfaces on a desktop printer unless the printer’s ‘pizza wheels’ or ejection rollers have been removed. As before, such modifications of your printer are at the users risk and may negatively affect printer performance, void printer warranty, etc.
Oh my goodness - that is seriously cool! I love Golden products and will definitely have to try these ones out
This is a seriously cool product, Chloe
I’m confused - sorry - keep reading and re-reading…after you coated the waxpaper, you cut that to size (i.e. 8 1/x2 x11) and ran THAT through your printer? I’m sorry, it’s been a long week of creating and I’m unclear on exactly how to use the product. I’m very into trying to find a transfer technique that works for me so intriqued on how this product works. thank you,
Yes, exactly! Once the waxed paper is coated with the ground, you can actually inkjet print right on it without it smearing all over the place. It then can be used to make a fabulous transfer if you want.
I just purchased Digital Grounds White/Matte (based on my printer, best product for me right now). I put a piece of vintage text and adhered (gel medium) onto scrapbook paper w/swirls. I’m going to run that through the printer. Did 2 coats of Digital Grounds (vertical - dry - horizontal)…I was surprised that the Digital Grounds turned the scrapbook paper so opaque.
I have an HP all-in-one printer and am afraid to try the other 2 products but was wondering if the base paper (what I’m running through the printer) should turn so opaque (white). My intent is to get the effect where the white/light parts of a face ’show through’ the text AND the swirls of the scrapbook paper….
Cindi
I have one of the HP Deskjet printers, and I used the Digital Ground Clear product with no problems. I think that would be the better choice to give you the transparent look that you’re going for. Yes, the White/matte product does turn whatever you’re printing on opaque white. Since I was doing a transfer, it didn’t really matter to me which I used, but you’ve got a different application here.
Am I completely monopolizing your Golden Products section on your site LOL
Question. Exchanged my white for the clear (per your recommendation - thank you)….I’m just printing out on textbook paper and scrapbook papers…. I noticed that the ink of the printed out imagine is still ’smearing’ to the touch (I know, then don’t touch it) but seriously it’s very subtle but it can smear. I’d like to protect the overall piece but am worried that if I brush on Golden’s matte medium that everything will smear a bit. Wondering if I should spray an adhesive, let that dry and then protect with a matte medium? Thoughts?
Thanks -
Cindi with an ‘i’ - I mean 2 ‘i’s’
I wouldn’t use an adhesive. I think you mean a clear acrylic spray like Krylon’s fixatives…? That’s what I use on my prints, unless I’m using them as transfers, and then I find that I can brush over them with matte medium with no smearing at all.
Cyndi with just one ‘i’, not just one eye LOL!
Me again?…. Can you explain to me (like I’m a 3-year old) how you do a ’skin’. I have the Digital Ground Clear and want to create a ’skin’ that I can peel off and place over text (poem) from a book. Thank you,
Cindi
Cindi, I wouldn’t use the Digital Ground to make a skin…the purpose of DG is to make sure that acrylics *stick to* the surface. When I want to make a skin, I just puddle a little bit of acrylic paint on a slick surface like aluminum foil or a plastic plate. Let it dry overnight and then carefully peel it up. You might have to use a knife to get it started around the edges.
Oh - I see. I was hoping that there was a way to do a ‘transfer’ where I have text from a book and I can somehow, with some medium create a ’skin’ of my image (let’s say a dog’s face) that would be completely transparent, very, very thin and I could ‘peel’ and adhere it to the book text.
Do you know of any medium/material I could use to create this type of effect. Greatly appreciate for your responses!
Cindi
Hmmm…for that effect, I would probably try doing a transparency transfer, again *not* using Digital Ground, because you want a faint image. I usually use transparencies to transfer onto fabric, but it works on paper as well. There’s a link on this page:
http://www.layersuponlayers.com/image-transfer-methods/
I just wrote about my frustration with image transfer on my blog and that the closest I have come to any success is using the packing tape method. I am so happy to hear about these new products. I’m amazed that you put it on the paper first and THEN put it through your printer.
So what do you do after that? You put it against the background you are transferring it to and add acrylic medium to it?
Sorry, I’m having trouble figuring all this out too.
Hi Suzie! I used the digital ground on the paper, because I was actually printing out on waxed paper, which doesn’t take the ink jet image well otherwise. It makes a great transfer afterwards. Just apply a thin coat of medium to your receiving paper and slap the image down on top of it. Burnish and peel off the waxed paper, and the image (usually!) transfers pretty well
I’ve got all kinds of transfer tutorials at this link:
http://www.layersuponlayers.com/image-transfer-methods/
Hi Cyndi, thank you so much for your quick response. That is so cool, how you do this and I’m so excited that inkjet printers can be used in this way. So few places use toner these days, my library doesn’t. So now I have an alternative that doesn’t always have to be packing tape. Thank you for the link too, I love reading about your transfer techniques.
Suzie, I’d love to see some of your images if you’d like to share once you’ve had some success with other methods! Notice that I’m very sure you’re *going* to have success
You bet! I would be happy to share. Now I just have to find a place that sells this product, LOL. I will think positively like you and make sure I do have success so I can share it here.
Hi, i am trying to transfer pictures and words etc. to canvas.I am having trouble getting a seamless like i havent just stuck something on look (if you know what i mean) The image doesnt have to be perfect, infact i like the imperfections. What would you suggest as a first try? I dont want to go out and buy stuff only to find its not the right technique.
Thanks very much
Hey Lisa! You’ll find there’s always some sort of “seam” around a transfer…I haven’t yet found a method that doesn’t leave one. What you need to do is go in and work around the edges with more acrylic medium or caulk (depending upon what you used in the first place) to texture and fade the line. Also, add more collage papers, paints, glazes, or whatever else is needed to de-emphasize the line. These digital grounds that I’m reviewing here will not solve the seam problem. I wish there were a method that was completely seamless, but the best I’ve found is using an inkjet transparency to make the transfer. But even with those, I usually have to work around them a bit more