Coating printed decals

[NOBLNG]

I’ve managed to print a fairly decent picture on my inkjet printer of the Jeepster instrument panel. I printed it on regular paper and also on glossy photo paper. What would be the best thing to coat this with to keep it from fading or losing color?

Thanks, Greg.

Edited November 23, 2020 by NOBLNG

[peteski]

Is it waterslide decal paper, or (as your post states) just a plaint or photo ink-jet paper?

If it is decal paper then you would need to seal the images with some sort of clear coating. Ink jet printer is water-soluble, so without being sealed, it will dissolve when placed in water.

If it is just regular paper, and you will simply cut the images out and glue them to the dash then there is no need for any extra protection,  However if exposed to sunlight, the image will fade slightly after few years. Not sure if clear coating it will protect it.  Also clear lacquer might soak into the paper making it  translucent.

[NOBLNG]

Thanks. It is just glossy photo paper. The lower quality image on the right is coated on the left half with Tamiya X-22 clear and on the right half with Model Master clear parts cement & window maker. The clear parts cement seems to have reacted slightly with the ink. I think I will use the X-22, or possibly use the panel supplied if I can get it looking better. 

[Fat Brian]

Don't use setting solution on printed decals, I almost ruined some making that mistake. 

[Tom Geiger]

We are working on the same project. This is just plain paper white glued in place, both gauges and radio.  There is a 4x4 shifter notice on the glove box door that I still need a good image for. 

[cobraman]

I wonder if Micro  Krystal Klear would work for you . I use it and like it.

[peteski]

6 hours ago, cobraman said:

I wonder if Micro  Krystal Klear would work for you . I use it and like it.

IIRC, that stuff (white in liquid state and clear when dry) is a water-based product. As such, it will likely make the ink jet ink run.

[Skip]

Why not use a clear acetate overlay the same size as the decal, I've done that plenty of times with printed gauges.  I've had the ink run or lose the crispness of the detail trying to overcoat the gauge decal/printed image on both paper and especially photo paper.  It may be worth an experiment trying to use the old 5 minute epoxy trick for replicating gauge glass.  I say experiment before using it because the last time I tried the 5 Minute epoxy developed air bubbles even with ultra slow mixing; so I ended up using the clear acetate overlay.  If you cut it just right there is almost a pressure fit and no adhesive needed, otherwise I use a tiny dab of watch crystal cement.

[Erik Smith]

You can coat decal film with clear lacquer - water based coatings will cause the ink to diffuse into the coating and adjacent paper. I would think clear lacquer would work similar on photo paper.