Jonathan Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 Ages ago, I found an Alps MD-1000 for sale locally and grabbed it. The previous owner was frustrated with it and had moved on to whatever he thought was a better printer (and I can see where you'd want something else for daily printing). Fast forward to 2024 and I actually got the thing to work! I'm running a Windows 7 (32-bit) virtual machine on a Windows 11 workstation and using a USB-to-parallel printer cable with bidirectional communication disabled. I've loaded a 32-bit version of Inkscape on the VM. After much experimentation and spending quite a bit of time on the groups.io Alps board (is "board" the right word?), I successfully did a test print tonight and was even able to print from Inkscape. I'm excited! So ... on to the question. What decal paper can I use with this? I want to print on clear paper as much as possible. Do I want paper designed for a laser printer or for an ink jet printer? Is anyone on this board actually using an old Alps printer now? Thanks in advance for any insight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 (edited) Yes, I'm an Alps owner and I believe there are others here. I prefer using Bare-Metal Foil clear decal paper for laser printers. There are others, but BMF is the best for me. Pricey, but I don't print many decals and if you ask BMF, they offer quantity discounts. Since you you are already a member of Alps Groups.io, you can also ask your decal paper question there. There is lots of useful info on that group. Also, if you haven't visited https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/decals.htm give it a read - lots of helpful info. EDIT: there was a recent related discussion on the Alps Group: https://alps.groups.io/g/ALPS/topic/decal_paper/103422747 Edited February 9 by peteski Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaronw Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 I have an ALPS 5500 that I bought new around 2008. I did not know about the IO Groups ALPS group, but there is an ALPS group on Face Book as well. I have always used laser printer decal paper with mine, but not sure that the printer is that fussy since it uses a film, rather than ink or toner. You do want to use a good quality decal paper though, some of the cheaper paper may have grit which will damage (scratch) your ALPS print heads. I always used Tango Papa but I bought a large amount of paper the last time and have not done much printing in recent years, so still have a large stock on hand (somewhere). I have heard some complaints that Tango Papa has had issues with paper quality. I never did, but also haven't bought any new paper for probably 10 years, so don't know if I got lucky or their quality has declined. I used to use a vender out of New Zealand ALPS Supplies for my cartridges, but again haven't had to buy new supplies in some time. I see a lot of people now are using Elephant's Rocket a company in Japan that has taken over supplies and printer support for ALPS. They have created ALPS drivers compatible for Windows 10 which I really need to download and try out. Part of the reason I haven't done much printing lately was one I made a lot of decals for my popular subjects and haven't run out, but the other reason was the nuisance of having to use an ancient Windows 7 laptop with the printer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 On 2/10/2024 at 6:53 PM, Aaronw said: I have an ALPS 5500 that I bought new around 2008. I did not know about the IO Groups ALPS group, but there is an ALPS group on Face Book as well. I have always used laser printer decal paper with mine, but not sure that the printer is that fussy since it uses a film, rather than ink or toner. You do want to use a good quality decal paper though, some of the cheaper paper may have grit which will damage (scratch) your ALPS print heads. The Facebook group is basically an offshoot of the groups.io group. The groups.io one has lots of reference material in the Files section and in the message archive. Facebook is not really suited for that type of archival storage. Don't ever use ink jet paper in Alps printers. It is not about the toner but about the special liquid-ink absorbing layer on the surface of Ink Jet paper. That can jam the head and break the ink ribbon. And yes, head damage is the main reason for those printers failing. You can get the printer to work with current versions of Windows, but you have to set up a virtual machine and run older version of Windows in it. It is a pain to do. I still have a dual-boot Windows98SE/XP PC dedicated to use with my printer. To me that is the most painless solution 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chariots of Fire Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 Been using Sunnyscopa clear decal paper for years. Good stuff. Very thin but takes the ALPS transfers very well. You can clear it with Testors lacquer with no problem. 25 sheets 8x11 are not expensive. You want laser paper, not ink jet paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaronw Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 (edited) 1 hour ago, peteski said: Don't ever use ink jet paper in Alps printers. It is not about the toner but about the special liquid-ink absorbing layer on the surface of Ink Jet paper. That can jam the head and break the ink ribbon. Yeah, I wasn't sure on the inkjet paper. I knew it is bad news in a laser since the heat of a laser printer can / will melt the coating on the inkjet paper. I long ago switched to using a laser printer so use the same paper for both the ALPS and my laser printer. Glad this thread popped up. I'm on io groups for several other groups but had not run across the ALPS io group, so was able to join it. I agree FB is really not a great format for collecting that kind of info long term. Edited February 14 by Aaronw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 I also belong to multiple groups on groups.io, but I selected no-email option. Instead emails, I exclusively access the groups through the Web interface. It is very similar to how an online forum like this is accessed. The messages can be grouped by threads, so you don't get lost in all those emails you your Inbox. And of course you have full access to the message archive (for searching it), and other features like Files and Photos section. Highly recommended. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classicgas Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 I believe Speedway Decals uses a ALPS printer. Only kind that prints white I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 Yes Alps is capable of printing white, and also metallic colors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadhawg Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 As an Alps printer guru and leading advisor on the groups.IO page I'm sure you know the beloved Tango Papa decal paper is still available from CMR Products | Trains & Everything Else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 5 hours ago, roadhawg said: As an Alps printer guru and leading advisor on the groups.IO page I'm sure you know the beloved Tango Papa decal paper is still available from CMR Products | Trains & Everything Else! True, but it is not the same. Some users reported that the paper is nothing like what TangoPapa used to sell. I personally don't use it so I didn't pay too much attention, but I do remember people not being happy about the change. Here is a thread about this from last December: https://alps.groups.io/g/ALPS/topic/decal_paper/103422747 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted February 15 Author Share Posted February 15 I appreciate all of the insight. I've been able to make the printer work by running Windows 7 in a virtual machine (VMWare Workstation Player). I'm using some off-brand USB to Parallel cable. Now to actually print a decal ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaronw Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 On 2/14/2024 at 10:15 AM, Classicgas said: I believe Speedway Decals uses a ALPS printer. Only kind that prints white I believe. There is now white toner available for some laser printers but it is very expensive. ALPS is still the only "easy" DIY option for printing metallics that I know of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 2 hours ago, Aaronw said: There is now white toner available for some laser printers but it is very expensive. ALPS is still the only "easy" DIY option for printing metallics that I know of. That's correct. And those laser printers cannot retain paper in the printed for multiple layers of inks like Alps can. That feature allows for effects not possible with laser printers. And yes, metallic and foils are another feature that is not available on laser printer. There is a process available for printing white and metallics decals using standard laser printers, but it is rather cumbersome. It is DecalProFx. Actually I just checked and it looks like they have scaled down their online presence, but the printing system still appears to be available: https://pulsarprofx.com/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 (edited) 6 hours ago, Jonathan said: I appreciate all of the insight. I've been able to make the printer work by running Windows 7 in a virtual machine (VMWare Workstation Player). I'm using some off-brand USB to Parallel cable. Now to actually print a decal ... Yes, designing artwork and then knowing how to get the most out of the Alps printer will take some learning. Did you read through the newbie info in the groups.io? https://alps.groups.io/g/ALPS/files/Newbie_Info In there I make a reference to Rob de Bie's Alps webpage. https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/decals.htm He created an excellent primer on design and printing of decals and in understanding some of the printer's shortcomings. Rob is also a member of this forum. Like Rob, I highly recommend doing the artwork in a vector-based graphic program. Using that format allows to easily resize or change colors, and also make them accurately sized without experimenting. I use Corel Draw version 10 and 12. Those are very old versions, but even those have more features I'll even need for artwork design. There is also free vector-based software called Inkscape. But as I mentioned, there is a learning curve involved so don't expect becoming proficient in couple of days. Edited February 16 by peteski 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Duh, I just went back and read your initial post in this thread. You did choose to use Inkscape for artwork design. That is a good start! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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