You probably realize it by now, but I love Pinterest. One day, I stumbled across a post from How About Orange to make gold foil cards using a laser printer. I thought it was awesome that I could make gold foil bond to paper using my laser printer and decided to research more about how this worked. My first experiment with this DIY Gold Foil was with a couple birthday cards for Michelle and Brittnee.
Laser printers work by electrically charging the paper then the toner is electrostatically adhered to the charged areas of the paper. The heat of the printer then fuses this toner to the paper. This electrical change in the paper is what allows the gold foil to transfer to the paper. An inkjet printer won’t work because it simply deposits ink onto the paper.
I ordered the “Foil Sampler Pack” from PulsarPro FX and can definitely see myself trying out the different colors. This product is TRF or Toner Reactive Foil meaning that it reacts to the toner on the paper. I also found other companies selling it as Heat Transfer Foil – just make sure that it is for paper and not for clothing.
If you are in the market for a color laser printer, I highly recommend the HP brand. I own the HP CP1525nw and absolutely love it. I purchased this printer a couple years ago on black Friday and can’t imagine going back to an inkjet printer.
DIY Gold Foil Greeting Card
The short story on how to make these cards include 3 steps:
- Print your design onto cardstock
- Place a piece of TRF over the image and tape the edges
- Run the piece of paper through the printer again, printing a blank image.
Visit How About Orange for a wonderful detailed tutorial. What would you make using this foil?
