How To Print On Vellum: 3 Things You Need To Know

Scrappers who want to use vellum often experience difficulty when printing. Vellum isn’t like regular scrapbook paper, and doesn’t absorb ink as quickly as regular paper does. Thus, many scrappers often end up with smudged ink and give up in frustration.

1) The first thing you can do to prevent the “wet ink syndrome” is to change your printer settings before you try to print on vellum. Change your setting to print in draft mode. This prevents your printer from using as much ink as it normally would, which means drying time will lessen. Some printers even have a transparent setting.

Even if you change your printer’s settings, that doesn’t mean you can touch the ink immediately. You must allow drying time, or you will still end up with smudged ink. Do your printing first, then leave your pages to dry while you create the rest of your page layouts.

2) Another important point to remember is that you should purchase vellum paper that is compatible with your printer. Some vellum paper is made specifically to be used with inkjet printers only. If you try printing on vellum that isn’t compatible with your printer, you could end up with a big mess on your hands.

3) Here’s another neat trick for you to use, if you are going to layer your vellum on top of a sheet of scrapbook paper, or if you want to protect the ink from water (for invitations, name cards, etc.). Set your printer to print a mirrored image on the vellum. Flip the vellum over then attach to your cardstock. Your vellum will appear as though it would if you had printed it normally, but the ink will be underneath, instead of on top.