Etching Tile

Tried using clear acrylic to set the regular Sharpies and some of the colors ran. I was able to clean up some, but all the clear came off.

I have the oil markers so going to try that. Anyone else have come up with a waterproof solution?

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im thinking whatever solvent is in the spray acrylic made the marker run. Perhaps try brushing on modpodge, then spray acrylic for the shine (if that’s what you are looking for?)

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WalMart carries an off-brand (not Mr Clean Magic Eraser) for about half price in 20 or 40 count boxes.

Amazon has them as well.

I put them in an old Mr Clean container so I can pretend they’re the “real” thing :slight_smile:

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i have the oil markers and have done one, but i haven’t tested the “waterproof” qualities of it.

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The sharpie markers are technically waterproof. I sprayed my tile with water and put a paper towel on it and it did not transfer color.
A tile layer friend of mine suggested grout sealer (will need to check ingredients to see if any are solvents to sharpie)
Other suggestion was Scotchguard and also good old floor wax.


Oh and @Jules, I guess I’ll be buying these things in bulk too…one for each color…lol at least I got 3 per sponge.

Here’s the whole set…

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are you using those sponges to clean? i just used a paper towel (and then an orange wipe for the other half, which was faster and less elbow grease).

Paper towel doesn’t take the sharpie off for me…I put it on thick and let it dry to get a deep color. There is no elbow grease needed with the magic eraser sponges…just dampen and lightly drag it over the surface until it all goes away…if you put pressure, it can get down in the grooves and take some of the color…

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I figured that out after my post. I ran a few under water and rubbed with a toothbrush and soap. The older ones were fine, the newer ones lost a little color in the wide engraves, but not bad. So they will work for me. Thanks!

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I bought it quite awhile ago…can’t remember where😞 I have a fox, dog and cat in tea cups too.

Found it on ShutterStock. And it’s free! Sweet! It’s actually from an “Adult Coloring Book” series. Seems like there are lots of images there that’d be good tile etch material, many black and white vector drawings.

Hedgehog

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Its not free, shutterstock sells those designs.
You need to buy the rights to use it as per their policy.

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Hmm, I didnt sign up for shutterstock, but it does say:

Royalty-free stock vector ID: 485917906

Seems to imply that it’s free? I don’t know Shutterstock’s policies, since I am not a member. Anyone with more info on this before I decide if I want to get an account?

It’s royalty free in that you don’t have to pay every time you use it - but you do have to purchase it initially. You can have a monthly plan that gets you a fixed number of images or you can buy “packs” where you can get 5 or 10 or whatever images but not have a recurring monthly charge. The packs are more expensive per image but the monthly can add up if you don’t use a lot of their images.

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the key is the word “royalty” in front of free. that means you purchase it once and don’t have to pay a royalty every time you use it. :wink:

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I’m continuing to play with these old botanical images and hand coloring with sharpie, then just using paper towel with some rubbing alcohol… For these it’s taking off enough but not too much-- if I rub harder I can get more off if I want. With intricate (former block prints) images like this I struggled with seeing where the differentiation between, for instant, the strawberry and leaves were after-engraving and post-color, so the coloring didn’t come out too well-- the green bled into the red a bit too much. But, I’m really pleased with this most recent one-- a tulip that I did with multiple colors bleeding into each other. This one was using 600 speed/full power/270 lpi/convert to dots.

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Wow! Incredible shading. :grinning:

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I didn’t see this post until just now…I thought I would try out the Bixby image search on my Samsung S9+ and focus on the hedgehog in the teacup…it found it on ShutterShock! Amazed it could do that. Although I have a feeling they will be sharing all that information so going back and removing the permissions until I need it again…cool to know that works on my new phone.

So tonight I was heading out to see some friends’ band play. And I’d managed to pick up some cheap 4x4 and 6x6 tiles to play with. So I did a 4” test and a 6” final. Lots of solid area, which is different than what a lot of us have done. So I did what I’ve done before and etched and painted in with my black oil pen. Cleaning up edges was more difficult.

So I did it again on a 6” tile, but this time masked w 582u. Lost a few light details, but much easier to clean since I painted with masking still on. A couple of tough places to pick the little masking off, but overall I was this is the masked 6” with happier.

This image is the painted on 6” tile over masking. I had an easier time wiping off the excess.

!

And here are the side by die of the four and six in tiles complete.

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Went over well at the show.

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Being a jerk about loading photo two, will try in separate post.

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Very nice and crisp! :grinning:

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Thanks for the settings, they work perfectly for me :slight_smile:

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