After finding out that veneer can give my edge lit night lights more character, I started thinking of ways to add color to my projects without painting. (Because I suck at it.)
I decided to try sandwiching inkjet printed transparency film between the two pieces of medium clear acrylic. Backlighting the transparency has required testing.
And testing.
I think the concept has promise. I still don’t know if the film is safe to laser cut, so I’m hand cutting it. I’m open to suggestions for improvement, so criticism is welcome. Here’s my best and nerdiest attempt so far.
The diffusion that the film gives looks very cool - I bet you could do a pale planet with that too!
The SDS I found for the 3M version says it’s plain polyester - so fine to laser cut. It’s worth looking up your individual brand if it’s not 3M, but I’m betting most are similar.
Not to send you down another unending hole, but I have sublimated images to my clear/frosted acrylic and the lamps have lit up the pictures quite nicely.
Very cool. This worked great. There’s also ‘backlit’ paper. I have ordered a couple of pics for my lighted frames. I’m wondering if that might work well.
Another film to consider (it’s also polyester based) is Rayven Repro Film. It’s what I used for this project, and it worked very well for an edge lit light. I did engrave a corresponding area behind the decal to capture as much light as possible.
Wow. I thought of doing a stained glass style light. Yours turned out beautifully.
Thank you so much for the film suggestion.
These are such fun projects, I think I’ll be coming up with new designs for months. Although, I may have to figure out how to sell some, to fund my addiction… I mean, “hobby.”
After the suggestion here, I started researching sublimation. I can see that in my future too.
