Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Trying Something New - Safmat


Letraset, the company that makes the Promarkers, makes many other products as well.  I think I used some of their letter transfers many years ago for an album title page.  At CHA I saw a product called "Safmat" and I just received a sample pack to try.  Safmat is a printable adhesive film that you can use for sentiments, titles and decoration for your cards and projects.  You can read  more about it on the Letraset blog HERE.

 

I knew that the sample was coming so this weekend I did some work on my computer to create a few sheets of designs to print out and experiment with on some projects.


I went through the digital embellishments in my Creative Memories StoryBook Creator Plus 3.0 program (I have been buying digital kits for years now) and picked out lots of ribbons and borders to try printing on the film.


 I also created a page of black and white borders and sentiments.  I set up a custom size projects since the Safmat is in the A4 size (8.3 x 11.7 inches).


I printed a few of my test pages - this is another set of borders and ribbons.  You have to be careful to put the sheet in the right direction so the printing will be on the film and not the backing!


You can see how transparent the film is.  I printed in best quality and checked "other photo paper" (even though this isn't photo paper).  I had to adjust the settings once again to print a borderless A4 page.

Here is the printed black and white page.  The ink is very shiny  on the film and I think it looks nice.


 I used a regular paper trimmer to cut apart the strips and sentiments.  These sentiments were all in my digital content library but you could easily create your own personalized sayings in any word processing program.  You could also print photos on the film and apply them to your project.


The Happy Birthday sentiment is trimmed to fit neatly inside a standard card.  I use a tool to help position the strip and keep it straight.  I did find that you could lift and replace the film if it wasn't straight the first time.  Once it is straight and exactly where you want it you can burnish it to the paper and the film virtually disappears.


I did have a bit of trouble with smearing of the ink - I think I had a little water on my finger which damaged the "h" and smudged the ink.  I found a little flower to hide the problem (always think recovery!).  edited to add - I have heard from my contact at Letraset and the problem may be that I used the highest quality print setting which puts too much ink on the film and can lead to smudging.  I will try a lower quality setting for my next trial run and let you know how that works out.


I tried a bit more experimenting with the color print.  First I used the paper trimmer to cut the strip with the pink ribbon..  Then I trimmed a piece to a bit more than 5 1/2 inches.


Here is another view showing how thin and transparent the film is - the color is printed but you can also see through to the background color.


I applied the film to the card and then added a sentiment strip from the first sheet I printed.  I left a little extra to be sure that the strip covered the entire card front - then I trimmed off the excess bits.


I like the look of the printed ribbon and sentiment.  I'll add some more items to this card - I was just excited to show you this new (to me) material for card making and paper crafting.

You can find Safmat at some art supply stores or from the Letraset website.  I will keep experimenting with the pieces I have here and let you know what I discover - so far I think it is great.  The material is easy to use and it should not be difficult to create your own custom printed sayings and sentiments for your cards and other projects.  I had no trouble printing on it - the printing worked perfectly the first time.  Once you print some sentiments you can place them where you want on your project without having to worry about lining up your card in the printer to get the words in the right position.  After you have applied the film and burnished it, the appearance is very professional and neat.

I wanted to share this new product with you right away so I postponed the "reveal" of the special event for one more day - you won't want to miss it so be sure to check in tomorrow.

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24 comments:

  1. I love love love this product! Thank you so much for sharing!

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  2. Oh, I love this....I can only imagine the possibilities to use this on the Cricut Imagine.....Thanks for the review!

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  3. This sounds very interesting. Have you tried this on colored cardstock?
    Thanks.

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  4. thanks for sharing this idea...I like adding transparent words, images and borders to projects, and this material sounds like something I should try.

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  5. That looks really cool. A great way to add a nice inside the card sentiment. Do you know if it will be available in stores ?

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  6. Ha ! It's morning .. I just re-read and saw you mentioned where you can purchase it. I knew you would have given us all the information we need to know, and I just missed it.

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  7. This is so exciting! The possibilities with this are going to be endless. Thanks for bringing this home with you and sharing it.

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  8. How does this compare to the film that Creative Memories uses to print their sentiments? I would be interested so see the difference in the "feel" of it. I love the fact that you can use your own sentiment or design on it though! Thanks for sharing!

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  9. Excellent! Thanks for sharing - I prefer computer generated sentiments over stamping... but am always a chicken about ruining my cardstock by not printing correctly. This product will open whole new worlds for me. And, the realism of that printed ribbon is UNBELIEVABLE!!

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  10. i'm thinking i might become a fan of this product. making your own 'rub-ons' (if you will). would like to know the price and how many sheets per pkg.
    thanks diane

    kat

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  11. Looks like a product with lots of possibilities! What brand of printer do you use?

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  12. Thanks for showing us what it can do and especially that you can lift it up to change it without damaging your project. I like printing sentiments on the computer.

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  13. wow....really like the way the ribbon looks and excited about the sentiment too..thanks for sharing all your finds and testings

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  14. This is very fascinating, Diane. I love the way the ribbon turned out. Do you know if they had a version that works with a laser printer? I'm assuming the one you used only worked with inkjet, or does it work with both? Thanks for sharing such interesting ideas with a new product.

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  15. Sounds great but I'm wondering if the ink will smear off. I have an inkjet and if things that I print get wet they smear! :(

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  16. This product look cool TFS.

    Luria

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  17. What a great new product. I can envision using it to add sentiments to the glass on picture frames! I look forward to hearing if it smears and what kind of printer you need.

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  18. I have tried clear mailing labels to accomplish a similar effect. The results were effective, but this looks MUCH better! Thanks for sharing your results, and I look forward to your updates.
    Shellee

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  19. This looks like a very helpful product - can't wait to try it!
    jackie

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  20. Wow, I love how this works. The inside of the card is always tricky. I either print on velum or stamp on cardstock. This is a great idea!

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  21. Thanks again Diane, I certainly would givve this product a try. I use a variety of computer programs for printing. Your updated info is helpful as no one wants a smeared project. A concern would be to think far enough ahead to maximize the film as most printers are 'happiest' with standard size sheets to print on. In otherwords it takes forethought to not be wasteful. Thanks again, great product.

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  22. Wow! I need this product now! I'm creating a never-ending card and want to add text(poems-sayings) to the card. Safmat would be perfect for this use. I searched on-line and couldn't find a store that sold it in the U.S., only in the UK. Many stores in the U.S. sell Letraset products but not Safmat. Darn. TFS. Best, MJ

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  23. I'm sooo glad you informed us about this product. After seeing your projects, I ordered Safmat and it is wonderful. This is just what I've been looking for as I tend to create a card prior to inserting text and then realize ooops, how do I place my sentiment inside the card... Safmat, solved this problem.

    Thanks again.
    Best,

    Mary

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