I buy blank cartomizers and fill with my own juice. I want to at least label them with the flavor and nicotine level. Why not go whole hog and make my own skins for them and get away from the basic black? After getting some info on the ECF for different possibilities, I ordered some inkjet printable waterproof white vinyl sheets with permanent adhesive from here: http://texascraft.com/hps/product.php?productid=16180&cat=255&page=1 I found a few images via Google on the net and with photo editing software (I use HyperSnap) and MS PowerPoint (Office 2010), was able to create an 8 ½ x 11 sheet for printing on the vinyl. That gives me 42 cartomizer skins with little waste. The pictures and print are easily editable in PowerPoint. Here is a sheet with some example possibilities (limited only by your imagination):
http://i51.tinypic.com/jine61.jpg
(Somehow the WW II aircraft nose art seems very appropriate to me!)
Of course, the skins can be made any size to fit batteries, atomizers, cartridges, etc. I like the plain batteries for now.
How to create and apply
The skins are designed to apply starting with the left side and allowing the right side to slightly overlap the left. Keep this in mind when selecting/cropping the pictures. I used black narrow arrows in the background to help guide me cutting out the skins. Text color is selected to keep the text visible on the picture. All this is very easy to do in PowerPoint. I use a sharp hobby knife and steel ruler to cut them out. When I cut them, I locate the cut remembering that the left edge won’t show, but the right edge will show. Also remember that both the top and bottom edges will show, but the bottom edge is less critical. I position the left edge very carefully on the cartomizer and simply roll the cartomizers to apply. Just make sure your skin does not cover the bottom air grooves on the cartomizer.
My inkjet printer is set to “best” quality and the paper type is set to “HP Premium High Gloss Film”. This seems to work best because the high gloss film setting delivers less ink to the sheet and keeps the features sharp. After allowing the sheet to thoroughly dry (about 30 minutes), I give it two light coats of glossy finish crystal clear (Krylon or Rust-oleum) spray enamel. Between the matte vinyl finish and the glossy enamel, the finished sheet has a semi-gloss look that pleases me.
Reading the instructions that come with the vinyl sheets, the one thing I don’t do is soak the printed sheet in water. This will wash out some of the color and detail. The clear enamel seals the colors and keeps them looking good.
The old skins are fairly easy to remove and the “permanent” adhesive on the new skins isn’t that permanent. The new skins can be removed fairly easily also.
Taste
I use a drip tip with my cartomizers, but have tried a few without one. Thanks to the clear enamel, there is no taste from the printing and no color bleed from mouth moisture.
Wear
The skins wear very well during handling, again due to the clear enamel spray. However, the printing will scrape off, so be somewhat careful with them.
I also bought some sheets of white water transfer decal media to try so I could compare with the vinyl. http://www.decalpaper.com/product-p/25c.htm The cost is about the same, but requires more work on my part. Haven’t got to try the decals yet.
Hope my experience will be helpful to you. http://i54.tinypic.com/w6sjsh.jpg
http://i51.tinypic.com/jine61.jpg
(Somehow the WW II aircraft nose art seems very appropriate to me!)
Of course, the skins can be made any size to fit batteries, atomizers, cartridges, etc. I like the plain batteries for now.
How to create and apply
The skins are designed to apply starting with the left side and allowing the right side to slightly overlap the left. Keep this in mind when selecting/cropping the pictures. I used black narrow arrows in the background to help guide me cutting out the skins. Text color is selected to keep the text visible on the picture. All this is very easy to do in PowerPoint. I use a sharp hobby knife and steel ruler to cut them out. When I cut them, I locate the cut remembering that the left edge won’t show, but the right edge will show. Also remember that both the top and bottom edges will show, but the bottom edge is less critical. I position the left edge very carefully on the cartomizer and simply roll the cartomizers to apply. Just make sure your skin does not cover the bottom air grooves on the cartomizer.
My inkjet printer is set to “best” quality and the paper type is set to “HP Premium High Gloss Film”. This seems to work best because the high gloss film setting delivers less ink to the sheet and keeps the features sharp. After allowing the sheet to thoroughly dry (about 30 minutes), I give it two light coats of glossy finish crystal clear (Krylon or Rust-oleum) spray enamel. Between the matte vinyl finish and the glossy enamel, the finished sheet has a semi-gloss look that pleases me.
Reading the instructions that come with the vinyl sheets, the one thing I don’t do is soak the printed sheet in water. This will wash out some of the color and detail. The clear enamel seals the colors and keeps them looking good.
The old skins are fairly easy to remove and the “permanent” adhesive on the new skins isn’t that permanent. The new skins can be removed fairly easily also.
Taste
I use a drip tip with my cartomizers, but have tried a few without one. Thanks to the clear enamel, there is no taste from the printing and no color bleed from mouth moisture.
Wear
The skins wear very well during handling, again due to the clear enamel spray. However, the printing will scrape off, so be somewhat careful with them.
I also bought some sheets of white water transfer decal media to try so I could compare with the vinyl. http://www.decalpaper.com/product-p/25c.htm The cost is about the same, but requires more work on my part. Haven’t got to try the decals yet.
Hope my experience will be helpful to you. http://i54.tinypic.com/w6sjsh.jpg
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