It's quite transparent

Hi everyone

Dolly here.

I do like using transparencies on pages and, after being asked recently, I thought I would share this here today.

First I must stress that they are not acid free. I think you may be able to get acid free, though I am not sure. I use the ordinary standard transparencies used for years by teachers on OHPs.  Gosh, now there is a technology that has gone out of fashion.

The fact they are acid free really doesn’t worry me as my pictures are all prints of digital photos. I wouldn’t use them on originals and so if you are a purist and want everything acid free, then this is probably not the technique for you.

I have a couple of pages to share which use transparencies.

They run through a standard ink jet printer absolutely fine – just be sure that you print on the slightly rough side.

 

For this first page of views from the top of the Campanile in Venice I wanted to use an image of the Campanile itself. I wanted it to be sort of soft and faded and so the transparency was perfect. I wanted it to be the entire height of the page, but of course they were A4 size transparencies so I simply cut the paper down to 11.25” and used a border. That way the transparency could be the entire height of the paper I was using.

What you need to bear in mind is that glue will show through a transparency and so either use a smooth glue all over (not glue dots or herma as they will be visible) or use a precise glue like Zig 2 way glue just on some darker parts, following the lines so it is less obvious.

Or, as I did with this page, sew it on. Make a feature of the way it is adhered to the page.

 

There are other ways to use them and I hope these pages give you some ideas you can play with at a later date.

You could also use the transparency for details on a page. I printed the flowers on a transparency for this page and they made lovely soft focus.

 

In this page I made my own film strip transparency and then over-layed it on top of photos. The beauty of it is you can make it whatever size you want.

 

And this page has the sand letters, the hibiscus blooms and the palm trees all cut from transparencies I printed at home.

 

 

This one has the text on transparencies, a faded picture on transparencies so that the central photo (a continuation of the transparency photo, stands in stark relief. I also printed the letters SNOW onto transparency, cut them out and edged them with micro beads. So you see, they are very very versatile.

 

And finally this one has all of the text on transparencies which I have also painted roughly with white on the back so that the text shows up much more starkly.

 

I hope you have fun playing with transparencies.

Don't forget to post and let us see what you create x

Comments

[Leanne]

I've been using transparencies too recently - thanks for the inspration!