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wild-drive — Printed Doll Eye or Embellishment Tutorial
Published: 2012-01-20 05:32:47 +0000 UTC; Views: 48989; Favourites: 385; Downloads: 165
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Disclaimer: This is just a step-by-step explanation of how I've been doing this, I take no responsibility for anything that may go wrong during this process. If your printer gets jammed or your iron melts the paper it's not my fault, ok? ¯\(°_o)/¯ Be careful!I really hope this all makes sense. For the record my printer is an HP Laserjet, I'm not sure exactly which other kinds of printers can successfully print to sticker paper like this. I drew the eyes using Adobe Illustrator.
I'm using this process right now to make printed eyes for Monster High dolls, but it's also useful for a whole lot of other things where you'd want this kind of accuracy and reproducibility, such as doll tattoos, customizing accessories or restoring and making custom symbols for My Little Ponies.
I recommend you make a whole lot of the transfers at once even if you only need one since it's pretty easy to ruin them in the process and it's better to have spares than to have to start again.
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Comments: 55
Oh my god 
This is amazing and I am going to try it! 
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I was really confused until I realized the instructions go down the side and not across! Makes a ton more sense now!
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You just SAAAAAAVE the Day
So happy that I found this Tutorial (while looking for something else actually...xD)
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This is a great tutorial. But I am not knowledgeable enough to understand to process ,will have to keep trying the painting method
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Would I be allowed to have the original eye-print thing you use (if that's okay with you)? i'd like to make my own but i'm not sure about the size of the eye and all that. thanks!
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What kind of paint do you use for the lips and other touch ups on the face?
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I don't suppose there's a particular brand of 'sticker book' you recommend? I only ask because around here most anything called a sticker book has...well, premade stickers in it. 
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I think she just means a book of cheap stickers like teachers use for papers. Peel off the stickers and use the backing. I'm not sure, though, because I would think the ink might bead up. I'm going to give it a try
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Let me know how it goes! That would be much easier than finding one of the books previously mentioned.
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She means a blank one, for collecting stickers. I haven't seen too many since I was a kid. Check the sticker aisle of a craft store.
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*pokes around the net* So...something like this?
www.amazon.com/Old-Fashioned-S…
I've never seen these in stores - would explain the confusion!
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Yes, I looked them up too after I told you, and 'album' is the keyword. I had one when i was a kid, but they don't seem to be very common. Ebay's got a few, but the one in that link looks like it's almost A4, a lot of the ones I found were half that size.
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Wonderful! Thank you! I really want to try this, but the closest I've had to a 'sticker book' is glossy photopaper and I was really kinda dubious about whether that would work....
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hey, do you think it's a bad idea to print the eye on adhesive transparent paper and glue it on the face?
I was thinking about doing that to my Mikaela (since her single eye is much bigger that regular MH eyes) could this work?
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grrr my printer isnt magic enough for this lol but i love the idea! Ive been trying to think of ways to redo eyes without painting. GENIUS!
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Lovely and informative tutorial! I'll have to try this out for sure!
Also, I'm so curious, how did you make the cog eyeball for the head at the top and on the left? Also, how did you apply it within the head?
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if you know how to remove the head (this person has a tutorial in her galery) cut the eye you want out, then, use twezers to apply and place the gears(rub some glue on gears first) should work!!!
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im going with the traditional route, but factories used this for many years!!! SMART!!!!
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This is so great I can't wait to use it!
I think what he means by cheep sticker paper is removing the stickers from the book and just using the pages they were on. Guessing shiny side up here??
I would like to know the size of the eyes too!! How big in pixels are they, please tell us! <3
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Oh my god, this is an amazing idea! Thank you so much for sharing this with us!
I would like to know the size of the eyes too(pixels), please tell us! <3
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What size (pixels) are the eyes, that they fit soo perfectly?
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You better try a half an inch lenght eye in the resolution of 300 pixels per inch.
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So just to be sure, the paper is the sort of glossy paper at the back of the sticker books, correct? Not a sheet that's like, a giant sticker xD
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Nope, it's exactly like a giant sticker. You find those in specialized shops.
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Oh, really? That makes a lot more sense. Thanks ^^
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I'm interested in making a custom doll, but...I don't understand this tutorial...
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I didn't understand it either until I suddenly realized I was reading it horizontally, when it's laid out vertically. :T What I believe is going on is that after you paint the layer of transparent glue over the eye, you iron it so that the ink sets into the glue, then peel the layer of glue off (which now has the ink on it) and glue that onto the doll's head. I suspect she recommends printing on sticker paper because it takes longer for the ink to dry on a glossy surface, which makes it easier to transfer to the glue.
I could be wrong, but that makes sense to me -- I'm going to try it tomorrow, because this is a fantastic idea that sounds much less expensive than ordering custom decal paper. c:
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Have you tryed it, If so how high in pixels did you make the eyes?
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Thank you so much for this wonderful idea!!
I have really been wanting to do custom dolls but my hands shake so much and doing something that requires such small detail would have been beyond my doing. This solves that problem! Thank you again! Now I just have to get my husband to buy a color printer! xD!
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this. is awesome. I'm a beginner when it comes to painting with tiny brushes (no patience lol)
for the sticker paper, did you just peel all the original stickers off to use the backing?
Would this also work for lips maybe?
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I'm still wrapping my head around the paper type part. Is there any other paper that you recommend? I've never heard of Sticker Book A4 before. >.<
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it's just a kids sticker book from the dollar store that's about a4 size, i cut the pages out.
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I don't quite get this part... How do you peel the printed eyes off the pages/sheets? O_o Are you printing them like stickers? Or do you first peel the sticking layer of page off the bottom one?
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how did you get the gears into the head of the other doll? I'm trying to do something like this myself and the only solution I've seen is to cut the back of the head off and I'd hate to do that. thanks for the tut, very helpful.
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If I wanted to do that, I would sugest(Like it is in the photo.) I would cut out, one little thing of the eye, then I would fit the little screw in : )
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i cut out the eye with a scalpel, then stuffed the head with plush stuffing so there's something inside the head to keep them in place. then i just coated the edges with glue and slid them in individually. they're not super secure but they're stayed in place so far.
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thank so much I never thought to stuff the head. I was afraid I was going to have to cut the back of the skull off.
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This is BRILLIANT! Thank you so much for sharing! I'm going to have to try this.
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Wow! I didn't know that this could work! 
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