Laser Printer Issue

[jelliott523]

Okay, looking for some suggestions or guidance. I bought some decal paper to try my hand at making my own decals. I bought both the clear and white from Micro-Mark. I setup the decal that I wanted to reproduce, sent the project to the printer to see how it would look on regular paper first and to make sure that I had them registered correctly; everything looked great! I did this a few more times playing with the resolution to get it "just right". After I felt I had everything where I needed it, I put the decal paper into the printer tray and hit print. What I got was a smeared mess and it appeared ruined. Since I hadnt sealed the decal paper yet, the image just wiped off the paper. I then thought that since the paper was substantially thicker than regular paper that I should put it through the single tray feed on the side of the printer. Low and behold, I ended up with the same issue, smeared; however, not as bad as the first time.
Any thoughts and ideas are welcomed.

[LyleW]

What printer are you using? Could be that you got ink-jet paper and used it in a laser or something like that. Did the plain paper wipe off?

[jelliott523]

I have an HP color laserjet (not sure of all the numbers on it). My wife works for HP and used to work in the laserjet development division, so we would get a new printer all the time. This is a large freestanding one, similar to what you would see in a business environment.
As for the paper, the label that is on the packet claims that it is the laserjet sample pack. I did not have any problem with the ink wiping off the regualr paper.
I guess since my wife worked on the development team, I should just ask her to sort it out.
Sometimes, the most logical solution escapes my mind.

[LyleW]

Ok, stupid question - was the paper in correctly? Had the ink wiped off the regular paper, it could be the fuser. I've seen laser printers wipe off some types of backer, if the paper was put in wrong. Normally, I'll take a pen and put an "X" on a piece of plain paper, print something and see where the "X" showed up in relation to what I printed and orient the paper accordingly.

[jelliott523]

That is exactly the same process I did, only because, I've been down that road a time or few before working with other things, like trying to scan a document and the darn thing is upside down or scans the wrong side.