First off, what is a "solvent ink"? And where do you get it?

A solvent ink is a permanent ink that works well on plastics, rubbers, glass, and metal. You can buy some at virtually any craft store, or right from Webfoot.

Second, why would you be using any ink with a toner transfer? They don't smear.

A second benefit of using the ink to fix the image is that it creates contrast between what you've carved and what you haven't carved, making firm cut much easier to carve.

[._.]

So does one side of the parchment paper work better than the other? I've got a roll of Reynolds brand and the outside is a little bit smoother. I tried it a few weeks ago (can't remember which side I printed on) and the ink didn't want to transfer off the parchment very well even with hard rubbing.

So does one side of the parchment paper work better than the other?

No idea. After I straightened my sheet out as best I could, it still had a bit of curl to it, so I fed it through the printer the way I felt the curl wouldn't hurt the feeding.

I did transfer immediately. I didn't want to give the inkjet ink any more time to dry than absolutely necessary. It does come almost completely off the parchment; I was able to reuse the same area of the parchment, although I don't think this could go on forever because it seems to get a bit wrinkly and worn-looking in that spot after a couple of transfers.

So does one side of the parchment paper work better than the other? I've got a roll of Reynolds brand and the outside is a little bit smoother. I tried it a few weeks ago (can't remember which side I printed on) and the ink didn't want to transfer off the parchment very well even with hard rubbing.

Yes. When I print it, I print on the outer curve (i.e. when you place the curled parchment on the table, it is an upside down U shape - the top side of that. Does that make sense?) Trying to get it to transfer fromthe other side was TERRIBLE, I almost gave up with this method before I reallized that one side worked better than the other.

i print on that outside curve as well. it made some sort of logic to me as i was taping it down.

Yes. When I print it, I print on the outer curve.

Well, I got lucky then, because that's the first side I tried.

as did I kirbert. never thought about the sides being different

Ok, I'm going to give it another shot. Hopefully it will work better this way.

note to self.... make sure the cold iron doesn't have any water in it....

Good idea...got a good laugh out of that....;-)

After several tires I finally got a nice transfer. Here were my steps (and mis-steps) in case it helps someone else.

I printed the image on plain paper and then taped the parchment paper over the printed area. I printed on the smooth side (outside of roll side) of the parchment. The first pass was too light in color because I used draft printing mode and made the image gray instead of black. The second pass sort of worked. I made it darker, and tired to use the iron to transfer the image. This didn't work too well for me (even after dealing with the water situation). Some parts of the image didn't transfer. So I cleaned up the pink stuff with StazOn stamp cleaner and tired again.

This time I went back to the original black and white image and printed in draft mode. Then I taped the parchment to the stamp and colored over the back side with a pencil (that's what works best for me with pencil transfers). This made a nice clean transfer. The only downside is that the pencil lead doesn't stick to the parchment so it makes a mess if you smear it off the parchment.

As for the transfer to the stamp, I didn't find that it smeared much at all. It's about as permanent as a pencil transfer. Maybe it was the StazOn cleaner I used earlier?

I just discovered another little tidbit: If, after transfers, you find that there remains some inkjet ink on your parchment, it can be easily cleaned up with a regular pencil eraser. Comes right off, good as new.

My cheap POS iron doesn't have anyplace to put water. Perhaps more importantly, it doesn't have any pesky holes in the bottom, either; the bottom is simply flat. I think you'd have to be careful to avoid the areas with the holes when using a steam iron for transfers. It'd probably have me looking for something else with a flat bottom.

We are also into low-carb cooking and I would highly recommend cookbooks by Dana Carpenter which happen to include several cookie recipes for that parchment paper.