Custom Labeled Dansco! Success! Pics!

In another thread (https://goccf.com/t/68866) I tell the story of a special sent album I put together in a blank Dansco album.

Well, I finally got the album labeled and it looks GREAT! I used "rub-on transfer paper." It is available from multiple sites, but I ordered from: http://www.beldecal.com/rubon-paper.html

Here's the process with nice photos:

First I printed the labels that I wanted on a plain sheet of paper to make sure the size was right and everything was spelled correctly. These are enough labels for 2 pages of the cent Dansco. I actually printed two copies of this on one page (I gave a matching album to my brother).


You print a MIRROR IMAGE of your file on the "carrier sheet" which is a thin clear sheet. This can be fed through your laser printer or inkjet. I printed these on an inkjet printer. I let it dry a few minutes before laying the adhesive sheet on top.


Next, you take the sheet of adhesive. This sheet appears white. It has a very thin layer of adhesive between two sheets. You peel off the white side of the sheet, then apply it on top of the inked carrier sheet. Apply this carefully to avoid air bubbles. Remember you are applying this to the inked side of the carrier sheet.

Next, you cut out the label that you want to apply. Cut as close to the label as possible. You don't need any extra clear space. I used blue masking tape as a guide so the labels would all be straight.


You CAREFULLY remove the clear protective sheet on the back of the label. This will expose the adhesive so you can stick the label in the album.

You apply the label where you want it. Be careful here, it sticks good. I could "scoot" the label a bit, but not move it significantly at all. A few of my labels are off-center. The masking tape quide was essential here.


Now I used my nice Buffalo nickel to rub across the top of the label applying firm pressure -- especially to the edges. The presses the adhesive tightly to the album


After that you can remove the top protective layer. I used a blade to pry up the corner. This went more smoothly than I expected. There were only a couple of times that the adhesive threatened to come up.


Here's the first row all labeled.


The clear section of the label is slightly matte. You cannot see it straight on, but you can detect where the label is if you look at the album from an angle. This photo tries to show this. The labels look very good in person.


I am particularly proud of this section of the album. I was able to fit a lot of information here.


Here are the final pages. The whole process took between 3 and 4 hours from printing the labels all the way through to the final product. If I did it over again I would made the labels a little smaller and try to center them better.


My next project is to label my nickel album. A 4-page blank nickel album has enough slots for all the dates & mintmarks of Shield nickels (1 page), V nickels (1 page), and Buffalo nickels (2 pages).