6. Use a coating bar or rod to apply one coating of your precoat over the entire surface. In Figure 20.16, I’m using a coating bar. If you’re careful, you can get by with one layer as long as it soaks into the paint and completely coats the surface. You can let it dry and apply a second layer if you missed any spots, but it’s better to have gotten it right the first time. Allow it to dry completely.
7. Take a photograph of your completed substrate, and then follow the instructions in Chapter 3 to digitally combine an image with a substrate and create your image file for this project. Make sure your image is the same size as your skin (Figure 20.17).
8. Run your carrier sheet and skin through your slot ruler to make sure they will fit into your printer, and then roll them backwards between a sheet of paper and a cardboard tube. Leave the carrier sheet and skin for 10 or 15 minutes to add a slight curl, which will help as you feed it into the printer (Figure 20.18).
9. Attach a 12"-long piece of white paper to the back of your carrier sheet (across the entire width) using double-sided tape. This allows the printer to see and feed the carrier sheet. If you’re going to print on the entire sheet, then you’ll need to add a tail to the back end as well to keep it from falling out of the printer.
10. Set the platen gap to the widest setting, and feed the paper leader into your printer. Verify all your settings, and then direct print your digital image onto your paint skin (Figure 20.19).
11. Allow the print to dry for three to seven days before removing it from the car- rier sheet. Because the sheet is impermeable, it takes a long time to dry out completely. Removing it too soon may cause it to wrinkle or tear.