Anime-Beta TNG

I searched back a few months in a couple of the forums, and came up with nothing.. although maybe I didn't go back far enough? In any case, I have a few questions concerning autographs and cels...

In general, of those of you who have had your cel(s) autographed, did you use sharpies? If so, did they have any negative impact on the cel? If you used something else, what was it, and has it had a negative effect on the cel?


Also, is it better to get a blank piece of acetate and have the person sign that instead of directly onto the cel?

Sorry for all the questions, but I figured it was better to be informed ahead of time ^_^

Also, a kind thank you to anyone who takes the time and reply to my oh so many questions.

I'd -defininately- get the autograph on a seperate peice of acetate rather than directly on the cel. Maybe it's just me bein a weirdo, but I've always cringed upon seeing autographs directly on cels... dunno why. Having it on a seperate peice of acetate prevents the marker from doing anything weird to the cel itself, and allows you to scan or photograph the cel without the autograph if necessary. Also, if worse comes to worse and you have to sell the cel for some reason, you still have a way to keep and display the autograph... or even put it over a different cel

Also there is the question of who autographed the cel. There are a lot of people that think the American voice actors are autograph worthy and a whole lot that would not want the cel because of it.

American VA's on separate sheet

And Japanese VA's and Animators on the cel!

I would go for the extra layer of acetate.

Where would you get a spare layer of acetate? *dunce*

I had some FY cels signed back in 1999 and 2000 in sharpie of various colors, and it has done nothing to harm them since then.

I guess I'm one of those wierdos who prefers sigs right on the cel, as oppossed to a seperate layer.

I'm hardly a pro, but I do have three signed cels. Two FY cels came to me already signed. It looks like they were done with Sharpies (one in black and one in purple). They are both autographed on the cel itself. I tend to shy away from ones that are signed that way, but sometimes the set up is too nice to pass up.

I have only have only gotten one cel signed. I had Peter S. Beagle sign my Schmendrick cel. It was done on a separate layer of acetate. A few of my other cels came with extra blank acetate layers (usually to protect airbrushing). Since some of these cels are now framed, I had a variety of different sized pieces of acetate lying around. One happened to fit the TLU perfectly. I'm not sure where else you could get layers of acetate, but you might try an art supply store. I bet a fan cel artist could point you in the right direction. As far as what type of pen he used, he tried to use a regular ball point pen, but it wouldn't write properly on the acetate. He ended up signing it with a Sharpie.

I'm not a big fan of signitures. The only signed items I have are my three hand inked Graduation settei. The signiture on them is done neatly in the corner away from the characters. I think it's rather nice and was done before I got them at anyrate.

On the flip side I've seen signed cels that were treated like shikishi, and the the signee scribbled right over top the character(s). Not a good thing if you valued the item in my opinion. A seperate layer of acetate would probably be good if you still want a signiture. Maybe dip and clean off some of those freebie cels for extra acetate if needed, not like you needed an extra random mouth or limb cel anyways

I'm in the group that says you should use a separate piece of acetate. Regardless of who signs them, I think signed cels are ruined cels.

Someone should experiment with "extra" cels to see what happens to sharpie signatures if you:

1. ...put the signature in direct contact with a cel bag and then put a weight on top of it. Will some of the signature come off on the bag?

2. ...put an acetate on top of the signature acetate. Then put a weight on them, wait and see if any of the signature eventually transfers to the bottom of the other acetate.

How well do sharpie signatures do on acetate? Is it hard to affect the signature after the ink is dried or do you have to be careful handling cels with autographs on them?

If you ever plan on selling the cel, get the autograph on a separate sheet of acetate. That way, the new owner can remove the signature if they want.

Also, sharpies DO fade over time...I'm not sure how this affects the plastic, since none of my cels are signed.


The type of plastic used varies, depending on the age of the cel and the country of origin. I've seen plenty of Disney cels that were 40+ years old that had perfect signatures on them, but I'm not sure if that's true for modern "anime" cels.



And if you're looking for plastic, there are animation sites that will sell acetate, ink, and paints. If you're looking for a cheaper route, wipe a "freebie" cel clean!

Also, sharpies on acetate usually don't come out very dark...black comes out more gray and splotchy which doesn't look as good. If you're going to do this, paint markers are probably a better choice.

It depends.
If it's a cheap cel of my favorite series I'd probably get it signed by an seiyuu/VA. For my favorite cels I'd get a seperate sheet of acetate signed so it can just be a new layer. I have 1 autographed cel that was already signed when bought. As others have said it's best to get a separate sheet signed as it may ruin the value of the cel. Also, rather than an autograph from a series creator, I'd try to get a drawing instead.

Thanks. It sounds like its definately best to go with the extra layer of acetate then and a paint marker. This will (hopefully) be done by the Japanese Va's. I agree with the sketch deal with a series creator. I'm going to try to remember to bring one of those artist sketch pads with me. You know, the kind with the rather thick pages that a person could do watercolors on if they wished? Anyways ^_^ Thank you all so very much.

Oh, for the person who asked about purchasing extra 'blank' cels.. There are two places in the US that I know of, and one in Europe. If you want I can pm you the information.