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What are xerox trace lines composed of?
Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2015 7:03 pm
by LWK
Figured I'd ask, would love to repair some trace line pull with the exact same material. Xerox Ink is a curiosity, but it'd be good to dig more into this topic. Especially concerns me, as I have a partial cut with major pull damage in area's that I'd love to restore. I've already partially restored the sliced top sections, then I gotta add the proper sequence numbers and maybe delve into a more professional solution.
Re: What are xerox trace lines composed of?
Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2015 10:37 pm
by JWR
hopefully this will give you some help
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toner
Re: What are xerox trace lines composed of?
Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2015 5:57 am
by sensei
Yeah, basically most photocopy trace lines use a fine carbon powder plus a plastic substance with a low melting point. It's impossible to tell, even with an advanced lab, just what that chemical is, as it varied from maker to maker and even between same-brand generations. (This is, apparently, why some series are more prone to line fading than others.)
Earlier series used hand-traced lines, and India ink (a high-quality non-fading type) was routinely used then. I have some India-ink traced cels from the Golden Age, but due to the work-intensive nature of this technique all studios shifted to the photocopy method of putting trace lines on cels by the mid-80s.