It is recommended that you follow the project logs in chronological order.

So how does the Printem Film work ? It uses the selective adhesion of the copper to the substrate using the UV adhesive to "tear away" only the copper in the right places to form the circuit. The diagram below illustrates this

a) The home/office printer prints black ink onto the acetate substrate, the PCB pattern is printed in negative, meaning that only the areas with the copper traces are left transparent and everything else is printed on .

b) When this is exposed to UV light, the printed ink blocks it from passing through, so only areas without the ink allow the UV light to pass through. The light then passes through the substrate ( which is UV transparent ) and cures the UV adhesive only in the areas directly underneath the unprinted areas.

When the UV adhesive cures in response to this exposure, it strongly adheres to the copper foil below it

c) When the layer is peeled away, it "pulls" only the desired copper with it, leaving the rest attached to the peel-off layer and then being discarded.

d) Now the PCB is ready to be used

The next post details some examples made with Printem