I am sure I am not the only one who has wanted to make a nice printed front panel so figured I would share this technique (ok it was experimental so I haven't yet taken pictures of the process but it is pretty straightforward)
Inspired by the Toner transfer method of etching circuit boards I have worked out a similar technique for doing front panels.
immediate short comings are that this will not work on plastics, and is best against a light coloured (white or silver) back ground.
Since I was using Aluminium I started with an etch-primer undercoat and then a matt white enamel spray paint (I used Ultracolor brand, but am sure other brands will work - they do need to be able to handle high temperatures though).
My image was printed (in reverse) using a Laser Printer (note this will NOT work with an Inkjet) onto water soluble paper I found on Ebay listed as "Judikins Rinse Away Paper"
The image was cut out and the paper placed print side down onto the painted panel, I then applied a hot iron (clothes Iron NOT Soldering iron) to the rear of the paper (I used a layer of regular paper between the iron) set to 'wool' (my IR thermometer suggested the surface of the iron was around 150C) for 2 or 3 minutes until the 'Rinse away paper' had turned slightly brown and discoloured.
I allowed the panel to cool and then placed in a dish of water - the rinse away paper turned to mush pretty well straight away I then rubbed the printing with my finger tips until the panel no longer felt slimy.
The panel was dried (although I patted with a paper towel this left some fluff on the panel so next time I might just try a hair dryer on low or something or just sit out in the sun? - still pondering this).
When the panels were dry I then applied a few light coats of clear enamel spray paint to protect the lettering.
The enamel was allowed several hours to dry and then heated (to 50-60C) with a heater for several more hours
there is still some room for improvement, but the initial results are below.