Hi team,
Just wondering what (free) software people use for creating accurately-sized custom HO signs. My simple project is to create signage for vans, prime movers and semi trailers.
Cheers,
Ross
OzRoscoe:
Crazy as is sounds, I have had good luck with just using MS Paint and MS Word or Corel Wordperfect in developing text-only, image-only and text/image combination signs for structures and for vehicles (box trucks, trailers) in HO.
With Paint, I bring an image in that I have found, then apply a desired font text component below it, such as a display of vegetables, underneath which I placed a company name, etc. Many times, for modern text, I use Arial (bold). I have also used the early-20th cen “Railroad Roman” font I found free online, and also the 1940s “Streamline” font.
Using this method, I can control image size versus font color, style etc. and even set up a set of experimental signs for evaluation, before I settle on one particular concept.
I then saved that as a jpeg and brought it into Word or Wordperfect into a label template, such as ACCO or AVERY brand labels you can get at an office supply store, that is listed in the catalogue of various-sized label templates already in these software programs.
After appropriately sizing the entire jpeg to fit on that specific label “frame”, I print it out on a white paper or plastic/satin label sheet. I use white if it is going to be a color-rich sign and the clear/satin where I want the image and/or text to be backed up by the color of the item, such as a red painted trailer or van, trimming the label to fit the area it will be applied to. I use standard address labels (30 to a sheet), larger shipping labels, etc.
If you are careful, just peel the label from the backing and apply to a spare waxed paper backing before cutting, so you can still use the same sheet for additional signs and not waste an entire sheet just for a single use.
Hope this helps…
Cedarwoodron
For vehicles, I make decals. Like Cedarwoodron, I usually do the whole job with MS Paint and MS Word. This one was done with the “Word Art” feature of Word.
I often download online graphics. I’ll use Paint to touch up the picture, or, as I did here, to add a border. Once I’ve got the image done in Paint, I import it into Word and use that to size the image to fit the space.
This one illustrates an important decal problem - you can’t “print” white. Since this was done on clear decal paper, I painted a white rectangle on the building before applying the decal, thus restoring the proper colors to the image once it was applied. The red border helps hide the uneven edges of the hand-painted white rectangle. I like using decals on buildings like this, because they settle into the brickwork and make the sign look like it’s painted on.
Here is a link for signs.
Here are some trucks I added signs to by using double-stick tape.
I use Corel Draw but before you pass out over the cost, look at purchasing an older version such as Draw9 which can be found for under $30 if you look around. Better than the $500+ for full version of X5.
Anyway, in Corel you’re drawing in vectors which sets everything you draw as lines from point A to point B. This comes in very handy for scale models as you can draw your sign as large as you wish on the screen and then size it as needed with no loss (technically) of resolution.
Using a program such as PhotoShop or PaintShop Pro, you’re working with pixels and compression so lines that are crisp full size start looking very poor when reduced in size as there are only so many pixels in the original. Reductions become estimations and then very poor estimations and then squares.
In Draw9, you can even import a scan or image captured off the internet and use the trace function to convert the image to vectors. Small learning curve but well worth the effort. I can scan in a lube plate, trace it and the change dates or shops and reduce it to HO scale and still read every letter. Try that with a .jpg image.