Gentlemen,
What computer program do you guys use to make your decals? Just printshop or is there programs designed for making decals?
Chad
You can use any program you like to create and print decals. But decal paper is clear, and almost no printer has white ink. There are ink jet printers that do have white ink, but they are EXPENSIVE.
If you can get by without white on your decal then any graphics program will allow you to make decals, and decal paper is available from many vendors including MicroMark.
Check to be sure that the decal paper will work on your printer, some laser printers do not like certain media including photo paper and possibly the decal paper. All of my printers are laser printers, B&W in my office and a big Xerox Color copier down the hall.
I use MSPaint.
MSPaint is good, and it comes with your computer. It is a raster program painting directly on the screen, and what is on the screen is all that you have.
With a Vector program (GIMP is free, but is a photo program) you create objects which then can be moved around the screen, adjusted and edited. My favorite for almost everything is Serif PagePlus for under $100. I use it for typesetting, printing, newsletters, brochures, .pdf to be sent out to a commercial printer, and so much more. Once you get the hang of it, it is a fun program to use. It even has a “logo studio” that would be perfect for making decals.
I never really go to like MSPaint. But that is me, and while not having the finest commercial programs, I have decent ones that I was able to acquire inexpensively.
ROAR
Inkscape is great for decals, and best of all it’s FREE! It’s a vector based program which is good for graphics-oriented work, as opposed to photo editing.
Steve S
I use Model Train Decal Creator. Just type in the road name and scale and out pops decals already for you to use. Oh, wait, that was in a dream the other night.
This question comes up quite often. There is no magic bullet for this. Most people use what ever program they are most familiar with. There are two basic formats for artwork for decals. Raster and Vector. Raster is the BMP,JPG,GIF etc type of artwork. Great for rendering images for pictures as it uses a pixel format to create the art. Each pixel or dot is assigned a color and depending on the file size can be blocky looking (small file) or very detailed (large File). Vectors are completly different as they use a point coordinate system. Each point is assigned a position and lines or arcs are used to connect the points. The nice thing about vectors is they can be resized infinatly without loosing clarity. With raster images when you resize the pixels either get larger or smaller (depending on which way you go). If you need to resize a vector, the points are moved and the lines/arcs are recalculated between the points. One of the most popular raster programs is MS Paint. It is fairly easy to use and is available with Windowss on most computers Adobe Photoshop is at the other end of the spectrum. It will do the same basic things as Paint but it also can do much more when manipulating images. There are several freeware vector programs out there. I have not used any of them as I am an Adobe Illustrator user. Corel Draw and Autocad are also a vector based programs and I use those as well when creating artwork for decals.
The thing to remember is the software is not as important as the ability to use it is. I have seen great work done on simple vector programs that I have printed for people. Conversly, I have seen some absolutly unusable work from others using the top of the line software. Practice is you best friend here.
Dan
Inkscape would be a better choice since it is vector based You can design your images and not lose any of the detail I myself use Corel or Adobe
For all of my decal making I use Adobe Illustrator CS3- it is a vector based program which allows you to make overlays of the artwork from photographs of the real car, then scale it without loss of fidelity to whatever scale size you want. I would stay away from raster (bitmap) formats as during scaling loss of pixel depth causes images, text and logos to lose fidelity and detail. The edges of letters get choppy and jagged looking the smaller they get- which does not happen in vector programs. Illustrator takes a while to learn but it’s worth it- I use it every day in my job and I have not ever had an issue with any of the designs I’ve had printed whether they’ve been scaled to 8x10’ feet for a banner or 2x2" for a logo from my original 9x12" image.
Here are a few examples of things that I have made decals for using Illustrator the last couple years-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nordique72/5379459694/in/set-72157613703429876
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nordique72/5132402921/in/set-72157613703429876
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nordique72/5196046840/in/set-72157613703429876
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nordique72/5133004396/in/set-72157613703429876
Thanks in advance for looking!
I use Illustrator too. It is hands down the most comprehensive and flexible tool to have in your decal making arsenal. Yes, it is expensive if you buy it but if you are big into making decals, it is a wise investment. Anything but a vector based program is pretty useless since the image will lose its sharpness as soon as you change the sizing.
With Illustrator you can use it for a ton of other things as well: Creating logos, clothing design prints, scratbuilding templates ect… basically anything that you can create an image for, you can use Illustrator
The LION ain’t quite got his facts straight. Testors, Evan Design, Walthers, and Microscale all sell white decal paper. I prefer the Evan Design brand, because you hit it with solvent and it will turn clear! Detailed instructions are included in the pack.
I use Evan Design decal paper too, Works very well. Follow the directions and you will have great looking results.
!(http://i672.photobucket.com/albums/vv85/rclanger/2011 NPBL Progress/2011-12-01_154628.jpg)
Any problems with the printer ink dissolving in the decal set solution or lacquer coat?
If you are asking about the Evan Decal paper, no, I had no problem at all. To be frank it worked just as it was advertised.
You do NOT use any commercial decal solutions. If you follow their directions you will be pleased.