I understand that if you are using a printer to create you own decals with white lettering, you have to use white decal paper rather than transparent because the printer doesn’t print white. If I understand how this works you are then going to print the background color leaving the lettering white. I can see that working well if you are making a sign but if you are going to use it to letter your rolling stock, don’t you need to get your background color to match the color of your rolling stock. What is the best way to accompli***his. My idea is to use a scanner to capture the side of the car. I would then use the captured color to create a background field and put the white block letters over the top of it. Is this the best way to do it or is there an easier way? Will this produce a decal with a background color that matches the side of the car or will there be some color change in the scanning/printing process?
That is a method some people use. The hardest part is getting the color to match. The use of a scanner may work. However the color rendering on your monitor may not be calibrated to match the output to your printer which could throw you off. I had an idea once about using the color scanners at the local paint store to do this with once to see if I could get the RGB or CMYK color mix. From what I understand though is that they don’t output the color mix that way. The best way to do this, I think, is to make up a bunch of squares in Paint or another drawing program and change the color slightly in each of them. Print it out and see which color formula is closest to what you are trying to do. Remember, you also may get a white line at the edge of the decal when you cut it out…
Dan Pikulski
www.DansResinCasting.com
What I have done was to use Corel Photopaint (Paintshop will work just as well) to make a rectangle and use a fountain fill from a bit darker than the car color to a bit lighter than the car color. I put ruler markings above the rectangle and printed it. Then I cut it out and held it against the car and marked the ruler where the color matched best. Then I pinpointed that location on the graphic and got the RGB mix. I used that for a small border around the decal and it worked.
KJ
Hey Danpik loved your tour of making trees,great idea. Thanks!!
I’ve never got a perfect background color match, but pretty close at least.
I always print my sample squares on the same white decal ‘paper’ that I’ll be using for the decals, along with the Red/Green/Blue “value” numbers (so I’ll remember how to set my graphical editor back to that color). I also spray a coat of “decal bonder” protective film on it, since that often changes the color slightly. THEN I hold it against the target loco/car to see what matches best.
Good luck!