Hi everyone,
I’d like some suggestions on software and or paper to use in making some decals for some freight cars on my home layout. I have never made decals before so I am starting out from scratch here. I have print shop and a inkjet printer. I think I could make them using the print shop program but just wanted to know what everyone else thought.
I use a combination of MS Paint and MS Word. Most of my decals come from the Internet. I’ll google for something I want, like “Campbell’s Soup Advertising” and then download the image. I then bring it into Word, size it appropriately and print it on decal paper.
Decal paper is available in either clear-backed or white-backed options. The trouble with printing decals with any standard printer is that they don’t actually “print” white. They rely on the underlying white paper to do the job. Lighter colors, similarly, are based not on the color itself, but on what the ink will do on white paper. So far, I’ve only used the clear-backed paper.
So, when I need to have white in my decals, I paint the background white on the model, and then apply the decal (on clear decal paper) to the white background. Thus, it comes out about the way the printer thought it would:
(Click on the pictures for a larger image.)
That kind of sign “painted” on a brick wall should be rough and weathered, so I applied this over a rough surface, and sealed it with Dull-Cote. But, you can get a nice clean decal image as well, by starting with a smooth surface. In this case, I chose a dark lettering scheme, and applied it directly on a light background:
I sealed this one with a satin-coat finish to keep it “new” looking.
Decal paper, as you’ll discover, is expensive. So, I typically print a whole row of decals at a time, and I manipulate the margins in Word to get as close to the top and sides of the page as I can. Then, after I’ve printed a row of decals at the top of the page, I use a paper cutter to get a smooth square cut, and I can feed the remainder of the page into the printer again.
Before you print
I’ve been using Inkscape. It’s pretty powerful and EZ to use and it’s free. Star Office 8 is another great program and is also free through Google.
http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2007/08/google-pack-adds-staroffice.html
I use MS Paint and Testors Decal Maker.