Is there a good software program out there for designing freelance logo’s and lettering to make into decals? If so which one is the best, I’ve been eyeing the Corel X4, but not sure.
Inkscape is a great drawing program and it’s completely free. I use it to make all my building signs.
http://www.inkscape.org/
Any drawing program will work. Get one that you think that you can handle and has features that you want.
Thanks guys, I will give Inkscape a try.
Yes. (in any order)
- Adobe Photoshop There’s lots of tools, it can seem like overkill,. But you can get at a range of colors and cut,trim, shape and adjust the resolution for decals. THIS IS KEY IF YOUR WORKING IN DECALS SMALLER THAN 3/4inch. Thi gowes for N scale, and loco numbers.
- MS Paint. Limited, but a good start. If you just need to assemble pieces, this is wonderful. Plus, Paint’s textbox will allow you to scrollw ith a the nav wheel in your mouse if you have one, r with the arrows in your keyboard. If you highlight the text, slect a font so that the font name in the text tool is highlighted blue, your set to scroll and your wqords you typed will automatically change.
- MS Word. Ever seen the drawing toolbar? Use it. Why re-invent the wheel? Teh star, the wordblurb, etc. When you have the font you need, simply select it from your choice in Paint and retype. (Paint has a habit of resizing things) Word also has rulers on them, so you can build decals on there that WILL fit the loco.
When I was doing custom decals, I used MS Publisher 2000 for most of the layout work, and Paint Shop Pro 7 for the rest. The final layouts were always done in Publisher.
I (loosely) model CN… I have not problem with the idea of the artwork BUT how do I best replicate the white on the noodle for example! Seems like I cannot print white with wwhat is available here!
TIA
Trevor www.xdford.digitalzones.com FYI
Sorry guys, one should not do this late at night feeling a bit flu-ish and trying to say “I have not got a problem with…” and trying to “S_P_E_L” (sic) “wwhat” (sic)
Thanks for your forbearance guys
TIA
Trevor
Yeah, that’s a big problem with making your own decals. You just can’t print white. Since you’re modelling a known road, you have the option of buying the decals. The big commercial guys can print white decals, so you might want to take advantage of that buy simply buying a sheet or two of CN stuff from them.
The other trick is to paint the space behind the decal white, and then make the decal an outline in the surrounding color. When you print the decal, you’ll get a clear space where you want white, and by putting the decal over the white background, the white will show through while the outline is the color of the engine. The hard part here, of course, is matching the engine color exactly.
This is a decal I did. The background is largely white, so most of this decal came out clear. I painted a white rectangle on the building, and then applied the decal over it.
Though I intend on getting a more sophisticated program in the future, so far I’ve had good success with simple, old Print Shop. Here are some examples I’ve done:
I print on both clear and white decal paper. I place a prominent border around those graphics where I want to use a white background (notice Reddy Kilowatt and the Ohio Valley logo), as it makes it easier to cut out. I print out at various reductions (anywhere from 50-23%) to get the size I need. Just print out test pages on photo paper to check for size. By turning the 5-1/2 x 8 inch around and running it through the printer twice, I minimize my waste. The instructions that come with the paper (Testor’s) recommend setting your printer to normal mode and plain paper, but I’ve found best mode and glossy photo paper give the best results. I let the decal sheet set for about 24 hours (probably way longer than neccessary), then hit it with 3-4 light coats of DullCote. I let that sit for another 24 hours (probably about right).
Home-made decals are supposed to be a lot more fragile that commercially made ones, but I found these are surprisingly strong. You do have to concern yourself with the surface texture in relation to the size of the decal. I tried to apply a large (2" x 3") Ohio Valley decal on a corrugated building… let’s just say I will be re-applying another on a smooth signboard attached to the side of the building.[:-^] Smaller decals snuggled down just fine on the corrugations though.
What do you guys use to clear coat your decals and what do you do about the dull finish on your buildings when you apply the decals. (I know your supposed to have a gloss finish, but buildings are basically dull)
speaking of decals, since alps printer support is now dead any other printers out there print white?
I use Testor’s DullCote to set the colors on my decals, though I could use their GlossCote as well. There are decal specific sprays available from Walthers and Micro-Mark also. Most of the decal setting companies make a gloss prep solution, and I think some people even use Future floor finish on their models before applying the decal. So far I haven’t felt the need to use any of them. I get good results just using plenty of setting solution. Once I have finished applying decals and weathering, I hit everything with another spray of DullCote.
Don
I did not realise there was/is a white decal paper (as distinct from “clear”) when talking about CN decals. Does this mean I could print with a white paper and say red orange or black (for my CN RDC’s) and cut it close and have the effect of a white decal? T
Trevor-If you can cut the white outlines of the letters accuarately enough, then yes.
This is REALLY bad advice. Photoshop is a raster or bitmap image editor, and is not suitable for producing line artwork. It stores the images as individual pixels, so you can never get a clean, sharp edge to artwork, particularly for small-size artwork such as N scale engine numbers. The same is true for MS Paint.
What accord1959 needs is a vector graphic program, like Illustrator, or Freehand, both of which I have used extensively for this sort of work. Another poster mentioned Corel Draw, which I haven’t used, but as it is also a vector graphic program I imagine it would be suitable. Vector graphic programs are specifically designed to produce pre-press line artwork for printing, so they are ideal for producing decals.
This drawing was done using FreeHand, but the relevant part for this thread is the title box in the lower righthand corner. The Kintetsu logo and kanji - the Japanese writing - are taken from my decal artwork, and were also done in FreeHand.
As it is a vector graphic program, Inkscape would also be suitable.
IIRC, this subject was discussed some time back in MR, in connection with a staffer’s freelance version of the Central Vermont. The same recommendations were made in that article.
Cheers,
Mark.
xdford (Trevor) wrote:
I did not realise there was/is a white decal paper (as distinct from “clear”) when talking about CN decals. Does this mean I could print with a white paper and say red orange or black (for my CN RDC’s) and cut it close and have the effect of a white decal? Thanks for the feedback and possible ideas
Sure can. Here is an example where I combined the ‘Circle M’ from the white decal sheet with the remainder of the sign from the clear sheet. I borrowed my wife’s cuticle scissors to carefully cut around black border.
You will notice a slim white halo around the graphic. I assure you this is not due to sloppy trimming on my part, but rather from the thickness of the white decal. The thing to remember is that the camera lens is in macro-mode and only about 2 inches away. Believe me, beyond 6 inches, you will not notice it. All I need to finish this is to weather it a little and hit it with DullCote.
One of the concerns about “home-brewed” decals is they are not opaque-enough. This example shows a light brown graphic over an olive-drab background. Again, at this distance you can see a little of the background through the decal, but at normal viewing distances, the ‘lumber’ is quite prominent.
Whoa, looks like I need a few more coats of Micro-Sol.[:I]
One of the lessons I’ve learned from my efforts so far is to put some sort of border around any sign I plan to print on white paper. It makes things so much easier.
Don
I second that. I use Photoshop for photos that I might use as a decal, but since I have both Photoshop and Indesign I always use InDesign for the final output. Illustrator would be better. What I love about InDesign is that I have complete control over the height, width, and angle of Fonts for design and printing. Most would consider it to overkill, but since I use InDesign in my busines, I have available to me.
I;ve not had any problems with it, having made some decals for Der5997. I’ll see if I can find the scaled down ones. No bets though. Pixelation problems I have are usually gone once I honk up the resolution.
The majority I use Paint for is assembly and skimming, as I said that MS paint will let you scroll your fonts. And usually, I can line things up better than I can in Word, which works line by line.
Until I find the N sc
Flashwave, I’m sorry you feel I’m nitpicking, that was not my intention. I was trying to suggest the best tool for the job. I don’t doubt that Pshop can be used to create artwork for decals, but I’d say that if you “honk up the resolution” you’d end up with a much larger file than you’d get with a vector drawing program, for no better result.
Cheers,
Mark.