Questions about custom decal design

[kaiyudsai]

So I recently decided to expand my horizons and order some decal paper and sealer.... I have a really great printer... and have pretty good abilities in photoshop and illustrator CS5..... I have a question though..... for those of you who do your own decals... Do you custom draw everything?? Or do you have some favorite places to go online for vector graphics?? are there any worthwhile services that offer high quality vector clip art for a decent rate?? I know it is probably better to buy decals from Afterburner of some other custom company.... but I get some satisfaction out of making my own stuff.... I have cut my decal sheets into 5x7 size so that I dont have to use up a whole sheet to print a few decals...... But Im trying to learn any other tricks and tips anyone can offer

Also just started learning how to resin cast but I guess that is a different thread LOL

 

[Caledonia]

Hi Kaiyudsai, I have made my own Black decals using a Laser Printer. I used a drawing package called AutoCAD to draw everything out, including text. I should think you could use a much cheaper option such as Coraldraw. Cheers Derek

 

[Ian M]

Hi Marc and welcome.

With the two programs you have there, you have things pretty well covered.

Things like national marks, the British Roundel, the US bars and Stars are pretty well standard sizes within the classes; fighter, bomber etc. so you could run out a whole sheet at a time. Code letters and Serial....You could make a work sheet in Photoshop, export it to Illustrator as a vector then adjust the size and colour before printing.

I am seriously thinking of buying a colour laser printer for this reason alone. I am just fed up with ink printers drying up due to low usage. Not a problem with laser printers.

One of those fancy jobs that can print white would be nice but two factors here, They cost loads and are few and far between!

Ian M