What printing program do you use?

[s1lence]

After trying various programs for printing decals I figured I would ask the experts.

What program do you use to print the decals? I'm trying to get as many per sheet as possible since I hate to waste good paper.

[CPMcGraw]

After trying various programs for printing decals I figured I would ask the experts.

What program do you use to print the decals? I'm trying to get as many per sheet as possible since I hate to waste good paper.

I can absolutely recommend Adobe Photoshop, either the full package (if your wallet is deep enough...), or the Elements package for ~$100. Adobe just released version 5. I'm still using PE 1, and find it does everything I need most.

Corel's Paint Shop Pro is similar, though I've not used this package since V3 or V4, about 5 or 6 years ago, when it was still maintained by Jasc. Same price range as Photoshop Elements.

If you're into graphic arts, you'll still need a tablet. Wacom is considered at the top end of this narrow market.

[bikegod]

This is the next thing thing that I want to learn to do.

Where is a good place to start? I mean, I saw a Testors decal kit at Wal-Mart, but I know that there are other ways of creating art work and printing it.

So, without breaking the budget too much, what's the best way to get started?

[CPMcGraw]

This is the next thing thing that I want to learn to do.

Where is a good place to start? I mean, I saw a Testors decal kit at Wal-Mart, but I know that there are other ways of creating art work and printing it.

So, without breaking the budget too much, what's the best way to get started?

If you're willing to pull your hair out, the OpenSource program to try is called The GIMP, but keep in mind this program is not as beginner-oriented as other programs -- including Photoshop -- are. It also doesn't have some of the most-needed features that Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro have.

Seriously, you first need a good graphics package like Photoshop to work with images of any kind, photographs or hand-doodlez. Without such a program, you go nowhere very fast. Go purchase Photoshop Elements. It takes a little while to get accustomed to, but you'll be glad you did. Second, locate your decal sheets (Testors, Bel, Papilio, SuperCal, etc...), just make sure they're made for INK JET printers. There are decal papers for LASER printers, and they're not compatable. Also remember what we've said on other threads about the quality of the printout. YMMV. Every decal paper I've used is different, and none are perfect. Some are only HP-compatable (with or without saying it...), others will work OK with Lexmark, some don't like Epson at all, some tolerate their inks to a degree... Get the picture? You really have to try all of them with your printer until you find the one that gives the best results. Additionally, you will have to try different printer settings with each paper until you hit upon the "right" combination. Papilio, for example, recommends using the TRANSPARENCY setting instead of PHOTO. Even when you do find the right combination of printer / paper / settings, the sealer coat you use can make-or-break the final decal. Using the wrong sealer coat(s) can destroy an otherwise good printout.

Sorry if this deepens the confusion. It frustrates us as much as it does someone who has never printed a decal before. Obviously, you could invest a lot of money into a color laser printer and maybe get better results than our traditional cheap ink jets. The prices have come down on these in the last few years to the price point of a high-end ink jet, and it makes it very tempting to get one and try it out. Will that solve the problem? Don't know, I don't have one yet myself, so I can't say. For most of what we do as hobbyists, our ink jets are good enough. If we ever get a decal image that others want, that's where having good folks like Phred on the forum comes in handy...:cool: :eek: :D

[bikegod]

Well, in the interest of saving me money, what paper would you recommend I start with, that you think is most compatible with an HP (OfficeJet T-45). This thing prints great (did some iron-on transfers a while back) and I happen to have a plethora of ink for it.

Another thing (if you don't mind) is how do you get white decals? I just got a decal sheet for the Andromeda and it is a clear sheet with white letters on it. If I was making the decals, I guess I could cut out the little white circles from a sheet of Trim-Kote, but that would be tedious.

Thanks for the info so far Craig!

[CPMcGraw]

Well, in the interest of saving me money, what paper would you recommend I start with, that you think is most compatible with an HP (OfficeJet T-45). This thing prints great (did some iron-on transfers a while back) and I happen to have a plethora of ink for it.

Another thing (if you don't mind) is how do you get white decals? I just got a decal sheet for the Andromeda and it is a clear sheet with white letters on it. If I was making the decals, I guess I could cut out the little white circles from a sheet of Trim-Kote, but that would be tedious.

Thanks for the info so far Craig!

For me, at this period of time, I'm using Papilio papers. Their papers are a bit more forgiving with HP and Lexmark, and partially tolerate Epson (the black cracks terribly...). All of these companies produce both a clear background paper, and a white background paper. You need to get either a starter kit, or just get a stack of each. To get a white decal, you print a solid (block) outline in a color that matches the paint on the model, like printing a negative. You leave the "white" area blank (or white...) and fill in the surrounding color in a block shape.

[s1lence]

Good info, I was wondering how to print the decals for my Eclipse model.

[kurtschachner]

When you say "printing decals", what do you mean exactly? Do you mean scans of decals?

One thing you may want to consider is buying outdated software on eBay. Often it will do everything you need for decals but costs nearly nothing due to being not the latest and greatest.

Another thing is that to really print good dupes of decals they should be vector files. I see that this thread is revolving around Photoshop which is mainly for bitmaps. Of course if you are printing scans then this is OK but like I said, a vector file is better. How about picking up a cheap copy of Illustrator and learning to draw/trace your own decals? I've redrawn well over a hundred decal sheets and most of them were done on Illustrator 6 which I picked up for very cheap. The thing about a vector file is that it's easy to define solid color areas and upscales are simple with no loss of resolution. A vector file always prints at the maximum resolution of the printing device.

To further extend this retro concept, you can do what I do for printing decals. I picked up a couple Mac-only Alps printers on eBay and I have an old Mac that I run Illustrator 6 and Photoshop 4 on. The Mac versions of Alps printers are cheap as are old but functional Macs. I think it would be possible to outfit a complete Alps printing station for $100 or so. The best thing about an Alps printer is that it prints white and metallic colors.

Kurt

After trying various programs for printing decals I figured I would ask the experts.

What program do you use to print the decals? I'm trying to get as many per sheet as possible since I hate to waste good paper.

[Ltvscout]

I picked up a couple Mac-only Alps printers on eBay and I have an old Mac that I run Illustrator 6 and Photoshop 4 on. The Mac versions of Alps printers are cheap as are old but functional Macs.
Mac? What's that? Isn't that a sandwich from McDonald's or something. :D

[Solomoriah]

Why buy Photoshop? I do everything in the Gimp, which is free. True, Photoshop has a few features the Gimp still lacks, but every time that's been true it's only been temporary.

I had one guy tell me "but all the tutorials online are for Photoshop." But I've found tutorials for everything I've wanted to do for the Gimp online... Photoshop has no corner on that market.

I will admit just one flaw... Gimp is wonderful for retouching, but the printing system is still not as nice as I'd like. I do almost all my printing using an old (version 4) copy of Paint Shop Pro.

Of course, if you are in the money spending mode, the current PSP will use Photoshop plugins, and is still cheaper than Photoshop (or at least it was last time I looked, too lazy to check right now).

[s1lence]

Yeah, I've found GIMP is a pain in the arse to print with. I like the idea of getting an old MAC with an ALPS printer.

[kurtschachner]

Yeah, I've found GIMP is a pain in the arse to print with. I like the idea of getting an old MAC with an ALPS printer.

Here, this is a PC printer that WILL do white with a label swap:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Alps-MD-2010-Dye-Sublimation-Printer-Thermal-Micro-Dry_W0QQitemZ280045002597QQihZ018QQcategoryZ31577QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This one is like the MD-2300 I have which print white just fine when you swap labels on a cartridge.

[s1lence]

Here, this is a PC printer that WILL do white with a label swap:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Alps-MD-2010-Dye-Sublimation-Printer-Thermal-Micro-Dry_W0QQitemZ280045002597QQihZ018QQcategoryZ31577QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This one is like the MD-2300 I have which print white just fine when you swap labels on a cartridge.


Sweet, thanks for the link.

[ScaleNut]

corel- for its vector output ( I also run a desktop plotter)

I picked up corel V.9 the full package for 29.99 on the internet.
It's not far from a cad program.. and can't be touched for the price

[Meatball 1]

I use a CAD program-- I found TurboCAD Professional v. 11 for relatively cheap. You can find the cheaper deluxe versions on Ebay. And yes, you can import image files to sketch over them if you need.

[stantonjtroy]

What program do you use to print the decals? I'm trying to get as many per sheet as possible since I hate to waste good paper.


I agree with the recomendations for Photoshop. I have the Elements and CS versions myself and they are a godsend. I would also recomend Adobe Illustrator. It has the added advantage of being vector based. In a nutshell it gives you two abilities. First it allows you to enlarge a copy of an image without getting the large pixel edge associated with a JPEG or TIFF file enlargement. Secondly, if you wanted to produce vynal or mylar cut transfers/decals, this program will download directly to a ploter. For the waterslide decals I've been getting my paper from Micro-Mark, http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Department&ID=106. They have it in clear backing and white, plus sealers and setting solutions. Best of luck.

Troy