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I am more than interested in decals and have had some great help from Les and Dorno.
I am wondering how small a decal can be.
I am looking to put decals on some pens for a 50th anniversary Snr. Gents pen. One decal could fit into an area of 45X45mm.
Is this too small??
Another size I am looking at is lettering to fit 35mm X55mm.
Label's can be any size, you just need to consider how they fit, plus how to hide the joint. See https://www.woodworkforums.com/138433-diver-trial/ for one I did on a lazer cut kit
Art,Quote:
Originally Posted by artme
For me sizing the decal all depends on what will be printed on the decal and the size of the pen barrel.
What I do to see how the decal will fit and look on a particular sized pen blank, is to print the image on plain white paper, cut it out and try it on the blank and resize accordingly using Microsoft Excel 2010 before printing it on decal paper.
I also keep in mind orientation of the pen clip as not to cover the decal detail.
Les
Thanks fellas.
I have a problem in that the image I have of the school badge I want to print is quite fuzzy in small size. The
printing on it is especially bad. I do have a black and white version of the badge that could be used to get the correct spelling ( Lation of course! ).
What program could I use to tidy and sharpen up the images??
Art,Quote:
Originally Posted by artme
Sounds like the original photo is poor quality.
Not much you can do with the photo.
Have you tried to Google the school badge to look for a better quality image?
Surprising what you can find on Google.
Les
I agree with what has been said about the decals, particularly the trial sizing by Les. I use Microsoft Word to resize as it keeps the decal in proportion automatically. Mind you, I have never tried to use XL for this so it might do the same.
The only way you are going to get a good decal is to get the original artwork. The school should have a high quality electronic photo of the badge they will probably supply to you for the purpose. The larger the artwork size in terms of Mb, the better. I will reduce without distortion.
Because decal paper is not cheap, I divide a page up using Tables in MS Word and ensure that I fill in all the spaces before printing, either with the same decal or another I want to use.
Don't forget to spray the printed sheet with Sepitone top coat clear acrylic spray (available from Super Cheap Auto). This prevents the colours from running when you dip the decal into water.
You should also spray the blank again after the decal has dried on it - two or three coats is better. This will stop the colours running or smudging if you are going to finish it with CA. If you use MinWax, Les might tell you whether you need the extra coats on it.