Redisetta Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 I have tried to create my own decals in the past without much luck. My issue is scaling down everything including lettering and logos. Im only working with an iPad so I don’t have any access to a lot of programs. Any ideas would be appreciated thanks Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerBob Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 I've made my decals just by pasting desired hi-def photos onto a blank Word document. Word has more than enough tools to manipulate images for decal use. Then, using the rulers in the margins, I shrink the photos to an approximate size and print a test on plain paper. Cut out the paper 'decal' and hold next to your model to determine how much, if any resizing you still need. On the Word doc decal sheet I make a copy of the decal that I'm resizing and place it next to the original so I have a reference to see how much I need to increase or decrease the size. Once I get all of the decals the desired size I delete all of the un-needed and wrong size images. I then size the Word doc to 4" by 6" with very small margins and group the decals to waste as little decal paper as possible. Cut a sheet of decal paper to 4x6 and print at your best or highest quality printer setting just as you would a photo. Good Luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64SS350 Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 2 hours ago, EngineerBob said: I've made my decals just by pasting desired hi-def photos onto a blank Word document. Word has more than enough tools to manipulate images for decal use. Then, using the rulers in the margins, I shrink the photos to an approximate size and print a test on plain paper. Cut out the paper 'decal' and hold next to your model to determine how much, if any resizing you still need. On the Word doc decal sheet I make a copy of the decal that I'm resizing and place it next to the original so I have a reference to see how much I need to increase or decrease the size. Once I get all of the decals the desired size I delete all of the un-needed and wrong size images. I then size the Word doc to 4" by 6" with very small margins and group the decals to waste as little decal paper as possible. Cut a sheet of decal paper to 4x6 and print at your best or highest quality printer setting just as you would a photo. Good Luck. How do you determine a high def. imagine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerBob Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 If you can view the image on your monitor at least around 4-6" square (viewed at 100%, not an enlarged screen view) and it's not pixilated then it will print at small scale just fine. I look for images that are approximately 800 x 800 pixels on an image that is about 6" square on my screen but that varies based on the original image size. In Google image search you can use the Tools to choose the image size that you want to look for. You can choose 'large' and be sure that the images will have plenty of definition but simple block letter type logos don't need to be as high quality to start with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 Tools designed for graphic design shows you the exact dimensions of any graphics and allow you to resize them accurately. I use a "real" Windows PC and Corel Draw suite of programs. I have used Corel for decal artwork and other tasks fo over 2 decades. I also know that Inkscape and GIMP are freeware applications similar in capabilities to Corel. I have no experience with iPad, but If you search the app store for GIMP, there are couple of downloads available. Try it out. GIMP is a powerful graphic (bitmap) editor, so it will take you some time to get used to it. It could be overwhelming at first, but once you get familiar with it, you should have no problems creating decal artwork in the exact size you want. I'm sure that there are also lots of online tutorials on how to use GIMP (from basic to advanced). Many of those are probably on YouTube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bills72sj Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 I have learned from making my decals the key is a large image but a small print size. DO NOT reduce your image via any thing that reduces the file size. I kills the resolution. I use old school MS paint. It lets me choose PRINT size as a percentage. A couple of test prints on plain paper help me nail it down. Changing the margins for each piece of art work, permits me the option of running the same piece of decal paper through the printer numerous times. That way I just cut straight across the top and still have plenty of paper left without waste. Below is some of the decals I have made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redisetta Posted July 22, 2021 Author Share Posted July 22, 2021 Thanks for the tips everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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