Looking for a sign (lettering) making program for my PC.

[Bullitt]

I would like to begin lettering my cars. I used to do toll painting, using transfer paper & designs from magazines. The design would be transferred to the wood & then painted. I would like a program to design lettering that will let me shape the letters into curves, etc. I would then transfer them to the vehicle & use paint & brush to create the signs.

Any ideas would be a great help.

[BigTallDad]

I'd be interested in that software too, especially if it's free.

Rather than using a brush to create the signs, why not make decals?

 

Edited May 10, 2018 by BigTallDad

[Bullitt]

Maybe not so much signs, more like garage names on trucks etc.

[SfanGoch]

Do you have Photoshop and/or Illustrator? If not, you can get Irfanview, download hundreds, if not thousands, of free fonts and go at it.

[BigTallDad]

37 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

Do you have Photoshop and/or Illustrator? If not, you can get Irfanview, download hundreds, if not thousands, of free fonts and go at it.

Speaking for myself (and perhaps the OP), I'm not looking for a gazillion fonts, just a way to curve the script.

[Davoski]

I use CorelDRAW for this. Look online for an early version (say, version 13) for download.

 

[SfanGoch]

3 hours ago, BigTallDad said:

Speaking for myself (and perhaps the OP), I'm not looking for a gazillion fonts, just a way to curve the script.

To each his own. I only mentioned it because they're available. If you have PS, you can curve letters; or, as Davoski mentioned, look for a free download of CorelDRAW.

Edited May 11, 2018 by SfanGoch

[Spex84]

"Inkscape" is a free, open-source Vector-based 2D graphics program (like Adobe Illustrator). It's the work of a few seconds to make text conform to any curved line of your choosing . Unlike Photoshop's text-warp options, you draw the line too, so it can be any shape you like, and can be edited at any time and the text will shift to conform to the changes.

[Psychographic]

If you are looking for an actual sign program, it's going to cost you some decent money, there are no free ones. My very old copy of Signlab was about $2500 some 30 years ago.

[peteski]

I use an older version of Corel Draw. Actually it is a Corel Suite which includes several graphic applications. It is similar to Adobe Illustrator (which is more expensive).  What is good about it is that Corel Draw is a vector-based program (which can also handle bitmaps).  Vectors are much easier to manipulate than bitmaps.  I've been using Corel for over 20 years so I'm used to how it works, but if you never used this type of program, there is a learning curve involved. Even I learn new tricks all the time.  What is good about it is that you can easily and accurately draw objects in exact dimensions and have them printed in the correct dimensions without trial-and-error. This is so much more productive than trying to use Microsoft Paint,  Word, or Power point to print the artwork in correct size.

I also often scan the model and use the 1:1 scale scan as a background for designing the artwork. I put the scanned image in a locked layer and draw the artwork over it.

Older versions of Corel can be purchased fairly inexpensively on eBay or Amazon.  I use version 10 and 12.  But, as mentioned, Iinkscape is also a good vector-based program which is free.