what is the best way to rescale images ?

[diymirage]

hey guys

i just started printing decals and im wondering what the best way (program) is to scale down images without losing sharpness and clarity

[Nick Winter]

Well I like to use Microsoft Word,

all of these things were done using it,

decals too

[diymirage]

those look just a hair grainy to me though

which would be fine for my own stuff but if im selling these then they need to be perfect

one thing i do like about word is the scaling on it, it tells you the dimensions in inches...great for figuring out the size

[Harry P.]

If you scale DOWN an image you don't lose quality. It's when you ENLARGE an image that you lose quality.

[diymirage]

  On 5/17/2010 at 10:26 PM, Harry P. said:

If you scale DOWN an image you don't lose quality. It's when you ENLARGE an image that you lose quality.

ok...but how do i keep it from going grainy ?

[diymirage]

  On 5/17/2010 at 10:26 PM, Harry P. said:

If you scale DOWN an image you don't lose quality. It's when you ENLARGE an image that you lose quality.

now that i think about it...i would like to know how to enlarge without loosing clarity aswell

[Nick Winter]

I thought it would be benificial to mention that the printer made them grainy, that wasn't the resized image.

[sjordan2]

What printer are you using?

[Nick Winter]

  On 5/17/2010 at 10:41 PM, sjordan2 said:

What printer are you using?

A cheap one, $35 from walmart.

[Harry P.]

  On 5/17/2010 at 10:40 PM, diymirage said:

ok...but how do i keep it from going grainy ?

I don't want to get too complicated here... because there are many variables. But the most important thing is to start with a sharp, clear image. Whatever you do to it (enlarge or reduce)... unless you have some Photoshop or other photo-editing software skill, your final image will only be as good as what you started with.

And of course, the image quality will ultimately be limited to whatever capability your printer has.

I could give you a whole Photoediting 101 class here, but that's beyond the scope of your question, and besides, it's pretty technical. Just remember to find the best possible image you can to start with, and you should be ok.

[Lownslow]

i resize in vector but the printer its 90% of the issue i got the highest DPI model out these it set me back about 250$ kodak has soso printers for 100$ theyre good till the printhead gives out which theyre more than generous about fixing

[diymirage]

  On 5/17/2010 at 11:34 PM, Lownslow said:

i resize in vector but the printer its 90% of the issue i got the highest DPI model out these it set me back about 250$ kodak has soso printers for 100$ theyre good till the printhead gives out which theyre more than generous about fixing

what is vector ?

is it a program ?

it it free ?

[Lownslow]

  On 5/18/2010 at 1:18 AM, diymirage said:

what is vector ?

is it a program ?

it it free ?

theres some free ones out there i had to spend 100$ on mine

[Swany]

I use Photoshop, but Gimp is a decent free program for image editing.

http://www.gimp.org/

And here is a tutorial for resizing images in Gimp.

http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/08/13/how-to-resize-images-using-the-gimp/

A quick google search will do wonders. This may not be the DIRECT easiest way to do it, but it is fairly simple, and Gimp can do a ton of different things if you want it to.

[SoCalCarCulture]

  On 5/18/2010 at 1:18 AM, diymirage said:

what is vector ?

is it a program ?

it it free ?

I see this all the time, no insult intended but if you don't know the difference between raster & vector images you should learn about working with images before you take on a project like this. It's not rocket science but understanding how things work will enable you to produce a better quality product easier!

Spend some time Googling for tutorials on the subject

[whale392]

Correct me if I am wrong Dave; Vector allows you to enlarge and shrink images without losing quality-of-image due to it being a linear image translator (everything is based on scale, a linear formula. No matter how big or small you want it, it adjusts the proportions of the image the same percent). Rastor is more of a pixel-count base....the larger the image, the more pixelation?

[shucky]

I use MS Word as well after seeing the results in another thread. No need to complicate the matter with other programs. Results using Word and a good photo printer are extremely crisp and high quality.

[Wayne Buck]

Like Nick and Mike, I use MS Word.

Just insert the picture into a new document and resize it. The ruler across the top is very helpful.

And like others said, the printer is what makes it look grainy. You will need a decent printer to make the real small images look good.

[SoCalCarCulture]

  On 5/18/2010 at 2:39 PM, NJ-Wayne said:

Like Nick and Mike, I use MS Word.

Just insert the picture into a new document and resize it. The ruler across the top is very helpful.

And like others said, the printer is what makes it look grainy. You will need a decent printer to make the real small images look good.

Yeah, I've done it this way too, but I always used MS PowerPoint because it's easier to do the visual layout in.

About 10 years ago I made up a sheet of License Plates for GSL, all 50 states that said GSL, and whatever version it was in Roman numerals.

Anyone that attended that GSL got a sheet in their goody bag. I used to print them on a Canon Laser Copier(not a home printer) and then laminate them on both sides with a clear 5 mil gloss plastic. They came out great and crisp!

The plates were all produced on Acme License Plate Maker then sized and paired on the sheet in PowerPoint, then printed and laminated.

Here's a sample of a plate from Acme...

[Aaronw]

Pixel based programs have to draw everything with dots, as you get smaller the dots have to rearrange, and at a certain point detail gets lost regardless of how good the original image was, examples are MS Word, MS Paint, and most photo editing programs etc.

Vector based programs maintain a ratio, so you do not get distortion (pixelation) when you change size. The most common examples of these programs are Corel Draw and Adobe Illustrator, but there are some free programs out there. The benefit of these programs are you can start with a very large easily edited image, then shrink it to your needed size. I generally begin with a 5-10" image to work with but the decal is usually 1/2" or smaller.

The printer you use really has little to do with image quality these days, even the cheapest are usually around 600 dpi these days.

If you are thinking about doing decals commercially, even only as a sideline I would suggest you consider buying Corel Draw, as it seems to be the most popular program used for decals. You can find older versions cheap on ebay.

[Kaleb]

I think I got one from download.cnet or something, Its calling Paint.net a little easier to use than gimp. And its still free.

[diymirage]

is the gimp vector based?

i played with it a little and the enlarged pictures looked grainy (on the screen, without even printing them)

[Wagoneer81]

Eelco, I use Printshop 11 by Broderbund, this program is about ten years old and still does what I need. I just looked and Printshop 23 (if that tells you how old v.11 is...)is available on their website for $19.99. For a printer, I use a $30.00 Canon iP2600 Inkjet I picked up at WallyWorld. I get really good results with the printer, I just have to make sure its resulution is set at 4800 DPI.

Here's a sample of what it can do: This is on the sleeper of a Revell Pete 359, the venerable old Ex-Snap-Tite release. Looking at it really closely, (better than you can see with the camera) the image is not grainy at all...

Not the greatest placement job, I know... I didn't know when I bought the decal paper that it was VERY flexible and stretchy. I'm going to do some type of decal frame (pinstriping, maybe) around this and still need to put a set of lights in where the decal is slit. The white marks in the upper left are where a trailer got into the sleeper and scratched the mural down to the white decal sheet . All that aside, you can see the resolution that even an old software program and an inexpensive printer is capable of. I hope this helps you some.

---Nick, just a question on yours, and I did get a chuckle out of the maintenence manual on the dash, very nice touch... (Reminded me of an old F-250 I once had... ) Did you go into the properties of your printer and reset the resolution or is it at the default setting. My default setting was 2400 DPI and I went in and changed it to its maximum setting...

Edited May 23, 2010 by Wagoneer81

[highway]

  On 5/23/2010 at 10:54 PM, Wagoneer81 said:

Eelco, I use Printshop 11 by Broderbund, this program is about ten years old and still does what I need. I just looked and Printshop 23 (if that tells you how old v.11 is...)is available on their website for $19.99.

I also, even though I've not used it for decals, have a Broderbund product called Printmaster Gold Ver 18 that came with a bonus DVD for Printshop Photo Projects. My mother in law uses Printmaster Gold Ver 4 (shows how old her version is!) to make cards on the holidays and many other projects. I'll have to give it a try.