Photo program

[BIGTRUCK]

Ok guys in your opinion whats a pretty good program to reduce objects to scale [ 24th and 25th] I dont mind spending the money but this is all I need the program to do . I dont need to modify photos or add words just reduce the size so its still readable. I looked at some products this morning from $50 to $350 and came home empty. Thought I'd ask what you use..........Thanks

[Jairus]

Ken, Do you mean like a shrink ray?

:?:

[BIGTRUCK]

Just to photo reduce license plates and such ..

[Jairus]

Photoshop elements is a good computer program available for both PC and Mac. It can do resizing and color correction. I think the price is pretty reasonable. Other than that... it's up to the hard ware, such as the printer, that decides how nice the finished product looks.

Sometimes printers and scanners come bundled with photo reducing programs... You might watch for that!

[ChevyAsylum]

If you're looking for a program to reduce the size of images like license plates or instrument panels, then you might want to look at IrfanView as a starting point. It's a freeware program that has some editing capabilities:

http://www.irfanview.com/

It will probably take a while to get used to working with it, as does any graphics editor program. I've been using Photoshop for about 8 years and I'm still learning things about it.

One thing that I've had trouble with is maintaining image clarity when reducing size. I can shrink a license plate down pretty easily, but the resulting printed image isn't all that sharp, even though I edit the image to make sure that all the edges, particularly those of the characters in the plate, are very crisp. But, it's better than nothing, I spose.

Here's a T-bucket with a plate that I made:

http://www.chevyasylum.com/models/25tbucke..._029r8_jpg.html

It's acceptable, but I'd prefer something with more clarity.

Good luck with it,

[BIGTRUCK]

Thanks Ray/Jairus I thought maybe the printer was part of the problem I'm upgrading that also getting rid of this Lexmark all in one . Those plates on that bucket look good Ray and the build is mighty fine also..........

[Jairus]

Yup, right now the weak point in using the computer for modeling purposes is got to be the printer! Until resolution can get as good as the commercial photocopier we are reduced to driving down to the local Kinkos to do the final reduction!

Hey Ray, you don't mind if I mention you in the Ask Gregg & Jairus column I am currently working on do you? It's in connection with the engine database you are hosting and ... uh, updating?

[Darin Bastedo]

Photoshop elements is a good computer program available for both PC and Mac. It can do resizing and color correction. I think the price is pretty reasonable. Other than that... it's up to the hard ware, such as the printer, that decides how nice the finished product looks.

Sometimes printers and scanners come bundled with photo reducing programs... You might watch for that!

I would have to agree with Jairus. Photoshop elements is far & away the best out there. It essentially has all the basic features and quality of the full photoshop CS2 with out the high end facy stuff and $700 price.

[ChevyAsylum]

Hey Ray, you don't mind if I mention you in the Ask Gregg & Jairus column I am currently working on do you? It's in connection with the engine database you are hosting and ... uh, updating?

I don't mind a bit. Personally, I'd just rather be referred to in print as "ChevyAsylum" or "the head nut at the asylum." There are reasons behind this and if you need more of an explanation, drop me an email.

Btw, as soon as I get some more data from people, I'll be glad to update it. I spose I otta be going thru my own kits for update info, but my sons and I have been working on this little project:

Between that and cruise nites, it's kinda takin up a lotta free time.

[ChevyAsylum]

Thanks Ray/Jairus I thought maybe the printer was part of the problem I'm upgrading that also getting rid of this Lexmark all in one . Those plates on that bucket look good Ray and the build is mighty fine also..........

Thanks, Ken. It was a fun one to build. Just straight outta the box except for the "nerf" balls in the carbs (pin heads.)

I agree with both you and Jairus about the printer. I have an HP OfficeJet Pro that I can run at 600 dpi, but it still isn't fine enough. Maybe some day a super high resolution printer (that can print in white as well as color) will be available to the dude on the street...but I don't know of any right now.

[Aaronw]

If you just want to shrink stuff down you can use Microsoft Word (probably other word programs as well). When I make decals of logos I get a good high res image then make a table in word with boxes of the approximate size. Make sure you go into borders and shading so you can turn the lines off when it prints, that way you just get the decal not the lines. Using the ruler feature you can estimate the size pretty well. Drop your picture into a box, right click and change the size to you desired size. Most fire door seals are 12-14" so I shrink the pic down to about 1/2" or so. Word also works well for text type decals. I use photoshop and Corel Draw to edit the photos then use word to alter the size.

All the decals on these were done with MS Word