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any tips on making custom stickers?

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im trying to get some custom stickers made to put on the  Manta build but i dont have any good software/program that can make high resolution images. i sent an email to the place i got to print out some vinyl stickers for my car just over a week ago but they havent replied to the email. i dont know if they didnt check the emails or wont take ideas and make the design to have the graphic file for a sticker. im hoping to make some simple sticker designs for the Manta, one rear wing text much like the Tamiya double color font, 1 cockpit sticker and a manta silhouette.

is there any program i should look out for to atleast make a set of files i can submit to the place to print out. i can understand they might have lower staff these days but i wonder if they even considered my request...

if anyone has sent custom sticker requests to a similar company in the past, that would also be helpful in giving me other options to get some stickers made.

they do have a stall in a nearby flea market but given the current global situation, thats a bit of an unknown. i will try calling them tomorrow to see what might be happening.

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Inkscape is free and you can use that. But it will only do the artwork in RGB, whereas you really want to set them up in CMYK mode when printing as that is what the print machine will use. All this will mean is that the colours will shift a little. How much depends on a number of factors, and they will shift a little anyway from what you see on screen, as the screen is backlit whereas prints are frontlit.

And if you want them to cut them out as well, you'll need to put in a cut path.

With both you probably have a bit of a learning curve too, but it's worth a try. I have some more tips, that I will add in when I get home and have a bit more time,

cheers

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I agree with @yogi-bear, Inkscape is brilliant - I use it for all my graphic design work.

The colours are a good point but generally I wouldn't worry too much about colour shift unless you're doing lots of compound colours.

The printing company will probably want the file in a 'vector' format.  The image file basically contains instructions on how to build the components of the image in terms of shapes and lines.  That is different to a 'raster' image, such as a photo (bitmap, jpeg, png) which contains instructions on the colours and where they go on the grid.  They key difference is that a vector image can be scaled to any size without losing any detail, whereas a raster image will pixelate if you try to enlarge it, but it is also makes a difference in how the printer driver interprets the image and puts the ink onto the media.  Inkscape allows you to create and edit vectors and can save in a variety of formats, although it's worth proof-loading the saved file to make sure it hasn't lost some data when going from Inkscape's own format into a more common one like SVG or AI.

There is a learning curve with all this.  For example you can't just import a picture of the Manta silhouette or a photo of the Tamiya logo and save it as a vector file - but you can import photo files and use them as templates to manually draw around, if you like, then delete the photo from the file before you send it for printing.  Another thing you can do is a web search for free vector files - it's surprising how many vector files you can find absolutely free on various vector sites (often I cover my cars with genuine sponsor logos - NGK, Shell, NOS for example - from files I downloaded from free vector sites).

Another thing to bear in mind is that many printers can't print on clear sheet (or, they can, but they can't back the print with white, so if you stick the decal on a dark-coloured body you won't be able to see the image).  Some companies can print white onto clear but only if they do what's called a screen print, which is not cost effective for a single sheet.  Some companies can print white ink direct onto clear which makes the decal look much more professional.  Printing on white is OK but you almost always see the white of the vinyl showing through when it's stuck on a dark surface.  As Yogi says, some printing companies will automatically cut the stickers for you if you provide a cut line around the logos, this gets the neatest cut possible around the decal so you get minimal white border.  You'd have to talk to the printer to find out how they'd want that supplied.  Generally I think it would be best to message a company first and ask what they can do and what file format they want before you ship it.  If you sent an unsolicited attachment it could have been caught by a spam filter or antivirus software.

Not sure where you're based but I use https://mciracing.ca/ - they ship to UK and Nathaneal is very helpful if you're new to graphic design, and also can print onto clear sheet so you don't need to second-guess your design.  I'm pretty sure there are UK-based companies but I have heard some are not beginner-friendly and won't reply if you give the impression you don't know what you're talking about.  There are also lots of home printers who advertise on Facebook groups who can print decals for you provided you don't want them printed on clear sheet.

If I'm doing a full colour design on a coloured body then I'll suffer the cost and use MCI racing because I know I'll get the right job done first time.  If I just want a single block colour design, I'll print onto clear vinyl sheet with my laser printer and design my colour scheme so my colours only go over parts painted in white, silver, grey, or maybe yellow, although I can confirm black laser toner works OK on red and metallic copper too.

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well said @Mad Ax

I can't really add to what he said, just support it. I do also search and download logos from the internet, there is a lot out there. I think learning Inkscape will initially be a step learning curve, but I think we worth it in the long run.

Also what @Mad Ax said about white printing is very true, few printers can do that, as they are expensive but it is becoming more common. Quality also varies on machine time, so that is something to watch out for.

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thank you for the replies, i will look into inkscape. i had a feeling it might not be as easy to use as raster programs but thats not surprising. the printing company is able to print a few colors with their printer model. those are the decals they printed for me after i found the vector images. i found a Manta ray silhouette on shutter stock. though if i can figure out the layers to outline a manta then that might save me a few bucks.

a bit of color shift wont really matter, i was planning on black outline for the wing and red interior text. preferably to match the PS paint i used but if thats not possible then that will have to do.

i called them a while back today, they just overlooked my request as the missed the email...  they agreed to see what can be done to make the stickers. i will go DL Inkscape as it should save me some money later on if i want some extra custom stickers made. are the CMYK conversion programs extra costs to purchase? the print company can probably be able to turn RBG to CMYK if i request that.

now my mind is going a bit crazy to think of team stickers from Initial D series to put on the Sileighty  body shell that will arrive in a few weeks or less.

 

IMG_2748b.jpg

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@Mad Ax @Yogi Bear

i tried my hand at Inkscape today regarding another sticker project for a Lunchbox and i ended up with this result. id say its fairly good for some tinkering around after a few YT instruction vids. i havent tried breaking the original into  layers to clear up some lines and had to resort to MS paint to remove the black background before tinkering around in inkscape. im not too worried about the unfinished effects from the 20 something color layers as the stickers will hopefully be placed on a lunchbox i did manage to flip the image so it mirrors itself and its still RBG format.

 

 

Spaceballs%282%29 (1).jpg

spaceballs JPG.jpg

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well done! I think I would leave it in RGB format too, and not worry about that side of things too much.

Also maybe check your document setting for DPI (or resolution), it looks like you've lost a little resolution in the some of the filters or affects you have applied.

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2 hours ago, yogi-bear said:

well done! I think I would leave it in RGB format too, and not worry about that side of things too much.

Also maybe check your document setting for DPI (or resolution), it looks like you've lost a little resolution in the some of the filters or affects you have applied.

Thank you for the reply, I was mostly mucking around with edge definition and color count. I'm not completely happy with the front window but I'd like At least to use line draw function to complete the center window line... The starting size was 1000 x 377 pixels in bmp/jpg format.  Half the time the edge resolution and colors left small areas or the extra line resolution meant i needed way too many colors  so it wasnt fully colored in when I dragged it out of original spot. The few times the lines and colors were good I got this. The top cab air vents gave a bit of trouble at times with too few colors...

I'll try to check resolution and see if I get a good result but since I need to scale this down a bit to put on a lunch box. I'm bound to deal with some lost resolution... I was trying to keep the color count in the 20-30 range so if it does go to print it would be a bit easier to do. The edge resolution and color count are tricky with that many lines. I think it might be more the edge resolution that caused the DPI to drop but I'm a newb at this with some mild mucking around. With a bit more practice I might be able to clear it up a bit.

I did try to put a layer on top wing "E-5" text to try and make it a bit clearer but not sure how to rotate the text only to that  70 degrees??  Angle without also rotating the Winnebago also...

 

SUCESS!!!

I did some more tinkering and im rather happy with the result now. i bumped down edge resolution 0.5 or so and bumped color count to 30. granted still a bit of lost resolution on the windows and some lower rust/dirty areas that could maybe be flushed out a bit but old dirty looking Winnebago is still old and dirty looking.

SPACEBALLS EAGLE 5.png

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hmm, I don't know how to use Inkscape (I have Adobe Illustrator etc),so can't help with specific tasks. I would though recommend you convert the file out from jpg or png too if you are going to do a lot of editing. For me this would mean bringing it into photoshop and saving it as a native photoshop file. For Inkscape I am not too sure, hopefully someone can chime in with an alternative. But I say this as both jpg and png are compressed file formats, so each time it is saved, it redoes the compression and you lose a little bit of quality. I'd also keep it as high a resolution as you can and then scale it back to size when finished. 

I don't know much about Inkscape, but looking just now, it seems to be purely a vector graphics program, (much like illustrator), so if you are just wanting to some editing to the image itself, like making all the windows black or cutting and moving parts, you might also need a free image program like GIMP (its similar to photoshop). And then when you are done, you can bring that file into Inkscape for scaling etc.

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Thank you for the reply, does GIMP do SVG files by any chance? The original pic was jpg so I dont want to convert it back and forth too much. I'm likely going to send the pic to the printing company and ask them to make the stickers. I don't have a printer of that caliber. most of my ideas with graphics relate more to stickers to put on RC cars and it's only 2 kits where I have any plans for custom stickers. 

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GIMP will be an bitmap editor, much the same as photoshop, so it won't really do vector graphics. Yeah, would be a lot to learn if you are only doing a couple of stickers.

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16 minutes ago, yogi-bear said:

GIMP will be an bitmap editor, much the same as photoshop, so it won't really do vector graphics. Yeah, would be a lot to learn if you are only doing a couple of stickers.

Thank you for the reply, most of the stickers are text stickers though this image is an exception I'd like to use. I can go about the lunch box with only text stickers but this RV would be the icing on it.

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On 4/27/2021 at 9:48 AM, Mad Ax said:

I agree with @yogi-bear, Inkscape is brilliant - I use it for all my graphic design work.

The colours are a good point but generally I wouldn't worry too much about colour shift unless you're doing lots of compound colours.

The printing company will probably want the file in a 'vector' format.  The image file basically contains instructions on how to build the components of the image in terms of shapes and lines.  That is different to a 'raster' image, such as a photo (bitmap, jpeg, png) which contains instructions on the colours and where they go on the grid.  They key difference is that a vector image can be scaled to any size without losing any detail, whereas a raster image will pixelate if you try to enlarge it, but it is also makes a difference in how the printer driver interprets the image and puts the ink onto the media.  Inkscape allows you to create and edit vectors and can save in a variety of formats, although it's worth proof-loading the saved file to make sure it hasn't lost some data when going from Inkscape's own format into a more common one like SVG or AI.

There is a learning curve with all this.  For example you can't just import a picture of the Manta silhouette or a photo of the Tamiya logo and save it as a vector file - but you can import photo files and use them as templates to manually draw around, if you like, then delete the photo from the file before you send it for printing.  Another thing you can do is a web search for free vector files - it's surprising how many vector files you can find absolutely free on various vector sites (often I cover my cars with genuine sponsor logos - NGK, Shell, NOS for example - from files I downloaded from free vector sites).

Another thing to bear in mind is that many printers can't print on clear sheet (or, they can, but they can't back the print with white, so if you stick the decal on a dark-coloured body you won't be able to see the image).  Some companies can print white onto clear but only if they do what's called a screen print, which is not cost effective for a single sheet.  Some companies can print white ink direct onto clear which makes the decal look much more professional.  Printing on white is OK but you almost always see the white of the vinyl showing through when it's stuck on a dark surface.  As Yogi says, some printing companies will automatically cut the stickers for you if you provide a cut line around the logos, this gets the neatest cut possible around the decal so you get minimal white border.  You'd have to talk to the printer to find out how they'd want that supplied.  Generally I think it would be best to message a company first and ask what they can do and what file format they want before you ship it.  If you sent an unsolicited attachment it could have been caught by a spam filter or antivirus software.

Not sure where you're based but I use https://mciracing.ca/ - they ship to UK and Nathaneal is very helpful if you're new to graphic design, and also can print onto clear sheet so you don't need to second-guess your design.  I'm pretty sure there are UK-based companies but I have heard some are not beginner-friendly and won't reply if you give the impression you don't know what you're talking about.  There are also lots of home printers who advertise on Facebook groups who can print decals for you provided you don't want them printed on clear sheet.

If I'm doing a full colour design on a coloured body then I'll suffer the cost and use MCI racing because I know I'll get the right job done first time.  If I just want a single block colour design, I'll print onto clear vinyl sheet with my laser printer and design my colour scheme so my colours only go over parts painted in white, silver, grey, or maybe yellow, although I can confirm black laser toner works OK on red and metallic copper too.

Inkscape; if you’re trying to trace over a logo containing text do you have to create each line to make the letters or does it have text which, assuming you have the right font, you can resize/reshape to fit? 

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12 hours ago, Mad Zero said:

Inkscape; if you’re trying to trace over a logo containing text do you have to create each line to make the letters or does it have text which, assuming you have the right font, you can resize/reshape to fit? 

If you can find the right font, you're in luck.  There are even online font finders to help - upload a scan of the logo into a font finder, highlight the text area, and let it do its thing.  Sometimes you find commercial-only fonts that you have to buy, but if you hunt around you can often find free or open-licence versions.  As long as you're not selling the stickers, you can use them.

Then you just position the text and start typing.  Once you've got the text, you can stretch and drag it until it fits over the original scan.  I wouldn't panic if it's not perfect.

If you can't find a matching font then you'll have to draw it manually.

I think some logos use an existing font, but the font is then modified.  You can convert text to path in Inkscape, so you can then edit the nodes and drag, add or delete them to finish off the project.  There is a peculiarity with text-to-path not always working, I can't remember if you have to Ungroup the text first, or something, quite often I to text-to-path and and it does sweet naff all until I hunt around on Google to find out what arbitrary step I have missed.

If you're going to work with Inkscape then definitely get the hang of using Groups, it makes your life a brazillion times easier.

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Frankly I have no idea what you are all talking about🦖🦕, but I love the flying Winnie!!!!!!

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7 hours ago, Mad Ax said:

If you can find the right font, you're in luck.  There are even online font finders to help - upload a scan of the logo into a font finder, highlight the text area, and let it do its thing.  Sometimes you find commercial-only fonts that you have to buy, but if you hunt around you can often find free or open-licence versions.  As long as you're not selling the stickers, you can use them.

Then you just position the text and start typing.  Once you've got the text, you can stretch and drag it until it fits over the original scan.  I wouldn't panic if it's not perfect.

If you can't find a matching font then you'll have to draw it manually.

I think some logos use an existing font, but the font is then modified.  You can convert text to path in Inkscape, so you can then edit the nodes and drag, add or delete them to finish off the project.  There is a peculiarity with text-to-path not always working, I can't remember if you have to Ungroup the text first, or something, quite often I to text-to-path and and it does sweet naff all until I hunt around on Google to find out what arbitrary step I have missed.

If you're going to work with Inkscape then definitely get the hang of using Groups, it makes your life a brazillion times easier.

Ok cheers, I actually use Illustrator (& AutoCAD) but thought of recommending Inkscape to a mate of mine to try & he wants to copy some old logos. 

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