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Drawing decals, best program and tutorials?


Paolo6691

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Hi all

I decided I don't want to wait forever for someone to release decals for Italian typhoons, since the marking are all monochromatic (probably black) I thought I may have a go at trying to design and print them myself.

I spent a little time online and I got plenty of good close-up pictures taken from an almost perpendicular angle.

So no I need to find a program that will allow me to create a layer over the jpg where I can draw the decal by following the pattern on the picture, and then allow me to scale to the right proportions.

I friend of mine suggested Inkscape, I downloaded it, but I have to admit I don't know where to start.

Inkscape manual is very extensive and I didn't find the section that apply to what I want to do.

So I need tips and suggestion from everyone that tried to do something similar in the past, and hopefully succeeded 8-)

What program do you think is the most suitable, could you please point me to a tutorial for tracing over a picture and saving the resultant layer without the picture? Any other advice to avoid obvious pitfalls that are not yet obvious to me is gladly received.

Cheers and thanks

Paolo

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GIMP is a very good graphics tool! it`s free to download! and is in essence is just copy of Photoshop! or be it a basic stripped down version! it will do all the things you mentioned! and more! so it should be ideal for doing the artwork for DIY decals!,

As for tutorials! I`ve seen a few on You tube! should be easy to find!.

Edited by nicE1
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IMHO the best software (and the one I use to draw my own decals) is Corel Draw. It's a software package commonly used by professionals in the graphic industry and as such it's not free as inkscape. However versions older than the current one can often be bought for very little money.

Corel Draw has a feature that automatically "traces" a bitmap and generates vector drawings. Still, my preferred method is simply import the JPG and draw on top of this. With every vector drawing software it's possible to move the position of every object up and down, I keep the JPG at the bottom and draw the various bits on top of it. The relative position of the various objects depends on what I want to achieve.

I haven't used Inkscape in ages, but I recall that the same can be done with this software. The reason I stopped using Inkscape is that for some reason it conflicted with the printer I was using back then and some drawings ended up being completely black filled when printed.

Some people do good things using programs like Photoshop. Personally I believe that bitmap based softwares are not ideal for this job, the kind of objects usually drawn work best with vector drawing.

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Hi all

Thanks for your answers

GIMP is a very good graphics tool! it`s free to download! and is in essence is just copy of Photoshop! or be it a basic stripped down version! it will do all the things you mentioned! and more! so it should be ideal for doing the artwork for DIY decals!,

As for tutorials! I`ve seen a few on You tube! should be easy to find!.

Hi have GIMP, I shall try to draw on it, but I would like vector files to be able to scale the more easily, so maybe the answer is to draw in GIMP and then transferring to Inkscape, I will have a look around

Hi Sean , Thanks for the link I was aware of them they are the wrong scale for me and do not cover the two new formed gruppi, also I would like to learn how to do it, it may be a useful skill for future obscure projects 8-)

IMHO the best software (and the one I use to draw my own decals) is Corel Draw. It's a software package commonly used by professionals in the graphic industry and as such it's not free as inkscape. However versions older than the current one can often be bought for very little money.

Corel Draw has a feature that automatically "traces" a bitmap and generates vector drawings. Still, my preferred method is simply import the JPG and draw on top of this. With every vector drawing software it's possible to move the position of every object up and down, I keep the JPG at the bottom and draw the various bits on top of it. The relative position of the various objects depends on what I want to achieve.

I haven't used Inkscape in ages, but I recall that the same can be done with this software. The reason I stopped using Inkscape is that for some reason it conflicted with the printer I was using back then and some drawings ended up being completely black filled when printed.

Some people do good things using programs like Photoshop. Personally I believe that bitmap based softwares are not ideal for this job, the kind of objects usually drawn work best with vector drawing.

Hi Giorgio, I agree, I would prefer a vector imagine instead of a raster one, so I need to learn a vector graphics program, possibly a free one 8-)

Illustrator 10 although expensive is a good drawing package

Hi Kev, thanks for the suggestion, but I don't think drawing a couple of decals make s buying Illustrator 10 worthwhile.

Cheers

Paolo

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Try DRAFTSIGHT by Dassault, the creators of Solidworks. It's a clone of AutoCAD and FREE for home use. It utilises the DWG format.

I use AutoCAD at work but downloaded a version of Draftsight for home use and it's got everything AutoCAD has (minus the cost!)

You can import a raster file, then trace over it pretty easily. I have done this for several projects that I have on the go.

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Hi all

I am just writing to reply that with all the suggestions I was able to find the right tutorial on youtube so I was able to draw my first bit, and I am very chuffed by it.

Hendie, thanks for the suggestion, it will definitely come handy.

Cheers

Paolo

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