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Corel Draw vs Photoshop


RidgeRunner

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Not really familiar with Corel Draw but I don't think Photoshop is the right tool for drawing decals as it produces raster images. I would go with Adobe Illustrator instead of Photoshop or the free alternative Inkscape.

 

I read somewhere on this forum, I think that professional printing companies but also at-home printers can produce better quality (sharpness- and colour-wise) from vector graphics than from raster images.

 

Please anybody correct me if I'm wrong on this one!

 

Cheers,

Cristian

Edited by armored76
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Another vote for Inkscape here.

I used Corel Draw for nearly twenty years, but a move to Linux a few years ago meant a change in my graphics package to Gimp and Inkscape and I now prefer them. They are also completely free, so I would recommend giving them a try rather than paying for something. They will take some getting used to – but don't think that because they are free that they aren't any good; Inkscape is as good (in my opinion) as Corel Draw and Gimp is better than Corel Photo Paint.

I've never used Photoshop so can't comment on it.

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Another endorsement for Inkscape here.  I have only recently started making decals and have found Inkscape to be very simple for a beginner like me.

 

Here is a view of a drawing that was produced in Inkscape

bae_hawk_fly_navy_100_decal_resized_1000

 

 

 

Inkscape has a simple scaling function, which means that drawings can be produced at any size and then enlarged or reduced according to your required scale.

The Fly Navy drawing has been re-scaled and printed, using an inkjet printer, onto clear decal paper then applied to a 1:144 scale Hawk.  The tail was painted gloss white as my printer does not print white.

bae_hawk_fly_navy_100_back_hand.jpg

 

 

Inkscape is also good for producing logos and fine lettering that can be found on aircraft etc.........

buffalo_air_1000.jpg

 

as can be seen on this 1:144 scale PBY-5A Canso.  All of these decals, including the hatch and window on the fuselage, were drawn using Inkscape.

pby-5a_firebomber_09_decals_to_fuselage.

 

As I mentioned, I am fairly new at this drawing and producing my own decals,  I've tried Coral Draw and Photoshop but I found them to be too powerful (i.e. complex) whereas I find Inkscape fairly simple to use. Another excellent feature is that it is a free download.

 

HTH

 

Mike

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Corel & PS are overkill for decal work.

Corel is an imaged based program and I use it for that, for vector work I have SignLab.

But model work is secondary on these programs I have for my signwork.

Whatever is easiest to use , in-home , is best for hobby work , free downloads of programs sound good!

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Thanks chaps. My next guidance I will seek is about which is the best medium to print on and the best means of fixing. Currently I simply buy cheap sheets from the well known auction site and then fix using airbrushed gloss varnish. I'm sure there is a better way?

 

Martin

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Be very wary of buying cheap decal paper - I bought some and it's as good as useless.

I haven't found any good quality and good value decal paper yet.

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I goes without saying that you'll also have to match the printer and paper type. Ink jet printer with ink jet paper, and laser printer with laser printer paper.

 

Laser printers "burn" the toner into the paper so there is no need to extra sealing while ink jet printer ink is usually water soluble so there is a high chance it will dissolve when you dip the decal in warm water before application. This is why ink jet printed decals need to be sealed with a clear coat before application. I personally wouldn't seal it before printing as it might decrease ink adhesion to the paper.

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6 hours ago, RidgeRunner said:

Thanks chaps. My next guidance I will seek is about which is the best medium to print on and the best means of fixing. Currently I simply buy cheap sheets from the well known auction site and then fix using airbrushed gloss varnish. I'm sure there is a better way?

 

Martin

  This is how they all work.

If this works , and it does , how much better can it be?

The next step is going to masks and spraying the markings.

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On 03/03/2018 at 2:08 PM, bootneck said:

found Inkscape to be very simple for a beginner like me.

Well Mike, I am simple so it should be easy and I have spent half of today downloading an image  and having a play.....I have not got very far and I think I am missing something so simple. Just need to re read the tutorials I suppose and keep plodding.

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I've done that same on the advice above. I'll start fiddling with it soon. Hopefully it'll be fairly intuitive. I'm a Photoshop user so may that helps. We'll see .......

 

thanks for for the advice everyone.

 

Martin

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Agree that Photoshop is not the best tool. I've used both Corel Draw and Inkscape, I prefer the Corel package but then I've been using this for years and, most importantly, I already have this. Inkscape as it is today can do pretty much all that's needed to print a decal and in addition it's free, something that always helps.

Regarding a general comparison between raster and vector images, the latter are better because they are independent of resolution, in Corel or inkscape a line is a line and is printed as a line, in Photoshop a line is a succession of pixels and individual pixels may or not be visible in the print depending on the resolution of the image.

 

Regarding paper, it depends on the printer you have. Personally I use Expert's Choice decal paper on a laser printer and I feel little need to change, apart from getting a printer with a higher resolution.

If you, like most, have an inkjet printer, then I feel that Expert's choice paper is still very good (they do different papers for different printer, make sure you have the right one). Of course in this case you have to coat the artwork before immersing in water. My favourite product for coating is still Microscale Decal Film, others may work well but with this one you're pretty much guaranteed it will work. I used to leave the ink drying for at leat 24 hours before coating, may have been overkill but this is a case of better safe than sorry

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've used CorelDRAW, Adobe illustrator and many others along with the associated photo editors (Photopaint and Photoshop) for nearly thirty years, you can get fantastic effects with the photo editors but as someone said earlier total overkill for producing decals, the main advantage of using a vector program (as Giorgio stated) is that with careful line, fill and text management you can scale the image up or down as much as you like without loss of quality. 

IMHO CorelDRAW is much more user friendly than Illustrator, that being said I think Illustrator has the edge on colour profiling management. they are, however expensive and in both cases an absolute pain to load and register these days (Adobe CC is really annoying, why can't they just supply a disk like they used to?) so the best advice would be to find, if you can a free vector editor, if such exists I've never had to source the like because I get access to all of them through work.

Cheers, M.

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