Jump to content

How to copy a decal sheet that has a non white paper


hsr

Recommended Posts

I have an aircraft kit where instead of printing all the decals on one sheet they printed the right side decals one one sheet and just duplicated that on another sheet for the left side. That would be fine but I got this kit second hand and it only has one sheet. I can scan the sheet and print it with my photo quality ink jet printer, but the decal paper is blue

 

56c136c1-0064-434b-8ad2-07cb7b40bc3b.jpgSo so when I print it my printer will dutifully print out the blue background. What I need to do is change the blue to clear. The photo editing software I have doesn't have that capability. I found an Photoshop online tool, and I am sure it can do it, but the UI is somewhat opaque and I can't figure out how. This must be a common problem. How do you solve this? What software do you use. I emailed the manufacturer, but the kit is out of production so I don't have high hopes.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks

 

Howard

  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The problem you will also have is that your inkjet printer won't print white, so the white  numbers will be a problem and also the white edge around the 'danger' logo. Only way to print white is to use a white decal paper and print a coloured border around your image that matches the colour of the aircraft you're applying the decals onto. You then have to carefully trim up to that border so no white remains. Then when you apply the decal, the border colour disappears and you're left with the white letters, if that makes sense. To remove the blue background. You need a graphics program that has a magic wand feature. You can highlight the background and colour it white. However to get perfect edges can be very time consuming and tricky to say the least. You may be better to simply redraw the decals you need in a Photoshop type programme from scratch. You'll get much better quality and no blue background...

Edited by Steve Noble
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I realized that the white would be a problem after I posted this, but I figured I could get the numbers off a numbers sheet. What I need are the serial number and the red flash. The software I have has a paint brush mode so I spent some time using it to paint white around the markings I want. But in the end I heard back from the manufacturer and he is going to help me out. 🙂

 

Thanks

 

Howard

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's great if you can get the proper sheet from the manufacturer. It's always easier than trying to produce the white decals yourself. The serial numbers, danger logo and the red flash marking would be pretty straightforward to produce, but white is always time consuming unless one has the capability to print white..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What software do you use? Photoshop? GIMP? 

What you need to do - "remove background" - google how to do that in the program of your choice.

Basically, you create a mask based either on "levels" or on "colour range", select the mask, reverse selection and delete selection.

When you know how it is a 3 minute job.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, Pin said:

When you know how it is a 3 minute job.

Yea that is the hard part. 

 

I have Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006 Editor. Pretty rudimentary, but it works fine for posting pictures here and elsewhere. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/8/2018 at 10:53 PM, Pin said:

Get a proper tool, I recommend GIMP. 

It is free

https://www.gimp.org/

 

How to remove background with GIMP (one of a zillion methods)

http://gimptips.com/articles/removing-image-backgrounds-gimp-fuzzy-select

 

Totally agree, if someone wants to start playing with decals the first to do is get a good image processing software. The following step would be to get a good vector drawing software if someone really gets involved in the thing. Basic softwares can work only if doing basic things, but to go beyond a certain point having the right software makes all things much easier

Edited by Giorgio N
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...