Making your own decals

[Stretch79]

hi all,

Just wondered if anyone has made their own decals for their bikes?

Been reading up on scan and tracing then placing to be vectored.

Anyone any tips etc?

Do I need to just photo or is it better to trace the decal, scan to computer then upload and work from that?

Thanks

 

[ChromeChainstay]

scotch tape, permanent marker • an ode' to the days of liquid blotter aka: acid induced paintjob

 

[novocaine]

don't do it. It's a pain in the arse.
if you do it, use inkscape.

hints, none, until you try and do it, then ask questions.

not got any pictures of just the decals. I have a vinyl cutter, you could send them to a sign makers to be cut too. really thin lines don't work.

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

don't do it. It's a pain in the arse.
if you do it, use inkscape.

hints, none, until you try and do it, then ask questions.

not got any pictures of just the decals. I have a vinyl cutter, you could send them to a sign makers to be cut too. really thin lines don't work.

Have you considered a tutorial Dave? I'd be very interested being ignorant in all things tech.

 

[novocaine]

Have you considered a tutorial Dave? I'd be very interested being ignorant in all things tech.

trust me, you don't want to learn from me, I'm a hack who does it because he can. I'll quite often do things to get there that would be viewed as less than the correct way to do it.
other issue is that every time is different, some times it's easy, other times it will take hours to correct it, so a tutorial really isn't going to help you. The best way to learn is to download inkscape, do some basics and when you get stuck, google for help.

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

trust me, you don't want to learn from me, I'm a hack who does it because he can. I'll quite often do things to get there that would be viewed as less than the correct way to do it.
other issue is that every time is different, some times it's easy, other times it will take hours to correct it, so a tutorial really isn't going to help you. The best way to learn is to download inkscape, do some basics and when you get stuck, google for help.

Thanks mate

 

[novocaine]

Thanks mate

do you have a logo in mind you want to recreate?
maybe I could have a crack at it with screen record on and you can see what I'm getting at?

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

do you have a logo in mind you want to recreate?
maybe I could have a crack at it with screen record on and you can see what I'm getting at?

I do, I'll dig it out and show you. Its for my Eclipse Countryman.

 

[Stretch79]

don't do it. It's a pain in the arse.
if you do it, use inkscape.

hints, none, until you try and do it, then ask questions.

not got any pictures of just the decals. I have a vinyl cutter, you could send them to a sign makers to be cut too. really thin lines don't work.

Thank you very much. I’m reading all below and I will give it a try. Would like to create my own so I can do any future ones

Hears someone mention they need to be vector’d so they can get cut out via a tracing app. I’ve traced the decals so now need to get them to the computer

 

[KayOs]

I wanted comics on a bike and experimented a bit. In the end, I made water slide decals myself. The decal film is available to buy as a sheet and can be printed on with a laser printer. I used PowerPoint to arrange everything on the sheet because I didn't have any other programme at the time. It was very easy to apply to the painted frame as they were water sliders, so you still have some room for manoeuvre if something is crooked. In theory this way I could do every picture that could be printed.
However, clear varnish must then be applied as otherwise they are not durable. And it works best on a light coloured frame with dark coloured decals because the material is very thin.
The frame has now lasted almost 15 years.

I also had a vinyl cutter and monochrome lettering works very well as long as the lines are not too thin (see the green bike).

I drew the designs myself using Sketchbook and then prepared them for cutting using the plotter software. This has always worked quite well.

I've also made stencils for painting or etching (headbadges, quite small) but also decals that have held up quite well so far, but that's more down to the film.

The plotter was about 200€ inkluding the software, sketchbook is free and the vinyl is around 1€ per DIN A4 sheet (ca. 4-10 decals).