Is there a way to print white text or designs for decals Or is there a special paint process you have to do?
Stamps w/stanzon ink
Josh
You can also start with white adhesive sticker paper and print the rest of the colors around the white.
Papillio makes some nice white vinyl stuff. Not cheap, but hey, you're worth it.
Decals are available with either clear or white film. I have bought clear film decals from decalpaper.com, who also carries white film decals. I have never tried the white film. I will once I run out of white vinyl stickers - I bought these at labelsbythesheet.com. They take toner well & look great, but the obvious problem is that unlike decals you can't slide them into position. So placing them is a PITA.
You can buy white waterslide paper on eBay all day long. I like it because it also makes the color really stand out.
I ordered some 4"x5" labels from label outfitters..they come 4 to a sheet and each label is big enough to cover a 1590BB. I haven't had enough time to play around with them a lot yet, but I printed one and they do take toner quite well. I plan on trying some experimentation with this material soon.
Even though they are self adhesive, I have heard you can use some windex or mild soapy water to slide the decal around on the surface until you get it right. Then squeegee out the excess liquid and let dry completely. Apply a clear coat (optional) over the entire pedal and you should be good to go.
I know about waterslide decals, I've ordered some from mammoth along with my parts.
I'm just wondering how I could get white text on there.
I like the idea of printing the color of the enclosure onto a white decal for white designs, but I feel like it won't look as good as I want it to be
Quote from: gtr2 on December 17, 2013, 06:41:03 PM
Stamps w/stanzon ink
That sounds like an interesting idea! Have you done this before?
Quote from: rullywowr on December 17, 2013, 07:14:14 PM
Even though they are self adhesive, I have heard you can use some windex or mild soapy water to slide the decal around on the surface until you get it right. Then squeegee out the excess liquid and let dry completely. Apply a clear coat (optional) over the entire pedal and you should be good to go.
Indeed you can do this. I was once a quality control manager for a large decal/graphics business and trained operators in installation of BIG industrial decals. Use just a drop of dish soap per 2 quarts of water and spray the box surface as well as the back of the decal, position the decal, then squeegee all water/air bubbles out and let it setup and dry overnight.
Quote from: pickdropper on December 17, 2013, 06:43:36 PM
You can also start with white adhesive sticker paper and print the rest of the colors around the white.
Papillio makes some nice white vinyl stuff. Not cheap, but hey, you're worth it.
Needs to be white film rather than vinyl if you're coating with Envirotex. Found that out recently... The Vinyl gasses and causes bubbles in the 'tex.
Printing white is possible, it's just really difficult and expensive. You may have some local sign shops that can do this for you, which is how I was able to get it done. It's expensive unless you do several/many at a time. Essentially, look for a print shop that can print white onto clear vinyl decal stock.
Jacob
You could print your black/coloured lettering onto white decal film then trim the decal to leave a thin white outline around your lettering. In the past i've cut a mask slightly larger then my lettering, used the mask to paint a white cloud on the enclosure then apply the clear decal over the cloud.
Green over the white "cloud".
(http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc305/davent/IMG_2023.jpg)
dave
Quote from: juansolo on December 17, 2013, 09:51:09 PM
Needs to be white film rather than vinyl if you're coating with Envirotex. Found that out recently... The Vinyl gasses and causes bubbles in the 'tex.
Thanks for sharing this. I just recently used Envirotex for the first time on paint / decals. I planned to use vinyl / Envirotex on my next build. I need to come up with plan B...
Quote from: juansolo on December 17, 2013, 09:51:09 PM
Quote from: pickdropper on December 17, 2013, 06:43:36 PM
You can also start with white adhesive sticker paper and print the rest of the colors around the white.
Papillio makes some nice white vinyl stuff. Not cheap, but hey, you're worth it.
Needs to be white film rather than vinyl if you're coating with Envirotex. Found that out recently... The Vinyl gasses and causes bubbles in the 'tex.
Hmm, that is interesting. I've used the white vinyl with 'tex. I wouldn't call it bubble free, but it didn't look terrible. This is one that I used a white vinyl sticker on:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/pickdropper/Guitar%20Pedals/MimiTron1_zps5af64adc.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/pickdropper/media/Guitar%20Pedals/MimiTron1_zps5af64adc.jpg.html)
What brand vinyl sticker did you use?
If there's a lot of black ink on it it's more visible. I've done about 4 recently as a test, 3 were ok, the 4th was pretty bad for it. It's there on all of them, but those with a lot of black ink down are most visible.
Another prob I've had is that my usual supplier of film decals has changed supplier and the new stuff is crap :( so I'm on the hunt again for decent decals.
Is your supplier Crafty Computer Paper? The last batch I got from them was crap.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
Quote from: davent on December 17, 2013, 10:41:17 PM
You could print your black/coloured lettering onto white decal film then trim the decal to leave a thin white outline around your lettering. In the past i've cut a mask slightly larger then my lettering, used the mask to paint a white cloud on the enclosure then apply the clear decal over the cloud.
dave
I just did this for a pedal I'm working on. I wanted a hammer tone black pedal with white lettering. I printed on clear inkjet decal paper so the white lettering came out clear. I made a little paper stencil to paint the white clouds under the decal. When I put the decal on, it the white letters came through just like I wanted.
Quote from: das234 on December 18, 2013, 12:29:36 PM
When I put the decal on, it the white letters came through just like I wanted.
Pictures, or it didn't happen! ;D
Still working on the pedal - build post to come, but here's something...
(http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/14/3p4n.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/14/3p4n.jpg/)
So there! :P
Go ahead, guess what it is.
Some sort of a compressor? Ross?
Ding ding ding. Ross compressor it is.
Quote from: muddyfox on December 18, 2013, 02:19:12 PM
Some sort of a compressor? Ross?
Has to be a Ross - the picture is of Bob Ross who had a TV show & showed viewers how to paint "happy little trees".
What was the TV show about?
I'm only asking because Epic Rap Battles of History did a "Pablo Picasso vs Bob Ross" skit, and while the world knows who Picasso is, I spent the whole time wondering who the hell Afro-man was.
Quote from: bcalla on December 18, 2013, 02:45:19 PM
Bob Ross who had a TV show & showed viewers how to paint "happy little trees".
Jacob
Quote from: alanp on December 18, 2013, 04:19:28 PM
What was the TV show about?
I'm only asking because Epic Rap Battles of History did a "Pablo Picasso vs Bob Ross" skit, and while the world knows who Picasso is, I spent the whole time wondering who the hell Afro-man was.
Sorry to hijack the thread. Here's Bob Ross. Stretch this out for 30 minutes and that's his show.
Quote from: twin1965 on December 18, 2013, 11:42:36 AM
Is your supplier Crafty Computer Paper? The last batch I got from them was crap.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
Used to use CCP and yep their white labels were shite.
Switched to PhotoPaperDirect a while back and all was dandy for some time. Awesome clear labels and usable film white ones. I got a new delivery of clear though and they're different and completely useless. I've been in touch and it seems their supplier of the original ones has gone.
Utterly gutted on that. So I'm going back to Crafty for clear. I'm really hoping they've not gone to shit as well otherwise I'm in real bother as to what to use. Still waiting for them to land....
Quote from: brand0nized on December 17, 2013, 07:33:55 PM
I know about waterslide decals, I've ordered some from mammoth along with my parts.
I'm just wondering how I could get white text on there.
I like the idea of printing the color of the enclosure onto a white decal for white designs, but I feel like it won't look as good as I want it to be
You can use a transparent waterslide decal! You can use a white pen to paint underneath the decal! Print as usual and add on the top of the white painted part! It works fine!
Printing/decaling white onto dark is something that comes up often, best feedback i've seen is for products from Pulsar, seems to be expensive to get started and a bit of a learning curve but the pictures posted have been most impressive. Can't remember who or where the posts were for the person playing with this.
http://www.pulsarprofx.com/decalpro/vertical/1_menu/1d_components/Components.html
dave
Where do you guys buy envirotex. Seems hard to get in Europe (at least in Austria).
Quote
You could print your black/coloured lettering onto white decal film then trim the decal to leave a thin white outline around your lettering. In the past i've cut a mask slightly larger then my lettering, used the mask to paint a white cloud on the enclosure then apply the clear decal over the cloud.
I don't really get what you mean by "clouds". Could you please go into detail a little bit? I get the idea from your picture - having black letters with light borders - but wouldn't you have to cut along the edges of the letters perfectly to get even line thickness and such stuff? (using white decal that is)
I guess another possibility is to use white decal, paint everything black except for the letters and apply that. Does anyone know how that turns out? I'm rather sceptical.
I've tried this and it doesn't look good. The colours on the screen and the colours that come out on the printer are not always the same. You also have to know exactly what colour your enclosure is and try to match this otherwise you're decal will look a slightly different colour.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
Quote from: juansolo on December 18, 2013, 06:59:58 PM
Quote from: twin1965 on December 18, 2013, 11:42:36 AM
Is your supplier Crafty Computer Paper? The last batch I got from them was crap.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
Utterly gutted on that. So I'm going back to Crafty for clear. I'm really hoping they've not gone to shit as well otherwise I'm
The clear I got from them last wasn't any good either. Its the first time I've had a decal stretch on me.
It just didn't come off the backing paper easily.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
Quote from: m-Kresol on December 18, 2013, 09:29:25 PM
Where do you guys buy envirotex. Seems hard to get in Europe (at least in Austria).
Quote
You could print your black/coloured lettering onto white decal film then trim the decal to leave a thin white outline around your lettering. In the past i've cut a mask slightly larger then my lettering, used the mask to paint a white cloud on the enclosure then apply the clear decal over the cloud.
I don't really get what you mean by "clouds". Could you please go into detail a little bit? I get the idea from your picture - having black letters with light borders - but wouldn't you have to cut along the edges of the letters perfectly to get even line thickness and such stuff? (using white decal that is)
I guess another possibility is to use white decal, paint everything black except for the letters and apply that. Does anyone know how that turns out? I'm rather sceptical.
"White clouds" was just refering to the white painted areas that i placed the black lettered decals over. Tried to fade the white to the edges giving it a soft edge but in such a small area and with a small skillset on my part, didn't succeed.
To cut around the lettering for the white backed decal would present a challenge, good quality, fine scissors and/or brand new blade in your scalpel and a big load of patience you should get results that look perfect at a body's length viewing distance.
Regarding colouring decals to match enclosure colour, some info here. Might try a full face transparent decal- clear letters surrounded by the colour to match or contrast the enclosure's with the area of the enclosure to be covered by the decal, painted white. How opaque can you get the coloured portion of the decal?
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=88271.0
Thanks davent! It looks great but it isn't quite what I was looking for. I have a black enclosure and just wanted the letters to be white, not black letters on a white ground.
Quote from: Gledison on December 18, 2013, 07:01:35 PM
You can use a transparent waterslide decal! You can use a white pen to paint underneath the decal! Print as usual and add on the top of the white painted part! It works fine!
I guess you'll have the same problem as with my first idea to just use white decal and paint everything black except for the letters, namely to adjust the colour to your enclosure so the difference won't be noticed.
^ Your welcome!
Quote from: brand0nized on December 17, 2013, 06:35:21 PM
Is there a way to print white text or designs for decals Or is there a special paint process you have to do?
Has it been suggested to etch the enclosure, colour paint the enclosure then paint the etched parts with white paint?
dave
Quote from: m-Kresol on December 18, 2013, 10:36:31 PM
Thanks davent! It looks great but it isn't quite what I was looking for. I have a black enclosure and just wanted the letters to be white, not black letters on a white ground.
Quote from: Gledison on December 18, 2013, 07:01:35 PM
You can use a transparent waterslide decal! You can use a white pen to paint underneath the decal! Print as usual and add on the top of the white painted part! It works fine!
I guess you'll have the same problem as with my first idea to just use white decal and paint everything black except for the letters, namely to adjust the colour to your enclosure so the difference won't be noticed.
My Happy Little Tree was done like Davent is saying. I made the enclosure black, then I printed my decal design on regular paper and used an Exacto knife to cut out the parts I wanted white. Then I used the plain paper as a stencil to apply white under the parts I wanted to be white (lettering and such). This can be done with spray cans or paint pen, whatever you like. Let the white paint dry, print the decal on clear stock (the decal design is mostly black with clear letters and the Bob Ross picture), and apply the decal. The white shows through the clear spots on the decal and the rest looks black. Admittedly, black is a little easier to do than color matching. For example, my Le Grand Alibi pedal was supposed to be color matched but I messed up the process and the top came out darker than the rest. Still looks really nice to me.
Only three plausible ways to print white onto a dark background:
- Screen printing
- Print a waterslide decal using an Alps printer
- DecalPro system by PulsarPro
I used the DecalPro system to do the graphics in this thread . . . http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=6324.0 (http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=6324.0) . . . and here's white printed on black using the DecalPro stuff:
(http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc18/Fastocker/Vibe%20Pedals/Uni-Vibe-0006_zps49b3fc21.jpg)
Unfortunately, none of those options are cheap or easy. But if you want to print white (or light colored) opaque colors onto a dark background, I'm not aware of any other way for a DIY'er to do it economically at home. Again, I'm talking about lettering directly onto the painted or powdercoated enclosure without having to colormatch a decal's background color or having to carefully cut out individual letters and such.
If someone finds another method of doing this then I'd love to hear to hear about it. The DecalPro system gives professional results but there is a learning curve involved and it can be very frustrating at times. Plus you'll need a laminator and a laser printer.
Here's another I did recently using the DecalPro stuff:
(http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc18/Fastocker/PCMR-5011_zps2398dfc0.jpg)
The Little Tree decal came out really nice!
With the difficulty of matching decal colour to enclosure colour how 'bout going in the other direction and accentuate the difference with a contrasting colour, it then becomes a design statement instead of a question of... 'was this meant to match or is this the way it's suppose to be?'
dave
I've sometimes thought about getting some three-ply black-white-black pickguard material, and dremeling away the top layer only, to get some white on black. It'd be fiddly as hell, though.
Quote from: Fastocker on December 19, 2013, 03:25:55 AM
Only three plausible ways to print white onto a dark background:
- Screen printing
- Print a waterslide decal using an Alps printer
- DecalPro system by PulsarPro
There are other methods, including ones I and others have indicated above.
Jacob
What about adding a transparent decal, then painting the white parts with a white pen over the decal parts u want white. After that, adding a second decal, exactly the same on the top of the first one?
That worked really well, looks great!
dave