3rd Party Custom Decal Printing

[Subtle Discord]

Short Question: Does anyone have direct experience having custom decals printed by a 3rd party service? I have some questions about quality, cost, the best DPI resolution to be working in, and if I can layer how I think I can. I already understand the colour pallet that I should choose from, and I don't need the service to do any image creation. I'll be making my own designs and just want them professionally printed.

 

Long Explanation & Clarification: One of the major themes in my current army is a 'cold' feeling. I am avoiding the 'warm' Yellows, Oranges, and Reds. To that end, I want to re-do the Eye of Horus icon from Yellow to Blue for my rank-and-file undivided troops. Personally, I never liked the Eye of Horus in Yellow, and I think GWs decals are bland. I might even do them in other colours; Gold and/or Silver might be a nice way to give Elites something special, and other colours to better suit a given god. Green for Nurgle, Purple for Slaanesh, Light Blue for Tzeench, and Red for Khorne. (Khorne troops will be some of the only red in the army, but I'm considering how to mute and minimize it)

 

I know I can hand paint these, but doing iconography (especially really small stuff) to the level that I want is more frustration then I like. I want the icons to be very clean, sharp, and consistent to help unify the army that will have a lot of unique Chaos things going on. A few sheets of custom decals seem to be the best solution.

 

Since these are going to be on Black most of the time and I want the colours to stay true; I want to do a base layer of White, print the colour over that, and then outline in black to cover any 'white bleed'. I'm assuming that is realistic?

 

I also started working at 600x600 dpi resolution, but have kicked that up to 1200x1200 dpi, just to be safe. Can anyone give me some insight to how much that will effect the final print? Do I want to push it up to 2400x2400 dpi, or is that overkill?

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/Decal%20Related%20Pics/Eye_Decal_01.jpg

Here's some of my initial designs to give an idea of the variety I'm aiming for.

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/Decal%20Related%20Pics/Eye_Decal_02.jpg

This is the base White. I've made it ever-so-slightly smaller than the colours, but I've added...

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/Decal%20Related%20Pics/Eye_Decal_03.jpg

... a Black outlining to make sure the edges are clean.

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/Decal%20Related%20Pics/Eye_Decal_04.jpg

In the rare case these decals get placed on a colour other than Black, I'm hoping the outlining will also keep them sharp looking.

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/Decal%20Related%20Pics/Eye_Decal_05.jpg

By keeping all of the components that make the decal on separate layers, it's super easy to swap things like 'eye centers' and colour.

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/Decal%20Related%20Pics/Banner_Marine_01.jpghttp://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/Decal%20Related%20Pics/Decal_Banner_01.jpg

I also have plans to make some really nice banners for the army. They may go on as-is, or they would make a great base guide to paint over.

 

All tips and techniques for making the actual decals are welcome, but I'm really looking for suggestions of companies providing the printing service. I would prefer suggestions from people who have at least seen the actual end results, but any input is welcome. Thanks in advance for taking the time.

[templarboy]

I know that I am not directly answering your question, but....you should make these decals yourself. Get some decal paper and print them yourself. I use the Testor's kit and it is pretty simple. Seriously.

[Spear of Achilles]

those eyes look even creepier when you invert them....

[Subtle Discord]

I would print them myself, but there's a couple of problems with going that route. First, the only printer I have right now is a black and white laser, so I would need to buy a colour printer of some sort. Beyond these decals, I can't think of enough projects to justify the cost. It's not the printer itself, but the damn ink. Not to mention that the last really nice inkjet printer I had ended up dieing because it was so underused and the ink clogged it up. Second, I want to print Gold, Silver, and White. I know there's White paper, but the idea of cutting out tiny 8mmx8mm chaos stars and 2mm-to-4mm tall white lettering is daunting or impossible.

 

And yes, I'm really happy with how good (Read: creepy) swapping the eye colour turned out. It's such a simple way to add variety while making them more imposing.

[Lucian_Victus]

I would print them myself, but there's a couple of problems with going that route. First, the only printer I have right now is a black and white laser, so I would need to buy a colour printer of some sort. Beyond these decals, I can't think of enough projects to justify the cost. It's not the printer itself, but the damn ink. Not to mention that the last really nice inkjet printer I had ended up dieing because it was so underused and the ink clogged it up. Second, I want to print Gold, Silver, and White. I know there's White paper, but the idea of cutting out tiny 8mmx8mm chaos stars and 2mm-to-4mm tall white lettering is daunting or impossible.

 

And yes, I'm really happy with how good (Read: creepy) swapping the eye colour turned out. It's such a simple way to add variety while making them more imposing.

 

you would need an ink jet printer and the paper and sealer kit....not that heavy in cost over the long run savings. i would use clear film as opposed to the white though as you wouldn't have to be neat when you cut them out to do the transfer. you can get a new ink jet printer from about $30+ US and the decal printing starter kits will run you about $10ish. if you have a model car/train/RC type hobby shop close to where you live i would check there first. the staff in most of those places are very knowledgeable about more mainstream model making and should be able to advise you in more depth with first hand feedback.