Printing your own decals.

[miniaturepainter]

I'd like to ask the community for help printing your own decals.  I've tried printing some (a test) on the size sheet some ask - like A4 setting or whatever and it came out pixelated, I've bought some testors decal paper both clear and white.  So any help, links and or guidance would be awesome.  Sorry to be short in asking but I wrote enough and then someone (Cat) closed the page, ah well and I don't feel like typing it all over again. :)

1. I do not have a laser printer.

2. I have an HP Photosmart 7520 series inkjet.

3. Thank you :)

MP

[Carlson793]

Was the sheet from a file hosted here on B&C and, if so, which file/author was it?

 

Make sure your printer is set to the highest print resolution (see Step 2 here for your model).

[Noctem Cultor]

Ive dabbled using paint to make some Minotaur decals.

 

If your doing your own my tip is to print on standard paper to check the size is right as mine came out a little bigger than expected, also make sure of the quality of the image as I shrank a large quality one  and it pixilated a little.
As Carlson793 said printer set to highest settings is the way to go so your need to make sure they are set to that.

-Noctem

[Flintfish]

You could probably print small books on the art of creating decals, but I think Carlson793 nails the basics pretty good in this one (second posting in thread):

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/327981-custom-decal-printing/

 

Looking at the Photosmart specifications highest resolution should work just fine if you have a good piece of art to start with. If the printer has paper options in it's settings it's probably worth trying to set it to (glossy) photo paper or something similiar. At least that's where I have gained the best results.

[Khornate individual]

Also don't forget the Testors Decal Bonder spray once you have them printed and satisfied with how they look.  First time I printed out some decals, cut them out and was ready to put them on the shoulder pads....the water faded off all the ink.

[Carlson793]

One important thing to remember: all decal files are subject to the GIGO Rule*. No matter what resolution you set your printer to, if the source file is lo-res, the final output will be lo-res.

This can also happen when printing a raster image (jpg, gif, png...) at a larger size (for example, printing an A5 sized gif as A4). Best to stick to vector based files for decals (eps, most pdf...).

* Garbage In, Garbage Out

You could probably print small books on the art of creating decals, but I think Carlson793 nails the basics pretty good in this one (second posting in thread):

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/327981-custom-decal-printing/

Looking at the Photosmart specifications highest resolution should work just fine if you have a good piece of art to start with. If the printer has paper options in it's settings it's probably worth trying to set it to (glossy) photo paper or something similiar. At least that's where I have gained the best results.

...and to think I didn't know a thing about home printing decals until I joined the B&C, and most of my initial lessons were in the Ye Olde Decal Project thread (see my sig). Now, it seems I'm viewed as some sorta guru on the subject.