Jer Posted July 13, 2007 Posted July 13, 2007 My apologies for an ever so vague question but how do you go about making customized stickers/decals? What software do you use? How do you print them? How do you obtain the colour white? (Say for white letters on a black brick) What is the difference between a sticker & a decal? Quote
Grand Moff Viceroy Posted July 13, 2007 Posted July 13, 2007 Stickers are just stickers you could remove but decals are harder to apply and are more realistic/permanent. I just buy decals and not print them, and if they don't have a design I want, I find it on google and print my own, on sticker. Quote
Brick Miner Posted July 13, 2007 Posted July 13, 2007 (edited) hello Jer... here is a link to how to use MSpaint, in the pirate forum (however, i use Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop)... http://eurobricks.hosting.ipsyn.com/eurofo...10009&hl=decals im sure there are a few other links... you might try searching the board for "decal" and see what relevant threads you can find. and check out the pirate/torso library forum. even if your not into pirates, you might be able to find some useful techniques. here is a quote from a thread where i talk about a home printing technique that i use... hello, here is a mini-fig i have made custom decals for... i think my decals have come out pretty nicely lately... so, maybe i could add some tips for you... THE DIFFERENCE IS LAMINATION OVER THE DECAL !!! first of all, i used opaque ink-jet lable (aka sticker) printer paper (i use AVERY brand, very cheap)... and printed the stickers right from a home printer. even a really inexpensive ink-jet can do wonders, mine cost about 30 USD (and look at the details i get) !!! after printing, i applied a laminination sheet over the sticker paper where the decals had printed. then i cut very carfully with an EXACTO knife. the result is very effective... and it blends seamlessly with lego bricks once applied... the clear laminiation sheet is what makes the difference !!! makes paper blend seamlessly with plastic, in that light reflects in very similar ways because of the gloss !!! also, more to the point of your thread, the lamination sheet makes your decal very sturdy. so if you applied crooked, you can always peel off, and try again. its pretty easy to tell if your decal is going to be straight from the first corner you put down. so, once you have that first corner in place... peel away if it doesn't look right. on the above mini fig, i maybe tried 6-8 times before getting it just right (what you see in the photo above). however, with all of that said... most importantly, the design is what will make-or-break your custom decal. see my thread here, if you scroll down you'll see production photos of my MOC. you'll find photos of the stickers before they were cut, and if you look carefully, you'll see the laminiation over the decals. that might give you a good idea of what im describing above. hope that helps !!! if not i can always provide more info !!! - BrickMiner and i have also created a color chart for matching LEGO colors... http://eurobricks.hosting.ipsyn.com/eurofo...l=color+of+lego this is a great topic, i wish it were getting more contributions.for me, because i strive for a seamless blend of official LEGO products with my MOCs, matching colors is a very important endeavor in creating my MOCs. i have literally spent weeks worth of hours trying to compile a comprehensive list... its really a downer because these MOCing efforts usually go unappreciated in the online communities, because color matching is so hard to differentiate on screen. in any case, i have been looking for an all-encompassing tell-all chart also... what makes this task even harder is that there is no standard naming guide either *wacko* so not only do you have to define what a color's composition is, you also have to determine what color to are defining *wacko* *wacko* *wacko* as you have mentioned there are plenty of sources, but none are compatible with each other... the one i find the most entertaining (for its obvious errors) is the MCN chart :-D hmmm... im not sure i would use the LDraw chart. as BaW has said, the peeron chart is going to be your most accurate source, since it comes from the official LEGO CMYK compositions and even includes the pantone codes. even if it doesn't match with your output device, its still the most accurate. i have compiled my own chart based on some of the most common(basic?) colors used by LEGO. basically its the peeron chart, compared to a pantone color guide, and a bunch of LEGO 2x4's. it was like putting a big puzzle together... it gives the official LEGO name and the BrickLink name along with the CMYK composition. also, notice how the name "earth orange" jumps around, depending on who's naming guide you are using. - Brick Miner an external reference, would be MCN... http://www.minifigcustomizationnetwork.com/howto there they talk about "water-slide decals" and this is the process you will most-likely have to use, if you are looking to print white. which is really a "must." hope that helps, and good luck - BM Edited July 13, 2007 by Brick Miner Quote
Eurobricks Emperor Bonaparte Posted July 13, 2007 Eurobricks Emperor Posted July 13, 2007 (edited) Like BM already indicated, you should visit our Pirate LEGO Customs forum. Those guys will be able to help you! Edited July 13, 2007 by bonaparte Quote
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