Tips for making stickers for MOCs

[jonwil]

I have just bought some clear A4 sticker labels (the kind one uses to label boxes, envelopes, equipment etc).

I own a fairly standard Canon Pixma color Ink-jet printer.

Can someone give me tips on how I can print decals onto these labels? Tips on what software (has to be something that costs no money) I can use to produce decals? Links to size guides that I can use to figure out the correct size for parts (such as 2 x 2 tile, 1 x 8 tile, 1 x 4 tile etc)? Tips to match LEGO colors? Tips on getting something that is close to LEGO white using a standard Ink-jet printer that just prints Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black? Anything else I should know about printing on these labels?

[lightningtiger]

My turn !

4x6 glossy photo sticker paper from Officeworks - there is only one kind there so it's easy to find - 20pack is about $14.00 would work better I feel.

Images that I use are taken from Google Images plus other web sources with good old right click 'save picture as' into pictures folder in your computer - using edit/paintbox to trim and resize to scale required.

My favorite tool is a humble 20cm rule - measure the part I must cover and then adjust the scale in paintbox (images tool bar) - resize in STRETCH/SKEW and check measurements of image to compere with what required in ATTRIBUTES.

I also use a Cannon and it's fantastic best printer I've ever had.

Now everyone knows why all my signs etc., seem to shine bright !

I'm a conformist! !

Edited April 9, 2010 by lightningtiger

[drdavewatford]

jonwil, when you say that you're using "clear A4 sticker labels", do you mean transparent or just plain white ?

I have a number of really old sets where the stickers are horribly dirty/discoloured/peeled. I've seen pics of the sticker sheets for various sets, and I'd love to print them out so I can make new stickers for these sets, but I'm not entirely sure what to print them on. For some sets, printing onto white backgrounds would work, but for others it'd be much better to print onto some kind of transparent medium. Advice gratefully received !

Dr. D.

[jonwil]

I am referring to transparent stickers, not white.

Transparent is better for applying to different colored parts :)

[lightningtiger]

I see, well I colour match and paint in the white - just checkout my miniffig customs I starting to do.

Anyway trans-clear or photo paper doesn't matter the image downloading and processing is the same. So do what I did to start - experiment - it's some times the only way to learn something is to stuff one or two up, right ?

Good luck and I'm a conformist! !

[Fugazi]

As standard printers won't print white, I use both clear and white sticker labels, depending on whether I need a white background or not. Ideally for white use the same quality of labels as your clear ones, which are likely thinner than paper labels and made of polyester. They give good results for me.

Color matching is just a lot of guesswork, as even if you use the exact LEGO colour in your paint software, the printer will find a way to get it wrong! So I just try different colour shades on plain paper until it looks good.

As for scale, I just measure the brick/tile with a ruler and use the measurements in my software (either Powerpoint or Adobe Photoshop) to set the size of my decal. Minor adjustments are sometimes needed though after a print test.