I decided to attempt making my own decals, and am having trouble getting them to print properly.  I am trying to print out some RAF code letters for a 1/48 Spitfire, and got the design the way I want it in Paint Shop Pro 9.0.  I printed my test shot on paper, then taped a piece of decal paper and printed it again.  The color I am printing is a light gray, and the letters take on a spotted look on the decal paper.  I am using an HP inkjet printer, and tried printing on Testors white and clear decal paper.  I thought the white might help eliminate any opacity issues.  Is it the decal paper causing the trouble, or possible something else?  I also printed the black serial numbers on some plain decal paper which I bought at my LHS (have no idea what brand) and they turned out fine.  I then tried to print the light gray on the same paper but those still have the same spotted look.  If you look closely at the gray, you can see tiny spots of all different colors but it looks gray from three feet away.  Can anyone help?  TIA!

Hmmm your trodding into some deep dark realm. Setting your printer to the best quality for printing will give you the most ink for the print. The photo editor can play a role as well. Sometimes it displays a small picture very large or visa versa. Too big and the reduction can be warped. To small and the stretched pic can give you a fuzziness or blotchy look. Before I print any decal I take the picture and do different resizing and settings saving each pic individually as a jpeg. I then test print the different pics in several different sizes on plain old paper. This gives you an idea on quality and color as it can look very different when printed. I actually use power point to import all the pics on one page and resizing them is as easy as grabbing a corner with your mouse icon and pushing or pulling the image as you would any viewing window on the computer. The powerpoint slide is also set up as the size of a sheet of regular paper so it gives a good reference to how large or small you are making it and exactly where the printer will print it on the paper when you add the actual decal paper. If it prints clearly on white paper it should do the same for the decal paper. The clear decal paper is tricky. Very translucent and would take a couple passes through the printer to get enough ink to make worth while for most detailed pics. You have to test that as well to ensure you can print the image on exactly the same spot multiple times so as not to get an offset image. It can be done with patience an practice even on an older inkjet printer. This method may help fill in your letters as well. Now when you spray on the carrier film be patient. it is very thin and may take a couple or 12 coats to get a useable decal. Spraying it on too thick instead of using several coats drying completely in between can cause the image to blur and distort as it thins the ink. Worse case scenario is if you get the right size you may be able to print the image and create a stencil or mask on card stock and just paint them on. I am going through similar woes trying to make those big and small red Halifax codes. If you got any tips please pass them on as well.

   That is really odd. Even at the default settings you shouldn't get aqua dots. My experience is if it prints on white paper it does the same on decal paper. If your getting good gray letters on normal paper then I don't get the misprint. If your not running out of ink the only other thing that comes to mind is perhaps the color editing done by the photo program just isn't tranalating to the printer. If it prints ok on regular paper though it has to be the decal paper. I wonder if you sprayed a thin coat of carrier film 1st if the ink would stick better. I am not sure but let me know if you figure it out.

No, but I just tried using the Sure Thing Decal Maker software to see if that helped.  Unfortunately, the same thing.  Thousands of tiny red and aqua dots.

Aaron,

Thank you very much for your help, I am sending you the image right now.

Hopefully, it prints in the proper size.  Each letter should be about 13mm high.  Thanks again!

Mark-

Thank you very much for that offer!  Aaron was kind enough to print out some for me, and is sending them my way today.  If for some reason they don't work out, I may send the file to you.  Thanks again, that is very generous of you!

Outstanding!  Thanks again Aaron, I owe you big time for this one.

 I have been pulling my hair out making my own lately as well. The white is very thin and flimsy. It can tear easily and loves to fold over on itself. It is also touch to get off the paper at times. Yesterday I made a set and patiently sprayed over a dozen coats of the bonder over it letting it completely dry between coats. They are now very glossy and resemble the older monogram decals. After I sleep I'll try them out and see if it makes a difference. I'll let you know but I need a nap 1st.

The problem with making your own decals is that unless you are printing white, or black, they come out clear.  Companies that sell decals use printers taht print white, most printers dont print white.  What they do is print the decal white, then print over the white with the color.  Your best bet, if you are making your own, is to contact someone who prints custom decals and sells them and see if they will print the ones you designed for you