Decal printing

I neglected to notice the first part of your message, about most people not buying decals any more.  Not true!  While it is possible to print your own, I find most people not adventurous enough to do it. I have so many modeling friends who see my homemade decals, and know you can do it, but will not take the challenge of doing it.  They will offer me money to do it for them, but they will not tackle it themselves even though they have inkjet printers.  In some cases it is because they do not use photo editing/graphics software and worry about the time they will spend learning how to do that.  But if you take digital photos and use a computer for printing and enhancing them, it should be no problem.  I find modelers not as fearless in trying new things as they used to be.

I've found that with an inkjet I simply can't get decals that look as good as the professional ones.  If you want to test the waters, try the testors kit.  You can order a CD for $10 or so (go to their website) and then you just need to grab some decal paper and the rattle can of sealant.  I generally use 3 light coats of the sealant before I try using the decals.  

For scaling, I always print on plain paper to make sure I have the right size, then print on the decal paper.

Often times I've found that I can't get fully vibrant colors like professional models will.  I've found that if you double up the decal (copy and paste in the software, place it with a toothpick) it darken the colors up nicely.  Good luck.

Groot

I think most people buy after market decals not print there own.  At least that's the impression I get from the builds I've been involved in.  I have a 3" stack of AF decals for future builds.

John

This is a frequent topic in the "decals" forum and I suggest you look at that forum.

Most of us use either a CAD program or a photo editing program, of which there are many out there at a variety of price ranges.  One thing you must do after printing is to seal (waterproof) the resulting decal, as most inkjet inks are water soluble, not a good thing for a water-slide decal.  There is a thread on sealing coats current in the decal forum now.