Decal program

I use Paint Shop Pro X3 mostly.  I do not like the latest version, X4.  I also have Photoshop Elements, very similar to PSP.  I have also used Autosketch, a CAD program.

A CAD program is useful if dimensions are very critical.  You can individually size every element in the drawing, as opposed to only controlling the size of the whole drawing.  While most CAD programs are quite expensive, there are a few cheap ones, like versions of TurboCAD.  You only need a 2-D CAD program, not 3-D, and almost any CAD program will do for decals.  Downside of CAD programs is that they generally (at least the lower priced ones) do not have as many fonts, and work with as many colors.

A photo editor like PSP, PS Elements, and such, is nice because you can import a picture of the prototype, make perspective corrections, and use that as the basis of a decal without creating the design from scratch.

The other thing about a cad program vs. a drawing program is the way the 2 programs handle the individual objets.  Cad programs are vector based and are scalable because of that.  Drawing or photo programs are raster based and are device dependant for their resolution.  This isn't as much a problem aas it was in the past with fairly hi-res printers available (anything over 300 dpi should do well), but if you start with a low-res image, you can't make it better.  If you trace it into a cad program, then it can be scaled up or down rather easily.

Or, if you can get a printout to PDF, that can help you with some resolution problems.  Just remember, try to start with the HIGHEST resolution scan or image you can find, at as large a size you can find.  Scaling down is easier than scaling up!

Reid