Need help/advice on this decal...

[shaolindrunkard]

Hey guys, so I'm going to be painting my dash boards on my driving cabinets as part of the project. Since I'm painting them I need to remove the original speedometer decals before painting. My plan is to try to re-create the shape of this decal and then design a more modern version and have it printed. But, I'm having a lot of trouble cutting out the shape smoothly. All I have to work with is gimp and I've tried using the paths tool but I cant get it smooth. Any help/suggestions would be welcome.



Also how would I get it printed so its the exact right size? Do I just create the image at 300dpi and at the exact size in inches then instruct whomever is printing it at exact size? Should I do it in png format so I can have a transparent background?

Thanks.

[mahuti]

If you are using a raster drawing program like Gimp, yes, 300DPI at the exact size will work. Make sure you add 1/4 to 1/2" bleeds to the edges so your cuts don't have to be perfect (there will be a little extra going past the edge in case you make a mistake).

With regard to a transparent background... if you are printing to white paper, the background will be white. So you have to take your printing material into account. You don't have to have a PNG to have transparent data, but the point may be moot depending on what you're printing to. PSD, PDF, PNG all support transparency. Not sure what the native GMP format defaults to.

As for the shape in Gimp... do you have a scan of the existing image to work with to use as a tracing base? If so I could probably make the shape for you and save it in a format that will work in Gimp. I do this type of work all day.

[shaolindrunkard]

Thank you for the advice. Unfortunately all I have is this picture. There's is no way to remove the decal without destroying it. I figured if I could use the image to get the basic smooth shape I could resize it to exact size.

[BadMouth]

Place a large piece of paper over it and push it into the recess, pressing in the corners real hard with your finger nails.   You should be able to trace the shape from those creases.  Cut off the excess and test fit.  Then scan it in on a flatbed scanner to get the shape into gimp.

[shaolindrunkard]

That's a good idea thanks.

[mahuti]

Crayon rubbing can be helpful too using that same method.

[SlammedNiss]

Have you tried heating the existing decal with a hair dryer or heat gun? Sometimes you can pull the decal off in one piece depending on the condition. Then just scan it and redraw it with Gimp or Illustrator.

Are you planning on printing this yourself or are you going to outsource it?

Crayon rubbing can be helpful too using that same method.

While that method works great on cut vinyl, it really won't help much on a printed decal.

[shaolindrunkard]

Planning on taking it to a printer somewhere. I will try the heatgun...

Thanks