Decals using computer question - arising from UP's new direction

I have a question ... doesn't someone already have software where one can make decals and print them on some sort of Avery paper, then apply them to things? If not there should be. What a boon to the model railroader.
Perhaps the day of the undecorated car is at hand? -- Dave Johnson Disgusted with RED over FLASHING YELLOW.

On 12/30/03 9:25 PM, in article nkrIb.700942$Tr4.1756758@attbi_s03, "Dave
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Where have you been? The ALPS printer was introduced around 5 years ago; I've been doing home made decals since then on clear decal film. It prints CMYK, as well as white, metallic cyan, metallic magenta, metallic silver and metallic gold.
Only problem is they have been discontinued, and not replace in North America by anything; they are still sold overseas and available gray market.

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I think he's looking for the software to design the graphics with, not the printer to print them out with.

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Crud, you can do that with MS Paint, and use MS Photo Editor to size the resulting bmp file into a JPEG. Just as a minimum starting point, y'understand.
Jay CNS&M North Shore Line - "First and fastest"

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y'understand.
That works great for the standard box-with-text-inside graphic but I too have always wondered what else is out there that can create more complex images without costing an arm and a leg. I've used Corel a few times in the past but not everyone has the luxury of having access to a full copy of the software at work. I wish I could find something reasonable that I could use at home. I've tried a few shareware/freeware programs but they had too many limitations.

http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/MRPics

Dave wrote: That works great for the standard box-with-text-inside graphic but I too have always wondered what else is out there that can create more complex images without costing an arm and a leg. I've used Corel a few times in the past but not everyone has the luxury of having access to a full copy of the software at work. I wish I could find something reasonable that I could use at home. I've tried a few shareware/freeware programs but they had too many limitations. -------------------------------------------------- Some like Jasc Paint Shop Pro 8. I haven't used it, though.
(Amazon.com product link shortened)72853210//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i0_xgl23/104-3235549-0885547?v=glance&s=photo&nP7846/billsrailroaempi/
Bill Bill's Railroad Empire N Scale Model Railroad: http://www.billsrailroad.net Brief History of N Scale: http://www.billsrailroad.net/history/n-scale Resources: Links to over 700 helpful sites: http://www.billsrailroad.net/bills-favorite-links Bookstore: http://www.billsrailroad.net/bookstore.html

Dave, point your browser to www.mediachance.com have a look at
1. Real Draw Pro 2. Photo Brush 3. Compact Draw
You can download a fully functional 30 day trial. I am sure one of them would help you.

Go to www.jasc.com and check out Paint Shop Pro. I think they are now on version 8.0. I've used it for about eight years now and have found it to be pretty good for the $$$ involved. You are right; if you have access to Corel or Adobe type software, that is probably the best... but I think you will find that PSP will do about 80% of what the other programs will do at about 20% of the price. I'm not sure if they still do, but they used to have a thirty-day free trial version of the software that you could d/l and try.
One thing that I might add... when saving artwork, you are probably best off to save the artwork in the program's "native format." In the case of Paint Shop, it's a PSP file. I'd suggest not saving things like graphics in a JPEG file as they tend to "fuzz up" the edges.
FWIW, I've been making decals using my ALPS and PSP for about five+ years... it is TONS of fun but does tend to cause an accumulation of rolling stock... I've got cars made for friends, local businesses, favorite things and just plain goofy stuff. But it is a blast!
I'm really disappointed that ALPS no longer makes their line of printers... a previous poster mentioned that they were available overseas; I don't even think that is the case any more. Too bad; they are fun to use.
dlm ---------------------------------------------------------------
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Corel has a "lite" version out - CorelDraw Essentials2, or something like that. MSRP is $80. It's basically the CorelDraw program, with a lightweight photo editing in place of PhotoPaint, and fewer utilities and add-ons that the full suite includes. a.. CorelDRAW Essentials 2—award-winning graphics and page layout b.. Corel Photobook—photo retouching and editing c.. Corel PhotoAlbum—photo organizing and sharing d.. Quick Start Manager—quick and simple access to applications, letting you easily start special projects and organize files e.. Hemera® The Big Box of Art™—100,000 clipart images f.. A free Lynda.com multimedia training CD—helpful design tips, tricks and techniques g.. Over 250 templates h.. Over 500 TrueType® fonts and symbols Lots of power, if you can find your way through the maze of menus, toolbars, dockers, ad nauseum.
Val (user of CorelDraw since ver 1.0 )

VManes wrote:
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A bargain at that price. Far better than bit map editing programs - unless you're diddling with photos, a vector graphics program like CorelDRAW is far preferable.

Oh, a wannabe hacker. That explains alot.............
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MrRathburne wrote:
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Sheesh, Ratty, did Spanky Wanky knock all your brains out?

Can you try to come up with something relevant. YOU are the one hung up on that guy so he must be tanning your backside. You sure know alot about him and spanking and can't get it out of your mind...........why? We know why! HAHHA
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MrRathburne wrote:
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Do you have any explanation, other than your own ignorance, how a reference to using a vector drawing program as opposed to a bit map editing program has sweet f--- all to do tieh "wannabe hacker"?
OK, back on your head.

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Steve, it seems that Mr. Rat judges everyone by what he would do with a situation.

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TurboCAD by IMSISoft. $8 at Half-Price Books. Does 2D/3D, saves in most formats, groups drawing components as objects, drawings to scale of your choice, quite versatile.
Jay CNS&M North Shore Line - "First and fastest"

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I could only find books on AutoCad at HPB. I know they sell software, too, but a search for AutoCad only turned up books on the program...

Frank Eva wrote:
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Click on the software tab, enter "turbo cad" in the search box, search. Version 7 is $35, version 6.5 only $8 (and will probably be just fine for what you want). Myself, I prefer CorelDRAW for text work, but then I haven't had to pay for it since I upgraded to version 6 (which was a dog for sure), because I did support for Paradox database after they bought rights to it from Borland and got it free. The $80 "lite" package sounds like a great deal. Try the $8 TurboCAD first and see if it fills your needs.

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Oh I see... I thought you were talking about AutoCAD!