Underground Journal

Designing A Decal

Modern printing technology has given us many cool new ways to add personal touches to our toys, that look clean and professional. Case in point is the many online vendors offering decal printing and die cutting.

Decals are basically large stickers. They can be printed on durable materials like vinyl, as well as on transparent backings so they can be stuck to any surface. Decals can be cut out in a specific shape too, no white borders or backgrounds here!

Lets take a look at the process of designing a decal – you could use these instructions to design any type of decal, for any purpose!

First, you will need some kind of graphic editing program, like Photoshop or the free equivalent, GIMP. These will allow you to manipulate text. The basic principle of Photoshop is to let you add text and images on different ‘layers’ so you can move them around.

First of all, add your text. It is a good idea to add each word on a different layer, as you can see in this example of designing a Harley Davidson decal. Move the text around until the words are positioned right – don’t be afraid to play around with different sizes.

Next, add some effects to your text. Try different colors, outlines, or other styles – most graphic editing programs allow you to do this with a click of the mouse.

Finally, find some graphics. Doing a google search for free clip art will yield plenty of results, so pick something that suits your purpose and add it to your decal design. Of course if you are the arty type, you can always draw your own.

Finally, you will need to prepare the design for print. This can vary, so contact your printer of choice to find out their specifics.

And that is it – just wait for the print to arrive, and stick it on. If you find all that too intimidating, of course you can have most print shops take care of the design to your own specifications as well.

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