Does anybody know if anyone puts out a program with templates of different cars and locomotives to help design a layout for ink jet decals?
murf-
I've never heard of a program like that. However, you don't really need one. Get the clear and/or white decal material and check with various railroads' historical societies to learn how their cars were marked. You can also purchase generic data decals and then finish with heralds and reporting marks. If you're not too much of a purist, you can fudge things by looking at existing models. It wouldn't be right to copy the art from manufacturers' photos but you could learn what you need and what goes where to a point that few colleagues would know you hadn't used a scale ruler to position every bit of decal.
-- D
thank you, but I am freelancing my own railroad, and was looking for an easier way of working with my art than printing it out on paper and seeing if it fits
Hi murfling,
The easiest way I have found, is to scan your locomotive, or car of choice on your scanner. Scan at full size 1:1. Save at the highest resolution.
Then I use a simple paint program (Paint.NET works for me) and I can size and place each decal to its proper location using layers.
This way you can get them as perfect as possible before printing.
MS Word works well for the small number sizes.
Here is something you may want to try if you have no scanner.
http://paintshop.railfan.net/home.html
http://www.filehippo.com/download_paint.net/
Have fun.
Good Luck