Reproducing Stickers From A Scan

[24Mhz_Cruiser]

Hi, does anyone have any experience in getting stickers reprinted from a scanned image of the originals?

A friend has asked me about converting the files into vector format -  is this really necessary, or can they be printed using another method that doesn't involve vectors?

If vectors are required, I'll try and convert the images from bitmap to vector using the live trace feature in Adobe Illustrator CS2. Is this a good way to acheive a vector image, or is there a better program for the job?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Steve

[steve]

for sign cutting programs

-.ai is best

-no hassle

-save at an early version though

[24Mhz_Cruiser]

Thanks Steve, that's answered some of the question for me.

[diesel]

Live trace is OK - its not as accurate as drawing it out by hand in illustrator.

If you want to do the ground work - draw it out the slow way and then send it to me to check it over /clean it up (dot all the i's)- I'm happy do that.

[24Mhz_Cruiser]

Cheers dude,

I've used Illustrator a fair bit but never live trace. I've decided to try and draw them out instead, as I somehow can't see live trace being quite accurate enough. Just got to try and locate those damn fonts now....

I might take you up on the offer of checking it - I've never had one of my files looked at by someone who knows what they're doing before. Would be useful to find out if there's anywhere I'm going wrong.

I'll get back to you when I've had a go at it.

[MartyC]

Just got to try and locate those damn fonts now....

Try this site, thousands of free fonts .... http://www.dafont.com

Marty 

[macmark]

These font sites are handy for finding fonts too.

http://www.identifont.com/ - You can identify a font by answering a series of questions.

or

http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/ - You can upload a scan and it tries to match the font. With this one a good, clean, black and white scan is normally best.

Mark

[24Mhz_Cruiser]

Okay Adobe Illustrator experts, I've had a crack at the stickers:





Questions:

1) How do I ensure that they are going to be printed at the correct size by the printing place? If we have the dimensions of the original stickers, how can that be translated into Illustator, or is that a job for the printing firm?

2) How can I also ensure that the colour we've defined on the screen is what will be printed on the sticker?

3) On the headtube badge, behind the 'S' is a grainy/glitter effect. a) Will the printers be able to replicate this if I do it? and if so b) How the hell do I do that in Illustrator?

Cheers
Steve

[macmark]

Okay Adobe Illustrator experts, I've had a crack at the stickers:
Questions:

1) How do I ensure that they are going to be printed at the correct size by the printing place? If we have the dimensions of the original stickers, how can that be translated into Illustator, or is that a job for the printing firm?

2) How can I also ensure that the colour we've defined on the screen is what will be printed on the sticker?

3) On the headtube badge, behind the 'S' is a grainy/glitter effect. a) Will the printers be able to replicate this if I do it? and if so b) How the hell do I do that in Illustrator?

Cheers
Steve

1) If you've traced from the original scans and they were done at 100% scale then your artwork should be the same size. Illustrator is not resolution dependant so a 1 inch bit of artwork can be scalled 1000's of times up with no loss of quality. But, to be on the safe side give the printer the dimensions you want the stickers to be.

2) The best way to match the colours is to give the printer the originals to match the colours in his pantone colour reference book. Bear in mind though that old stickers may have faded over time!

3) The grainy colour from the look of it was metalic ink. Depending on the printing process your printer uses it should be ok to match. If you're getting them done by a digital printer I doubt you'll get any luck matching that though. Litho would be best as the ink will have flakes in it to give it that grainy appearance.

Mark

[24Mhz_Cruiser]

Cheer Mark, that's a great help. Thanks very much!

3) The grainy colour from the look of it was metalic ink. Depending on the printing process your printer uses it should be ok to match. If you're getting them done by a digital printer I doubt you'll get any luck matching that though. Litho would be best as the ink will have flakes in it to give it that grainy appearance.

Mark

So if we decide to get it done by litho with the grain effect, what would be the best way of creating that in Illustrator? Would it be necessary to import as a bitmap instead, or can I apply a grain effect to a vector object? (Sorry, I know a little about Illustrator, but not that much!!)

[macmark]

No just use a spot colour for the grainy gold bit and tell the printer what colour you want to go in there from his pantone book. Pantone colours in Illustrator won't show the grain detail on screen. When he comes to print it he will substitute the correct ink for whatever colour you have used in the artwork. It's best you go along to the printer and look through the pantone book with him to make sure it is the colour and effect you want. I'd suggest you make 2 spot colours in Illustrator (with a name of your choice - i.e. decal red & decal gold). That way when the printer gets ready to print he can either easily alter your file and put the pantone colours you chose in or just run the job as it is and use whatever colour ink you've chosen as the red and the gold. Most printers have to do this anyway so it shouldn't be a problem. As long as you've got 2 pantone references for the colours you want everything should be fine.

I've worked both sides of the fence, designer and printer, so I've seen most of the common mistakes. If you need any more help let me know.

Mark

[Dr Skyway]

Guys any tips for a novice???

Trying to clean up some images and dont know where to start.

Any good websites?

Cheers

[macmark]

Guys any tips for a novice???

Trying to clean up some images and dont know where to start.

Any good websites?

Cheers

The best thing to do is get a copy of Illustrator and redraw the logo from a scan. As for learning Illustrator that's a whole different kettle of fish. I can't really think of any websites off hand that will walk you through the basics but your local library might have some books that will help. It's a funny thing learning Illustrator and getting used to vector graphics especially if you're used to bitmap editing in something like photoshop.

If you can get a copy of Illustrator, try going to the Help menu > Illustrator Help and looking under the tutorials section.

Mark

[diesel]

Yup - What Mark said!

makes perfect sense - to make any colour a 'spot colour' -  drag the colour from the box in your mixing pallet into the swatch pallet then double click on it and Re-name it, sellect spot colour from the drop down menu - there you go.

Just shout if you need anything.

By the way your work looks good!

[macmark]

Yeah I forgot to say that, your artwork does look very clean!

Good work fella!

Mark

[YGT]

I had a look at the original STA stickers that I have in front of me ......

The metalic colour is Pantone silver 877c
and the closest red is 200C

Hope that helps.

Mark

[24Mhz_Cruiser]

Thank you kindly for the continued support guys - it's very much appreciated. I'm more used to working with graphics for the web, and the whole printing thing takes some thinking about!

And thanks YGT for the Pantone references, that will save a lot of messing around!

Next stop, the printers.....

[RATTY]

Consider running a few sets off, you never know if any one else will need a set,