Software used for structure Signs

[Englehart]

Hi Everyone

 

Just wanted to ask what software you use to make signs and how do you export it to printing?

 

that's my dilemma now transferring it to word just removes lots of details.....

[Guest]

Can’t go wrong with Illustrator, the de facto standard for vector drawing.

[cteno4]

Word is really horrible with graphics, I’ve seen all sorts of weird stuff happen to graphics put into word that have been sent to me to use in production (even when i tell everyone don’t use word for graphics!). While you can use it to print Japanese characters and put some simple frames around things and small graphics it’s really not designed for it and can be frustrating to get things lined up well.

 

illustrator and photoshop of course are the big de facto standards but expensive and some learning curve (they have tons and tons of features). There are a lot of freeware and inexpensive vector and bitmapped graphics programs out there to do the trick. If you are creating your own signs with just characters and some simple outlines and graphics then a simple vector graphic program works fine. If you are making something based on photos then usually a bitmap program is best that has layers. This can let you adjust the parallax on images and tweak them back for hue, sharpness, etc. you can add text and such. Some vector programs will have some bitmapped editing abilities, it varies. I usually do the bitmap editing in a bitmap program and then move that into a vector program to layer over text and make frames, arrows and other small solid graphic stuff.

 

printing out usually works fine directly from the graphics apps. Once in a while I have something that pukes printing out from photoshop or illustrator directly, but this is always solved by just saving it as a pdf and printing from acrobat (acrobat reader is free). Printer driver, app version and os version permutations can be some of the worst for tiny gotchas! For like 6 years I had a cdrom that had sold like 750k and only major bug ever reported were printer driver errors!

 

I havnt kept up with the newer free and cheap graphic programs out there (I still am using my older photoshop and illustrator) so can’t recommend one, but there are a ton. Google around and you will find many reviews of them to download and mess with. For basic sign making you don’t need a lot of bells and whistles and should be able to find something for free or very inexpensive at worse

 

jeff

[maihama eki]

Vector graphics (.svg files) scale better than raster (.jpg, .png). Even vector graphics may not scale well if you really shrink them down depending on how wide the lines are in the individual pieces of the graphic.

 

There are a lot of free vector files out there to grab and use. Wikimedia commons is a good place to look. Here is a well known example:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JR_logo_JRgroup.svg

 

If I just want to print paper or decals, I drop the pieces into MS Visio or Word and print them from there. I have used Visio for years to draw pictures, so I am pretty quick with it.

 

Adobe Illustrator is the industry standard in graphics design. While I would like to have it, It is pretty expensive, and I can't quite justify the cost for my hobby use. I think it may be subscription only now too.

 

Vector files also work with laser cutters. I use Inkscape for editing vector files for laser cutting. It is free. It is a little not-intuitive to use. I need a refresher on how it works every time I go away from it for awhile, and even then I struggle with it. https://inkscape.org/ 

Edited April 12, 2023 by maihama eki

[cteno4]

Yes I’ve had the same issue with Inkscape and a few other cheap/free apps not being super intuative. I’ve learned to take notes on common processes so when I come back in a month I can pick them up faster. Xtrakcad is a big example of this.

 

jeff

[Guest]

I’m still using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator CS3 almost daily. I could probably live without Photoshop, but not Illustrator (there’s nothing comparable). CS3 still work great and probably one of the last decent versions from Adobe. All subsequent versions just added fluff features for photo editing/manipulation and nothing for actual useful design. Not to mention that everything is now a wallet-sucking subscription. 

[cteno4]

LOL glad there is some one else at cs3! I too stopped there as same no need for new fluff and rearranged interface and mo money mo money! But it’s stopped my os updating… elements is a decent alternative for most folks and cheap off the subscription model. I wish there was an illustrator elements as most hobby stuff I use a fraction of illustrator’s features these days.

 

jeff

 

 

[Guest]

Ya, Mac OS 10.15+ broke CS3, but that’s fine,  you can use virtual machines to keep it going on newer OS releases.  Illustrator is the basis for everything I do: 3D printer, laser printer, vinyl cutter, leather craft patterns, train layout design, decals, etc, etc. 

[bc6]

34 minutes ago, Bob Martin said:

Ya, Mac OS 10.15+ broke CS3, but that’s fine,  you can use virtual machines to keep it going on newer OS releases.  Illustrator is the basis for everything I do: 3D printer, laser printer, vinyl cutter, leather craft patterns, train layout design, decals, etc, etc. 

Bob what are some resources if I wanted to 3D print Japanese characters for a building sign?

[Guest]

You’d design/type the text in illustrator and export the outlined text as SVG.  Take that into something like Fusion 360 to extrude them. Then export that 3D model as STL.  Then your 3D printer software will open and print the STL file.

 

Although, 3D printing text is probably not ideal, as I’m guessing the text you’d be printing is pretty small.  I’d recommend laser cutting text. Same process though.

 

This text is 3D printed and is about as small as one would be able to 3D print clearly, about 8mm tall.

 

 

Edited April 12, 2023 by Bob Martin

[Madsing]

I am using Affinity products. Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo. https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/
Very happy. No subscription. Not free but affordable. 
Marc

 

[Englehart]

thanks everyone for the response

 

@Bob Martin i still have my CS3 installer CD here. didn't know it would still up to standard fro our Hobby

 

7 hours ago, cteno4 said:

Word is really horrible with graphics, I’ve seen all sorts of weird stuff happen to graphics put into word that have been sent to me to use in production (even when i tell everyone don’t use word for graphics!). While you can use it to print Japanese characters and put some simple frames around things and small graphics it’s really not designed for it and can be frustrating to get things lined up well.

 

illustrator and photoshop of course are the big de facto standards but expensive and some learning curve (they have tons and tons of features). There are a lot of freeware and inexpensive vector and bitmapped graphics programs out there to do the trick. If you are creating your own signs with just characters and some simple outlines and graphics then a simple vector graphic program works fine. If you are making something based on photos then usually a bitmap program is best that has layers. This can let you adjust the parallax on images and tweak them back for hue, sharpness, etc. you can add text and such. Some vector programs will have some bitmapped editing abilities, it varies. I usually do the bitmap editing in a bitmap program and then move that into a vector program to layer over text and make frames, arrows and other small solid graphic stuff.

 

printing out usually works fine directly from the graphics apps. Once in a while I have something that pukes printing out from photoshop or illustrator directly, but this is always solved by just saving it as a pdf and printing from acrobat (acrobat reader is free). Printer driver, app version and os version permutations can be some of the worst for tiny gotchas! For like 6 years I had a cdrom that had sold like 750k and only major bug ever reported were printer driver errors!

 

I havnt kept up with the newer free and cheap graphic programs out there (I still am using my older photoshop and illustrator) so can’t recommend one, but there are a ton. Google around and you will find many reviews of them to download and mess with. For basic sign making you don’t need a lot of bells and whistles and should be able to find something for free or very inexpensive at worse

 

jeff

 

 

not sure is GIMP decent for it?

[Madsing]

Yes, GIMP is a good option.

I have used GIMP for photo / pixel image processing and Inkscape (mentioned above) for vector graphics. Both are free, open source, and work well. Inkscape is especially good when working with svg (scalable vector graphics) files. I later switched to Affinity products as Affinity Designer and Photo are much more user-friendly and « professional » in general.

Marc

 

[Guest]

18 minutes ago, Englehart said:

thanks everyone for the response

 

@Bob Martin i still have my CS3 installer CD here. didn't know it would still up to standard fro our Hobby

You should definitely try the installer, as the installer “phones home” to Adobe servers to authenticate.  And those servers are long gone.  Several years ago Adobe allowed users to convert their serial numbers to a last-and-final version of CS3 which they send a link to once your old SN is validated, and includs a new serial number that doesn’t use their activation server.  Migrating from one computer to another required me to re-authenticate CS3 (which failed and my heart sank).  I suspect there are a ton of people using CS3 hence Adobe released the last-and-final-use-at-your-own-risk version.  Once in a while I’ll get funny messages like “document was saved outside Illustrator” due to some new odd OS behaviors that didn’t exist back in the day.  But it functions just fine 99.9% of the time.

 

Edited April 13, 2023 by Bob Martin

[tossedman]

I'm lucky in that I get a free subscription to the whole Adobe Creative Cloud suite of apps through work. I use the latest version of Illustrator daily for print, laser cutting, vinyl cutting, etc., and lately, designing buildings for scratch building. I have to say it's my favourite software. New features like Global Edit are fantastic. You edit one object and all the other similar objects are edited at once. Love it. I haven't made N scale signs but have done roads for a T-Trak module with crosswalks and writing on the pavement. Printed right from Illustrator with no issues.