# Old school decal hack



## lgrinnings (Mar 1, 2018)

Howdy CABE folks! The following is a process my dad taught me as a kid by which you can make decals from printed paper including laser prints, inkjet prints, photocopies, magazine pages, etc. I haven't had any cause to try it until recently and I was delightfully surprised with the results. I would imagine that many of you know this trick, but I thought I'd share just in case. The results aren't as good as traditionally produced silkscreen waterslide decals, but good enough in a pinch. Patience is required as this is by no means the fastest way to make decals, but anyone can do it without fancy printers or decal papers.

*Step 1)* Get your artwork ready. In my case, I want to make a Delta triangle decal for a recently restored Delta prewar headlight. I've recreated the decal artwork using Adobe Illustrator on my Mac, but you don't need to be a designer to use a printout of a photo you've taken or found online. The trick is ensuring that it gets printed out at the correct size. I've got multiple on one page in case I screw up.




 

*Step 2)* Once you've printed out your artwork or you have your magazine page, apply roughly five coats of clear lacquer, giving ample time (30 min.) between coats to dry.



 

*Step 3)* Once your sheet is completely dry, cut out the area you plan to use, making sure to leave plenty of material around what will ultimately be your decal.



 

*Step 4)* Soak the cutout portion in warm water for about 1 minute.



 

*Step 5)* Remove the cutout from the water and place it face down on a clean hard surface like a table, counter, etc.



 

*Step 6)* Here's where the patience comes in. With your finger or using a pencil eraser, begin to lightly rub the paper behind the decal image so that the wet paper rolls up and can be brushed away. You may want to add a drip or two of water to to speed the process, but be careful to not tear the decal. Continue until no paper remains and you can see the artwork that is now fused to the backside of the clear lacquer.



 

*Step 7)* Once the paper backing has been removed use an Xacto or hobby knife to carefully cut the decal image from the larger cutout piece.



 

*Step 8)* To apply the decal, simply use a clear coat of lacquer where you intend to stick the decal, apply the decal, let dry and clear over it once more.



 


 

Again, this isn't the optimal means of creating decals, but it does work and can be a cost effective means of creating custom decals if you don't mind putting in the time. You can also experiment with ways to age your decal by staining it with a yellow/brown solution of water and food coloring (I'm going to give the staining a try and I'll let you know how it comes out). Anyhow, I thought I'd share. Be sure to let me know if you give this a try and what your results look like. Good luck and enjoy!

-Lester


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## tryder (Mar 1, 2018)

Very cool.  Looks great!
I am going to give this a try. 
Thank you!


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## GiovanniLiCalsi (Mar 1, 2018)

Brilliant hack!


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## SKIDKINGSVBC (Mar 1, 2018)

AWESOMENESS!


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## bairdco (Mar 2, 2018)

That's a cool idea. Now I can cover my bike with naked chicks!


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## markivpedalpusher (Mar 2, 2018)

Fantastico!


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## Shawn Michael (Mar 2, 2018)

I have never seen that before. Thanks for the tutorial.


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## abe lugo (Mar 2, 2018)

Hey this a cool way to do it.  Nowadays you can buy white or clear backed decal paper which probably is a version of what you have here. Note that you are removing the "white" background of the art. so if you are placing these home made decal on a colored background you need to paint in the shape. 

Have you tried this but laying clear before printing? Maybe use matte finish so that the ink sticks, then clear when done.


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## RustySprockets (Mar 2, 2018)

abe lugo said:


> Have you tried this but laying clear before printing? Maybe use matte finish so that the ink sticks, then clear when done.




Or better yet, try pre-coating the paper with matte white, maybe?.  This experiment worked well here because the final surface was white. Try this type of applique over any other color and the results will be...um...less than you hoped for.

In my opinion, the best outcome is achieved when one uses white decal sheets, and prints their desired logo over an image background color that matches the bike as closely as possible.  This technique permits even fancy white lettering to be applied to any color with good results--you just need to make sure your artwork is good, clear, and properly sized.  The end product can blend into the original paint like magic.


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## catfish (Mar 3, 2018)

Nice work.


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## lgrinnings (Mar 3, 2018)

abe lugo said:


> Have you tried this but laying clear before printing? Maybe use matte finish so that the ink sticks, then clear when done.




Remember, there's no adhesive on the decal so it can easily be flipped over once the paper has been removed and shot with a quick coat of white if being used on a dark surface. And I would imagine that there is some experimenting to be done here as well with the use of cream paint to lend some age.

Unfortunately I don't have the option to edit my original post otherwise I'd add this in at Step 7.

-Lester


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## lgrinnings (Mar 3, 2018)

RustySprockets said:


> In my opinion, the best outcome is achieved when one uses white decal sheets, and prints their desired logo over an image background color that matches the bike as closely as possible.  This technique permits even fancy white lettering to be applied to any color with good results--you just need to make sure your artwork is good, clear, and properly sized.  The end product can blend into the original paint like magic.




I totally agree that this is not the optimal means of creating decals. The best scenario is have someone like Gus produce them the old-fashioned way. I've found some services online that make waterslide decals for guitars at about $50 a sheet (8.5x11 with multiple images) using gold, silver and black inks. In some cases, these three colors check all the required boxes. This was a trick my dad taught me in the 70s and he used a logo from a magazine page to place on a large-scale slot car. I thought I'd try it since I was waiting for laser printer decal paper to arrive in the mail. Since the results came out decent, I figured I'd share, but made sure to disclose that there are better, and less timely ways to do this.

-Lester


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## RustySprockets (Mar 3, 2018)

It's a technique worth knowing, that's for sure.  The example worked great on your Delta torpedo!


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## hoofhearted (Mar 3, 2018)

*Lester ... let's try something a bit kinky ......

Instead of a decal .. let's do a badge.

What if we did the paper-rubout process clear
into the black.

And what if we did NOT do any scissoring at the 
edge of the badge .. but rather a li'l bit into the
black background -- to hopefully avoid edge 
flaking. 

It may sound as if I know what's goin' on ......
but I don't even have a printer.

....... patric





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