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new to wraps looking for a dat bit of info

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altereddezignz

New Member
Well i bit the bullet and purchased a large plotter, printer and laminator. My main interest at first was to do digital stickers and so on but before i even received my equipment i had some request to do wraps. Well here is where i am stuck is in the layout of the graphics to be able to make them the overall correct size to be printed out correctly.

I know this is a rather vague question but looking for any help possible.

Thanks
 
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altereddezignz

New Member
And just so everyone knows the people who have asked me are not really customers well they are but they are really good friends they also know that i have never wrapped anything. Heck im still trying to learn what vinyl to use for stickers and so on.
 
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altereddezignz

New Member
I need to put our a request for some one to do my first design or 2 so i can get an idea of how it is all laid out for around from hood to fender and lets say bed to tailgate Then the only other thing i would be curious about would be taking it from design to print. I wish there was someone local i could pay but well that an act of congress and no one really does it.

I have been trying to watch a lot on your tube but i find more on corel draw than anything else but still looking.

I found http://artstation-vehicletemplates.com/ the other day but i am waiting on a few pieces of equipment to come in still before i get it all set up and started.

What do you mean MM when you talk about the designers here?
 
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afarraway

New Member
I would also recommend looking into Wrap Institute videos and shadowing some local installers. By leaning the process of installing will help aide with the design/ creation aspects.
The key to success with vehicle wrap designs and sign production designs is to think about the end result. Am I covering the license plate on a full wrap, is there a rivet where a face is going to be applied, am I going to lose the viability of a letter/number on a truck between the gap of the cab and bed, where are my seams going, etc. I'm a big advocate of partial wraps; in my opinion easier and less to install/ design with achieving the same effect - my customers also like the cost saving too.
 
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afarraway

New Member
altereddezignz said:
I found http://artstation-vehicletemplates.com/ the other day but i am waiting on a few pieces of equipment to come in still before i get it all set up and started.
Click to expand...

Be careful, not all templates are created equal and there is a margin of error. I'm old school, I take a picture that has a 1 ft square for scaling and do a quick sketch with measurements outlining all my trouble areas - door handles, logos if customer is not removing, gas covers, etc. In the proofing/mockup stage, i design directly on the picture of the customers car and verify sizes with my sketch/measurements. In the trouble areas, I avoid putting important design elements and op for negative space/background.
 
jfiscus

jfiscus

Rap Master
I would recommend "piecing" out most of the aspects of the projects out at first and then trying certain pieces yourself on different projects as you get more confident/experienced. Don't worry if it takes you a while to get certain things down.
Hire an EXPERIENCED designer to do the art layout/proofs for you. Have them give you a lot of bleed on all the pieces just in case something is off on the templates. Hire an experienced installer to put the wrap on. If they'll let you help install you will learn some of that after a while also.
I am assuming that you know how to rip a file and tile the artwork, and print/laminate the pieces.
Use quality materials (not the cheapest) and the job will be easier on everyone.
 
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altereddezignz

New Member
jfiscus said:
I would recommend "piecing" out most of the aspects of the projects out at first and then trying certain pieces yourself on different projects as you get more confident/experienced. Don't worry if it takes you a while to get certain things down.
Hire an EXPERIENCED designer to do the art layout/proofs for you. Have them give you a lot of bleed on all the pieces just in case something is off on the templates. Hire an experienced installer to put the wrap on. If they'll let you help install you will learn some of that after a while also.
I am assuming that you know how to rip a file and tile the artwork, and print/laminate the pieces.
Use quality materials (not the cheapest) and the job will be easier on everyone.
Click to expand...

I am in the process of looking for someone who will design the first wrap for me but allow me to learn with them so i can start trying it myself.

The installing of the wrap is not an issue as i have done some and so has my boss so will a little more learning all should be good there.

I have been talking to a supplier about different materials and what to use with what and also asking opinions on here.

As far as the process from going from design to print/ rip and tiling not an idea but i learn really fast and have the ability to pick up on this. We will be using the pro version of flexi 12 for print and cut -
 
jtinker

jtinker

Owner
I never used a wrap template. If you have a measuring tape you can design the wrap. What time frame are you looking at, I could write up a step by step and drop it in the tutorials section by tomorrow afternoon. I have been meaning to write the article up for a while now just hadn't had a real reason to go ahead with it so far.
Material wise just go with 3m, you'll save untold time and money.
 
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altereddezignz

New Member
We are building an addition to our shop so i probably wont get around to even starting on it for another week or so maybe a little longer.

It was mentioned earlier the use of the customers auto then just scaling it to 1"=1'. But how do you know the original scale of the image. I guess by the resolution it is taken in from your digital camera to scale it down.

But to answer your question no hurry at all and it would be amazing if i could get something like this. It would help SO much.
 
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altereddezignz

New Member
J Hill Designs said:
put a reference object in your photo - a 12"x12" square of magnet material or something - some 'known' sized object, and scale to that
Click to expand...

duh guess i should have thought before i opened my mouth.

So let say i am using illustrator and i have an object that is lets say 12x12 or 1 ft x 1 ft how do i determine that is is a true 1". Just make a 1" square and scale it until it matches then just scale back up to 100 on all images before exporting to Photoshop to print.
 
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oksigns

New Member
Illustrator and Photoshop can understand inches. You will want to design it at a 1:1 scale. So using references and taking measurement, you can make a pattern quickly in Illustrator, import in to Photoshop, using vector data or outline to create a mask and go to town - or just stay in Illustrator and go to town, importing stuff from Photoshop as needed. It's all up to you, but it sounds like you need to get your feet wet first.

just as jfiscus said, start in pieces and get your workflow established first. That is very important, because there are a lot of ways to tackle it. - edited for completeness
 
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coastguy111

New Member
You might be surprised to find that you can get apps for your smart phone/tablet that uses the camera and will give you the measurements you are looking for just by snapping a pic of the object!
 
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altereddezignz

New Member
I use illustrator and photoshop on a normal basis and i know it read ins inches feet cm px and so on.
1. Take a picture with an item in the picture to show reference that is 12"x12". Lets say your in illustrator. Now take a black square box and make it a solid fill and make the dims 12"x12". Scale the image up until the reference item andt eh black square match. Now look at your scale percentage this would be the final output scale size when finished correct?. Then Create another black box that is 1"x1" and scale the image down untill it matches your reference item. This is where all the work should be completed? When done and ready to print scale back up to the first scale size you had for full output?

Does it really matter if i use illustrator or photoshop?
 
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