Stencil For Vehicles

[Bumblebee58627]

Hi
I am quiet new to the sticker business, I just want to know do you go about tracing out stickers for cars.
example, making a black out sticker for a cars boot, or redesigning decals on a car that has been resprayed.
another example, people have been asking me for the blacked out stickers on a MK1 Golf Bootlid.
I have tried taking photos and trace on illustrator but the indentation on the boot made the measurements wrong.

 

[myront]

What kind of area are you talking about? usually you just print an oversized rectangle of material, stick it and then trim as necessary. If you're trying to fit without cutting on the vehicle you're better off purchasing a kit online. They've already spent countless hours getting the exact fit and produce thousands of pre-cut kits. Hard to compete with that.

 

[LGud]

The most precise way to this: take a piece of pre-mask & apply to area. Do a rubbing with pencil or a trace. Apply the pre-mask to the vinyl material and hand-cut. Yes, this takes a steady hand. My partner used to hand letter, so this is easy and fast for him!

 

[HandsomeBob]

Sticker Business? Sticker Business?????? Please we are not in the sticker business. WE are in the business of providing high-quality high-tech professional graphics to sophisticated consumers. OK so we also do stickers for the peasants but we are not in the sticker business. Seriously that will affect your pricing. People coming in wanting "stickers" will assume that the cost is cheap. Whereas "professional graphics" cost more. When someone comes in looking for scraps they assume scraps are free - since they are scraps. We sell "remnants". I haven't had a scrap in my shop for years.

To you problem:
Look on-line. The clean flat version of what you need is likely there.

I do not understand what your customers want when you say " people have been asking me for the blacked out stickers on a MK1 Golf Bootlid." Do they want to cover the emblems on the back?

 

[Bumblebee58627]

Sticker Business? Sticker Business?????? Please we are not in the sticker business. WE are in the business of providing high-quality high-tech professional graphics to sophisticated consumers. OK so we also do stickers for the peasants but we are not in the sticker business. Seriously that will affect your pricing. People coming in wanting "stickers" will assume that the cost is cheap. Whereas "professional graphics" cost more. When someone comes in looking for scraps they assume scraps are free - since they are scraps. We sell "remnants". I haven't had a scrap in my shop for years.

To you problem:
Look on-line. The clean flat version of what you need is likely there.

I do not understand what your customers want when you say " people have been asking me for the blacked out stickers on a MK1 Golf Bootlid." Do they want to cover the emblems on the back?

Im sorry if i phrased it wrong. I didn't mean to offend anyone. I am just starting my business, and i would like to grow it. Grahics and decals have been something i wanted to get in to. I also would like to work and not have scraps. I am in the business alone and older people do not want to help me or give me trade tips. That is why i come to the forums.



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[Bumblebee58627]

The most precise way to this: take a piece of pre-mask & apply to area. Do a rubbing with pencil or a trace. Apply the pre-mask to the vinyl material and hand-cut. Yes, this takes a steady hand. My partner used to hand letter, so this is easy and fast for him!

Thank you for the advice, i will do that.

Sent from my FIG-LX1 using Tapatalk

 

[Bumblebee58627]

What kind of area are you talking about? usually you just print an oversized rectangle of material, stick it and then trim as necessary. If you're trying to fit without cutting on the vehicle you're better off purchasing a kit online. They've already spent countless hours getting the exact fit and produce thousands of pre-cut kits. Hard to compete with that.

I want to make kits with custom prints on them, it is not only for the mk1 golf, but there are different brands of cars that people want certain areas made like eyelids or so on. Normally i take a photo, but photos don't capture the curves so well.

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[myront]

I once covered an area on a Mini Cooper with transfer tape, sketched out the perimeter lines then removed the tape and stuck it to a flat piece of pvc then took a photo, scaled the image to size then drew in the shape digitally.
Can't believe in today's hi-tech world something hasn't been invented to do this. Maybe like a pen that you could just trace the body lines of an area and it transfer automatically to the computer. Just like using a tablet.

 

[Bumblebee58627]

I once covered an area on a Mini Cooper with transfer tape, sketched out the perimeter lines then removed the tape and stuck it to a flat piece of pvc then took a photo, scaled the image to size then drew in the shape digitally.
Can't believe in today's hi-tech world something hasn't been invented to do this. Maybe like a pen that you could just trace the body lines of an area and it transfer automatically to the computer. Just like using a tablet.

Thanks for the advice. I will try it out. And give some feedback.

Sent from my FIG-LX1 using Tapatalk

 

[AKwrapguy]

I once covered an area on a Mini Cooper with transfer tape, sketched out the perimeter lines then removed the tape and stuck it to a flat piece of pvc then took a photo, scaled the image to size then drew in the shape digitally.
Can't believe in today's hi-tech world something hasn't been invented to do this. Maybe like a pen that you could just trace the body lines of an area and it transfer automatically to the computer. Just like using a tablet.

They have 3D scanners and cameras that you can do it with. Basically you can scan a object, load it into you 3d software 'unwrap it' which will give you a 2d shape that than can be used to wrap a 3D object, they even have it for doing hydro-graphics.

 

[HandsomeBob]

We "older people" are more than willing to help you in your inquiries.

One reason you may not be getting help is that the first impulse many have is to just post their question. The question poster does not do any research or investigation on their own, they just post their question. That is frustrating to "older people". MOST of the questions you have can be answered with a little research on google or youtube or searching sign groups like signs101 or talking to your materials supplier. Doing that before you post will save all of us a lot of time.

You might be posing an interesting and unique question but after reading 25 posts of "what's this font" your question can be missed.

By the way - to those wanting fonts identified - please go to www.findmyfont.com. This is a $50.00 piece of software that will save you hours. You bring in a scan of the font you want to identify and the software will automatically identify the fonts ON YOUR SYSTEM and in its on-line data base that are closest to the font you need.

 

[HandsomeBob]

Post a picture of what you want to duplicate.