Need some Illustrator help

[Don Kiyoti]

This is a scan of a very old decal sheet that comes from a very old Aurora model kit. I'm trying to build the kit "1950s style" so it will look like someone built it back then. The decals themselves are all dried and cracked and not useable so I have to recreate them. This scan has the cracks and chips cleaned up, and the right side has the yellowed paper's color removed.

I can print this on an inkjet and get sort-of-useable decals, but inkjets can't print white, and the decals it makes are not opaque so they have to be printed on white decal paper. I got the shark mouth to work pretty well but cutting out all those little letters just doesn't work.

But there is a kind of printer called an ALPS that will print white, and I want to prepare this to print that way. Here's a page that describes how it works:

http://sonic.net/mnitepub/pccafe/reviews...inter.html

And they guy who makes the decals:
http://www.mikegrantdecals.com/Page1.html

Of course he wants all his products to be perfectly sharp and clean, so he says my sheet should be redrawn in Illustrator and then separated into CMYK. But as much as possible I want to keep the primitive look of the original printing which was (I think) silkscreened. I'm not clear on why he can't convert this image as-is to CMYK from RGB and just print it.

So I was fooling around in Illustrator (CS2) and found that there is a trace function. Basically, can I use that to prepare the artwork for this print job? Can you make paths from a trace? If so, how? Basically what I need is a file that I can send to this decal vendor which he can print with a minimum of fuss.

Another possibility is just to make a white plate so the designs print just in white (with a "negative stroke" ) , and I can apply my inkjet decals over the top of those. The "negative stroke" would prevent any white from showing around the edges.

By the way, the print size on this is only about 2" square.

[Blankity Blank]

Hit google. There are quite a few good video tutorials on using Live Trace in Illustrator. That's how I learned it way back when.

[Big Daddy Cool]

Heads up, his site says he's not making custom decals anymore.

[JoeM]

Live Trace can do it but I believe it will gives you your art as all fill, not fills with strokes (like your white text might have if outlines were created from that text and stroked). That shouldn't really be a problem for you. You do wind up with some junk in the paths at times so you might have to edit it some.

You could also open in Photoshop, use the wand to select the different areas and then create clipping paths. Biggest problem is usually how smooth a curve you wind up with without cleaning up.

[Don Kiyoti]

Big Daddy Cool wrote:
Heads up, his site says he's not making custom decals anymore.

Oh yeah, I already spoke to him about this. He's ok with just doing a print job. He's not interested in creating new art from scratch upon request.

[mikebw]

I bet you could get the design printed onto a white vinyl through any number of online printers. (thestickerguy.com for example) Just send the black and red image on a transparent background a specify white vinyl.

[Don Kiyoti]

mikebw wrote:
I bet you could get the design printed onto a white vinyl through any number of online printers. (thestickerguy.com for example) Just send the black and red image on a transparent background a specify white vinyl.

Thanks, but I believe vinyl would be too thick.

[weapon]

you need to find a blueprint shop.

Some of them make rub on letterforms which would work.