-
Advice on doing Body shop graphics repairs?
Hey guys
I do a few body shop repairs and I wondered how everyone else reproduces the graphic.
Most of the time I will do a tracing but i feel there’s a better way, if the graphic is a bit harder to do, I contact the owner, find out the sign maker and buy the graphics from them but some sign makers make it very difficult for you.
Just wondered how you guys do it?
-
12 Replies
-
I take a photo as square on as I can and note the overall height and width. Then redraw the logo over the top of the image in signlab.
Most are fairly geometric or can be made from a series of shapes, curves and nodes and then scaled to the right size.Saves a lot of time over tracings and scans etc
-
Same as David for me, usually go from measurements / a photo and just recreate it. On occasion the graphics have been supplied (fleet vans) or if there’s a signmakers tag on it I’ll sometimes ring them for the file and agree a price – though as you’ve found, they can be difficult!
-
Snap we just do them on the edge [emoji106]
-
Thanks guys, do you take them with iPhones or with slr cameras? Do you also find that when taking a photo, it’s never square, how do you combat this?
I’m shocking at taking photos of vehicles, I also find photos taken with iPhones never give you a crisp line which again makes it harder.
It’s the same with making a vehicle template, always struggled with that and end up resorting to the impact library.
-
Normal phone (note 4 in my case) with the grid feature enabled to help with lining up a horizontal. Max resolution and it’s automatically uploaded to my Dropbox within a few seconds. Dragged into the software and rebuilt.
iPhone or android should have that feature.
Dave
Vehicle templates are fine for general use. But I prefer to take photos and do the designs on them for a mock-up…then measure up before creating a series of boxes to fit the graphics/panels.
-
Thanks David, I love your way of lining up graphics, attempted it once on a ford custom and what a fail that was, went back to the old way with a tape measure. I’ll attempt taking a photo again and drawing the graphic from there and see how I get on
-
Whenever I take photos of vans I use a digi camera with zoom lens rather than a phone. I stand as far back as poss and zoom in, this generally gets rid of any lens distortion. Using this method together with the main panel measurements (or a 600mm x 50mm strip of magnetic stuck to the van) gives me more accurate results than any outline discs I’ve used.
-
Thanks Gordon, was lens do you use and how far back do you stand? Funnily enough I was re looking at this technique yesterday as I went back to the templates
-
It’s just a normal digital camera with it’s own lens, Ricoh, and I stand about 40 – 50 feet away and zoom in till the van fills the viewfinder. I always make sure that I only use the optical zoom though, if you zoom in too close then the digital zoom kicks in and there’s no advantage, although I think most cameras make you aware of this.
-
The other good thing about this, if you’re taking the photo of the customers van then you can send him a pdf of his own van with the graphics overlaid, always goes down well.
-
Other issue with body shop repairs is replicating colours.
I have found that they are very pushy with regarding quotes and if it is a colour or supplier you do not use it can become a very expensive issue.
Recently carried out a repair on a vehicle that had an arlon metallic wrap used which caused a further expense which if not checked early on would have to be carried by me!
Another thing regarding body shop repairs is….. They always arrive in to do on Friday, which is my busiest day already!!!!SC
-
I take pics for reference re positioning if the graphics are being removed but i always trace. I think its the only way to recreate acurately. A box although it will give the exact overall dimensions will not give you the odd kerning and spacing that some jobs come with. Colours – i just have every swatch going and keep searching until i get the exact match. If its not a colour/make i i use i change over the odds for it as it will sit on my shelf until a nice little one off job comes in or a temporary car dealership offer job comes in. As for acuracy with fonts im a real perfectionist as can be confirmed by all who help me out searching for the right one. I will nearly always if i cant get the exact one recreate (again where the tracing comes in handy) from scratch. If you take a picture believing you know the font and two days later realise you dont its another trip back to the garage hoping they havent removed the exisating graphics!
Log in to reply.