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How can i adjust vinyl to go on a curved surface?
Currently havin a few issue’s with appling vinyl to a curved surface ie. motorcycle tank.
I create the design in illustrator (straight) but obviously when it comes to applying the vinyl to the curved surface my design dosen’t end up where it is supposed to ‘sit’.
Is there anyway i can easily adapt the illustrator file to compensate for the curve?
Cheers guys 😕
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5 Replies
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you will have to alter it in the software first. but can come down to a bit of trial and error to get it just right. for quickness use a straight line to play with till you find out how much of a "smile" needs applied to the graphic (easy way of explaining.)
from memory we had a customer that had a fleet of transit vans but the bonnets gave us problems. his text had to fit into a spray painted shape on all the vehicles. but applied straight it didnt fit.
using signlab we used the Transform – Bounding Box – Arch options and raised each side approx 2" higher than the centre of the texts baseline, creating a smile, so to speak…hope my dodgy explanation helps. 😀
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Create a template.
Use application tape and stick it to the tank. Draw your line. Now take the app tape off and stick it to your wall. Take a photo of it and make sure your straight onto the graphic. Now goto your computer and adjust your text to follow the line.
Thats how I do it anyways.
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good idea jason… 😉
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yip i always do it like that.
If you have an A3 scanner thats even better.
Then you can scan it. and it will be 100% scale already.
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awesome guys cheers. Its a bit of a struggle when its a graphic and there are concave and vex surface’s to overcome.
i’ve been playing around with the mesh evelope on illustrator and managed to create some warps that help the vinyl lay more like i want it to…….i guess its all about working with different techniques for different situations.
The line idea is top banana tho. Good thinkin 😉
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