• Robert Lambie

    Member
    January 17, 2002 at 6:22 pm

    well eddie
    i have to say v2k one from the guys at impact
    it has a few little annoying features but it is the best & ide recommend it & beeline v1 & 2. impact do that also.
    but try ebay under vector clipart they have lots at rock bottom prices. thousands of images.. that would be my first bet for artwork.
    as for impacts v2k then ask them nice they may do you a good deal… but mind get the newest version as you dont want to go to uk sign show a few months later & there is a new one out.
    hey brian give this guy a good price mate or the group will be knocking on your door.. 😆 😆 😆

  • eddie cotter

    Member
    January 17, 2002 at 8:06 pm

    thanks robert, with help like this, i cant
    go wrong. i hope to be up & running in a week or two. thanks again eddie

  • Brian Hays

    Member
    January 17, 2002 at 9:38 pm

    If he contacts me he is guaranteed a good deal 🙂

    We last upgraded the cd just before christmas. We make them to order so we always send out the latest one!

  • Robert Lambie

    Member
    January 17, 2002 at 10:03 pm

    see what i mean eddie…
    give em a try! http://www.impactss.co.uk

  • Robert Lambie

    Member
    May 4, 2002 at 7:59 pm

    you know whats coming next gray….

    brians gonna say "does that mean we have to re-digitise the vehicles and put the wheels on the roofs of the cars in upside down land… 😆 😆

  • Martin Pearson

    Member
    May 5, 2002 at 11:35 am

    Robert. why would the wheels be on the roof?
    Surely the whole car would be upside down, in which case Brian needs to produce underneath views for the Aussies instead of roofs.

  • Martin Pearson

    Member
    May 5, 2002 at 11:40 am

    Eddie I have Ingram Publishing Vehicle outlines its great if you do a lot of American vehicles and want to measure every van you do because you dont trust the panel sizes on the CD.
    I need to speak to Brian myself as I believe from what other members have said that their CD is about the best for UK vehicles.

  • Phill Fenton

    Member
    May 5, 2002 at 1:17 pm

    I also use the Ingram Publishing vehicle outline CDs. The latest version is a 2 CD set and is up to date with all the latest vans and a lot of cars. There’s also a section of clipart vehicle graphics (stripes and so on) to keep the boy racers happy.

    Some of the outlines are scaled 1/20 which can be a bit of a pain – but I just resize them 1/1 when designing for any vans.

    When compared to the actual vehicles I have found the panel sizes to be pretty close to the real thing.

    Phill 😀

  • Lorraine Buchan

    Member
    May 5, 2002 at 7:21 pm

    ..

  • Martin Pearson

    Member
    May 5, 2002 at 9:39 pm

    I’ve got an older version Phil the panel sizes have caused problems on a number of occassions, so much so that we have a book where we keep notes on what vehicles we have done and the true panel sizes where they differ. If we come across a model we havent done before we wont cut any vinyl untill we have phisically checked the panel sizes.
    I dont know about the doors Lorraine, I’ll have to check, none of the customers have ever said anything about the doors being on the wrong side.

  • Phill Fenton

    Member
    May 5, 2002 at 10:38 pm

    I rarely cut out any vinyl until the van has actualy arrived. This allows me to check sizes before hand and make any changes as required.

    From experience I have found that preparing vinyls before a van arrives to be liveried can often be problematic. Sometimes the customer may request a last minute change, and on occasion (most annoyingly) the van may not turn up at all (one of the reasons why I am continously striving to improve the quality of my customers).

    As for doors being on the wrong side – the Ingram CDs seem to list so many options for each model that either left hand or right hand doors are listed.

    Phill 🙂

  • Mike Brown

    Member
    May 6, 2002 at 12:17 am

    …I read Phil’s post with interest – some great tips!…I would add that I normally try to go and see the van (or ‘suggest’ it comes to me) so I can have a good look all round.

    I then take digital photos – not because I don’t trust the drawings but because experience has taught me that it’s the detailing like badges, side bumper strips and handles that seem to change from season to season and from one production run to the next…so long as I have the photos to refer to when I’m laying up the design, there shouldn’t be any little surprises in that department!

    Usually I do take a measurement of the actual vehicle – but only one or two just as a ‘check’ that the drawing agrees. I don’t seem to have trouble with odd panel sizes – it’s more a case of sometimes the whole vehicle seems to be ‘out’ by the same small percentage over all.

    Furthermore, it depends how you measure a panel. When I lay a tape on a van it’s often a case of measuring to the nearest inch (rounding down) but what does the line on the drawing actually represent?, the top of the curved edge of a panel, the bottom of the curve or something in between?’

    At the end of the day, these CD’s are invaluable in helping us to ‘sign’ vehicles, but that’s all they are – a help – it’s up to each of us to ensure that what we cut – fits!

    [I use a variety of vehicle CD’s – primarily Impacts’ V2000, Impact’s 1200 vehicle library, Creative Collection’s ‘Car-Special’ – a comprehensive europe-wide reference work, Ingrams vehicle collection and even Cadlink’s original V5 collection which I still reckon had the best ever packaging!…]

    more soon

  • Lorraine Buchan

    Member
    May 6, 2002 at 5:42 pm

    ..

  • Phill Fenton

    Member
    May 7, 2002 at 3:53 pm

    Hi Gray – Does the customer complain when he picks up the van and finds that the Ruler shown on the artwork (which he clearly expected to be on the final job) isn’t there? 😉

  • Brian Hays

    Member
    May 7, 2002 at 5:25 pm

    Grrrrrr! 👿

    I was just starting to think you were ok Gray!

  • Phill Fenton

    Member
    May 7, 2002 at 6:12 pm

    On a more serious note – I usually measure the wheelbase (distance between the centres of the front and back wheels) of the actual vehicle. I can then scale the picture of the vehicle accurately based on this measurement. Side and front views are based on bumper widths.

    I still prefer to use outlines though – these are easier to work with when designing a layout. But as Gray says there’s always going to be a vehicle outline you don’t have. 😮

  • Robert Lambie

    Member
    May 7, 2002 at 9:36 pm

    very true phil. gray lorraine

    brian how do impact decide where the badges go.

  • Brian Hays

    Member
    May 7, 2002 at 9:54 pm

    Errrr we don’t decide as such mate!

    If they are on our artwork they go where the artwork says they are. Some of the stuff has been done with photos which tend to make them a bit more acurate as far as badges are concerned. In my very limited experience as a signmaker and speaking to local ones here they often remove badges anyway. Lots of them are just stickers these days aren’t they? At least the model badges anyway.

    Have you got into bother with a badge that wasn’t on an outline then?

  • Robert Lambie

    Member
    May 7, 2002 at 10:19 pm

    yeh…well you could say that brian.

    its more the badges are not there. so when i design the van i use the space. then when applying the graphics! theres a badge.
    i normally remove it but i did a transit on bank holiday monday. 😥
    and i had this problem. i then took of the transit badge only to reveal a .65" hole underneath it.
    a few weeks prior the same thing. this time th customer wanted the badge back on. but muggins here snapped it taking it off.
    i had to order him a new one.

    in your defence though. i think some garages stick it were they want rather than exact same place. i have been doing skudos for telewest. some have badges, some dont. most are in differnt places… well , within an inch or 2. 🙄

  • Brian Hays

    Member
    May 7, 2002 at 10:27 pm

    We have found that as well mate, nobody believes us when we tell them though. Will you stand as my character witness?! 🙄

    I am trying to put more detail on. For example on all the new vehicles you will notice we have been putting wheel trims on. It is surprising how much better they look when printed with wheel trims.

    You lot worry about what people think when you are feeling and looking at signs. You should see the looks I get when taking pictures of wheels! 😆

  • Robert Lambie

    Member
    May 7, 2002 at 10:48 pm

    Brain
    Way back now when we got our first library from you.
    I put say 3 transits lwb, swb, mwb, then the same with sprinters etc…
    All on a zip disk so I had a copy for my comp at home. Just for making designs up at home. It was easier that way. I didn’t want to keep taking the disk home then forget it etc

    Anyway what I did was I made a basic circle up. Then made it look like an alloy wheel. I did it about 4 times. Each time a different wheel.
    I then made window sheens… just little vector graphics that when applied to the original van made it look like a shine on it. I then would darken the window ever so slight to appear tinted.
    I also did this with my favourite flash stripes and other stuff.
    I had number plates also. You just double clicked on the text and changed it to the van your doings number. And so on and so on.
    I put them all under a file on the same dzip disk called accessories.
    When I was designing a van a little special I would use these accessories to tart it up a little. Gradient tints were good for the windows.

    What im getting at is, instead of applying all the alloys or hubcaps to each vehicle, why not just do accessories section & let us apply them
    The reason im saying is not everyone wants their van to look like a boy racers van.
    The number plate thing always goes down well. Don’t know many times ive heard this is great seeing the van done before you lift a finger… then! Bloody hell they even have our reg on it… 😆 😆

  • Brian Hays

    Member
    May 7, 2002 at 11:12 pm

    Maybe a good idea Rob i’ll at it to the list 🙂

    When I said about us putting the wheels on I meant like standard wheels not boy racer alloys 😀

    We have also done the tinting thing with the windows, it’s a shame that they wouldn’t be compatible if we did it to all the vans.

  • Robert Lambie

    Member
    May 7, 2002 at 11:17 pm

    😆 thats how bad i am gray. i didnt realise i had done that.

    quote :

    Maybe a good idea Rob i’ll at it to the list

    at it brian? i thought you were the spelling police…

    new badge for spelling moderator coming up mate.

    "sacked moderator" 😀

    yep i know what you mean about the blends in different vans etc…
    just a thought.

  • Brian Hays

    Member
    May 7, 2002 at 11:51 pm

    There is a difference between a typo and a spelling mistake. That’s my excuse and I am sticking to it 8)

  • Robert Lambie

    Member
    May 7, 2002 at 11:54 pm

    sorry brain mate your right… the "t" is right next to the "D"
    and there is only one d in add. 😆 😆

  • Brian Hays

    Member
    May 7, 2002 at 11:57 pm

    I have set myself right up for this one! corrected by Rob, I am off to hang my head in shame! 😳

  • Robert Lambie

    Member
    May 8, 2002 at 12:01 am

    😆 😆 no worries mate… its hard but there is light at the end of the tunnel. if you need the number of my spelling Councillor then just ask.. 😉

  • Martin Pearson

    Member
    May 8, 2002 at 4:29 pm

    We see most of the vans we do before we cut any vinyl as we have had problems with badges etc. Never thought about taking them off we have always tried to work around them in the past. The only vans we cut graphics for before seeing the van are the ones we graphic at the dealership, but we check with the dealer first that the van is standard and has not been modified.
    As for digital photos, we do this quite a bit to. But we dont usually do the visuals on these as it makes the file size so large.

  • Lorraine Buchan

    Member
    May 8, 2002 at 9:28 pm

    ..

  • Robert Lambie

    Member
    May 8, 2002 at 9:54 pm

    if you mean the hard plastic ones then its pretty easy.

    1. heat the panel. all round the badge and over it. till its hot to touch.
    2. take your squeegee and gently push it down the back of the badge.
    3. start to lever it off bit by bit. dont just force it. it will snap. beleave me ive done it. 😆
    4. and glue left on it. just soak it in tar and glue remover leave for 5 mins.
    5. clean it off and wipe with meths..all done. 😛

  • Joe McNamara

    Member
    June 28, 2002 at 5:48 pm

    A tip for getting badges off from someone who used to be involved in the motor trade………!
    Most of the badges are held on with a type of double sided tape about 0.5mm thick, -get some fishing line ( the clear looking stuff from angling shops ) and cut a length about a meter in length, roll it round your hands ( so you’ve got both hands with it rolled round and about a foot of fishing line between your hands ) and then use a sawing action with the line flat to the bodywork and it’ll cut the double sided tape but won’t harm the bodywork or the badge!
    Signjoe’s tip of the day!
    😀

  • Martin Pearson

    Member
    June 29, 2002 at 8:06 pm

    Great tip Joe but it should be in the hints and tips section not hidden away in here. Since reading about removing badges I have tried a number of different methods but this sounds by far the easiest.

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