How to Make Custom Made Decals for Your Miniatures

Hello my friends!
In this video I'll show you how to create your custom made decals for your miniatures!
Decals are a great tools to use, especially if you want amazing designs or symbols on your models, but what if you don't want to use the ones that come in the kit or you don't find the ones you're looking for? You just need to make your own!
Let me know what you think about it!
Also I've noticed that I might sound a little bit "pompous" in a couple of occasions, but I was just being sarcastic and trying to be funny. I'm sorry if I came across as rude.
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‪@Zumikito‬ video: • Create Your Own CUSTOM...
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#hobbypositivity #miniatures #tutorial #paint #gamesworkshop #hobby #spacemarine #nerd #geek #tabletop #converting #decal #greenstuffworld #painting #wargame

[@djnotnice8416]

2 years later, and you're still teaching us the good stuff. Thank you.

[@justindmt7572]

been looking all over the internet for illustrator decals for my things...and thanks to you i made it happen

[@jackhaze3447]

Useing white vinegar and water with a 70/30 mix work well it also acts as a decal softener 70 white vinager 30 water. Have used it on airplane miniatures and tanks. Thank for the info.

[@nikushim6665]

Its a "okish" option if you got nothing else but commercially made decal softeners are a dilute solvent like Acetone and a acrylic based glue. If you have the option just buy the stuff then i would suggest doing so. A bottle of GSI Creos (Mr.hobby) or Microscale softener and setter will last you forever.

[@jackhaze3447]

@nikushim6665 never uses them before honestly I don't know if I ever seen to much of a difference with other people models. I do know I have not seen any yellowing tho using the white vinegar mixture tho.

[@YarDarkwood]

Vector mathematically scales the shapes up and down to create lossless scaleing.

[@EswenVRaedself]

I had to forage into the world of nerdy boys to get this intel. Thank ye, Fella.

[@odesseus]

"Metric system master race" Love it!

[@beat53chevy]

Video thanks for sharing👍👍

[@iamanowl26]

YESSS! This is exactly what I needed! I have the Forgeworld Word Bearers contemptor dreadnought, it has a book on its shoulder pad, and I have been trying to work out how to put 2 pages of Evil Deads "Necrocomicon" on it without having to try and paint haha

[@EswenVRaedself]

You are living in an existential cursed existence. Enjoy yourself.

[@BlueAsh-MilitaryAviation]

Excellent video. I am getting back into model making after decades away and this is an exceptionally helpful video.

[@norranostaw]

very informative , appreciate how to apply as well as i didnt know how to do that

[@davewettlaufer7885]

Thank you for the interesting tutorial 👍

[@jccraftmage]

Yes, this was helpful. You are right that other videos were not super helpful lol

[@CoryCollects]

Thank you my friend, I'm glad it was helpful!

[@gnumann64]

Great tutorial. Thank you!

[@kaderiley3076]

I’d suggest saving your file as PDF instead of JPEG. JPEGs are intended to be used digitally and not used for printing if it can be avoided. You essentially took your pixel based image, made it a vector, and then exported a pixel based image, that can lose quality the more the file is opened. A PDF will keep the vector. (Photoshop PDFs will export as a raster image tho since the program is raster based)

[@EposVox]

A JPEG's quality does not change based on how many times you open the file, what? No file does that

[@MahmoodYahyaviAzad]

🤦‍♂

[@ailen2854]

Amazing video, thank you for the detailed explanation!

[@ugosabadini8014]

Fantastico .......Grazie !!

[@ewokkebab1300]

Great video

[@GeneralKetchup57]

FANTASTIC!!!! THANK YOU!

[@dmilnes7007]

great video thank you for making this, it really helped me..

[@phirozecontractor6905]

Super tutorial. Thanks. 👍🏽

[@fatrhino]

Great video Cory.good information.when are you going to do a video on your chapter of marines?

[@CoryCollects]

Thanks my friend! I'm planning on doing a video about it in the future but I don't know when, simply because I would love to show an entire army but, at the moment, I'm not even close to that! 😅

[@BaylorCorvette]

Just what I was looking for! A couple of questions. Did you use a normal computer printer and ink for this or something special? Also, what decal sheets would you recommend?

[@CoryCollects]

Hi! I've used a laser printer but any kind of printer would work as long as you use the correct decal sheet, just keep in mind that there are inkjet decal sheets and laser ones, depending on what printer you have. I generally use the sheets sold by greenstuff world, they have both inkjet and lasers decal sheets!

[@vikj1255]

Very good vid.

[@fjalarhenriksson]

very useful thanks

[@mateagleeye]

I can vectorize an image in photoshop too - is this not the same process? Thanks for the video!

[@kroprcz]

Can i use any printer? just have to buy the correct paper? . like my moms 50$ printer

[@DBs58]

New subscriber. Very informative video, thank you

[@scotttrevena9322]

Excellent communicator. Direct and clear. Thank you for your knowledge.

[@lucariozilla3795]

Do you have to use a specific kind of paper or regular printer paper.

[@joseleonardoguillendiaz4301]

What if I require a print of white letters on a black model?

[@harrisonbond9754]

Question: what printer and what ink do you need to for this ???

[@CoryCollects]

You can use a standard inkjet printer or a laser printer. Just be sure to use the corrisponding decal sheet based on what printer you have!

[@KneeCapHill]

How well does this work with brightly colored decals? Yellow/Red or blue ? Do these types of decals turn out kinda transparent ?

[@Kevin-ok3sm]

So if you were to use the white paper, then you must cut out the design exactly or else the white will show wherever it has not been cut out? Hmmm... Cricut might help with this.

[@ericgarcia8282]

Is there a free alternative program to Adobe illustrator that works the same?

[@philcurran2313]

Can you do another video on how to design decals which curve to fit around base edges. Like those for Bloodbowl.

[@billbowman8747]

I have used hairspray to seal inkjet images to prevent bleeding ink when soaking the decals with good results. Your mileage may vary.

[@lorenzoezla]

What type of paper you need for decals on dark backgound? 🤔

[@maximer4984]

What kind of printer do I need to use?

[@johniegrams3531]

how do you measure shoulder pad sizes? i see he did the 1cm by 1cm for the marine, but what if you try larger shapes, like war dogs or knights, how would i go about measuring a curved surface? do i just measure the straight edge and use that for the height?

[@lemonisoursquid6101]

hey, I just did some custom decals for a Knight Crusader, and the way I measured it was with a tape measure in Imperial. I based my height on the distance between the peak of the decorative spike at the center of the shoulder pad, and the corresponding "cooling vent" looking bit on the upper trim. for the length of the decals, I didn't use up the full shoulder pad, and based my measurements on the decorative trim piece previously mentioned. The tape measure offers a degree of flexibility that i found allows for decently precise measurments. Word of advice though, with the knights, you will get peaks/air under the decal with the shoulder pads due to the center gap in the knights shoulder pad. I used the dull edge of an Olfa Knife similar to the one shown in the video to pad the decal into the crack, which also made the peaks from the rivets in the piece less noticable. Hope this helps XD

[@romeo1245]

For example on gundam decals?

[@romeo1245]

How about white design ? How it looks

[@mr.sharkey_alt1816]

Where i can buy the papers, and i can use a normal printer to print the decals?

[@CoryCollects]

Yes you can use a normal printer but be careful to the type of printer you use, a inkjet or a laser printer, because there are specific type of papers for each one. Greenstuff world sells both the type of papers.

[@ivanzener20]

Someone knows which is the better printer for decals?

[@srdcro]

10:40 - Use Ctrl+D to duplicate as many times you wish

[@elianelim4266]

What printer did you use?

[@Fancy669]

what program are you using?

[@brendanbroadhead5087]

What laser printer is used for this? Atb

[@IngRobyblueyes83]

Con i tuoi tutorial ho imparato a dipingere, ora vedremo di imparare a fare le decal. A quando un corso per farmi imparare l'inglese??? Scherzi a parte, ho una stampante ad inchiostro, mi consigli la carta trasparente su cui stampare le decal? Devo fare i simboli di tzeench sui teli dei Rubric marine, dove posso trovarli?

[@CoryCollects]

Ciao! Grazie per il commento, sono contento di esserti stato utile per imparare a dipingere! Allora per i fogli ti consiglierei di prenderli da "Greenstuff world", nello specifico i fogli "inkjet". Per i simboli basta digitare su Google immagini "tzeentch symbols png" e dovresti trovarne più che a sufficienza da scaricare. Inoltre, dopo aver stampato le decal, ti consiglierei di spruzzare almeno tre strati di lacca/varnish trasparente sopra perché l'inchiostro della stampante si scioglie a contatto con l'acqua.

[@theaviationarchaeologist8519]

Hi Cory, maybe a unique question, but do you know anyone that can make me a set of decals for a 1/48 F-80C fighter bomber? The original ones coming with the kit are not the numbers I need. I am building the model in remembrance of an F-80C pilot who was shot down 2 miles from my front door during the Korean War. He was the first US jet fighter shot down by a piston engined fighter. The pilot was never found.

[@CoryCollects]

Hi my friend, thanks for the comment! I'm sorry, but unfortunately, I don't know anyone who can do that. Maybe you could try Fiverr; it's a website where you can find freelancers who might be able to create what you need. Or perhaps Etsy.

[@dragobancho]

I assume a laser printer is preferred?

[@CoryCollects]

It depends! A laser printer will print decals that are ready to be used immediately after it finishes printing them but with a lower quality in terms of details. Decals printed with an inkjet printer have better quality but you'll have to spray them with three coats of varnish, or the decals will dissolve when dipped in water.

[@KamenRiderGreed]

​​@@CoryCollects3 coats of Varnish on only one side? Or both sides of the printed sheet?

[@CoryCollects]

@@KamenRiderGreed I sprayed it on the printed part of the decal paper

[@handle25-13]

what paper do we use

[@Moshavnik7272]

Saving the image vector file as JPG converts them back to pixel/raster! So what was the point of tracing the image into vector? The image you downloaded was a raster image and was traced, the grouped image with the “x” lines in the frame, didn’t seem to have converted to vector. The beauty of vector is that you can ungroup the image and pick any part of it independently. That will “prove” that you have the vector parts and not the original white backed PNG. You can test that the elements of the image is a vector by changing your curser (clicking the “A” keyboard key) and clicking on the part and you will see the outline and its anchor points. Now you will know that the image is a true vector. You don’t need to save the file into JPG. You can just save it as the native AI format and print it that way. BTW, to make multiple copies quickly in Illustrator, you can select the image, copy and paste it next to the original image, then click “command+D” and it will repeat your last action, which was to move and paste. You can then do that a few times until you have a full row. Then select the full row, copy and paste below that row and then Command+D to paste that row below the two, repeat pressing Command+D to fill the page.

[@rickgregory9616]

This is a very good tutorial, and your humor is a hoot! 😅 I have a question: how to create a decal that has white lettering with a transparent background?

[@CoryCollects]

Thank you for the comment! ☺️ To be honest I don't really know how to do that with a standard printer. I tried to look around but I couldn't find white ink or transparent papers for decal printing. I guess you should use a special type of printer specifically made to print decals

[@rickgregory9616]

@@CoryCollects Thanks for the reply back. I also checked and I did find that, at least for Epson, they do offer white ink printers and cartridges for $800 / cartridge! I see no logic for that, but it is what it is. At least I learned about Adobe Illustrator! Thank you for that!

[@Belzediel]

You can't. You paint the area white and have the decal be everything that isn't white.

[@rickgregory9616]

@@Belzediel Or in my case for printing race car numbers, print on white paper, then use a circle template.

[@Belzediel]

I mean sure, but that'd just be a sticker, isn't it, not a WSD...@@rickgregory9616

[@vmayn92]

Hey friend, just curious what were the dimensions you used for the shoulder pad sticker. Thanks in advance!

[@EricRodriguez-tt8xp]

My decal design keeps smudging off every time I try to remove from paper, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Anybody know why???

[@wuhegthonjunior8504]

Ok, now use insted of black use yellow and aply the decal over black or red surface. ?????

[@hallarious506]

My biggest problem isnt the designing and program, but the printing. White printing is rare and only very few shops are capable to do so.

[@CoryCollects]

I have the same problem. I wanted to do a follow up video to show how to print white but it turned out to be a very hard thing to do!

[@Himle_]

Didn't know they made decal paper for home use. You learn something new every day. :) Mind linking the one you use?

[@CoryCollects]

Sure! The ones I usually buy are the decal papers from greenstuffworld but you can also find them on Amazon, there isn't a lot of difference!

[@Himle_]

@@CoryCollects Thanks! :D Didn't even know GSW had decal papers.

[@iloverpgs1052]

Has someone a link for laser decal paper

[@treasuresoftroves6900]

any chance you can link what paper you use?

[@HO-bndk]

jpeg is a lossy format. You'll get away with it for cartoons like this, but any image more nuanced will show artifacts. Try saving as a scalable pdf instead.

[@Belzediel]

PDF's image management is jpg. You've just told him to save as a jpg instead of a jpg. You might have meant PNG.

[@garfieldwithissuez]

Never use any product from greenstuff world. All they do is source product's that other companies make, rebrand it to their name and then trademark it anywhere the creators have failed to then send their lawiers to attack companies that they compete with (sometimes the original creator's of the product). Micro Sol and micro set are only a few dollars each and are bacisly isoprople alcohol and white vinegar respectively.

[@Belzediel]

Mmmnh. No. No, mate, this is wrong, and it's wrong because you're overlooking the fact that the images you print are pixellated anyway because that is how printing works. When you hit Ctrl-P or whatever it is on pretend computers, the software converts your image back into a nice raster and sends it to the printer, and that, well, Inkjet, laser, dot-matrix, they all print very small dots of colour in a grid pattern. The only thing you need to have is that the pixels making up the image are sufficient in number that they are invisible to the naked eye, and that's a DPI issue but it's never really going to be a huge issue because it'd be blindingly obvious to the eye if your pixels are too few in number. * You have added an entire stage of creation that serves no function. The only kind of printer that this might make an infinitely tiny difference for would be a plotter, and that'd be arguable anyway since plotters use stepper motors which become defacto pixels, albeit very small ones. Maybe you can't follow, which is fine, let's have a demonstration, side by side the original pixel art with one you jiggered into vector, and print them in one go at the same scale and just look and see if a third party thinks one looks much better than the other. * The human eye has a dpi of 133ppcm at 25cms so, on, say, a five millimeter decal anything more than 70 pixels can't be distinguished anyway.

[@nghia59]

I'm getting audio but not video for this.