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Johns Web Site
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Date: 12-2-2016
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Number of Hours: 5.00
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Manual Reference:
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Brief Description: Instrument Panel
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This was a banner day for N39DZ. I have been working with a local sign company that also produces vinyl graphics for everything from small decals to vehicle wraps, to develop a vinyl overlay for my panel. I chose this route because the normal techniques for panel graphics were very expensive or less than satisfactory quality. I wanted the labeling to be crisp, clear, and perfectly aligned, and a tough durable surface for the entire panel, and something more interesting than a painted background color.
The original panel design and lettering was generated in CAD, but the sign company could not work from the CAD file because their equipment and its software required vector formatted files. To overcome this problem, I downloaded a free graphics software package called “Inkscape.” While graphics are completely foreign to me, there are a lot of online video tutorials that explain every facet of this program.
After a few evenings of watching some of the relevant videos, and a little practice, I was able to import the CAD file, modify it to do a few things that could not be done in CAD, then export it in the required format for their printer.
I still had not made a decision about a “more interesting” background, until I picked up my newly covered seat cushions. We had chosen a light grey leather with a coordinating cloth accent for the seat. After seeing how nice the upholstery turned out, we decided to ask the vinyl graphic company to find a matching leather digital design and apply it as a background. It is a nearly impossible task to match the color and grain from digital designs off the internet so, using a sample of the leather I supplied, he took a digital photograph and imported it as a background.
This worked very well and provided excellent contrast with the black lettering. We chose a matt surface for the vinyl to minimize reflections.
The one piece overlay was applied to the precut aluminum panel and indexed in position with marks applied to the lower corners of the vinyl design. Th
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