lettering questions.

[troutbox]

i have been hoping to avoid having to do lettering but i can see that i'm not really going to be get away without offering it to people who want to personalize things i have already engraved. this time i got a job that is only lettering but due to the nature of my relationship with the client, i can not say no.

i have experience in caligraphy and sign painting as well as concert posters and the like. so making the lettering isn't really the issue. i just don't really enjoy spending so much time laying everything out and drawing it all out. this job requires that i engrave the newlyweds' names, the date, the gift givers etc.

i have purposely avoided any of the threads on printing transfers because i prefer to draw everything freehand but now i am at a crossroads.

first.....i don't have a printer. the new printers will(and do) clog and become useless if not used continuously(or at least often enough to the point that i ever used them). i miss my old printer that would print no matter what. i refuse to buy a new one that will just clog up and become junk again.

second......i don't have photoshop anymore. when i changed computers, adobe told me i could not install it on to a new computer even though when i bought it, i was allowed three computer changes......so i can't do my own sizing, or font or whathaveyou.....

so, i'm wondering if there is a way to get transfers that either exist right out of the box........

or

if there is some work around that i have not thought of yet that someone here might share.

thanks

 

[allan621]

Try

dafont.com or
1001freefonts.com

both sites have different styles of fonts with free download and play with. They should install in a word program with a little bit of finagling. I use a Mac and it took a bit to figure out how to install the fonts I downloaded; but once installed they work like native fonts that came with the computer.

I seem to have lost touch with you. I'll be sending you an email tomorrow.

Allan

 

[DKanger]

second......i don't have photoshop anymore.

At some time in the past, a url was posted where you could download a free suite of Adobe products from them. It was an obsolete version that was no longer supported by them, but had all the bells and whistles and works on Windows 10. It included both Photoshop and Ilustrator, fonts, Image Ready, and Adobe Reader. Maybe someone remembers the address or an archive search might turn it up. I downloaded it at the time.

 

[monk]

there's a program called "inkscape". it used to be free. i think it would do what you want. as for printers, i never had one clog up. i have 3, and one rarely gets used, but works fine when it's needed. mine are hp.

 

[mitch]

draw it on paper. go to your local office supply. make a copy on a transparency. make a copy thru the back of the transparency. you can adjust/reduce the size at whichever step you find most convenient. use a process for transfers with laser printers.

 

[troutbox]

"there's a program called "inkscape". it used to be free."

thanks monk. it still is. i had to invest some time to learn what i needed to but it will work just fine.

am getting an old printer from a friend. hopefully it will work. i still have printer transparencies from some other work.....

"draw it on paper. go to your local office supply. make a copy on a transparency. make a copy thru the back of the transparency. you can adjust/reduce the size"

mitch, if i didn't know better, i would say that you are trying to make me do MORE work than if i drew it on the piece.....(that's supposed to be a funny retort...but i do appreciate your thoughts. if the printer doesn't work, i can take the pdf from inkscape and go to the office supply)

 

[jerrywh]

What type of computer do you have? I have installed photo shope on five computers that said I couldn't. Never tried a Mac.

 

[troutbox]

"What type of computer do you have? I have installed photo shope on five computers that said I couldn't. Never tried a Mac."

a mac.

 

[mitch]

"mitch, if i didn't know better, i would say that you are trying to make me do MORE work than if i drew it on the piece...."

you seemed intent upon avoiding that. i use "whatever works best". sometimes that's drawing right on the metal, sometimes on paper>transfer, sometimes a hybrid method. usually it depends on the curvature of the surface and how easy/difficult it would be to apply the transfer.

 

[Grayson]

Ebay sells non-current versions of Photoshop at seriously-reduced prices. You may find one of these to run on your computer.

At work (school), I had to throw away several ink jet printers for disuse over the summer and poor use. They typically would last just one year. I currently have a few that are more than 8 years old. Two things keep them "young." 1. Never use off-brand ink; it's prone to clog. 2. Print one color page every month.

I have good luck with ink jet and Damar varnish undiluted.

 

[troutbox]

"Ebay sells non-current versions of Photoshop at seriously-reduced prices. You may find one of these to run on your computer."

good call grayson. i'll keep that in mind....

 

[Big-Un]

Why not try the good old-fashioned way, draw it out on paper and rub it in with acetone?

 

[takedeadaim]

There is a simple way to keep the printers working, Put a reminder in your calendar every two weeks, then just print a test page on the printer. All you have to do is keep them from clogging. The test page works well because it uses all aspects of the machine. Printing one page per two weeks works well.

 

[monk]

"there's a program called "inkscape". it used to be free."

thanks monk. it still is. i had to invest some time to learn what i needed to but it will work just fine.

am getting an old printer from a friend. hopefully it will work. i still have printer transparencies from some other work.....

"draw it on paper. go to your local office supply. make a copy on a transparency. make a copy thru the back of the transparency. you can adjust/reduce the size"

mitch, if i didn't know better, i would say that you are trying to make me do MORE work than if i drew it on the piece.....(that's supposed to be a funny retort...bes a lot of timeut i do appreciate your thoughts. if the printer doesn't work, i can take the pdf from inkscape and go to the office supply)

that takes a lot of xtra time. get yerself a scanner. draw oversize, scan the drawing, then import into the program. even tho hi tech is involved, it's still your own unique work. saves a lot of time.

 

[troutbox]

so many good replies....so little time.....

thanks everyone.

let me explain some more. i needed to engrave names on a few curved surfaces. imagine a metal water bottle as a for instance......the lettering has to be exactly 5/16" height.

inkscape has let me use the text feature to type it onto a document and i can set it at the right size. saving much time. i can then cut everything out, and manually space each word to the circumference of the object.

i got an old hp printer from a friend. my newish computer successfully talked to this oldish printer and was able to print on my oldish-ish transparency paper.

all in all, even learning curve for inkscape, i saved myself much time and effort.

waiting for the spray fixative to set as i type.