Making Decals - what you need before you start
You need either:
Water decal paper & Acrylic varnish
OR
Dry rub off paper
(Both types are available for Inkjet Papers and Fabrics, Window Stickers and Other Arts and Craft Materials
You also need
Printer with a high DPI rate - preferably a photo qaualitytype
Photo editing and layout software
Sissors
Clear topcoat
Lots of patience
Importand point
Regardless of the type of paper you buy, remember that:~
Photo editing
The first stage is to create your design or edit a photograph that you want to use.
use what photo editing software you find easiest or what you have available.
Load your choice of photo editing software
start by opening or even copying your picture into your software editing programme.
then remove the background around it until you are left with just the image. How you do this depends on your progra. Normally an eraser will do the trick.
crop the image down to remove all the background you dont need then save the picture as a .jpg file
OR
Create your own designs
Load your choice of photo editing software
open up a blank page to work on
use either the pen or brush tools to create your own designs
crop the image down to remove all the background yur dont need
then save your design as a .jpg file
Layout your decals
Now you need to find a program that will let you easily layout your designs. I used ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR. MICROSOFT PUBLISHER will work just as well or you could have a go in your photo editing software! AVOID MICROSOFT WORD
Load up your choice of software
start with a clear A4 page
try to switch on the rulers around the page, have them measure in CM or MM
Insert your photograph or design that you created earlier
Reduce the size of your design so it will fit in a 2cm long by 1.5cm wide area.
copy the image, paste it back on the page and line it up
Repeat this until you have 10 copies of your image
slightly reduce the size of your images as they go along the line - this ensures a design would fit on even the smallest of nails
then select the line of decals and group them together
copy the group and paste a new one underneath
fine the "reflect" or "mirror" tool and flip the new line, so the images now face the opposite direction. this insures your designs will look well on either hand
whatever you do, save your page now!!
Print your decals
the print process is different for both typs of decal paper
before you print onto your decal paper, print off a draft sheet of y our page. this way you can check the declas are the right sizes or edit them
Water slide decals
slide in the sheet of paper
print the page in a high quality setting - but dont change the printer settings regarding the type of paper. Leave it set as it is normal paper
onc printed leave to dry for at least 30 minutes
then you finish by spraying the paper with any type of acrylic varnish. its recommended to spray three thin coats of varnish to make sure that the ink is sealed onto the page
OR
Dry rub
slide in the transparent paper, making sure your page will be printed on the rougher side.
print the page in a high quality setting - but dont change the printer settings regarding the type of paper. Leave it set as it is normal paper
leave to dry for AT LEAST 1 hour
place the sticky paper page side up on a flat surface and carefully stick on the transparent sheet printed side down
work together and push out any air bubbles
Apply your decals
water slide decals
cut carefully around your decal - remember white decal paper will leave a border if you dont cut along the edges
drop your decal into a small bowl of water and leave for 30 seconds
pick the decal out of the water, slide off the backing and then slide the decal straight onto the nail
you have to work the decal flat, smoothing out wrinkles
once the nail is dry, coat the nails in a clear topcoat to seal and protec the design.
Dry rub decals
cut carfully around your decal-remember white decal paper will leave a border if you dont cut along the edges
peel of the white back paper and press sticky side to the nail
press firmly down then rub the transparent plastic sheet with an orange stick or your fingernail
peel off th e plastic transparent sheet
coat the nails in a clear topcoat to seal and protec the design.
You need either:
Water decal paper & Acrylic varnish
OR
Dry rub off paper
(Both types are available for Inkjet Papers and Fabrics, Window Stickers and Other Arts and Craft Materials
You also need
Printer with a high DPI rate - preferably a photo qaualitytype
Photo editing and layout software
Sissors
Clear topcoat
Lots of patience
Importand point
Regardless of the type of paper you buy, remember that:~
- CLEAR decals are used for deorating light coloured nails
- WHITE decals are used for decorating dark coloured nails. If you dont cut round the edges of a decal it will leave a white border!!
Photo editing
The first stage is to create your design or edit a photograph that you want to use.
use what photo editing software you find easiest or what you have available.
Load your choice of photo editing software
start by opening or even copying your picture into your software editing programme.
then remove the background around it until you are left with just the image. How you do this depends on your progra. Normally an eraser will do the trick.
crop the image down to remove all the background you dont need then save the picture as a .jpg file
OR
Create your own designs
Load your choice of photo editing software
open up a blank page to work on
use either the pen or brush tools to create your own designs
crop the image down to remove all the background yur dont need
then save your design as a .jpg file
Layout your decals
Now you need to find a program that will let you easily layout your designs. I used ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR. MICROSOFT PUBLISHER will work just as well or you could have a go in your photo editing software! AVOID MICROSOFT WORD
Load up your choice of software
start with a clear A4 page
try to switch on the rulers around the page, have them measure in CM or MM
Insert your photograph or design that you created earlier
Reduce the size of your design so it will fit in a 2cm long by 1.5cm wide area.
copy the image, paste it back on the page and line it up
Repeat this until you have 10 copies of your image
slightly reduce the size of your images as they go along the line - this ensures a design would fit on even the smallest of nails
then select the line of decals and group them together
copy the group and paste a new one underneath
fine the "reflect" or "mirror" tool and flip the new line, so the images now face the opposite direction. this insures your designs will look well on either hand
whatever you do, save your page now!!
Print your decals
the print process is different for both typs of decal paper
before you print onto your decal paper, print off a draft sheet of y our page. this way you can check the declas are the right sizes or edit them
Water slide decals
slide in the sheet of paper
print the page in a high quality setting - but dont change the printer settings regarding the type of paper. Leave it set as it is normal paper
onc printed leave to dry for at least 30 minutes
then you finish by spraying the paper with any type of acrylic varnish. its recommended to spray three thin coats of varnish to make sure that the ink is sealed onto the page
OR
Dry rub
slide in the transparent paper, making sure your page will be printed on the rougher side.
print the page in a high quality setting - but dont change the printer settings regarding the type of paper. Leave it set as it is normal paper
leave to dry for AT LEAST 1 hour
place the sticky paper page side up on a flat surface and carefully stick on the transparent sheet printed side down
work together and push out any air bubbles
Apply your decals
water slide decals
cut carefully around your decal - remember white decal paper will leave a border if you dont cut along the edges
drop your decal into a small bowl of water and leave for 30 seconds
pick the decal out of the water, slide off the backing and then slide the decal straight onto the nail
you have to work the decal flat, smoothing out wrinkles
once the nail is dry, coat the nails in a clear topcoat to seal and protec the design.
Dry rub decals
cut carfully around your decal-remember white decal paper will leave a border if you dont cut along the edges
peel of the white back paper and press sticky side to the nail
press firmly down then rub the transparent plastic sheet with an orange stick or your fingernail
peel off th e plastic transparent sheet
coat the nails in a clear topcoat to seal and protec the design.
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