ART WORK ON HOME MADE DETECTOR

[daverave]

whats the best way to do art work on a home build detector like numbers around knob controls and arrows to indicate volume...and general art work ????

[WM6]

For some phases of design you can find tools as this:

http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/frontdesigner.html

others are left to your unlimited creativity.

[Carl-NC]

I use Visio. Also look at:
FrontDesigner
Front Panel Express

[joop]

If you are familiar with autocad, try using draftsight: http://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight

It is free and available for windows, mac and linux.

[tonyh]

dunno if you mean actual design or construction, try either waterslide decals for laser or inkjet (famous auction site), or printable OHP film with a white paper backing stuck on with double sided tape

[greylourie]

Maybe these links will be of some help for ideas :

http://jumperone.com/2013/01/how-to-...y-front-panel/

http://aade.com/sexypnls.htm

[Qiaozhi]

http://jumperone.com/2013/01/how-to-...y-front-panel/

That's the same procedure I used for the Raptor front panel, except that the label was printed onto ordinary white office paper and then covered with sticky-backed plastic.

[baum7154]

I use a P-Touch labeler by Brother and clear label tape in 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2". It uses the TZ series of label tape cassettes and they come in a variety of widths and colors. It prints multiple lines of text depending on font size and tape width. It is self adhesive and very durable. I find the 6 and 9 point fonts to be most useful for labeling controls on my BITX 20A ham radio and on my CHANCE PI detector.

Regards,

Dan

[daverave]

i really need something that is suitable to go onto plastic film..i also need symbols to show tuning and increasing/decreasing volume....im not sure if a labeler will do what i want...im new to all of this making detectors and artwork...im the old school and take longer to learn things...i guess i will have to experiment with things.

[joop]

In my experience symbols for straight/round scales are hard to find. Some of the software packages propsed here like frontdesigner offer them but they are not scalable. It is better to draw your own in some cad package.

[Qiaozhi]

You can also use LibreOffice Draw or OpenOffice Draw.

Other free alternatives to Visio are:
1. Dia -> http://dia-installer.de/download/index.html
2. LucidChart -> https://www.lucidchart.com/?utm_expi...-0wF1cnwtBnA.0
3. Pencil Project -> http://pencil.evolus.vn/Default.html (which is really simple to use, and runs on Windows, MAC and Linux)

[baum7154]

What kind of graphic are you thinking of for tuning and volume up and down? The P-Touch has a wide and varied character set that is scalable. I'll try to find a site for that for you to see. The labels will stick to film or the substrate behind the film.

[tonyh]

Are you talking about elongated curved triangles? its CAD you need to be using. Perhaps we could set up a graphics thread where people could request and post the type they wanted or had designed?

[Tepco]

Corel Draw is all that is needed, only actual technology of producing prints may vary, i will post some examples if someone is interested.

[baum7154]

Here is the specs page from the P-Touch labeler model PT-2030AD available at COSTCO for $37.99:

back to top Hardware Features

Model Type	Desktop
Tape Family	TZ / TZe
Tape Sizes‡	3.5mm, 6mm, 9mm, 12mm, 18mm
Tape Length‡	26.2'
Tape Technology	Thermal Transfer
Tape Types‡	Standard Laminated, Flexible ID, Extra Strength Adhesive , Non-Laminated Iron-on Fabric, Acid Free
LCD Display	16-character x 2-line graphical
Maximum Print Resolution	180 dpi
Maximum Print Speed	10 mm / sec
Keyboard	QWERTY
Cutter	Manual
Batteries	6 AA (optional)
AC Adapter	AD-24 (included)

back to top Software Features

Number of Fonts	4
Font Styles	Helsinki, Brussels, Florida, and Calgary
Point Sizes	7 (Auto, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 42 pt.)
Number of Styles	10
Built-in Symbols	253
Types of Styles	Normal, Bold, Outline, Shadow, Solid, Italic, Italic Bold, Italic Outline, Italic Shadow, Italic Solid, Vertical
Max. Print Height	15.8 mm
Maximum Print Lines	5
Multi-Block	Yes (up to 5 blocks)
Label Length Setting	Auto / 30mm - 300mm
Auto Incrementation	Yes (0-9)
Auto Numbering	Yes (1-9)
Horizontal Alignment	No
Vertical Printing	Yes
Mirror Printing	Yes
Text Framing/Fill Pattern	16 Frames ⁄ 1 Fill Pattern
Multi-copy Print	Up to 9 copies
Memory	Yes (up to 9 labels)
Date/Time Stamp	No
Built-in Designs/Templates	55 Label Collection designs
Auto Formats	31 (including Block Layouts)
Barcoding	Yes
Barcodes (Stand-alone mode)	CODE39, CODE128, EAN-8, EAN-13, GS1-128 (UCC/EAN-12, UPC-A, UPC-E, I-2/5 (ITF), CODABAR NOTE: I have no business interest in COSTCO, Brother, or it's products. The products have just worked very well for me in labeling my projects. Dan