PixelMover
10-03-01, 03:58 PM
All who paint their devices as well as their cases may have noticed that all these cool teksts on the drives disappear when sanding them down and, remarkably, don't reappear after painting them..
Since i though it made things look a bit bland, I've been working on a lot of ideas to get the print back on. In my case, i've been using an old generic cd-rom for 'experimental use'
I tried most 'known' methods, like printing on sticky transparent film and varnishing it, but that seems to change the color of the paint ever so slightly, and makes metallics look like plastic again.
But I've found a very good and cheap solution. Don't know if anybody mentioned it before, but here goes.
First, I scanned the front on my scanner. Then, using this as an original, I re-created the lay-out of the print in Illustrator. (But, if you have a very good scan, this will do as well, or just design your own custom prints in Coral, PSP or whatever you like.
Now, when you have this, make a good, sharp laserprint of it (not inkjet !).
Here's the clue.. go to your local community center, or whatever it is called. Ask if they have graphics courses or workshops. I bet you'll find it somewhere. Now, see if they do silk-screening as well. Now you either sign up for this class, or explain to the guy/lady who runs the show what your dastardly scheme is...
Either you'll end up paying a very small fee for a few classes, or if the teacher guy/lady is nice, they'll let you sort of wing it, since it is really only a very small item and only make you pay for any materials you use, abuse and/or misplace :p
They usually have all the equipment you need. Put your printout on the thingy they use for film-making (don't know the english word, shame shame) and make a film. From the film you make a screen. special inks for silk-screen printing on plastics is not hard to get hold of, ask around a bit: i.e. any company making plastic things with text on them can tell you where the printing is done, ask them and they'll tell you where to get the ink.. That's how i got my free 0,5L of black ink:p
Now you'll need to experiment a bit, build something to hold the cover in place while you print over it. The teacher will show you how to properly do it. And, since it is plastic, if you mess up, clean the screen and your front with solvent and try again.
The really good part is, that if you use the kind of ink that is commercially used for this thing, it is highly wear- and scratchproof so doesn't need varnishing, and that's how you get that "I had this made to order by the factory" look :cool:
next week I'll do my final run (had a few small errors in alignment) and will post the pic of the final results. Happy printing!;):p
Since i though it made things look a bit bland, I've been working on a lot of ideas to get the print back on. In my case, i've been using an old generic cd-rom for 'experimental use'
I tried most 'known' methods, like printing on sticky transparent film and varnishing it, but that seems to change the color of the paint ever so slightly, and makes metallics look like plastic again.
But I've found a very good and cheap solution. Don't know if anybody mentioned it before, but here goes.
First, I scanned the front on my scanner. Then, using this as an original, I re-created the lay-out of the print in Illustrator. (But, if you have a very good scan, this will do as well, or just design your own custom prints in Coral, PSP or whatever you like.
Now, when you have this, make a good, sharp laserprint of it (not inkjet !).
Here's the clue.. go to your local community center, or whatever it is called. Ask if they have graphics courses or workshops. I bet you'll find it somewhere. Now, see if they do silk-screening as well. Now you either sign up for this class, or explain to the guy/lady who runs the show what your dastardly scheme is...
Either you'll end up paying a very small fee for a few classes, or if the teacher guy/lady is nice, they'll let you sort of wing it, since it is really only a very small item and only make you pay for any materials you use, abuse and/or misplace :p
They usually have all the equipment you need. Put your printout on the thingy they use for film-making (don't know the english word, shame shame) and make a film. From the film you make a screen. special inks for silk-screen printing on plastics is not hard to get hold of, ask around a bit: i.e. any company making plastic things with text on them can tell you where the printing is done, ask them and they'll tell you where to get the ink.. That's how i got my free 0,5L of black ink:p
Now you'll need to experiment a bit, build something to hold the cover in place while you print over it. The teacher will show you how to properly do it. And, since it is plastic, if you mess up, clean the screen and your front with solvent and try again.
The really good part is, that if you use the kind of ink that is commercially used for this thing, it is highly wear- and scratchproof so doesn't need varnishing, and that's how you get that "I had this made to order by the factory" look :cool:
next week I'll do my final run (had a few small errors in alignment) and will post the pic of the final results. Happy printing!;):p