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DecalPro Labels

Last updated - 10/01/06.

DecalPro is exactly what I was looking for to do my instrument panel labels. What is so good about DecalPro .vs. say water-slide decals? There are two major advantages of this process. First, with DecalPro, you can do white letters on any color panel. Aside from silkscreening, most of the other processes cannot do white lettering. Yes, I know there is white water-slide decals, but they require a colored background in order to make the white letters show up, and it is impossible to match the color and texture of the panel. I know, I tried.

The second thing that makes this process so good is that there is no background hanging around with the decal. That is to say, only the image where there is ink gets transferred to the panel. This is just like silkscreening, where you only see the lettering, not the background and edges of a stick-on label, or water-slide decal. This really makes the labels look professional.

Another thing about DecalPro is the ability to do metalic images and lettering. This is not essential, but it is a nice feature. This allows you to do some labels that are very unique that you cannot do with any of the other processes. Ok, I assume there ways to do this with other processes. I think I might have run across metallic paint when I was looking into silkscreening. Anyway, the metalic lettering can look really good in the right place.

Of course, it does take some practice getting the DecalPro process down. If you want some tips on how to make this a little easier, then go to my page on How to Make Perfect Instrument Panel Labels Using DecalPro.

Below are some of the labels that I have made, including the first few test labels that were made when I purchased the original kits, plus a number of the first few bad labels that were made before the process was perfected. The last few labels show what they look like when things are done correctly. Note, that I did a lot more labels that what I actually took pictures of.

This is the first DecalPro label that I did, using the DecalPro PCB kit. This picture is actually a printed circuit board that I made using one of the test patterns supplied with the PCB kit. This board is only 1.5" x 2.5", so you can see just how fine the traces can be using the DecalPro process. After this test board, I made a board from one of my own designs, and the board came out perfect. Based upon how good this looked I ordered the normal label making kit without the applicator, which I already had with the PCB kit.

These are the first two labels that I made with the normal DecalPro kit. The first label that I did was the Wendy's label on the right using red TRF. This came out perfect. It turns out that applying a label to paper is a lot easier to get right than applying it to freshly painted panels.
The other decal here is the test switch decal at the top. Again, it came out perfect, except for the problem with smudges between the printed image, which I talk about below.
So, I knew just how good this DecalPro stuff could look, now I just needed to see if I could use it on some painted test panels.

This is an early label on Rustoleum Textured dark gray paint. The Textured paint is a little harder to get a good label on. Notice that part of the line has pulled up as well as parts of a few letters.

This was an early attempt, on Rustoleum Hammered bronze paint. This was almost good, but the "a" is missing from "aircraft", and there is a little white smudged in the background. The white smudges were a problem with the white until I learned to use a heat gun to dry the decal paper after printing the image, before the colored TRF step.

Black label on Rustoleum Hammered gray paint. This early label was encouraging, since it was almost perfect, but you can see that there are little bits of the border missing all around.

Early label that came out close to perfect. Ignore the smudges. They are from trying to clean off a previous label. You are supposed to be able to remove a label with alcohol, but sometimes it works and sometimes, not.

This is also a perfect label, although it does not looks so good due to the condition of the test panel. Also, the color is all wrong, because this is a metalic blue test panel. I must have been messing with the camera, trying to get a better picture. Notice, though, that the label is actually copper, which is one of the choices of colored metalic labels.

This is the biggest problem that I had while trying to perfect the process. The label just lifted back off of the test panel when the clear clear carrier was pulled back. I didn't know if I needed more glue, or less glue, or whether I needed to press the label to the panel lightly, or hard. It was pretty frustrating. The next day I got some tips from the owner of Pulsar that took me another two sessions to get right.

At first glance, this almost looks good, but again parts of the label lifted when the clear carrier was pulled back.

All of the white label problems can be seen here. This was a very frustrating night.

Same problem.

Rustoleum Metallic silver--almost, but no cigar.

This is a very bad picture, but it was the first white label that night where I followed Frank's advice and used the heat gun on the decal after printing the image. This solved the problem with the white lettering having smudges between the printed image, so I was very happy. Unfortunately, the rest of the night did not go so good. After this label, I was still having problems with parts of the image lifting up. I got a few more tips from Frank, and the next session, I was able to solve all of my problems.

Perfect, finally.

Another perfect label. Actually, I think this is the same picture as above, but I did several labels this evening, and they all came out good, so I think I have the process down.

I was getting so good that I could get the image to stick to a hole. Notice on the right side of my test panel that the line is crossing over a hole. So, it looks like I solved the problem with the image coming off with the clear mylar carrier.

To see how I solved the problems before the final few pictures above, go to my page on How to Make Perfect Instrument Panel Labels Using DecalPro.

	This is the first DecalPro label that I did, using the DecalPro PCB kit. This picture is actually a printed circuit board that I made using one of the test patterns supplied with the PCB kit. This board is only 1.5" x 2.5", so you can see just how fine the traces can be using the DecalPro process. After this test board, I made a board from one of my own designs, and the board came out perfect. Based upon how good this looked I ordered the normal label making kit without the applicator, which I already had with the PCB kit.
	These are the first two labels that I made with the normal DecalPro kit. The first label that I did was the Wendy's label on the right using red TRF. This came out perfect. It turns out that applying a label to paper is a lot easier to get right than applying it to freshly painted panels. The other decal here is the test switch decal at the top. Again, it came out perfect, except for the problem with smudges between the printed image, which I talk about below. So, I knew just how good this DecalPro stuff could look, now I just needed to see if I could use it on some painted test panels.
	This is an early label on Rustoleum Textured dark gray paint. The Textured paint is a little harder to get a good label on. Notice that part of the line has pulled up as well as parts of a few letters.
	This was an early attempt, on Rustoleum Hammered bronze paint. This was almost good, but the "a" is missing from "aircraft", and there is a little white smudged in the background. The white smudges were a problem with the white until I learned to use a heat gun to dry the decal paper after printing the image, before the colored TRF step.
	Black label on Rustoleum Hammered gray paint. This early label was encouraging, since it was almost perfect, but you can see that there are little bits of the border missing all around.
	Early label that came out close to perfect. Ignore the smudges. They are from trying to clean off a previous label. You are supposed to be able to remove a label with alcohol, but sometimes it works and sometimes, not.
	This is also a perfect label, although it does not looks so good due to the condition of the test panel. Also, the color is all wrong, because this is a metalic blue test panel. I must have been messing with the camera, trying to get a better picture. Notice, though, that the label is actually copper, which is one of the choices of colored metalic labels.
	This is the biggest problem that I had while trying to perfect the process. The label just lifted back off of the test panel when the clear clear carrier was pulled back. I didn't know if I needed more glue, or less glue, or whether I needed to press the label to the panel lightly, or hard. It was pretty frustrating. The next day I got some tips from the owner of Pulsar that took me another two sessions to get right.
	At first glance, this almost looks good, but again parts of the label lifted when the clear carrier was pulled back.
	All of the white label problems can be seen here. This was a very frustrating night.
	Same problem.
	Rustoleum Metallic silver--almost, but no cigar.
	This is a very bad picture, but it was the first white label that night where I followed Frank's advice and used the heat gun on the decal after printing the image. This solved the problem with the white lettering having smudges between the printed image, so I was very happy. Unfortunately, the rest of the night did not go so good. After this label, I was still having problems with parts of the image lifting up. I got a few more tips from Frank, and the next session, I was able to solve all of my problems.
	Perfect, finally.
	Another perfect label. Actually, I think this is the same picture as above, but I did several labels this evening, and they all came out good, so I think I have the process down.
	I was getting so good that I could get the image to stick to a hole. Notice on the right side of my test panel that the line is crossing over a hole. So, it looks like I solved the problem with the image coming off with the clear mylar carrier.