FrontPanel: How do you use white graphics? [pics]

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Skylar

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 16, 2005
Messages
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Location
Irvine, CA
Okay, I'm working on a G9, and I've got an idea of what I want the FrontPanel design to be, but it requires white graphics/text on a painted panel (Pultec-bluish). The final design will look something like this:

SG9-Pultec-Blue.jpg



Alone, the graphics look like this:

SG9-Labels.jpg



I could do laser engraving on a black panel, which would look something like this:

SG9-Black.jpg



Or, I could do a red panel with white graphics:

SG9-Red.jpg



Or maybe an Army green panel with white graphics:

SG9-ArmyGreen.jpg



What do you guys think? How can I get white labeling on a painted panel? Which of these options do you like best? Many thanks!
 
If you are sending the panel out to Front Panel Express, it's easy. But if you want to print it yourself, then it's more difficult. Only really really expensive printers have white ink/toner. You'd probably have to go to some sort of high end print shop to have it done.

But those panels all look great. I think I prefer the green one.

Matt
 
they do look pretty hot.....

i've been thinking about painting/powdercoating. my dad is a painter by trade and has access to a nice shop, with a powdercoating setup. its all for a university, so they have alot of facilities.

I've been wondering if a panel can be lasered after it's powdercoated.... or how lazertran looks on a powdercoated panel. I also wonder if lazertran bonds well enough to the powdercoating to dissolve the backing with mineral spirits for that nice silkscreened look.

nice looking designs though, very pretty ;]

billy
 
FrontPanel Express is not really an option, because I don't want to be limited to their fonts--I would rather use the font Avant Garde, which is what I used in the designs above. By the way, these were done in Photoshop. The knobs are lots of layer styles applied to layered shapes created with the pen tool.

So, do you think I could take some toner transfer stock (like letraset/lazertran or similar) up to the local kinkos and have them print the design, then transfer/burnish that onto an already painted panel?

Or better yet, there's a screen-printing place in town--I could probably just give them my design and do it that way.

Another issue is the actual painting of the panel. I've got a black anodized FP; any recommendations on how to approach the paint process? Thanks again, guys.
 
Just a thought. FPD allows you to import any font you want. I believe it needs to have a .dxf file extension. If you get that, it might be a good option.
 
Yeah, FPD is pretty versatile if you can figure out how to use it. You can even import custom HPGL logos created in another program (e.g. AutoCAD). I'm actually just figuring all of this out for myself, but if you go to "Open..." and then browse to the 'frontpanels' folder in your install directory, you can open up their demo for an example.

Ryan
 

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