Rasterize help

jtuttle11

Junior Member
I know nothing about how Rasterizing works. I've saved several skins for the Simple Cub but have no idea how to get them printed to scale. Is this something I could do with a standard printer? Could I save them and take them directly to a Staples and have them printed?
 

Thomas Eaves

New member
I know nothing about how Rasterizing works. I've saved several skins for the Simple Cub but have no idea how to get them printed to scale. Is this something I could do with a standard printer? Could I save them and take them directly to a Staples and have them printed?

Jtuttle11, were you able to find any more information on this question? I have the same question.
 

Rasterize

Maker of skins and decals for foam board RC planes
Moderator
Mentor
I know nothing about how Rasterizing works. I've saved several skins for the Simple Cub but have no idea how to get them printed to scale. Is this something I could do with a standard printer? Could I save them and take them directly to a Staples and have them printed?

Hi jtuttle!
Rasterizing...that's funny!
You can take th PDF to Staples. I have given permission for personal use on the skins themselves. However, sometimes Staples will still refuse to print them still trying to sight copyright issues even with permission printed on them! Many of these types of places (Staples/Office Depot etc) are very cautious about printing stuff like this because they have been burned on copyright before. Also they may decline printing skins because they have more ink coverage than typical blueprints/engineering prints which is what they charge $6 for. They may want to charge you the $15 poster print charge and put it on heavier stock. What they will/can do for you will differ depending on who you talk to and which store you go to. If you do get them to print a 24X36 page for $6 (that's a killer deal BTW) make dang sure they print it at 100% and not fit to page. Bring a ruler when you pick them up and measure the scale I included on all skins. Make sure an inch is really an inch!
On a side note, I'm looking into starting a crowdfunding to purchase a 24" printer I can use to cheaply print the skins I create as well as plans for community members. Look for that in the future!
 

jtuttle11

Junior Member
Hi jtuttle!
Rasterizing...that's funny!
You can take th PDF to Staples. I have given permission for personal use on the skins themselves. However, sometimes Staples will still refuse to print them still trying to sight copyright issues even with permission printed on them! Many of these types of places (Staples/Office Depot etc) are very cautious about printing stuff like this because they have been burned on copyright before. Also they may decline printing skins because they have more ink coverage than typical blueprints/engineering prints which is what they charge $6 for. They may want to charge you the $15 poster print charge and put it on heavier stock. What they will/can do for you will differ depending on who you talk to and which store you go to. If you do get them to print a 24X36 page for $6 (that's a killer deal BTW) make dang sure they print it at 100% and not fit to page. Bring a ruler when you pick them up and measure the scale I included on all skins. Make sure an inch is really an inch!
On a side note, I'm looking into starting a crowdfunding to purchase a 24" printer I can use to cheaply print the skins I create as well as plans for community members. Look for that in the future!
Sorry about the mixup, I went to a local Staples and they quoted me an outrageous dollar figure to create skins. They wanted $25 just to put the design on a flash drive and then $15 per page to print them. YIKES !
 

jamboree1

Active member
Sorry about the mixup, I went to a local Staples and they quoted me an outrageous dollar figure to create skins. They wanted $25 just to put the design on a flash drive and then $15 per page to print them. YIKES !
Try a Reprographics shop, they specialize in blue prints and other printing types and are by far cheaper. A black and white blueprint of a large plane usually costs me $2 to print. I never tried having them print a skin but i'm sure they would be cheaper than a place like Staples.
 

Rasterize

Maker of skins and decals for foam board RC planes
Moderator
Mentor
Sorry about the mixup, I went to a local Staples and they quoted me an outrageous dollar figure to create skins. They wanted $25 just to put the design on a flash drive and then $15 per page to print them. YIKES !

Hence why I'm looking into starting a crowdfunding to purchase a 24" printer that I can use to cheaply print the skins for community members. Hoping to come in under the $6 a page price.
 

Arcfyre

Elite member
I've done a few planes with a skin by rasterize, so allow me to tell you how I did it.

Step 1: You need to print out the skins to scale. In the case of the mini mustang, @Rasterize has formatted them to fit on 11x17 sized paper, which is a common printing size known as "tabloid".

I have had the best experience saving the skin PDF files to a flash drive after downloading them and then taking them to a UPS store to be printed. Usually the staff there can help you make sure that it's printed to scale.

Step 2: Once your skins are printed, you need to carefully and accurately cut them out with a pair of scissors.

Step 3: Regardless of whether you're working with a scratch build or a FT kit, you need to get your foam airplane pieces punched out and ready to assemble. When you're done with this step you should have a pile of white or brown aircraft parts and a pile of printed skins.

Step 4: Starting with the most obvious pieces (for example a rudder/vertical stabilizer) peel the plain paper off of the foam, and replace it with your cut out skin. You can either use spray glue to attach the paper to the foam, or I have had great success with a simple glue stick.

Be careful when doing the wings that you do the top skin on top and the bottom on the bottom. This can be tricky as the wing isn't assembled yet and it's easy to get turned around. The skins are very realistic so they don't say "top" on them or anything.

Step 5: Assemble the aircraft as you normally would following the FT video. Be careful doing bevel cuts, as the new paper covering is a little thicker and more difficult to cut.

Step 6: Enjoy your awesome looking plane!
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FlyingMonkey

Bought Another Trailer
Staff member
Admin
Hence why I'm looking into starting a crowdfunding to purchase a 24" printer that I can use to cheaply print the skins for community members. Hoping to come in under the $6 a page price.

Make sure to post it when you create the fund! Message me and I'll do what I can to make it top of the page, and an announcement on the FFT Fans page too.