Monday, May 14, 2012

Lettering Details


Good Morning!
Hope you all had a great weekend.
Finally - I sat my paintbrush down and relaxed on the patio,
in the boat, in the sand, and around the fire!









Now that was fun.

Time to get back to play, I mean work.
So this is what I have for you today.

Because I love old signs
and just the graphic impact they make in design,
It's a good way to put a color pop and expression
on your wall.

There are so many ways to letter.
Many times I free hand the text.
You could use stencils.
The vinyl cut machines for text are wonderfully precise.
I don't have one of those  (YET)
So for now, I lay out the text in Photoshop
and transfer to my board.
This way I can get the straight line look that I want
and know that the spacing will be exact
and the sign will have that commercial feel
I'm going for.

So if you have photoshop,
I hope this can help you
create an awesome sign.

I started with opening a new project, custom,
measuring 33" wide X 7.75" tall.
Use a white background.

Then clicking Text and choosing
"Adobe Caslon Pro" - Bold - 250 pt.,
type out your letters.
I double spaced between the words
LIVE  LOVE  LAKE





Set your lettering.
Now Click "Edit">Transorm>Scale



Drag the box so that your letters
fill the space
the way you would like to see it.
This way you can make them taller.



Now your ready to print.
When you click File> Print
the screen will appear with the text centered.
like this:



Where it says "position"
uncheck the "center" box
and working the "left" box, backspace down to zero.



Now you can print this page.
Then change the number in the "left" box to -7.
This moves the page position to the right,
Keep some overlap so you know how to line up the letters.




Continue increasing the negative number
in the "left" box
as you work your way down the layout.
-14.8 will be the next number you type in
so that you move to the right but still keep an overlap.



Continue all the way increasing the negative number
and printing each page.
You will end up with several pages:



Line up the overlap
and tape them together.



There are 3 ways I can think of
to transfer this now:

1.  Sturdy the paper up with clear packaging tape
and cut the letters out so that you have a stencil.

2.  Make a pencil line on the back side of the paper
so that when you press from the front, the penicl
line will transfer.



3.  Use a carbon paper underneath template to transfer
onto your board.





Now you're ready to paint
and you have a template you can use
over and over again.
It will look so nice and professional
(with old time style at the same time)

You can find more paint instruction
for beadboard signs here
at my post on "Making a Beach Sign".





Have fun with your Lettering!
Hope this helps, Deb












8 comments:

cairncottage said...

Hi, Deb. I recently came across your blog and love it! My hubs and I are in the process of moving to a lake and are soooo excited. I love your project ideas and as soon we get all moved in, I definitely want to try these out! Looking forward to hearing about more great projects and ideas, as I will drop in every now and then! I am also following your posts.

Ann

Deb Hrabik said...

Hi Ann!
So nice to meet you. You will LOVE lake living! I'm your new follower as well, Deb

The Checkered Apple said...

I think I'm going to have to make one of your LIVE LOVE LAKE signs for the cabin. I even have some leftover beadboard. You are so inspiring!

Courtney said...

Great tutorial Deb!! Wish I had photoshop!!

Deb Hrabik said...

I just got photoshop one year ago so I still have a lot to learn. But I thought I would pass on some beginner tips!

thistlewoodfarm said...

I love this sign.....what an inspiration! I am totally pinning this. I love the bright colors and the lettering :)

blessings,
karianne

{northern cottage} said...

sooooo smart to use the packing tape to stabilize - thank you for that AWESOME tip!! xo

www.NorthernCottage.net

Deb Hrabik said...

I'm happy to share any money saving tips for art! Packaging tape is great because it lengthens the life of the stencil.
Thanks for your feedback!
Appreciation, Deb