From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

What is the latest? I may do a retheme I'm getting a junker of a game the back glass is completely wiped clean is the three layer process still the preferred way does anybody know what type of plastics decal wrap kind of thing works best? Any practical experience welcome please and thank you
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

On Monday, May 4, 2020 at 5:19:03 PM UTC-7, andysuns...@gmail.com wrote:

What is the latest? I may do a retheme I'm getting a junker of a game the back glass is completely wiped clean is the three layer process still the preferred way does anybody know what type of plastics decal wrap kind of thing works best? Any practical experience welcome please and thank you

I did a backglass a few years ago. I used a plastic cling from Kinko's at the time, sprayed with white spray paint to make it opaque and then masked the areas that needed light to travel through them and sprayed a mask with black spray paint. The results were pretty good (good enough that I had to tell the buyer that I made the glass).
The biggest problem was creating the artwork. The game was a CC All Stars pitch and bat and I had to lift the artwork from IPDB and resize/reshape the art. That was where most of the work came in.
Good Luck with the glass
Dan L.
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

On 5/5/20 3:23 PM, Dlej@comcast.net wrote:

On Monday, May 4, 2020 at 5:19:03 PM UTC-7, andysuns...@gmail.com wrote:

What is the latest? I may do a retheme I'm getting a junker of a game the back glass is completely wiped clean is the three layer process still the preferred way does anybody know what type of plastics decal wrap kind of thing works best? Any practical experience welcome please and thank you

I did a backglass a few years ago. I used a plastic cling from Kinko's at the time, sprayed with white spray paint to make it opaque and then masked the areas that needed light to travel through them and sprayed a mask with black spray paint. The results were pretty good (good enough that I had to tell the buyer that I made the glass).

The biggest problem was creating the artwork. The game was a CC All Stars pitch and bat and I had to lift the artwork from IPDB and resize/reshape the art. That was where most of the work came in.

Good Luck with the glass

Dan L.

Thanks for the description, Dan. I would like to try this someday.

I know nothing about getting something printed commercially beyond
business cards, and living in a small town, I do not have a commercial
printer nearby. Heck, I did not even realize that Kinkos was swallowed
up by FedEx.

Can you tell a little more about the file type, resolution, etc. that
you created? Software used? I typically use Photoshop but am trying
to learn GIMP. CMYK?

Would the printed product be a decal?

How did you apply it to the glass? Did it just stick by static?

https://www.fedex.com/en-us/printing/marketing-materials/decals.html#details

-Larry

--
http://orcalcoast.com/
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

You will need 2 pieces of software to make the backglass. You need a good graphic artwork software such as Photoshop (if I remember right I used Photoshop Elements) and a vector software for cleaning up the edges. There is free software for doing this but none of the programs I tried were powerful enough to do a back glass. Instead I signed up for a free trial of a commercial product (can’t remember which one - sorry). I also forget the maximum resolution of the cling maybe 300dpi so you don’t need to get any finer than that. I got a test print on regular paper to make sure everything fit and then had the cling printed with the adhesive on the front so you can stick it to the back side of the glass. John Robertson recommended using a little soapy water and a squeegee to help lay it down but MAKE SURE YOU DONT GET THE INK WET- it will run. This was one of my first pinball projects so I don’t remember all the details anymore but I will do what I can to help.. hope this helps
Dan L
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

I’ve redone about a dozen backglasses over the years
I scan the glass with a flatbed scanner
Then it’s imported into Photoshop for stitching and touch up
Takes many hours to do
After creating the front graphic , I create the mask as well
Then I scrape the old artwork off the old backglass
I take the glass and photoshop file to local photo lab
They print it right on the glass
First the artwork, then the mask is layers over it
Fantastic results
300 dpi works great for me
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

On 5/7/20 11:46 AM, jay59378@gmail.com wrote:

I’ve redone about a dozen backglasses over the years

I scan the glass with a flatbed scanner
Then it’s imported into Photoshop for stitching and touch up

Takes many hours to do

After creating the front graphic , I create the mask as well

Then I scrape the old artwork off the old backglass

I take the glass and photoshop file to local photo lab

They print it right on the glass

First the artwork, then the mask is layers over it

Fantastic results

300 dpi works great for me

Thanks.

Do you have a scanner capable of doing the entire glass? Or scan and
stitch together?

--
http://orcalcoast.com/
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

On 5/7/2020 12:25 PM, LexingtonVAPin wrote:

On 5/7/20 11:46 AM, jay59378@gmail.com wrote:

I’ve redone about a dozen backglasses over the years

I scan the glass with a flatbed scanner
Then it’s imported into Photoshop for stitching and touch up


Takes many hours to do

After creating the front graphic , I create the mask as well

Then I scrape the old artwork off the old backglass

I take the glass and photoshop file to local photo lab

They print it right on the glass

First the artwork, then the mask is layers over it

Fantastic results

300 dpi works great for me

Thanks.

Do you have a scanner capable of doing the entire glass?  Or scan and stitch together?

His first sentence said:
I scan the glass with a flatbed scanner
Then it’s imported into Photoshop for stitching and touch up


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From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

On Monday, May 4, 2020 at 7:19:03 PM UTC-5, andysuns...@gmail.com wrote:

What is the latest? I may do a retheme I'm getting a junker of a game the back glass is completely wiped clean is the three layer process still the preferred way does anybody know what type of plastics decal wrap kind of thing works best? Any practical experience welcome please and thank you

these guys do a great print
http://www.coos.net/bingo_e/
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From Newsgroup: rec.games.pinball

On 5/7/20 10:43 PM, Paul wrote:

On 5/7/2020 12:25 PM, LexingtonVAPin wrote:

On 5/7/20 11:46 AM, jay59378@gmail.com wrote:

I’ve redone about a dozen backglasses over the years

I scan the glass with a flatbed scanner
Then it’s imported into Photoshop for stitching and touch up


Takes many hours to do

After creating the front graphic , I create the mask as well

Then I scrape the old artwork off the old backglass

I take the glass and photoshop file to local photo lab

They print it right on the glass

First the artwork, then the mask is layers over it

Fantastic results

300 dpi works great for me

Thanks.

Do you have a scanner capable of doing the entire glass?  Or scan and
stitch together?

His first sentence said:
I scan the glass with a flatbed scanner
Then it’s imported into Photoshop for stitching and touch up

Yes, I misinterpreted his response.

All the large format scanners I have ever seen are for paper.

I have had terrible luck with a traditional flatbed scanner. The ones I
have had have a plastic area outside of the glass that is raised above
the scanning glass. When I place a large item like a backglass (or
playfield) on it, the backglass is a bit above the glass. As a result
the image is not quite focused and not the right size or distorted.

I have a small sized Doxie Flip 4"x6" scanner that I can lay directly on
the playfield to scan for decals. I once tried to use that for a
backglass, but after making a dozen scans covering part of the
backglass, I was unsuccessful at stitching them together.

I would have to come up with more of a grid to guide the scanning.

So I was looking for more information as to how he accomplished this.

BTW, the Doxie is great for getting the size right, but any yellow
colors come out more of a brown or gold color.

--
http://orcalcoast.com/
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