[Amps] Panel lettering, scales, dials, etc

[Alan Ibbetson]

I asked

 > I would like to create a front panel for my latest homebrew project 
with
 > better markings than my usual Dymo tape ugliness. I've located some
 > material called Water-slide Decal Paper that I think could fit the 
bill,
 > but only if I can find a suitable PC package to draw tuning scales, 
band
 > position markings, and so on.

[Summary: I like Front Panel Designer best. It is free from 
http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/ ]

In detail:

In addition to the recommendations on the list, I also received off-list 
suggestions of Brother/Dymo clear label tape, and vinyl peel and stick 
lettering from stationary suppliers. But what to do about dials for 
things like rotary controls?

Colin <k7fm at teleport.com> gets very close with this suggestion:-

"I make my own panel material using decal paper, however I have never 
found the perfect software and have to combine stuff.  You can do it 
with things like AutoCad, but that software costs as much as a new car 
and then you need to go to college for 4 years to learn how to run it.

"One program I have found very useful is a program written by a French 
author called "Graph Paper".  It lets me make those things like you 
would have behind a tuning knob.  You can select the degree rotation and 
major and minor ticks.  Works great and you can learn it with the amount 
of energy it takes to sip a cup of nice English tea.  About $30.  This 
software lets you make all sorts of things like music sheets, graph 
paper or dials.

"The water slide paper is not perfect and requires some thought into 
color. The perfect color for the lettering is white, with a black panel. 
But few printers print white.  The Mannesman Tally MT-1000 does, but it 
is out of production.  I have one of those and they are amazing.  I have 
tried lower contrast printing, like light yellow on a charcoal 
background, but the contrast was unacceptable.

"For some of my panels, I actually went a different route and they are 
quite good.  I created a panel on regular high gloss white paper.  Then 
I could use different colors.  After printing, I laminated it, cut holes 
out for the controls then glued it to the front panel.  These panels 
look outstanding. One minor problem for a normal printer is there is a 
limitation of 8.5" x 11" panels.

"I also made some very nice decals without even using decal paper. 
Printed out colorful "decals" on regular paper.  Then covered the front 
and back with clear wide mailing tape.  Then cut out the desired "decal" 
and glued it on.  I made a copy of the old Ameco 1 tube transmitter and 
needed an Ameco label - with a lightning bolt.  It came out beautiful."

The French graph paper package to which Colin refers is available here

http://www.marquis-soft.com/

The Dials drop-down gives what most people will want, and the interface 
is very simple, but I wanted something with a little more flexibility.

As Colin said, professional CAD packages will do everything but cost a 
fortune and are hard to learn. CorelDraw is just as excessively 
feature-rich, although it is available on 15 day free trial if anyone 
wants to learn how to drive it and then instruct the rest of us.

Most of the freeware CAD packages I tried over the past few days were 
either poor at lettering, had scaling errors with my particular printer, 
were unfathomable, or often all of the above. This site summarises some 
of the wide range of software available in this area

http://www.freebyte.com/cad/

Finally, I tripped over a package called Front Panel Designer. It does 
everything I want. It is intuitive to use. It produces accurately sized 
output on my Lexmark inkjet printer. And it is free. Download it from 
here

http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/

If you want professionally CNC milled panels then this company can do it 
for you too. Here is a website showing some examples

http://www.strings.ph.qmul.ac.uk/~thomas/synthdiy/frontpanel.htm

-- 

Cheers,

Alan G3XAQ
alan at g3xaq.demon.co.uk