Front panel express new digital print

I needed to get some more Helios front panels done. I'm doing them in a half rack vertical.  Front Panel Express was having a 20% off deal a few weekends ago and I decided to try the new digital printing. It looks excellent even though i got somerhing really simple. You can do full color now and actually print images on the front panel and actually put a nice logo or whatever.  So possibilities are quite endless and it's affordable I wish they had this when I was building the mixer but on the front on the monitor controller I'm building I now have a lot more freedom to be creative on the front panel.
Anyway here is a small sample.

Can you actually see the image overlaid on the panel and its holes in FPD?

Cheers

Ian

ruffrecords said:

Can you actually see the image overlaid on the panel and its holes in FPD?

Cheers

Ian

Click to expand...

Yep.
Best,
Bruno2000

Thanks Bruno.
Yeah Ian you can. I have no idea how this translates out in the real world but will know soon when i send in my monitor controller. Its gonna be cool to design in photoshop and fpd together. Possibilities will also endless for cloning (and unfortunately those who will put cloned logos on their stuff). If i ever do anything Ill be sure to make it obvious. Nebe for instance or Neze.  BQJ instead of api. But having different colors around switches and detailed volume dials around attenuators is gonna be really cool.  Or the low pass and hi pass filter symbols etc... like i said endless.

Sounds really cool and so much less tediuos than trying to to get engraved lines to butt together. I am definitely going to try it.

Cheers

ian

Hi all

ruffrecords said:

Sounds really cool

Click to expand...

Yes it is, I use the print method the last year, for my desk modules replacement.
IIRC the digital print is more or less the same price as engraving, so far quality is fine, paint is hard to scratch. And as already stated the creativity is endless.

It's really a simple design but, here you can see (left fader) how close I come to the 40+ years old silk screen (right fader)
The darker gray outline at right modules is plastic, original Studer design by the time, anodized tin alu face encrusted/glued on it.
At left, the gray outline is a fake print ! Not to mention that this method allow me to use the exact same labels as original, which is an cheated ratio helvetica impossible to handle with basic engraving.

Best
Zam

Here's my Barry Porter NetEQ panel.
Best,
Bruno2000

can  I have an idea of how much  cost something like that? thanks

12afael said:

can  I have an idea of how much  cost something like that? thanks

Click to expand...

$65 USD.  They just had a 20% off promo so I paid $52 USD.  4"x7"
I used a combo of their engraving software + Microsoft Paint + some AutoCAD images.
Best,
Bruno2000

thanks Bruno!

Any benefits over silk screen ? Apart from the multi-colour option being much easier/ cheaper.

warpie said:

Any benefits over silk screen ? Apart from the multi-colour option being much easier/ cheaper.

Click to expand...

I'd go as far as to say it feels like it might be actually better but really time will tell. Ive done a few silk screens  (too much work and material cost for just one offs) and this feels like itll last longer and for one offs its cheaper.

Bruno that looks just like what i had in mind, and its nice to see the actual real world result.  Excellent work man.

It all fits!!!!!
Best,
Bruno2000

Similar.

Rocinante said:

Thanks Bruno.
Yeah Ian you can. I have no idea how this translates out in the real world but will know soon when i send in my monitor controller. Its gonna be cool to design in photoshop and fpd together. Possibilities will also endless for cloning (and unfortunately those who will put cloned logos on their stuff). If i ever do anything Ill be sure to make it obvious. Nebe for instance or Neze.  BQJ instead of api. But having different colors around switches and detailed volume dials around attenuators is gonna be really cool.  Or the low pass and hi pass filter symbols etc... like i said endless.

Click to expand...

Sorry, i know this might be belated, but it's better to design your panel artwork in Corel or Illustrator, because they work with  vector graphics instead of raster. Vector graphics is what FPD uses too, and unlike raster, it can be resized and edited without losing the quality. Most UV laser digital printer also reads Corel or Illustrator file directly as well, therefore avoiding the need to pay for a file format conversion fee.

metalb00b00 said:

Sorry, i know this might be belated, but it's better to design your panel artwork in Corel or Illustrator, because they work with  vector graphics instead of raster. Vector graphics is what FPD uses too, and unlike raster, it can be resized and edited without losing the quality. Most UV laser digital printer also reads Corel or Illustrator file directly as well, therefore avoiding the need to pay for a file format conversion fee.

Click to expand...

As a Linux user I have no idea what Windows programs like Illustrator, Corel Draw and Photoshop do, but Inkscape is a free vector graphics program I use and it is available on both platforms.

Cheers

Ian

Also belated: I too use inkscape which is very similar to Corel and works well with front panel engraving. I know hitherto FPD (and engraver in general) needed vector files but the new updated software says it accepts many formats, has anyone used pdf's or jpegs yet in the new fpd?

Rocinante said:

Also belated: I too use inkscape which is very similar to Corel and works well with front panel engraving. I know hitherto FPD (and engraver in general) needed vector files but the new updated software says it accepts many formats, has anyone used pdf's or jpegs yet in the new fpd?

Click to expand...

Hello

I use Qcad which is a good tool for those "technical" drawing, .pdf export across the .fpd, work well last time I place order at Schaffer.
To check machining/print alignment with FPD i also export in dxf from Qcad, which I import in FPD.

Best
Zam

How are you guys lining up the text around the controls in a perfect circle? Are there any tricks to doing this, or is it trial/error + experience? I am not very good at using illustrator. Heck, even my stick figures look pretty bad!  ;D

iampoor1 said:

How are you guys lining up the text around the controls in a perfect circle? Are there any tricks to doing this, or is it trial/error + experience? I am not very good at using illustrator. Heck, even my stick figures look pretty bad!  ;D

Click to expand...

I am with you on that one. I am envious of all these guys that come up with beautiful graphics on their front panels. I just have zero skill in that area. However, one thing FPD does have is the ability to rotate characters through an angle about a point so you can  place them in a circle round controls. It is a bit fiddly but there is a good tutorial about it on their web site. I think most graphics programs have similar features.

Cheers

Ian