Hep me Inkscape for my decals

[Ben Lyman]

When I go for a "print preview" it says "No application is registered as handling this file" and I have no idea what that means.
I can still print but it would be nice to see a preview first.

[Ben Lyman]

Stupid question #1: see above^
Stupid question #2: can I print white ink?

[Passaloutre]

Looks like somebody found a fix for your print preview problem here (see the last post): http://www.inkscapeforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=19479

I don't think any consumer level printers have any white ink. Even our professional plotters at work don't have white ink. I think you have to get into commercial screen printing for that.

[Ben Lyman]

Thanks again! umm.. I don't know what this means but I guess it's what I need to do:

Edit this file in any text editor:
/Applications/Inkscape.app/Contents/Resources/etc/gtk-2.0/gtkrc

Add these 2 lines:
# use OS X default PDF viewer for print preview
gtk-print-preview-command="open -a /Applications/Preview.app %f"

[Passaloutre]

gtkrc is the configuration file for the gtk gui toolkit. Inkscape uses gtk to build its graphical interface. Adding that line to the rc file tells Inkscape to use Preview (the OSX application for viewing pdfs, pictures, etc.) when you click on the "Print Preview" button.

[Plexi]

I was looking for some simple program to design some decal... I've never made this before.

I'll give it a chance

[Ben Lyman]

man you lost me there, lol 
I opened me app "Text Edit" and searched for an Inkscape file to open and all I found was this: 
/applications/inkscape-0.91-1-x11-10.5-i386_1.dmg

[Passaloutre]

Yeah I wouldn't go messing with any .dmg files. I'm afraid I'm not familiar enough with OSX to be of any more help. I'm pretty cavalier about messing with config files in Linux, but I don't want you to mess your system up on account of me.

[Electric Warrior]

man you lost me there, lol 
I opened me app "Text Edit" and searched for an Inkscape file to open and all I found was this: 
/applications/inkscape-0.91-1-x11-10.5-i386_1.dmg

you need to right click the application and then select "show package contents"

[Ben Lyman]

OK, just did that, thanks! Lot's of stuff I don't understand are showing up. files and folders and such. I will look at them all now closely

edit: I got all the way to the gtk folder and just pasted this at the very bottom of that page:
gtk-print-preview-command="open -a /Applications/Preview.app %f"

didn't change anything yet, maybe I need to restart my computer?

EDIT EDIT!!!! SUCCESS!!! Thank you all so much. I can't believe I just hacked into the system, I'm a bonified computer genius now! lol 

[EBK]

Since it hasn't been mentioned after you asked [legitimate] question 2:

To print in white, you need a UV printer.  Pedalpartsplus can do this for you, and they accept one-offs out of principle and tradition (I'm putting words into their mouths), even though it isn't profitable for them.

Disclaimer: I have not, as of yet, ordered anything from them (but I've thought about it, if that counts). 

[anotherjim]

Soon get nowhere fast trying to print white.
You need a design with a solid colour border, leaving the text transparent. Then mask or cut a stencil so you can paint a solid white area, so that adding the decal over it shows the text in white. Same if you want text in a true metallic colour.

Or accept defeat and use rub-down lettering.

[EBK]

Or accept defeat and use rub-down lettering.

I tried looking for white rub-on letters once.  I found the available selection disappointing. 
Custom cut vinyl might also be an option.

[Ben Lyman]

It's not too important to me but I have some prepainted black enclosures, also some kinda dark blue ones too.
I can probably use very light yellow or spray a coat of white over the top, then just use my normal black printed decal on that.

[anotherjim]

The only white rub-down text I know is made by Seno, the same brand as the rub-down pcb etch resist.

[Ben Lyman]

btw, here's my first attempt at a decal, it's before I learned how to duplicate so it's a bit pixely

[anotherjim]

Perfectionist!
I can't see any damned thing wrong with it. Very smart.

[davent]

There is a way to do white, haven't tried it but have seen pictures by others and it did look pretty good.

Pulsar Decal Pro- create your own dry transfers.

http://www.pulsarprofx.com/decalpro/vertical/1_menu/1d_components/Components.html

http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=3452.0

dave

[EBK]

There is a way to do white, haven't tried it but have seen pictures by others and it did look pretty good.

Pulsar Decal Pro- create your own dry transfers.

http://www.pulsarprofx.com/decalpro/vertical/1_menu/1d_components/Components.html

http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=3452.0

dave

That process looks cool, but requires a TON of stuff, it seems. 
Can't argue with the results though.  Cool looking pedals are possible.

Similar upfront cost to vinyl cutting at home ($200-250 USD).

[GGBB]

Here's a useful article describing the differences between Duplicate, Copy/Paste, and Clone on Inkscape: https://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/quick-tip-duplicate-clone-or-copy-and-paste--cms-19969

Glad you figured it out!

That's pure gold. I wish I'd have known about duplicate and clone a long time ago. A couple of things I've noted - if you have a clone and are editing the original, copy/paste doesn't reflect in the clone, but duplicate does. Duplicates also seem to stay in their groups - so if you duplicate an object that is part of a group, it stays within the group. That means the item doesn't automatically go to the top level if the group is not the topmost object. One drawback - you can't select items in a cloned object - not normally a problem until you want to align some other object to part of your clone.