Teach me how to do graphics. What are my options?

[merlinb]

+1 for Inkscape. I like to get it printed on adhesive vinyl (lots of printing services available on ebay).

[merlinb]

How did you mount the LED(s) to backlight it? It looks so uniform.

And is that a back-painted clear piece, with the labels reverse etched off?

I think we'd all like to know how he made that one!

[garcho]

Etching is an option, albeit, something of a royal PITA, but the results are pleasing.
I used Inkscape for the design, then printed onto PnP blue sheets, then ironed the PnP on the enclosure (after sanding the hell out of it, also a PITA), carefully peeled it off, fixed the inevitable errors with a sharpie, then let it float in ferric chloride for a minute or two or three, sand off (lightly!) the mask, clean the enclosure, and either leave the etched stuff blank, which is a cool look, or fill it with paint, then lightly sand again at the end to clean all the edges up. It can look very pro and nice, or it can look like a post-apocalyptic mess. There is a whole thread here full of pics and advice:

Etched Enclosures

Here's one I did:

[Toy Sun]

How did you mount the LED(s) to backlight it? It looks so uniform.

And is that a back-painted clear piece, with the labels reverse etched off?

The secret to this kind of thing is the use the chassis as a bowl. In other words turn it over, ditch the bottom plate and make your own top plate (using the 4 screws) as the top. The next thing is the "sandwich" which goes under the top plate and around the pots. This has channels and holes for routing the LEDs. It's a bit of a dance to figure it all out, and of course, it adds to the Z height of your overall unit. I'm able to get this done with a 3mm light plate and then another 3mm top plate. As you mentioned the top plate is clear or tinted acrylic, painted black and then the text is reversed and etched from the back. All of this took a fair amount of trial and error and some pedals that didn't turn out so well.
To be honest, it adds so much more time to the build and it's fun, but lately I've been returning to pretty standard stuff, just using the laser to make a top place w/o any fancy lighting or things like that, as when boxing it can introduce all kinds of annoyances. These are one offs and I don't like to repeat myself, so it's a lot....

[mark2]

Well, it's fantastic all around. Thanks for sharing.

At first I was thinking you had to special order long-shaft pots to fit through all that material, but I assume now you're attaching the pot nuts to the bottom layer and burying them.

I guess you just have to hope it never needs any repair so you don't have to peel that beautiful face off

[strungout]

I do my graphics in GIMP and print them on vinyl sticker paper. Then I do a few clear coat layers, just so the graphic isn't easily scuffed.



Had I know the guy didn't mind not having a battery, the dragon's tail would be showing.


Made this for a guy. Told him he could give me any image and I'd use it as graphics. He sent me a picture of his cat named 'Bonsai'. He was stoked.


Just a simple energy beam.

Had other but didn't take pictures. I've been using envocolor slear vinyl sticker paper. I used to use Avery, but they put that cut in the back of the paper to make it easier to peel... that always leaves a crease. The black turn out better on the avery thought, haven't figure out the setting for the envocolor. The main problem I found is bubles, if you're not careful applying the vinyl or there's imperfections on the surface. It's a relatively cheap and easy way to have some graphics.

[merlinb]

As you mentioned the top plate is clear or tinted acrylic, painted black and then the text is reversed and etched from the back.

Is the paint on the same face as the engraving like this? And the sandwich layer is for diffusion right?

[mark2]

Is the paint on the same face as the engraving like this?

I've experimented with this technique a bit and really liked it. A couple of benefits that make it stand out from other methods (2-ply sign material, or masking and filling paint on the front):
1. it's very durable. Any scratches on the face don't affect the lettering or design, and

2. it's very easy to do multiple colors; Engrave, paint, repeat. You just need a little jig (e.g. pin down the original stock material) to precisely reposition it.

[Toy Sun]

Merlinb, that diagram is so correct that I thought I did it myself! Nicely done. The only detail I would add is that I put the LEDs nto that second layer, not below. I have these little channels that keep the 2 leads from shorting. That was the secret to getting it all to fit and keeping the LED out of the guts of the pedal. I found that diffuse acrylic with clear LEDs worked best. Also - translucent blue acrylic + blue LEDs. This really, really helps the color pop. One would think clear acrylic + color LEDs would be enough but this match up is a big part of it working well.

As far as top plate removal for maintenance (yes, I now consider pedal maintenance a thing) it's actually pretty simple. I sometimes use the pot thread+nut to hold the top plate on, sometimes just the 3PDT nut. And... rubber cement! Holds shiny/smooth things like acrylic well but you can pry it off. Oh, the question about the overall thickness and how to deal with it. It's all about a lot of design work on the LED plate. See below:



Have fun!
John

[mark2]

Oh, I see. That's different than I expected.
I thought you mounted the pots to the metal back plate, screwed it down, then fit 2 layers of acrylic over it. And the lower layer of acrylic had a cutout for the nut, while the top layer simply had a hole for the shaft.