Classic British Flight Sim

Halleluja !!

The problem I've been having with all this, right from the start, was not simply creating the outline, but maintaining the antialiasing both on the outer edge of the outline, and on the inner edge so that the border between outline ( blue ) and the inner colour ( red ) was still smooth and unjaggy.

'Twas Dave G's mention of stroking that pointed to the solution, and it simply involves a few mouse clicks.

Using PSE 9: Once I've typed the text, in this case a red G in bold Arial, I make sure I am zoomed at 100% - no lower, no higher. I read ages ago that whenever you are doing anything like this, always have the zoom set to exactly 100%

Then, I go to the menus at the top, and click on Layer/Layer Style/Style settings. Looking at the picture below, I tick the stroke box and select the size and colour of the outline, then click okay. Job done ! I've zoomed in to 300% just to illustrate that the antialiasing is fine, but as I say, the actual process was done at 100% zoom.



Now all I have to do is go back through the PSDs I was working with, find the one where the registration text is still editable( each letter and the dash of G-OPVK was a separate layer in order to get the spacing right ). I think I backed it up at that crtical moment, so it shouldn't take too long to redo the letter in red with a blue outline.

Blimey, what an epic. Thanks gentlemen, not only for pointing me in the right direction, but equally importantly, eliminating what wasn't going to work. Hugely appreciated.

Glad you got it sorted Paul

That screen, again, looks absolutely nothing like my PSE2 mate though thinking about it.. that's probably PSE9 I had a look at stroking in PSE2 and while it will stroke.. it only seems to want to do it if there's already an effect there. Got some interesting effects mind you.. some of which may come in useful in the future

ATB
DaveB

Yep, thats PSE 9 in that pic.

Nice work Paul! I was also tempted by the lovely little Cherokee to try my hand at repainting for the first time; it looks like you've done a grand job at lining-up that tricky bit where the fin texture comes down onto the fuselage. Rather incongruous to see the Red Duster on an aeroplane, but I'll have to let you off as I work beneath one of 'em too. (Though not Merchant Navy.)

Good job on the outlining as well. I'm afraid the Civil Aviation Authority prohibits such niceties in the real world but all's fair in a fictional paintjob! Not sure why the CAA have to be such killjoys when U.S. operators can fly with fancy italics, drop-shadows and so on, not to mention tiny registrations. I think all we're allowed in the UK is a slope of <30° and I expect even that's seen as terribly daring! Here's a link to the CAA regs on aircraft registration markings if anyone has trouble sleeping tonight!

Cheers,
Nick

Innit luverly the way this forum helps, eh?

Nick M wrote:Nice work Paul!

Cheers matey...but..

Good job on the outlining as well. I'm afraid the Civil Aviation Authority prohibits such niceties in the real world...

Well, these owners seem to be getting away with it - outlines, drop shadows, and all. The first one is almost exactly what I have above in PSE9. Blimey, it didn't take long to get ripped off.









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Paul K wrote:Well, these owners seem to be getting away with it ...

So they do - the bunch of Devil-may-care scoundrels! Lets face it, none of them (least of all G-CJBC or your font) make the lettering any harder to read. Well, perhaps the CAA guy with his clipboard would take a dim view of G-BPKM.

I guess as long as you don't fly around with Comic Sans or Gothic letterings for the under-wing registration, you've got a good chance of getting away with it...

Anyway - keep up the good work. I found the repainting thing to be decidedly addictive so went cold turkey after just a few. Even with the fantastic A2A paint kit, I found I was spending more time fiddling with errant pixels than flying the blighters!

Cheers,
Nick

Nick M wrote:So they do - the bunch of Devil-may-care scoundrels! Lets face it, none of them (least of all G-CJBC or your font) make the lettering any harder to read. Well, perhaps the CAA guy with his clipboard would take a dim view of G-BPKM.

I guess as long as you don't fly around with Comic Sans or Gothic letterings for the under-wing registration, you've got a good chance of getting away with it...

Anyway - keep up the good work. I found the repainting thing to be decidedly addictive so went cold turkey after just a few. Even with the fantastic A2A paint kit, I found I was spending more time fiddling with errant pixels than flying the blighters!

Cheers,
Nick

That's pilots for you - they just cock a snook at the man from the Ministry.

Nick, I'm using Arial bold as my font. The capital G is the easiest to compare with lettering on real aircraft, and its not far off in most cases. Of course, I could use Wing Dings ( arf ).

I know what you mean about addiction - already I'm thinking about what improvements I could make to this paint ( without over-doing it, of course ), and I have an idea for a Cessna 172 repaint too.

Thanks for the compliments.

Now if you look at my DH90 in Developers Corner, the white against red letters have a black outline, & the red against silver have a white outline, now that I believe goes back sometime, & IIRC there are quite a few pre-war private aircraft with just an outline in a contrasting colour. Can't remember which off the top of my head.
Keith

Keith, that DH.90 really is a lovely looking model. Regarding the registration, which font do you use, and how do you go about making sure the spacing between the letters and dash is correct ? Your experience might speed things up for me.