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Old 10-16-21 | 11:23 AM
  #17  
PeakFreak
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Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 82
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From: Calgary, Alberta

Bikes: 1986 Pinarello Montello, Pinarello ROKH, Specialized Mountain Bike

Pinarello Montello Restoration - Decal Quality

In fairness, I should have asked the suppliers I used about their actual sizes and dimensions of the logos. I assumed that these would be the same size as the original ones on my bicycle and they were not. So it was a lesson learned and I was just trying to let others know that they should measure every decal and ask the supplier to create those sizes you need if they do not have those sizes in stock.
The print attributes of the large Pinarello logos I purchased were not really noticeable unless you looked closely and as a graphic designer for over 30 years I notice things like that as it's my passion and work. But they are not the same sizes as the ones on my bicycle. The smaller SLX logos, 1984 or 88 Olympic win decals with olympic rings(which have finer detail and smaller text are filled in and are not as sharp as the originals) and the copyright ® is reversed out of a black circle rather than a black R with a black keyline around it. These new productions are the way they are because of 2 things.

1.
No one has the original artwork which the printers of the day used. Back then these where either hand drawn or typeset if just a specific font, then shot in a darkroom as a Positive paper or film at whaterever size the printer needed via a Stat camera and the paper would be pasted via Wax on artboard. A translucent paper overlay was colour marked up for the printer who then created printing plates and then used offset printing press to produce the final product.
OR
2.
If you don't have the original artwork then you have to redraw/recreate it in Illustrator or other vector based applications. This is extremely difficult if the logo is a custom font or hand drawn.You have to be a talented Typographer to be able to do this type of work. If you are lucky and have a 300dpi original printed decal or a large poster with the logo on it, then you could have it scanned on a drum scanner and have a production artist clean it up and reduce down to the size you need and save it out as a 300dpi pdf or jpg. But if you are trying to create a print ready file from a small scanned image, well good luck with that. Your final piece will always look fuzzy. Because a small colour logo in a catalogue is only printed at either 240dpi or 300dpi on an offset press and these images are made up of CMYK dots which are never as sharp as a B+W piece of artwork. So if an online decal producer is using artwork like that to create a decal for purchase his final output will be less than stellar.

Hopefully some suppliers would supply you with samples that you could have a good look at and see if they are the quality you wish. They will certainly get more business once forum readers start praising their handiwork. It's a win, win for all those who wish to have their pride and joy restored to to its former glory. And if they don't then source elsewhere.
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