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AE 80E TouchTone Dial Plate Card - PRINTABLE

Started by markosjal, January 21, 2023, 08:46:48 AM

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markosjal

Ok I posted one of these for a WE or SC Trimline type at one point but can not find the post . I kind of thought it would be good to cross link the threads.

I stared to clean this up for a brown AE 80E that I have but instead stated it all over and wanted it to be easier to change color. So I used the outline of the original dial plate card scan, and replaced all the lines with clean lines. Now I can make my dial card color Brown instead of the Beige that was on it.

I made this originally in BRIGHT RED (brown and beige are modifications of the bright red one)  and you should be able to manipulate SATURATION HUE BRIGHTNESS AND CONTRAST to make it any color as I did here with the examples to make it Beige and brown, of course the colors you make depend much  on your printer and you may need to fine tune the colors some for your printer. When you cut out the button holes it is probably best to use Xacto Knife and metal straight edge. To cut around it use scissors. You can also make it Black and white and print on colored paper. maximize Brightness and contrast and put saturation at minimum or make it grayscale. Card stock paper recommended. Original was scanned at 600 DPI so factor that into your sizing.

maybe we need a Printable dial cads and dial plate section here?
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allnumbedup

When restoring 80E's there is not much one can do without a decent paper face plate--thanks for sharing these.
Analog Phones for a Digital World

TelePlay

IIRC, those "lines" are not printed lines but "ribs" in the plate that keep the plate from adhering to the plastic panel that covers the plate. I could imagine printing the plate on thicker paper and then using some sort of "wheel" tool (sewing type tool) to make ribs that might create a similar ribbing texture. Nothing worse than paper sticking to plastic over time.

Then again, maybe my memory is incorrect.

And, then, maybe the AE version is just lines on paper, or it doesn't matter if ribbed or not since I've seen phones with the ribbed side up and the ribbed side down (flat paper side up).

These days, whatever works or can be found or used to restore a phone is fine.

These are a WE 1500 and 2500 I once had showing the ribbed side up and a 2500 with the flat side of the plate up.

allnumbedup

Yes, the Automatic Electric 80E's are different than 1500 or 2500's by WE. AE printed the design on paper/ very thin cardboard that goes under a clear faceplate.  I think the phones came with a bunch of colors so the subscriber could change them out but now they are almost always stained or dirty when I find them on a phone.
Analog Phones for a Digital World

TelePlay

Thanks, didn't know that. Probably a patent infringement design change.

markosjal

Here it is in White/gray. This may be useful for printing on colored card stock or for a Black or white phone
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poplar1

Quote from: TelePlay on January 21, 2023, 12:51:31 PMThanks, didn't know that. Probably a patent infringement design change.


Or, it allowed GTE to stock only 3 colors (beige, white, and brown?), while still offering multiple faceplates
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

markosjal

MODERRATOR can you please fix this topic title? I beleive this is an 80E
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markosjal

OK, my conversion to PNG caused the 600DPI setting to get changed and it is important for easier printing

So here are true 600DPI png files , although the resolution is the same only the DPI setting is changed but this is important because it tells software what size to print it
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Kellogg Kitt

Thank you for posting these.  They are exactly what I needed.  I made one myself with colored paper, but  it did not turn out very well.  My white "Fashion Plate" phone will be looking much better with one of these.

Wade

markosjal

Quote from: 3463319 on January 22, 2023, 05:56:13 PMThank you for posting these.  They are exactly what I needed.  I made one myself with colored paper, but  it did not turn out very well.  My white "Fashion Plate" phone will be looking much better with one of these.



Cutting them is the hard part!
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TelePlay

Quote from: markosjal on January 22, 2023, 06:33:20 PMCutting them is the hard part!

Cutting straight lines is tedious but easy with an exacto knife and a metal straight edge.

Cutting curves is much easier with a curved Surgical Metzenbaum Scissors. On eBay for under $10.

markosjal

#12
Update. 


After fidgeting with various ways to do this I believe I have come up with an easier process....

With this Process I printed on COLOR paper the color that I wanted the base faceplate. In my case I had to buy a package of many assorted different colors to get only 2 Brown sheets so  I had only a few chances to screw it up.  Furthermore the sheets were too wide for my laser printer so I had to trim them down.


The following will allow you to print two plates on the same color sheet......

1) PRINTING
First I printed The outline of the dial plates on one (back) side of the page
Then on the other side (front) I printed the fine lines
PRINTING THESE BOTH AT 600DPI SHOULD YIELD THE CORRECT SIZE 8.5X11 INCHES. Sorry International users may need to crop the size of the pages to fit your page size (easy to do in photoshop)

2) Preparing to cut
I took the translucent plastic dial plate cover from the phone and centered it as best as possible in one of the printed outlines of the dial plate. I Intentionally put the face side of the plate down as it is beveled on edges and easier to use as a template (for cutting)  this way without damaging the face of the translucent dial plate cover. I then used masking tape to hold it in place.

3) with an Xacto knife and the translucent plastic dial plate cover taped to the page, use a backing surface like a magazine or Cardboard and carefully trim out the squares for each button, and trimming square holes as necessary. We can do some finer clean up later but it is best to make the cuts as clean and complete as you can now.

4) Cut outer edges of dial card
Now use the xacto knife to cut out the outer edges cutting carefully through the Masking tape, and colored paper. If you cut  well you should be able to lift the excess paper off the dial plate

5) trimming .
In my case, I then flipped over the dial plate and paper and could see my area cut was larger than the outline so I used scissors to carefully trim to the outline


6) Install in Phone


Now my phone has no more discolored dial plate and the original paper dial plate card is still underneath the one I printed!

Note: the beveled edges of the translucent plate seem to help hide cutting imperfections.



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markosjal

#13
Since the PNG files I originally tried to post in my previous post do not properly post, I have zipped them here . This is what you need to print on a 8.5x11 inch page one is front and the other is back

AE_DialPlate.zip
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Kellogg Kitt

Thanks again, markosjal, for posting these.  With the files you posted a few days ago, I printed the white one on 65 lb cardstock with my laser printer, and it turned out beautifully.  I cut the button holes with an X-acto knife, and the edges with scissors.  My cut job was not perfect, but the flaws are not apparent now with the facemat in the phone.

I tried changing the color in the PNG file, but the modified file was not the right size when I printed it out.  I did not take time to figure out why, as the white one looks good.

Before this, I had a facemat that I made in hurry from blue colored paper.  The phone looks much better now with its new facemat!


Wade