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Dial Center cards Question

Started by RoatryPhoneLover_2000, August 10, 2022, 10:18:05 PM

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RoatryPhoneLover_2000

Does anybody know how to make a dial card for both touch tone and roatry dial phones?  I have a small collection but unfortunately most of my phones do not have dial cards and the ones that do have rips on them.  I have read about making aged patina paper and using that but what about how to make them and look as authentic as possible?  Also what software is recommended.  Thanks in advance.

HarrySmith

Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

SUnset2

I'll just toss out how I make substitute number cards.

First I either find a scan or make a scan of the style of card I want to replicate, based usually on the make of phone and period that I want to represent.  I then use Photoshop Elements to create a layer with the new exchange name that I want to use.  Copperplate is the font that looks like what Western Electric used for their cards.  Other companies used different fonts.  I adjust the font sizes to match the example card.  I blank out the original exchange name and combine the layers.  I then duplicate it to make several copies on the same page. 

I print it onto card stock with a laser printer.  If I want it to look old and yellowed, I print it onto ivory colored card stock.  I also sometimes use a light gray card stock to resemble what WE used in the 1960s.

I then use an old telephone company surplus numbering stamp to print the numerals.  I have a couple different styles, metal and rubber, depending on the look I want.  It is good to have extra blanks to stamp on, as I often get the stamp misaligned.

For Western Electric, I have a Fiskars circle punch that I punch them out with.  For Automatic Electric, Kellogg, GPO, etc, (which are larger) I cut them out by hand with scissors. 

FABphones

Thanks for the info.

Quote..I then use Photoshop Elements..

Which version please?


A collector of  'Monochrome Phones with Sepia Tones'   ...and a Duck!
***********
Vintage Phones - 10% man made, 90% Tribble
*************

TelePlay

Quote from: FABphones on August 12, 2022, 06:14:03 AMWhich version please?

I've been using Elements since it first came out in the mid 90s and upgraded it several times.

Every version has had the ability to create layers, many layers, as needed.

When buying Elements, it is important to make sure the version works on your operating system. For example, Ver 11 will only work on Win XP, 7 & 8. Not on newer windows versions.

I bought a newer (refurbished) desktop and had to buy another newer version of Elements that was compatible with that Windows version. The newest version of Elements would not work on that computer.

Good news is that older versions of Elements sell for 80% less that the newest version which runs about $100.

Plenty of brand new older versions for sale on eBay, just make sure it's compatible with the Windows version on which it will be used.

RDPipes

That's weird, I wonder why "Elements" is like that?
I've been running Adobe Photoshop CS which includes "Image Ready" for years and keep transferring to each new PC I get
and it runs just fine and it's on my Win 11 machine right now.

TelePlay

CS was prior to Elements, IIRC.

Elements is more complex, basically a stripped down version of the extremely large and expensive Photoshop.

Adobe matches their code to that of the current Windows version.

My Microsoft Flight Simulator used on XP won't load on Win7. Same with elements.

I suspect Adobe does not want to spend the time and money to make their complex code backwards compatible to run on every obsolete version of Windows.

With Elements, buying and older version to match an older version of Windows doesn't matter, the functions needed by most people are in any versions of Elements, and CS as well.

If CS was pre-Elements, then that's what I was using for a few years on an XP platform before it was obsoleted by Elements Ver. 1.

RDPipes

#7
Ah! Okay, that makes sense. This is the first time I've heard of it and yes, Photoshop is very expensive, that's why I'm still running a 10 - 20 year old program, LOL!

TelePlay

New versions won't work with older versions of Windows and older versions of Elements won't work on newer versions of Windows.

Photoshop 2018 is the last version that will work on Win7

Elements 2020 will not work on Win7.

I think they take Photoshop and remove some functions and sell that as Elements, the basic elements of Photoshop. Why spend the money to write two separate programs.

countryman

For relatively simple stuff like this the free software GIMP will do. I have never bought or worked with Photoshop though, sure it is what experts want.

TelePlay

Quote from: countryman on August 12, 2022, 10:57:55 AMFor relatively simple stuff like this the free software GIMP will do. I have never bought or worked with Photoshop though, sure it is what experts want.

Yes, that is correct. The key word is "relatively" simple in that MS Paint is great for "really" simple stuff (rotating, cropping and resizing).

I've downloaded GIMP and found it to be somewhere between MS Paint and Photoshop Elements. I use Paint most of the time (rotating & cropping) for Forum images. I use Elements for complex stuff from dial cards to the FOTY Trophy (which has about 37 layers, or parts in separate layers, to it.



The last candlestick birthday cake I did had about 23 layers.



Now, as to GIMP, it is better than Paint, cheaper than Photoshop Elements and as I have always found with using new software a bit of a learning curve and depending on what I want to do with the software, I may hit a production wall that requires better software. I did a quick search for GIMP pro's and con's and came up with this fairly complete list (there is a lot on the interweb about GIMP is you do a Google search for "GIMP."

=====

Is GIMP better than Photoshop?

Photoshop uses stronger tools and offers a much stronger pixel manipulation than GIMP. GIMP offers a streamlined workflow which is great for beginners. The customisable UI is also ideal for setting up an efficient workflow for online digital photography.

Is GIMP similar to Photoshop?

GIMP is a FREE image editing software whereas Photoshop is a PAID image editing software. GIMP and Photoshop both contains numerous plugins, but photoshop plugins are designed by the famous photo brands like Phase One, Kodak, and more. GIMP contains fewer tools while Photoshop contains a lot of tools.Jul 28, 2022

How hard is it to learn GIMP?

GIMP is a free to use, open-source answer to image editors looking for an Adobe Photoshop alternative. It's also quite beginner friendly and has a thriving community filled with tips and tricks to help produce the alterations and revisions that your image requires.Feb 15, 2020

Do professionals use GIMP?

The GIMP is great for the price and is certainly usable on a professional level for screen graphics. It's not equipped to handle professional print color spaces or file formats, however. For that, you'll still need PhotoShop.

The disadvantages of GIMP

These were the main drawbacks I've discovered using GIMP.

  •     No way to select multiple layers
  •     No way to apply same text styles to multiple text layers
  •     Can't add effects to editable text
  •     No way to export images optimized for web (possible with plugin)
  •     Buggy – it does crash occasionally
  •     Hard to arrange layers – no ability to group layers as with Photoshop
  •     Poor (or virtually nil) support for vectors

All the disadvantages can be overcome. By purchasing Photoshop you are spending money to buy yourself time and less frustration – that's assuming you are familiar with Photoshop's interface.

Can GIMP do everything Photoshop can?

The file you look at with GIMP won't be the same one as the file they created in Photoshop. So in this case, can GIMP do everything that Photoshop can? Unfortunately, no.

What's the best free photo editor?

The best free photo editors

  • GIMP. The best free photo editor for advanced image editing. ...
  • Ashampoo Photo Optimizer. Fuss-free photo editing with automatic optimization tools. ...
  • Canva. Best browser-based professional-level photo editor with templates. ...
  • Fotor. ...
  • Photo Pos Pro. ...
  • Paint.NET. ...
  • PhotoScape. ...
  • Pixlr X.

Is GIMP the best photo editor?

GIMP (opens in new tab) (the GNU Image Manipulation Program) is our top pick for the best free photo editor, and comes with a huge array of professional-quality functions for fine-tuning snaps and creating your own artwork from scratch.

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The bottom line is any imaging software that gets the specific job done for the user is just fine.

ka1axy

1.5" circle punch off Amazon will make life easier for those rotary cards.

No need for Photoshop. Either Word or LibreOffice will allow you to draw circles and text boxes will let you place your text (in a variety of fonts) exactly where you want it. Then print on heavy paper or card stock (whatever your printer will do)  and punch out.

MaximRecoil

Quote from: RDPipes on August 12, 2022, 08:00:17 AMThat's weird, I wonder why "Elements" is like that?
I've been running Adobe Photoshop CS which includes "Image Ready" for years and keep transferring to each new PC I get
and it runs just fine and it's on my Win 11 machine right now.

I use Photoshop 7.0 from 2002 which is even older than CS, on Windows 10. There's a glitch that sometimes happens when you're adjusting sliders such as for brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, etc., where the slider box will suddenly disappear. There are places you can click to get it to reappear. I found that if you enable Windows XP compatibility mode on the Photoshop EXE file that it seems to fix that glitch though.

I have Photoshop CS6 (2012) too but I rarely use it. 7.0 is what I learned on back when it was new, I'm used to its layout, and most of the time it can do whatever I want to do. The only time I ever open CS6 is if I want to do "content-aware" filling, but most of the time that doesn't give me the results I want so I go back to 7.0 and do it manually.

For something like a dial card, I prefer Adobe Illustrator though (my copy of that is old too), since that's what I use to make files for screen printing.

countryman

Like older office software, these programs still can do what they were designed for.
For me it's well worth keeping an older laptop with a 32 bit install of windows 10.
It's not the modern windows that kills compatibility in many cases, but the 64 bit install. It allows better RAM usage in return, but smaller/older machines run as well with the 32 bit version.

RDPipes

Quote from: MaximRecoil on August 19, 2022, 09:47:20 PMI use Photoshop 7.0 from 2002 which is even older than CS, on Windows 10. There's a glitch that sometimes happens when you're adjusting sliders such as for brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, etc., where the slider box will suddenly disappear. There are places you can click to get it to reappear. I found that if you enable Windows XP compatibility mode on the Photoshop EXE file that it seems to fix that glitch though.

Never had a problem with Photoshop CS, reckon maybe I'm just lucky.
To be perfectly honest I don't use it for dial cards that much, only to clean up and sharpen image I'm copying.
I most often paste them into MS Word to size and print, I use Photoshop for photo clean up, sharpen, auto level, crop and resize, etc. I've had it since it came out and still don't really know how to do all the fancy stuff on it but, I wouldn't get rid of it for love nor money.