License Plates
Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2019 3:33 pm
Licensing a car in CA with Year Of Manufacture plates required a trip to the DMV with a set of original license plates. The state requires original front and rear plate in good condition. Once the license was issued this became a legal set of plates for on road use. In 1915, the plates were porcelain on steel. The steel was a lighter gauge in 1915 so they flexed considerably and the porcelain would crack and flake off. Thus what should be the top license plate was constantly being repaired. Everytime I load the file it inverts the image! I even tried inverting the image, but it still comes out upside down.
The paper copy was successful beyond expectations but the fonts for CAL and 1915 were not quite correct. Internet searches for the correct images were performed and copies of the correct fonts were made. Back into PhotoShop where everything was merged together. Off to a shop to have the image printed on metal and UV protected. Interesting is that the black lettering is slightly raised just like on the original plate. The cost was $95 for two. Once again, this is NOT legal to use on the road. It's for show only. When the metal was sheared at both the metal and the print shop, the size was not exactly 5½” x 16”, however, it wasn't obviously different. Making a set of templates for the mounting holes would have reduce scratching of the plate. They are easily scratched so a clear spray on enamel was applied.
Determined to have a nice looking set of show plates, a Xerox copy of the license plate was made and the image was loaded into a computer. Several hours later using PhotoShop the center image above was printed on paper using a high end photo printer. It used a full $40 cartridge of yellow ink for one copy! Off to the metal shop to get some steel sheared to 5½” x 16”. The paper copy was glued to the steel using 3M spray on adhesive then multiple coats of clear enamel was sprayed over it. The cost for 1, $77. This is NOT legal to use on the road. It's for show only.The paper copy was successful beyond expectations but the fonts for CAL and 1915 were not quite correct. Internet searches for the correct images were performed and copies of the correct fonts were made. Back into PhotoShop where everything was merged together. Off to a shop to have the image printed on metal and UV protected. Interesting is that the black lettering is slightly raised just like on the original plate. The cost was $95 for two. Once again, this is NOT legal to use on the road. It's for show only. When the metal was sheared at both the metal and the print shop, the size was not exactly 5½” x 16”, however, it wasn't obviously different. Making a set of templates for the mounting holes would have reduce scratching of the plate. They are easily scratched so a clear spray on enamel was applied.