While my printer will print photos exactly as shown I can not get "true color" to print for blank decal sheets. Yellow and Red main problem, Blue ok. MS office software and Printshop. Print Preview looks great, does not come out on paper. Even tried a photo quality print cartridge.
Anyone experienced this or know a solution??
Computer printers, other than the highly-specialized Alps printer, do not print white. To balance colors and gray scales, they assume that the paper is white, also.
If you use white-backed decal paper, the colors should come out pretty well. You might have to tweak the printer settings, to use high-quality printing, for example.
On clear decal paper, my technique has been to paint the target surface (structure, engine or whatever) white, in the shape of the decal. I use a gloss white acrylic craft paint, typically, to get the best decal adherence.
This particular example is done on a brick building, so the surface is naturally rough, and the image came out looking rather weathered, which is what I wanted. On a smooth surface, you can get a much cleaner image.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.