# I am in love...with Rhinestone transfers! How to get custom rhinestone transfers made



## Moo Spot Prints

We broke new ground on Friday over here and I thought I'd share our experiences. Yes, we tried out custom rhinestone transfers and you know what? I FREAKIN' LOVE THEM! There, I said it. 

I was skeptical of going this route because for a few reasons -


Our target demographic isn't really known for sporting the bling.
I was afraid it would cost a fortune.
I didn't think people would pay a premium for rhinestones.
I had no idea how to adapt our graphics to this new medium.

My girlfriend 'educated' me on a few things. 


Half our target demographic is female and they LOOOOOVE the sparkly stuff. 
They are used to paying through the nose for this stuff.
The girls love the sparkly stuff.
The girls love the sparkly stuff.
The girls love the sparkly stuff.
...

Thus properly indoctrinated, I found that I only had 2 barriers (as opposed to 4 previously). I was prodded a little more and I finally broke down and started to look into _possibly _testing out a rhinestone transfer.

I did my due diligence on google and here and found that the ONLY way I would even consider doing this is if I could buy ready-to-press transfers. The idea of manually placing the stones on a shirt or piece of tape made me want to stab out my eyeballs with a wooden spoon. A little more digging and I found one place that might offer what I needed. Turns out, The Rhinestone Guy offers custom transfers and is right down the road from me in Santa Ana, California. After doing a little math I found that the per transfer prices were not outrageously expensive. 

The price varies depending on the type, size and quantity of stones so you could make the designs as simple or complex as you could afford.

Not bad. But how to get some artwork in a rhinestone ready format? Their website gives some ideas but there's a whole lot of manual work to do. One suggestion was to use a sharpie to place dots where you wanted the stones to be.

Excuse me? Sharpie? I don't think so. If I'm going to shell out money for 50 transfers (the minimum), I'd better have a better way of visualizing the design!

I ended up trying the sharpie-dots approach and got pretty much what I expected (a lot of work and a lot of dots in the wrong places). I tried the GemMaster software I found through google but after 30 minutes I wanted to throw it and the computer out the window. What a POS!

Things weren't looking good until I remembered about a thread I saw on this very forum. One I even participated in. Something about an Illustrator vs Corel p*****g match... I thought "hey, I'm an illustrator advocate, why not figure out how to use it?" Well, I did and here's how I did it:

*1.* Take a design that's relatively simple. By that I mean not a lot of detail. Remember, you're trying to represent the image as a series of 2-3mm dots. Luckily for me, I have a perfect design. I make shirts for some of the local Hash House Harrier (yup, the drinking club with a running problem) groups. One of their most recognizable images is a foot with the words on-on in it. I just happen to have a nice vector of it on my server. It looks like this:










*2.* Make a template with all the sizes you think you'll be using. Make pattern brushes out of each dot. The spacing isn't super important. You will tweak it later on when you're trying to get the placement. Note that some of the dots are distorted. This is because illustrator is trying to bend it so that it 'fits'. I have yet to find a way to make it not do this to my satisfaction. If you figure it, let me know! In this image I have my dots on the top and a path with inner and outer edges as well as a line (to see the start and end pattern).

You can color these to match the stone colors. In the sample image I took a jpg off the net and trimmed it to the SS10 size to see what it would look like. Not bad... Anyone want to create a set of brushes in all the sizes and colors for me to use? 










*3. * Take your image and apply brushes to the paths until you get something that looks pretty good. It's not science.










*4.* Tweak the spacing for the brush and the paths so that the dots aren't too close or too far from each other. You're looking good separation between dots on different paths.










*5. * Print out the image and see if you've got the dimensions right. Do this until you're confident about the sizing! Use different sized people and shirts so you don't end up with weird looking extremes.










*6. * Call up the rhinestone guy and place an order. For this transfer we used clear SS10 xfer guy 2cut stones (the most inexpensive) for the shape and SS10 clear AB xfer guy 2cut for the lettering. A few days later you'll get your transfers. Turnaround time was amazing -- 2 days! We lucked out and got in between jobs.  

The transfers come on a sticky mylar carrier with a plastic backing. Very similar to t-shirt vinyl.










*6.* Press the transfer just as you would a plastisol transfer. I pressed at 295 degrees for 26 seconds using med pressure Probably a 6 for those of you with pressure indicators. It doesn't take much!

This particular transfer was destined for a black bella tank (we have since pressed onto black Gildan shirts and 100% poly performance fabrics with perfect results).

Peel warm.

I used a teflon sheet only because my press if not working right. The shocks are shot and the auto release is VIOLENTLY releasing the lid taking the transfer and shirt along with it about half the time.




























*7.* Give it to a girl with a boring shirt and make her SMILE!




















Oh, one important thing I learned (and if you're sharp you saw that in the last photo). Stretch the shirt when you're pressing. If it's a tight fitting garment like this bella, the artwork WILL stretch and appear distorted. 

After this first pressing I started using my fabric stretchers (cardboard squares) on all shirts that were to be rhinestoned. The design looks correct when worn. 

...Scratch that. 

The design looks *fabulous *when worn!

The cardboard squares are 4-5 inches wider than the shirt size. I'm looking for a better material if anybody's got any ideas!


*8.* Prepare to be the most popular dude on the block. Seriously!


Big thumbs up to the rhinestone guy. The website isn't the easiest to navigate but it has all the necessary information. The designs were done quickly and pretty reasonably. Per per transfer was just over $4. They pressed perfectly on the first try and look awesome!

Hope that helps some of you. It's late and I'm sure I forgot something. Ask if I wasn't clear. 

Enjoy!


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## Solmu

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

Great post Jose... I added this thread to the heat transfer faq post.


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## mazinger

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

 
nice shirt thanks for the info... 


i will try..


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## MotoskinGraphix

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

Excellent post!


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## Buechee

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

It works if you want to know how to place stones on a shirt. I'm happy for you. I too like putting stones on tees. Good post.


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## THQ

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

Thanks a bunch


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## vctradingcubao

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

Wow, great post Jose. I also need to add some bling blings on some of my ladies shirts. For now, I'll just be using the Star metallic flex/vinyl transfers from Forever.


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## Moo Spot Prints

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

Glad you guys liked it. It was late last night and I forgot to mention that the designs still need to be put into a cad system/format that the placement machine can understand. This is currently done by hand! By submitting my artwork like I did I saved a bunch of money in setup fees. As soon as I find some time I'm going to head down and figure out exactly what that format is so I can get that number down as close to zero as possible.

Our initial test batch sold out very, very quickly. You should have seen how quickly those necks turned when the sparkles caught their eyes! I really think I would have had much more fun in my youth if I had gone through it covered in rhinestones.


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## paulo

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

Quick question...

Can Plastisol transfers and Rhinestone transfers be combined?

1 sheet? or 2 different sheets?

Can you re-heat press the same garment with different plastisol and rhinestone designs?


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## Moo Spot Prints

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*



paulo said:


> Quick question...
> 
> Can Plastisol transfers and Rhinestone transfers be combined?
> 
> 1 sheet? or 2 different sheets?
> 
> Can you re-heat press the same garment with different plastisol and rhinestone designs?


I've seen shirts with both types of decoration on them but I haven't seen a transfer made with both. I have no idea who could do that. You would need a sticky backing on the plastisol sheet to keep the rhinestones on it. You're probably better off doing it in 2 steps. 

As long as you use a teflon sheet to keep it from sticking, you can reheat plastisol. You probably want to do the plastisol first and leave gaps in the ink for the rhinestones. Not sure how well they would stick to the ink -- you'd have to test if you don't want to leave gaps.


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## paulo

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

Thanks for the info.

I'm going to have to play around with AI and try that out.

My Phoenix Phire 16x20 is on its way, and I cant wait to start playing around with the Plastisol and Rhinestone transfers.


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## D.Evo.

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

I haven't tried plastisol tranfers, but I've made a couple of shirts recently for a trade show display combining rhinestone motiffs with sublimated designs - looks stunning!


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## hiGH

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

great stuff.. thanks.


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## Rodney

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

Thanks for taking the time to write this up, Jose. Great photos as well.

I saw this shirt in person at the tradeshow and I can tell you that it looked very cool and blingy in real life!

Feel like explaining how you made a brush? I guess I could google it since I'm using Corel


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## sunnydayz

Those look great Jose, and I can tell you from a girls point of view we love sparkely stuff. very good post, and great instructions.

Bobbie


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## patchmaster

Nice work,

the Rhinestone guy link forwards to a referrer link for diamond jewelry. happen to have an update?

Bill


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## Moo Spot Prints

patchmaster said:


> Nice work,
> 
> the Rhinestone guy link forwards to a referrer link for diamond jewelry. happen to have an update?
> 
> Bill


DOH! Didn't check it. sorry.

Here is the correct link to The Rhinestone Guy


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## paulo

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*



Rodney said:


> Feel like explaining how you made a brush?


Ditto, working with AI here.


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## Moo Spot Prints

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

These two links explain it better than I could.

Adobe Illustrator Tips, Tricks and Tutorials
Pattern Brushes in Adobe Illustrator


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## Cowgirl Down

This section was very helpful, ty


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## mickmel

Very good thread ,thanks for taking your time to make this thread this is going to help a lot of people 
good luck 
mike


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## staned

looks like you cut the head off the best part of the picture.


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## Omaggio Fratelli

Very nice, not a bad idea.


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## azorable

That looks awesome, might try it someday


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## lucyann

If you ever need help with the design aspect of what you're doing I can help. I do lots of custom transfer designs. I use lots of metal too - not just rhinestones. I can send pics if you'd like to see examples of different possibilities. Glad you love them. I do too!!!


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## plan b

Lucy,,, send the pics please........ R


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## lucyann

Sorry but having a hard time getting my image files small enough to attach! Here's one that I do for the So. Calif. Viper Club. Lots more to choose from if you'd like to see more. Any other resizing suggestions? I've taken them down to 72 dpi and reduced the overall image dimensions. 

Lucy


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## Moo Spot Prints

plan b said:


> Lucy,,, send the pics please........ R


Yes, some pictures of your designs would be great!

If you feel like sharing how you go about creating your designs I'm sure everyone tracking this thread would love to hear it -- Do you use transfers? What software do you use? etc...


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## lucyann

I start with an image of a logo, picture, lettering - whatever I will be doing. I resize if necessary it in Digital Image (many other programs would do the same thing - Illustrator, Corel, etc.) and print in mirror image. I place clear transfer tape sticky side up over the image, tape it into place, and then have at it with rhinestones and/or metal components depending on the look I want. They come in a huge variety of colors, sizes, shapes. Let's just say tweezers are my best friend! I have been around this stuff for many years so I have lots of components to choose from. Makes things much easier. I have a technical person who will then convert the design into finished transfers for me. Small volume is always done by hand - production volume starts at about 30-50 units depending on the design and set-up costs the customer is able to pay. I sell either transfers alone or finished garments depending on what the customer needs. Rhinestones come in various qualities with Swarovski being the best - nothing compares to their sparkle. "Machine cuts" are the next level down - less expensive but still nice and then there are the lowest end least expensive that can sometimes be dull and irregular - those are the ones you'll usually see on mass volume. Hope that helps.


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## lucyann

I should also mention that if you're an Illustrator or Corel user the tutorial you posted earlier is awesome. It explains the method perfectly. I have tried Illustrator but have been frustrated by not being able to really see the design results right away. I will frequently change out either sizes, colors or shapes of components if needed. I don't get the same kind of visual working with a computer file first. A finished design can be scanned in and converted to a technical file to be perfected which is the way I prefer to work. If you're doing straight lines or a single component design then starting with a computer program may be the best way to go.


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## crysvan

very helpful thread!  
im on my way to understanding perfectly how to make shirts with stones in it


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## paulo

Moo Spot Prints said:


> *2.* Make a template with all the sizes you think you'll be using. Make pattern brushes out of each dot. The spacing isn't super important. You will tweak it later on when you're trying to get the placement. Note that some of the dots are distorted. This is because illustrator is trying to bend it so that it 'fits'. I have yet to find a way to make it not do this to my satisfaction. If you figure it, let me know! In this image I have my dots on the top and a path with inner and outer edges as well as a line (to see the start and end pattern).
> 
> You can color these to match the stone colors. In the sample image I took a jpg off the net and trimmed it to the SS10 size to see what it would look like. Not bad... Anyone want to create a set of brushes in all the sizes and colors for me to use?


I still havent been able to figure this one out yet. HELP!


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## badalou

Wow, that was great. For your info
The Rhinestone Guy is my newest distributor for the you know what. I am going to try some samples for a few schools in the area. seem everyone is doing them now. Lou


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## allhamps

I started doing custom rhinestone designs about a year ago, because I didn't want to pay the ridiculous prices for the blinged out hoodies my sons wanted to buy. Oh yeah, bling is not just for the girls any more. Any way, I have been searching forever for a way to create my original rhinestone patterns. I typically ended up developing the artwork and then hand placing the rhinestones on it until I had a good representation. Then I would copy the completed item to use as a future pattern. God Bless you, you have solved my problem!! I just joined the forum, and haven't really used it much until today when I was fed up with now knowing how to do this quickly. Having just received an order for 25 of a particular design, I was determined I was not going to start out in my usual manner.

My only questions are:

1. Have you tried this on anything more complicated?
2. Does this work in Corel Draw, does anyone know? I don't have either yet, but I have the opportunity to get a good deal on Corel as opposed to paying $400-600 for Illustrator right now.

Again, thanks for the information. I just know I'm going to have a great day now!!!


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## paulo

Moo Spot Prints said:


> *2.* Make a template with all the sizes you think you'll be using. Make pattern brushes out of each dot. The spacing isn't super important. You will tweak it later on when you're trying to get the placement. Note that some of the dots are distorted. This is because illustrator is trying to bend it so that it 'fits'. I have yet to find a way to make it not do this to my satisfaction. If you figure it, let me know! In this image I have my dots on the top and a path with inner and outer edges as well as a line (to see the start and end pattern).
> 
> You can color these to match the stone colors. In the sample image I took a jpg off the net and trimmed it to the SS10 size to see what it would look like. Not bad... Anyone want to create a set of brushes in all the sizes and colors for me to use?


This must be the hard part. Im still trying to figure out how Im going to do this.


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## monkeylantern

Great post.


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## LEO

*rhinestone transfers*

How do the tees WASH?

LEO


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## Moo Spot Prints

*Re: rhinestone transfers*



LEO said:


> How do the tees WASH?


No lost rhinestones yet. Make sure you wash them inside out.


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## paulo

*Re: rhinestone transfers*



LEO said:


> How do the tees WASH?
> 
> LEO


We sell alot of shirts and tees with rhinestones, and nail heads. The ones applied with glue are very durable and we have never had any complaints. The more expensive shirts have the rhinestones applied with tiffany mountings.


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## Renee04

WOW! I commend Jose on her tenaciousness of getting the transfers done. However, as a rhinestone manufacturer in Texas I can tell you it doesn't have to be that time consuming. There are several things I would like to point out with regard to rhinestone transfer designs.
1. You can use any type of art from any type of program. The manufacturer will have to convert to a cad program regardless of how you produced the artwork (unless you already have gemmaster...and not the google version. The one we use is much more complicated)
2. Every manufacturer has different set up fees, design fees, minumums etc. Check them all out and make sure you are buying exactly what fits your criteria.
3. Please remember, you are taking a piece of art and placing round objects into a space to create the design. Round peg into a square hole anyone? lol. 
4. The price of a transfer is based on several different factors: Type of stone (swarovski, korean, or czech), color of stone, size of stone, size of design and amount of stones used in the design. The amount of stones in a design can be very deceiving.

There are numerous price points when its time to determine what type of rhinestone you want placed on your transfer. Swarovski stones are the most expensive, czech being the next price level and korean being the most affordable. You have to determine your client when making this decision. We have several clients that only want the swarovski and then the rest want the korean stones because they are the more affordable and our client can sell a much larger volume with a higher profit margin.

These are just my thougths on the rhinestone business. Please feel free to shoot me any questions. I'll do my best to get them answered. 

Again, my hats off to those of you who sit burning the midnight oil trying to get your artwork converted to a "usable" rhinestone design.


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## irishmom205

*Very cool!!!*


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## chllin1

Renee04 said:


> These are just my thougths on the rhinestone business. Please feel free to shoot me any questions. I'll do my best to get them answered.
> 
> Again, my hats off to those of you who sit burning the midnight oil trying to get your artwork converted to a "usable" rhinestone design.


Hi Renee, Im interested in what you do, do you sell premade transfers or how do you work?


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## Moo Spot Prints

Renee04 said:


> WOW! I commend Jose on her tenaciousness of getting the transfers done.


Wow, I feel like Jasonda. Never been mistook for a gurl! 



Renee04 said:


> However, as a rhinestone manufacturer in Texas I can tell you it doesn't have to be that time consuming.


It's either time consuming or expensive. There's no in between!

By using the brushes and instantly being able to apply different stone sizes and spacings I can play with all the parameters on my computer, where it's cheap. The whole point of this exercise was figuring out how to do designs quickly and giving myself the ability to predict with high accuracy what the finished product will look like.

If you have a better way of doing things, please, show us!


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## Renee04

I think the way you are creating "mock transfers" is a great way of doing it! 

Before we got into the rhinestone business, we too struggled with different ways to create a transfer without having to spend the money. The expense comes in when you have to purchase minimums and then pay high set up/design fees. 

I don't have any further direction on how you can create these "mock transfers" without actually purchasing the gemmaster software. Hey, if its working, keep doing it! Again, I commend you for the creativity in getting it done!


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## Renee04

Hi Heidi,

We own our own equipment so we do both custom work as well as "stock" transfers. When I say "stock", I am referring to stock designs. The stock designs are still produced when a customer orders them vs sitting on the shelf waiting to be shipped. 

We also send completed jobs to numerous clients that don't want to press. 

Hope this answers your question


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## nativegraphics

Am a newbie to the forum and this gives me MANY ideas! Thanks for the step by step post! I'll definately be saving a hard copy of this to my book! 50 thumbs up for this one! What a great teacher!
Deb


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## Shannon3n88

Stretching the slightly stretchy blouses/tees with a fabric stretcher... where can I find such critters? Thanks for any help by anyone reading.


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## VickiRob

To stretch a tank top or what they now call "wife beaters", I use a teflon pillow and put it inside the shirt. It works great! I purchased mine through Stahls. It's what they use at a popular sporting goods store by me for pressing.


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## siemed

Hi everyone,

Has anyone figured out yet how to overcome the disorted dots problem? I'm stuck to using Coreldraw now because of this problem. If the cirkel is not a perfect cirkel, it is not useabel. 

I also have the Gem Master software, but I can't find a way to export my creation to another format then *.yng. So, the program is easy for making rhinestone layout's, but It can only be used for their cams machine.


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## WOLFBUNNY

What CAD system format did you use? Did you have to load the Illustrator file in CAD then save as a CAD file? Can you explain more please.....what is your final file that you deliver to the rhinestone guy?


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## Moo Spot Prints

Honestly, I don't remember. I think I just sent along the illustrator file with a life size printout. You could substitute little crosses (+) in the centers of the stones and it would work just fine for them.


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## WOLFBUNNY

OK thanks. That's what I thought....an Illustrator CS3 .AI file should do the trick then....were they pricey? :cheers:


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## Moo Spot Prints

Go to their web site. It has all the prices under the custom transfers section. You basically are the master of the price as it's a function of the size and quantity of rhinestones in your design.

The transfers I did for this design ended up costing 4.25 (or thereabouts). I went with the RG rhinestones.


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## MR.NEED ANSWERS

*can this be done in inkscape* 

well Moo Spot Prints did this with Illustrator

Do anyone know if this can be done using open source inkscape 

Have any one tried it? well if anyone decides to trys it can you please let me know how its done or if it can or not...


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## jpla

That's pretty nice post
It took me quite a time to figure out Dotting.
Now I forgot how to do it


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## Old English

Aweosome post!


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## bob emb

Hello seimed,

The gem master only works with the CAMMS machine, you are correct. We have this system and it works great

Bob


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## SandyM114

Renee, your folder is full , so I'll post my question here. I've been driving to Dallas from Oklahoma buying the rhinestone/stud transfers. Can you give me an idea of what you have in stock designs? I'm mainly looking for an eagle, bulldog, paw print and a chieftan. Is this something you might have? Sandy


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## sahopper

Renee.....when you say you have your own equipment, what type of equipment are you talking about?


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## Nautibling

Thank you!


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## Bling

GREAT information! You spent a lot of time on this and I am grateful - THANKS!!

Beverley


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## specialtygraphcs

I know this topic is kind of old but I have been working on a way to actually design and produce your own rhinestone templates in Illustrator. After a long time of messing around with Illustrator I finally was able to come up with the way that actually ended up using the original posters initial steps. It even fixes the problem of distorted brushes. I've put together a tutorial pdf file that I would love for people here to check out and let me know if it is helpful. I have also put together one for Corel however I know many people have done that already. I would love any comments or critique on it. Also feel free to share it if you find it helpful.


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## dd2

specialtygraphcs said:


> I know this topic is kind of old but I have been working on a way to actually design and produce your own rhinestone templates in Illustrator. After a long time of messing around with Illustrator I finally was able to come up with the way that actually ended up using the original posters initial steps. It even fixes the problem of distorted brushes. I've put together a tutorial pdf file that I would love for people here to check out and let me know if it is helpful. I have also put together one for Corel however I know many people have done that already. I would love any comments or critique on it. Also feel free to share it if you find it helpful.


although an old post- your posting could not be more timely.....thanks...


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## artswear

Bumping up this older topic... I have created rhinestone designs in Illustrator using the methods described, which works, but is time consuming. So I was wondering....

since the last post, has anyone discovered a rhinestone macro or plug in to use with adobe illustrator, one that would mimic the ability of rhinestone software? Illustrator is a powerful graphics program, it would be a shame to have to invest more money on rhinestone software, when all that's needed is a macro for AI.


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## Mel Squared

I know this is an old thread, but wondered if this "method" would work in AI? Almost seems to easy to me. Please understand I have a killer migraine and don't always have the best ideas at times like this, but it appears it would work....

1. Draw path
2. Fill no stroke
3. Object - Rasterize grey scale
4. Filter - Create - Create Mosiac use ratio delete raster
5. Ungroup 
6. Select a white square then Select - Same - Fill & Stroke Delete (should get rid of places RS don't belong)
7. Select what's left
8. Effect - Convert to shape - Elipse
9. Object - Expand appearance - Stroke no fill

That's the basic idea. I'm not sure how to make the circles the correct size. In the command box for convert to shape its done in pt and I'm not sure how this converts to the RS sizes. If anyone knows, I'd love to know.


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