So you finished your project and it's now in a 1u or 2u rack chassis. Very nice.
However, the problem is nobody else except you know what all those knobs and switches are for. You need a way to paint labels on thos knobs and switches so it looks like a commercial unit.
You can use a service like
FrontPanelExpress and have them create the front panel for you. They'll take care of drilling the holes, and labeling them by engraving the text on the aluminum plate. The result is a very professional front panel. They even provide you with a CAD software so you can layout and create all kinds of holes and openings (including D-sub connections, XLR, etc.). Then you submit the resulting file and you bare aluminum front panel to them and they'll ship you back a finished product.
Click here to download the
FrontPanel Designer CAD program. Sorry Mac users, Windows only. (Or run this via Parallels Virtual Machine software.)
Of course, the downside is it's very expensive. For a one-off project, and if you need odd shapes and openings, this may be acceptable. But if you're on a serious budget, there are other ways to create professional looking front panels.
I found this guy from the UK who's into building synths and he has written a nice article on the different options you have for getting those labels on your front panel. He's tried the Toner-Transfer method, Ink-jet Adhesive film, and
Lazertran Paper. It seems Lazertran is the best solution and you can read up on his techniques to get it going.
Here are some pics of his work. Very nice. Check out his website by clicking
here.
