Warning! - Inkjet printing on fabric - Just wanted to let everyone know that when inkjet printing on fabric to be careful of the thickness of your fabric. I tried to use the medium weight cotton-like duck that I usually use to have mini rugs color copied and printed at the copy center and my printer groaned and grunted and sounded like it was falling apart. It was obviously too thick for my printer (I had set it for heavy paper, too). I let it run through but it only printed on part of the fabric and that was in black and white. Afterwards I was unable to get my printer to print in color; it had clogged the print heads. Luckily I was able to clear the blockage out by running a cleaning cycle.

Barbara

Scanning: How to get good quality results when scanning, reducing and printing you own "printables". I recommend you scan at no less than 300 dpi (Dots Per Inch), and consider scanning at a higher resolution than that. Your image will be huge and will need a lot of reducing, but the final result will be more detailed and smoother than if you scan at 72 dpi and have to reduce it less. I have tested this -- believe me on this one!

I also recommend you edit (resize, crop, etc.) your scanned image with a good quality image editing program. One I like a lot that isn't too expensive (in fact it is free for a 30 day trial period) and it isn't too hard to learn is Jasc's Paint Shop Pro. http://www.jasc.com

And finally, use high quality paper and your printer at its "best" setting.

Anne Gerdes

Color Printing: Our local Kinko's printed things off diskettes (for a fee, of course, but fairly cheap). Maybe if you can save the printables on diskette, there's a copy shop that will print for you. Just a thought. If you find somebody, save the "entry" screens from the printables that site give you permission on the disk too, so they won't hassle you about legality.

Loretta

Printing on fabric: I used a clear contact paper, I stuck it on fabric, scanned the wall paper and printed a marvelous fabric, MORE THAN THAT, I reused the contact paper for print on the other side of the same fabric, so you can use this if for example, you want to make a curtain and see from outside window the same design as from inside. Contact paper really works.

Maria

Graphics Programs: Do you have either Publisher or Print Shop on your computer? You can make your own signs; PS, especially, has lots of clever ideas and graphics.

Dani

Grouping Pictures: I use both Paint Shop Pro and Corel Draw.

In version 5 PSP you can create a new file, and give it a size of 8 x 10.5 inches. Then open the pictures one at a time and do edit copy, edit paste "AS NEW LAYER" to the new file and arrange as desired. Then save the new file...really don't forget this! Then do a print preview and then print.

In the PSP version 6 or 7

Open the files you want to print

Choose "Print Multiple Images"

Now just drag and drop and arrange the images on the page.

Be sure to save this page and then print.

In Corel version 3 just open a new file and then do a file import and arrange each pic on the page.

Be sure to save your "big page" with the multiple images. And be sure to do a test print on paper to get the colors as good as can be before printing to canvas. The print to canvas will resemble the paper output more than the "monitor colors"

If you have any more questions feel free to email me too. wkinder@dialnet.net

I've learned a lot about color adjustment/correcting "tweaking" to get good printed output on specialty items and am happy to share it if I can answer your questions.

I absolutely love using my computer to design and print to fabric, canvas and specialty papers. Combining minis and computer technology is such fun!

Wilma Kinder

Seed Packets: Jim Collins has a wonderful site and lots of printables. He even has seed packets for your vegetable garden! I also discovered wonderful Victorian can labels from Fran's Front Porch. You can find the printables at http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/1832/

Earlene Lane

Raggedy Ann stuff:

http://www.raggedy-ann.com/raggedyland/miniatures.html

http://www.raggedyland.com/

Some examples could be used to print and cut-out!

Else in Holland

Canned Goods: I use cut up dowels for making canned goods. I just glue on the label and use silver paint on the top and bottom and draw a circle with gray to make the lip of the can. Here is a URL for antique labels: http://www.sover.net/~oldlabel/unframed.html It has really beautiful labels of all sorts.

Parisa Javidi

Printable Paper Dolls: Here is a paper doll site with printable paper dolls. It also has links to other sites! http://www.ameritech.net/users/macler/paperdolls.html

Parisa

Printable Paper Dolls: Someone was looking for paper dolls. I just found one at Bonnie Lavish Miniatures under printables at this address http://home.dmv.com/~lavish/printables.html

Rebecca

Paper Dolls: I notice someone has asked for paper dolls. I use this site to download paper dolls for my granddaughter...it's excellent. http://members.tripod.com/~bobbie24tj/paperdolls.html

Gail in Arizona

Butterfly or Fairy Wings: Have you thought about using the method of printing onto acetate, as many people do for leadlight windows? I figure you can draw what you want your wings to look like (you only need to draw one), scan them into the PC, print a pair onto acetate and then use glass paints or Jo Sonja's Translucent Acrylics to add some colour. Alternatively print them in colour in the first place.

Tracey Joy

Wings: To make your own, get a GOOD picture of the butterfly you want, take it to your local copy center and they can enlarge/reduce to your needs. Once it is right, copy it onto a transparency.

Sue Thwaite

Trunks: Yesterday my friend and I tried making the metal trunks that Katherine Furqueron told us about some digests ago. They are really neat. I used the army trunk pattern from Jim's printables and hung the printout on the window so I could trace the pattern onto the brown paper. (My son came along just as I was finishing and asked why l hadn't taped the brown paper to the printout - save me trying to hold it in the right place all the time - DUH).

We found you really need to hold the paper onto the flame, but keep it moving so you don't get any holes burnt in it. Helen got quite a few, but I suggested to her that she paint them black and put nail polish over the paint and I think it will look quite good!! I got one hole.

Diana in New Zealand

Mini Family pictures: Are the pictures in black and white? And, do you have a copy place like Kinko's near you? If so, all you need to do is take your pictures to a copy center and use the 'reduce' buttons on any copier until you get a picture that you can use in miniature. (If they are sepia toned, still use the black & white copier until you get the size right...color copies are much more expensive, and then use the color copier to take your copies.) If you want sepia toned pics, use the a parchment colored paper in the black & white copier.

Kaye in L.A.

Mini Family pictures: I have gotten my family photos miniaturized at Mail Boxes, Etc., but Kinko’s could do it, too.

I took in all of my old family pictures, told the guy how small I wanted the pictures and he did the work on the color copier, until it came out the size that I wanted. The photos came out about a half inch to 1 inch high and you could still make out who was in the photo, so I made my aunt a miniature photo album and she couldn't believe how small the pictures were.

There are probably other ways, but this is how I have to do it, because I don't have any other way.

Sherrydon

Enlarging & Reducing Photos: I purchased a Proportional Scale from Dick Blick Art Supply, which will give you the exact percentage to enlarge or reduce a picture. It consist to two plastic circles joined in the center by a rivet. Both circles have numbers on them. You simply have to line up the size of your original with the size you want the print and the percentage you need to enlarge or reduce will appear in a small window on the scale. The scale comes in two sizes. I have the smaller one that I keep in my purse.

Louise from MI

To make sepia photos, for those of you who have (or use) the graphics programs on your computers:

1.Scan in your photo

2. Size it the way you want.

3. Somewhere in your program there will be a "color adjustment" option, just choose shades of brown and apply to your on screen photo.

4. Print it out!

Alice Zinn

Pretty Plates: The current issue (June/July 2000) of "Classic American Homes" magazine has some items of interest in the back advertising section. On one is and ad for old fashioned blue and cranberry decorative plates with some perfect plates to scan and decoupage onto card stock and make plates to fill a hutch or add to a wall.

Anne