Fast, Easy Stickers with Your Inkjet Printer
Put your inkjet printer to good use by making stickers for your car, window, notebooks, refrigerator, or any other surface you can think of. You don't need anything more complicated or expensive than special sticker paper and a little patience. You can find the former at most computer or office supply stores and on the Internet, but you'll have to come up with the latter - a little patience - on your own.
Even with the sticker paper investment, your home-made stickers will be far less expensive than buying them anywhere else. You'll also be able to come up with your very own slogans and designs without paying custom-creation fees to sticker companies. It won't be long before your notebook or skateboard is helping you share opinions on everything from politics to music.
First, you'll need to find that sticker paper. It often comes in packages of a few sheets or more, and prices vary depending on where you are and how much you purchase in one package. If you can't find it at an office supply store near your house, you can get it online. It'll take a few days to show up, but you can spend that time designing the stickers you're going to print and slap all over everything in sight.
Next, design the stickers. You can do this with just about any graphic editing program or word processing software. Many computers come with basic versions of one or both programs, so give those a try before you invest in something more expensive and complicated.
You'll use the graphics software (often a photo-editing program) if you want to make stickers that include something other than plain text. With this type of program you can make stickers based on photos of your grandchildren, graphic designs you draw on your computer or any other thing that you can imagine. You can even scan things - such as sketches you make in art class or on a paper napkin - and convert them to files that can be printed onto the sticker paper. Your creativity and imagination are the only limits on your possibilities.
You'll use the word processor for plain text stickers. These are often the most creative, as the makers can come up with any slogan or phrase that they want and then post it all over the place for everyone to read and think about.
To create the files - whether they are graphics or text - use the appropriate software to design them. Remember that you cannot just slap an enormous photo from the digital camera onto a sticker without resizing it at the very least. Your sticker paper is probably going to be a maximum of 8.5 x 11 inches, or the length and width of regular printer paper. Keep it smaller than that, even, because most stickers aren't that large. You can use the ruler tools in your program of choice to keep things in perspective and within the right size ranges.
You should create the graphics or text in one corner to eliminate wasted sticker paper. You can always copy and paste the object right beside the original graphic or text so that one sheet of sticker paper creates two or more stickers. They'll be identical, which you might not want, but you can always put the extras away for later. Better yet: you can go beside the original image or text and create your next hot, fresh thing beside it. Either way, you're getting the most out of each sheet of sticker paper.
Once you think that the images or text are where they should be, load your printer with plain, inexpensive paper and print a test run. This will let you see exactly where your stickers will show up when you print them on actual sticker paper without wasting a sheet of the good, expensive stuff. You can make adjustments and print another test page as many times as necessary before you load "the real stuff."
Now that you know the basics of sticker printing, these tips will make your creations even better and more professional in appearance.
- Make sure that your inkjet printer is set for photo, not draft, quality. You want to use the extra ink on these stickers so that they'll look their best. It's still cheaper than buying the stickers individually from stores or Web sites.
- Check the compatibility of the sticker paper with your printer. This will prevent misprinted stickers, unwanted paper jams, or even permanent damage to your printer. It will save you money at the least and hours of endless frustration at the most.
- Know which way your paper needs to be loaded before you put in the sticker paper. You really don't want to waste time - and possibly mess something up - by loading the sticker paper face-down when it should be face-up. A simple way to figure this out is to make a small pencil mark on a piece of plain printer paper and load it face-up, then print a test page. If the printer ink is on the same side as the mark, then you've loaded it correctly. If not, turn it over.
- Don't swipe copyrighted ideas or images. It's more than just unethical: you could also get into trouble if anyone discovers that you're stealing copyrighted material. If you really want a sticker of your favorite comic-book superhero, buy it from the source.
- Spell-check your text before you print the stickers. Misspelled slogans usually aren't cool - and if you don't think anybody will notice, think again. The world is full of people who act and think like copy editors, even when they aren't on the job.
- Make a few extra copies of your best stickers. Your friends will probably see them on your stuff and ask where you got them. Now you can whip out a copy and hand it over while proudly explaining that you made it yourself.
Now that you have all the information you need to get started, you can work on creating brilliant and original stickers. You'll appreciate being able to express yourself, but you'll also find that the money you save is worth the little bit of work that you'll do to make these stickers yourself.
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