Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Puppy Love



Printing on a circle of paper can be tricky. If I was smart, I would have done this before I fussy cut the circle out. Sadly, I thought of printing directly onto the paper AFTER the deed was done. But have no fear! A solution is at hand!  Here's my process.

First, I lay down the paper and main layout elements in approximately the locations I want them. Doing this, I can see where the journalling can go. I use a pencil to mark out the shape of the area I'll print, and then measure it with a ruler.


Next I turn to my computer.  I like to use Office Publisher for my printing more than Word because it works better for placing text boxes and printing specific shapes. I'm going to print directly on 11"x17" paper so I can fit my patterned paper on it. In Publisher, I draw a circle in the size of the patterned paper, and then a text box in the dimensions that I've measured.

A couple of settings on the text box are needed.  Right clicking on the text box, Format Text Box, Layout, and choose Wrapping Style of "Tight". This will make the text change around other shapes you put on the document.  While you're here, you can choose Text Box, Text autofitting = "Best fit" to have the text change size to fit the box perfectly. I might override this later because my paper has lines on it and I may want to fit on the lines exactly.


I add an arc from autoshapes, change the size and rotate it a bit so that it hits the edge of the text. I picked a yellow font for now because I'll be printing a few times on the same paper and I will know which print is which by changing the font colour a few times.



Now it's a bit of trial and error with the font and size until I get it just right. I'll hold up the paper against the printout to the light to see if it fits.  In this case I need to make the font smaller but increase the line spacing (Format, Paragraph, Indents and Spacing).


I count the lines and I know that 25 lines fit into 13 cm, so I make a little text box and play until I get the right dimensions. I numbered the text from 1 to 25, and made a 13 cm text box.  In this case, 1.1 spacing and size 12 font was just right. Exactly 13 cm.


When all it set, tape the patterned paper down well on top of your printer paper and run it through the printer. Don't forget to change the line colours of your other shapes to white before printing!! (as I did) See how the printing fits perfectly in the lines?



That's it for the tricky part. Next, is scrapping as usual. I added button, jute mesh tape, and some raw twine in a swirl to hide where I forgot to change the shapes to white (no bling this time... didn't want it to get too girly!) Title, embellies, and Bob's your uncle!!


Supplies:  cardstock - Bazzill, patterned paper - Upsy Daisy Designs, jute mesh tape and twine - unknown, wooden buttons - Maya Road, wooden letters - Pink Paislee


4 comments:

  1. Such a sweet photo and I love your layout. You are braver than I am printing on that circle! I haven't tried Publisher before -- I'll have to try that.

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  2. Great photo and page. And all that thinking and work into your journaling paid off, so precise!

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  3. Does this still require you to need a 12x12 large format printer?

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  4. In this particular layout, yes, because the patterned paper was 11 inches wide. But you could apply the same principles and do this with a standard printer. You could cut a side off the edge of the circle so that the paper is only 8.5" wide.

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