Archive for September, 2012

Attrib:Flickr/Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

We all like to express our individuality through the clothes we wear, and one of the quickest and least expensive ways to create unique and original clothing is using an ordinary inkjet printer. The techniques we are about to discuss work brilliantly for making personalized t-shirts, but there’s no reason that you can’t apply the same ideas to decorating other items of clothing.

There are a couple of techniques that are frequently used to print designs onto fabric: the freezer paper method, and using transfer paper. We’ve found that the latter method is more reliable and results in images that last longer, so that’s what we’re going to focus on here, but we’ll give a brief explanation of the freezer paper printing method for those of you who want to try it out.

Whichever method you choose, you’re going to need a design. You can use any graphics applications you like to create the design. If you haven’t got the appropriate software, take a look at this list of great online art applications to get you started.

Continue reading “Printing on Fabric” »

Image: Joakim Jardenberg

Just a few years ago, much of our computing activity was carried out on desktop and laptop computers. In recent years, the computer industry has undergone a radical transformation. We are now more likely to grab an iPad or Nexus 7 for casual tasks. Printing from such devices is less necessary than from larger computers, because they are portable; documents come with you. But, there are plenty of occasions where it is convenient to send documents to print directly from mobile devices. Printing tickets, photos, receipts, presentations and PDFs should not involve having to email them to our ourselves before printing them from a desktop or laptop. The obvious solution would be to plug your printer into your mobile device via its USB port, but that won’t work; the USB ports on most mobile devices aren’t smart enough to do that. Today we’re going to look at a few methods that make printing from mobile a breeze.  Continue reading “Printing from Tablets and Smartphones” »

The Internet is full of great resources for people who love to create and print beautiful things. This week we’ve collated the best design and printing resources of recent weeks for your enjoyment. Have fun!

Continue reading “The Monthly Miscellany: Printing & Design Roundup – Best of September 2012” »

It’s about the time when many of you will be heading back to college after the summer, or enrolling for the first time. One of the least enjoyable parts of college is learning the proper format for your papers. It’s a tedious process, and no one really wants to wade through the dry-as-dust pages of the APA or MLA style guides. So, for those of you who inevitably put off this important but insipid aspect of education, we’ve prepared a quick cheat sheet that hits the main points you need to keep in mind when you’re getting your magnum opus ready for printing. Be aware, the advice below is based on the standard requirements for the MLA and APA methods of formatting academic papers; your professors may well have their own idiosyncratic approaches and you’ll lose out if you don’t stick to them. Use what follows as a reminder rather than a strict set of rules.

Continue reading “Formatting College Papers for Printing: A Cheat Sheet” »