Mouse
Clix
By: Hobie Lunin
Treat
yourself to a Tee
With
the summer approaching we will be back to wearing tee shirts and
sweatshirts. You may want to
personalize one by using your computer, rather than buying one already printed
as it so easy. My suggestion is to use
plain white tee shirts or sweatshirts of a good quality. The satisfaction in printing a shirt
yourself will make you want to keep it around for a while. For those of you who
prefer a collar, buy a white golf shirt.
These also take an iron-on transfer very nicely. Blends are better than all cotton as they
dry without wrinkles. Done properly,
the designs will fade very little, if at all, during washings. There is now iron-on for dark colors but
these are tricky to use. I suggest
getting started with white shirts.
As
for the theme and wording, it is up to you.
You have a large choice of fonts in your computer and most people have
some clipart available from their hard drive.
If you have a scanner you have some other options. Recently on a trip I saw a very nice picture
postcard that I though would look great on a shirt. I scanned it and increased the size to almost 8 ˝” x 11”. I am
sure it won’t take you too long to get many ideas for the back and front of
your shirts (tee or sweat).
Word
is a fine place to work on your shirt.
Start with the text. Make it
fill up the full width of 8 or so inches by increasing the font size. Add a graphic, photo or clipart, as you are
able. Details on how to get these can
be found in Help. You will use the
Insert button (followed by Picture) on the top task bar. When you move a graphic to Word, it has a
virtual box around it with little knobby looking places in the corners and the
sides. These are “handles” and by
dragging these you can adjust the size of your graphic to fill the space you
want. To keep the graphic from getting
disproportioned I suggest going to the corner and waiting until you see a arrow
with two heads pointing in a diagonal direction. Drag the handles in the arrow’s direction to increase the size of the graphic without
distorting it (maintaining the aspect ratio).
If you do not use this technique, the graphic will change in shape. Often this is not a problem if you are
working with text. With a photo it may
look bizarre. The design should then be
compete.
Now
you have to reverse your work so that it will read correctly when transferred
to the sweatshirt. Some printing
programs will do this for you. Read the
text that came with the printer. If you
are not sure, you normally only need to reverse the text as in most graphics it
won’t make a difference. This can be
done by clicking in the center of your text thus bringing up a menu that allows
you to “flip” horizontally to reverse the text. At this point, print the image out on plain paper. Hold it up to the light with the back to
you. This is the way to check how it
will look on the shirt.
Now
head for the nearest computer supplies store and get a pack of Iron-On transfer
paper. It comes with 10 sheets of 8 ˝”
x 11” paper. Look for the type that
says that it is “cool” release. These
are user friendly. Pull out the
instruction sheet first. These usually
call for the iron at the hottest temperature and that the shirt be on a very
flat, hard surface (not an ironing board).
The instructions will tell you about the timing and ironing
process. Pressure is important. Keep the weight of your upper body on the
iron as you pressure it. Don’t leave
the iron on too long, as the shirt will start to discolor (scorch).
When
you have read all, print out the image onto the transfer sheet. Use at least 720dpi (High quality or
resolution). When the transfer paper is
dry, trim (with a scissors) as much of the white space as you can with out
leaving any sections too thin to handle.
Leave about 1/8” minimum from the printed area. Make sure your iron has been on at least 10
minutes. Spread the shirt out on the hard
surface with a pillowcase underneath it.
Carefully iron both together until there are no wrinkles or folds. Place the iron-on transfer sheet face down
on the shirt and align it in the middle side to side. Then move it up toward the neck of the shirt such that it is
about two inches down. A longer
distance may result in the image being below your belt.
Have
a second hand clock in view as you start ironing the back of the iron-on paper
such that you can approximate the recommendations in the directions. I usually try to keep the heat and pressure
on constantly and keep the iron moving and stopping the process before the
shirt starts to discolor. When done.
Put the iron aside and pick up the shirt off the surface and put it down on a
cool surface. Wait until the shirt is
nearly room temperature before removing the backing paper.
Next,
put on your shirt and start bragging about how you made it! To wash it, use cool water with the shirt
turned inside out. It’s OK for it to go
in the dryer, but not at the highest heat setting. Smooth it flat by hand
instead of ironing. Good Luck!
Hobie
Lunin is a Computer Instructor and Consultant, and will answer questions at hlunin@email.com. To see previous columns and other
information, go to http://mouseclix.tripod.com