Create your own FREE, AMAZING posters with POSTERAZOR

As much as I post about bulletin boards, you would think I love them.  Quite the opposite, actually. I really can't stand changing bulletin boards. It is one of the most time consuming parts of my job!!

I believe in the impact of BIIIGGGG signage - unfortunately, our district does not believe in the impact of BIIIGGG library budgets.

But it's OK - I have PosteRazor, a FREE downloadable program that takes ANY image and prints it in your customizable proportions.

To begin, have your electronic image ready. All copyright laws apply, so be aware of that and make sure the image you use is your own or available for use. I love picmonkey for creating quick, adorable signs and graphics. I will show you how I printed the 2' by 2' HOT sign to post under our new 3D Printer.

I created this image on picmonkey using the design function and adding text. I saved this image as a jpeg to my desktop.

After going to http://posterazor.sourceforge.net/ you will find this page:

 

You will need to download the program (TOTALLY FREE). After you are all set up, the fun begins!

 You will add your image to this "magic box" and follow the prompts. Pay attention to the quality of your image - when these images are blown to larger proportions it can be frustrating seeing it pixellated. If you use a good image though, your finished product will be beautiful.

There are 5 steps before you have your "poster" and can save. Each step is an easy point and click menu.

Your poster will save as a PDF and is ready for printing. Sometimes I will open the poster, check out the pixellation and repeat the process for a smaller size.

Here is the print preview of my new poster, the first of 6 pages. Almost there!!

After printing, the most difficult step arrives. Assembling the poster is a puzzle piece that does require patience and a steady hand. And lots of glue sticks!! Laminating is the best way to make sure the pieces stay together, but sometimes my posters are too big for our laminator. The more you assemble your posters, the easier it gets. You will develop your method for sure.

I LOVE the ability this program gives me to create fast, colorful FREE posters for all of the crazy things we sign in the Library. I prefer using this program to cutting out individual letters for bulletin boards by far.

Here is the finished product under our new printer - nothing super fancy, but it IS exactly what I needed. It was free and I was done start to finish under 30 minutes.

Senior Pictures - No Pressure Thanks to PicMonkey!

My oldest daughter will be a senior this fall. For the last few years we have had our eyes on Senior Pictures, thinking about what she wants. When did this phenomenon happen? This is intense - the photos must be beautiful, unique, on location - to name a few!!

That sounds like something best left to professionals until you check out the pricing. The average in Northern Colorado ran 150 for booking fee, an extra 175 for location fee, portfolio (printing) fee of 425. Aye! - and that's before we order prints for family.

My daughter and I made a deal: we would try them ourselves first. If we were not happy we would hire a pro. The first batch was easy breezy! The outside scenery and lighting did most of the work. Looking at them now I may have been a little too excited about the "sun" feature - but the cool thing is I can change that whenever I want.

The second round (the basketball group) were scary horrible. Cranky, what were we thinking, call a photographer, make room in the budget NOW bad. This is where PicMonkey saved the day.

I really almost gave up - then on a whim I uploaded one to www.picmonkey.com. I cropped first, then adjusted the shadows which darkened the ugly sheet we used and turned it into the stylish background we imagined. After adding the spotlight feature I could not believe we had the same picture! Here are some before and afters:

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 I should mention that I pay the 4.99 per month subscription fee at PicMonkey - I am not sure whether some of the editing features I used are part of the subscription. I use PicMonkey all the time but this by far has been my favorite project - and the biggest money saver!

Pinterest to PicMonkey: Just Right Books Poster in a Flash

I saw the cutest diagram on Pinterest (where else?) and I LOVE the direct connection for kids. Just Right Books are definitely a discussion point for Library this time of year. Popped the info into picmonkey and now I have a poster that will help me illustrate the analogy. I also thought using a sporty "boy" bike would help me grab more attention than the girl holding up her fingers.

Feel free to use this image in your library. I use and recommend posterrazor (for mac) to create poster for my Library. Upload, size to your need, print and laminate! Much easier and less expensive than a run to Kinkos. If you are using a pc, rasterbator (still hate that name!) is the same program.

The original diagram from Pinterest, via Teacher2Teacher Help