Blowing Up Clipart in 10 Easy Steps

Now that I have shown you how to blow up your fonts, it's now time to blow up your favorite clipart. I know what you're thinking... 
"What? Why would I do that? What a waste of time!"

Let me give you a little background. About 5 years ago I decided I wanted a Hollywood themed classroom. (You can see that classroom here.) When I started that theme there were NO bulletin board sets that I loved that would match exactly what I wanted. So, I took clipart, blew it up on the poster maker, HAND COLORED IT, then laminated it for the wall. It was actually a lot of work. 

I would say 2 years ago I discovered blowing up clipart. DUH! How did I never think of this??? Yes, it still takes a little work but it's so fun! Especially when I don't want to drive 30 minutes to the closest teaching store,  and then I won't find what I want. Or searching online to find what I want and never finding it! 

So here you go, easy steps to blow up your clipart! 



1. Make sure you have purchased clipart from your favorite clipart artists. For this tutorial I went with Krista Wallden- Creative Clips. (Find her clipart here.)

2. Open up a blank Powerpoint document. Go to File > Page Setup. Change the width to 8.5 and the height to 11. This should make your page so that it is vertical and ready to print on normal paper.


3. You will then go to the Clipart file that you have downloaded. Choose 1 image and drag the image to a blank power point slide.


4. Continue adding 1 image per page until your have all your images in your powerpoint document. 


  5. Go back and resize all the images to the size you want. As you can see I made sure that the eraser was the smallest. The paper was the largest. *HINT: If you hold the SHIFT key when trying to resize images, it will make sure that you don't unevenly stretch the image.*

6. Now you need to save the document as a PDF. To do this go to File > Save As. Go down to File format on the bottom of the window. Click the drop down menu and choose PDF. This will then save your file correctly. 


7. Open your PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader. ( I have the DC version that I downloaded for free). You will then go to File > Print. Click on the Paper Sizing & Handling where is says Poster. You will then change the Tile Scale percentage. I used 250. Then change the Overlap to 0.05. *You can adjust this however you wish. If you want your images bigger, or more/less overlap. Then just hit print! 


8. It will print, you will panic, and then it will be OK. It will look like a nightmare but I promise it will be easier than you think! First, sort each piece of clipart into its own pile. Then cut the pieces out 1 image at a time. I ALWAYS have the print screen open so I can see exactly where the pieces go after they are cut. *TIP- If you print only 1 image at a time, you can use the pages that didn't print anything on them, on the next printed image to save paper*

 

9. Piece the images together to make sure you have all the pieces! 

 

10. This is when you laminate, if you wish. If not then you can staple it together UP ON THE WALL, exactly where you want it. I promise it makes it so much easier!!!!! 

I hope that you find this helpful! If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask me! I will be more than willing to help!!! Good Luck! 



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