I have to got to get a subscription to Blueprint - I'm really liking what I've seen so far.
Photo Enlargement Projects
Take a photo of something you love—a dog that comes
every time you call, a keepsake with beautiful cursive and a colorful
stamp, your lucky Tuesday-night poker deck. You can blow it up with
some hassle-free Internet help, then frame it, hang it, and be
enormously happy every time you walk by.
| THE WALL: PET PHOTO |
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Pets
with spunk and a little get-up-and-go make great blowups. An enormous
pet photograph may always look appropriate in a child's room or
playroom, but try it in an unexpected place—a more formal living room
or a kitchen or bathroom.
Why This? Shooting the dachshund on a white backdrop plays up her unusual shape; a white frame doesn't pen her in. | |
| THE WALL: ANTIQUE STORE ENVELOPE |
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"I wish I could say this letter was something my great-great-grandfather sent to my great-great-grandmother," says Blueprint
editor Rebecca Thuss. "But I found it in a stack of letters at an
antiques store when I was in college. I love the stamp, the smeared
ink, and the postmark: 9 P.M., March 21, 1907." Also good: love notes,
old report cards (especially ones that have teacher comments—either
incredibly dead-on or woefully off-base) and teen-diary pages ("Mrs.
Johnny Depp" written over and over in purple ink).
Why This? Any letter or paper with a beautiful stamp or ink—even if it has coffee rings and smudges—adds drama to a wall. | |
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| The Wall: Poker Card |
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Large
images are powerful; by blowing up a photo of something that's small to
begin with, you'll give props to something you shouldn't take for
granted.
Why This? The card has filigrees and curlicues to counterbalance the crispness of the number and suit. The color scheme also works.
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| THE WALL: HERE'S HOW |
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1. CHOOSE AN IMAGE
If you're enlarging a digital image, you're all set. If you're starting
with a conventional film print, you'll first need to have it scanned,
or digitized. FedEx Kinko's Office and Print Center (fedex.com
for locations) will do this for around $17, and they'll put the new
digital file on a CD for you to have printed wherever you want. When
quality really matters, or when you have a negative or slide to
digitize, go to a shop or photo lab that will do both the scanning and
printing; this allows the printer to compare the scan to the original
to make sure the colors are accurate.
2. CHOOSE A SIZE
The size of the original image determines how much you can enlarge it.
"With a 4-by-6-inch original, you can go to at least 16 by 20, and
possibly 20 by 24," says Bryan Chandler of San Francisco's Blow Up Lab.
"It depends on the clarity of the image." A reliable standard: Don't
enlarge more than four times the original size. "The issue is pixels,"
says Jay Buckley, the owner of MegaPrint, in Plymouth, New Hampshire.
While you can go online and order 20-by-30-inch enlargements of
something you shot on a 2-megapixel camera, the pros have higher
standards. "A picture from a 4- or 5-megapixel camera should look
pretty good at 16-by-20," Chandler says. An untrained eye may be less
exacting—and each enlarger will offer its own guidelines.
3. CHOOSE A FRAME
Online framers invariably use Plexiglas instead of glass, which would
likely never survive shipping. Indeed, if your frame is larger than 30
by 40 inches, Plexiglas is recommended no matter what. Depending on how
and where you plan to hang your art (in a busy hall, for instance),
some framers start advocating Plexiglas at the 16- by-20-inch mark. If
you're dead set on glass, a local brick-and-mortar framing shop is the
place to get it.
VOCAB LESSON
GICLEE A giclee ("sprayed") print is made with an ink-jet printer. Its quality may surpass that of a traditionally processed photo.
GLOSS Shiny finish with true, vivid colors. May produce a glare.
SATIN OR LUSTER Less shiny than gloss. Good color.
MATTE Softer, less vibrant look.
CANVAS Excellent color reproduction. Ask for heavyweight artists' canvas, pigment-based dyes, and an ultraviolet-protective coating.
SOME SOURCES
PRINTING
Duggal
A helpful if somewhat more expensive site, Duggal will do a 24-by-36-
inch blowup for $160. The company shows you a test print before it
makes the final. duggal.com
Shutterfly
This company creates posters of up to 20 by 30 inches ($23) and prints
on stretched canvas (see below) up to 24 by 36 inches ($150). shutterfly.com
FRAMING
Daniel Smith
Its wood frames feature an ingenious interlocking dovetail that lets
do-it-yourselfers make a no-hassle frame. A wide selection of sizes. danielsmith.com
ONE-STOP SHOPPING
Graphik Dimensions
This company prints, frames, and delivers. Upload your digital file,
order a print (up to 32 inches by 40 inches), then select mat and frame
styles, edit the whole package onscreen, and you're finished. Mounted
canvas prints are also available ($150 to $400). pictureframes.com | |
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1. Your grandmother's china pattern
2. A flower from your sister's wedding
3. A baby's bootie
4. A ribbon spool from the attic
5. Vintage button package
6. Bugs and butterflies from the backyard
7. A ticket stub from a tour of an ancient Egyptian temple
8. Marbles of all colors
9. An old toy car
10. A rubber-band ball
11. A starfish from the beach
12. Costume jewelry that looks better on the wall than on your ears
13. The ruler your father used to build your playhouse |
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