Printing an image

The images are contained in Adobe Acrobat PDF files. In order to view and print these files, you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. If you do not have this program installed, you can download it directly from Adobe by visiting www.adobe.com. This program is a FREE download that will allow you to view and print our images.

Printing on fabric

Important – You cannot print fabric through a laser printer!
If you have a laser printer and want to print on fabric, you can do one of two things.
1. go out and buy an inkjet printer.
2. make friends with someone who has one.
A word about inks and printers

Pigment inks are less prone to fading than dye-based inks, but they do not saturate the fabric as well as the dye-based inks. If you are not sure which ink your printer uses, look in your printer manual or contact the manufacturer to find out. I use an Epson 1280 series printer with dye-based inks and I am pleased with the results, but even different printer models offer different results.
You can further protect the fabrics from fading with a spray such as Fabric Shield^TM (see resources page) and by limiting direct exposure to sunlight or other high-intensity light sources.
Some manufacturers offer pretreated fabric sheets that are ready to feed right into your inkjet printer, such as Printed Treasures® by Milliken or Color Plus Fabrics^TM (see resources page). The pre-treated fabric sheets are more expensive than preparing them yourself but I find the price is well worth the time they save me.

If you have the time to prepare your own sheets then by all means do so. The makers of Bubble Jet Set^TM and also the makers of Fabric Shield^TM both have kits and supplies for preparing your own printable fabric sheets. (See resources). One point I cannot stress enough is to thoroughly read and follow the manufacturer's instructions. If you don't, you could cause irreversible damage to your printer.

More Printing tips

Read and follow the instructions that came with your pre-treated fabric sheets.
If you prepared your own fabric sheets make sure you have followed the instructions provided by the manufacturer. Yes, I've mentioned it again.

Be sure that the fabric adheres fully to the shiny side of the freezer paper before feeding it through your printer. Feed only one sheet at a time.

If the paper has curled or come loose from the backing, press it with a warm dry iron and let it cool before feeding it through the printer.

Trim off any loose threads before printing, but do not pull the threads.

Note - the voice of experience! Do not choose the maximum setting if your printer offers the option. Setting the page to maximum causes the printing to start at the leading edge of the fabric sheet. This causes the ink to saturate the fabric and will cause the page to jam.

Choose the "best" setting when printing (720dpi or greater) unless indicated otherwise by the manufacturer.

Most prepared fabric sheets are of 200-thread count or above to produce a crisp, clear image. The only drawback is that it makes it very difficult (I stress very) to hand quilt so you should strongly consider machine quilting your project. If you are determined to hand piece or hand quilt your project prepare your own fabric sheets using a lower thread count fabric.

Print in black instead of color for a collection of interesting gray scale designs.

If you are preparing your own fabric sheets, try printing on a tone-on-tone fabric rather than a solid white for an interesting variation.

Advanced printing tips for paper or fabric

Enlarging
If you have an inkjet printer that prints larger paper sizes you can print larger sheets. Some companies are offering large-format prepared fabric sheets, or you can prepare your own.

If you have a printer that prints larger than 8-1/2" x 11" you can enlarge the images.
To print larger sheets you'll need to resize the image in the printing dialog window. Begin by choosing a larger paper size in the paper size settings. If your printer allows, you can add a custom paper size, or if not choose ledger size 11" x 17".
Here's an example; the default size of the fabrics on this CD are 8-1/2" x 11". If you enlarge by 130% you can print an image 11" x 13", better yet, create a 13" x 19" paper size and setting. Enlarge at 160% and you'll fill the page with just normal margin loss.
Printing at an enlarged setting will also enlarge the scale of the printed design.

Reducing
If you can enlarge, you can also reduce.
If you cut an 8-1/2" x 11" sheet in half crosswise you'll have a piece 5-1/2" wide x 8-1/2" long. Change the paper size settings in your printer and reduce by 50%. When you reduce, remember you'll also be reducing the scale of the printed image.
You may want to run a test print on plain paper first if you have changed any settings.

Paper printing
When printing on paper, test different papers and follow the instructions for paper settings the came with your printer. Some thinner papers tend to curl with full coverage color printing. Most cardstock works great with little or no curl.