Project details
Skill
1 out of 5EasyThe process is the same regardless of your design.
Cost
Ink and paper for your printer
Estimated Time
20-30 minutes
In this video, This Old House senior technical editor Mark Powers walks you through the steps involved in scaling up an image on graph paper to create a cutting template or paint stencil.
Steps for Scaling Up an Image
- Place the image you’d like to scale beneath a sheet of ¼-inch graph paper. Trace the image onto the grid.
- Count the number of ¼-inch squares your image occupies from top to bottom.
- Decide on a finished height for your image. To calculate a ratio, divide that height by the number of squares. Convert your ratio from a decimal to a percentage by moving the decimal point over two spaces.
- Find 1-inch graph paper online. Select “Print” from your Web browser’s drop-down menu. In the print dialogue box, change the number in the “Scale” box from 100 to the ratio you arrive at from Step 3. Print the graph paper.
- Cut the borders off your graph paper and tape the pages together to form a sheet large enough to cover your scaled image.
- Copy your image, square for square, onto the scaled graph paper.
- Cut out your scaled image. Now you can lay it on plywood to cut out a router template or cut the pattern from acetate to make a paint stencil.
Tools
Tools & Materials
- Pencil
- Printer
- Scissors