Printing & Framing: A Learning Experience

Checklist I figured I needed

16 x 20 frame - Check!
16 x 20 pre-cut mat - Check!
16 x 20 pre-cut foam board - Check!
Picture - Check!

Products I got

16 x 20 frame - Check!
16 x 20 pre-cut mat - Check!
16 x 20 pre-cut foam board - Check!

How it went down

16 x 20 pre-cut mat w/ opening for "8 x 10" turned out to have an opening for a 7.5 x 9.5 image. I don't know if that's normal or not as I've never done this but if it says it's pre-cut for an 8 x 10 image and the opening is actually 7.5 x 9.5, that's not pre-cut for an 8 x 10...is it?

Printing my picture

No matter what I did, I could not get the entire image to print as an 8 x 10. No matter what I did, it just wasn't happening.

Changing printer preferences - nada.
Changing printer paper size - nada.
Changing photo size - nada.

Hence the white borders on the top and bottom of the photo itself - it was the only way I could get my printer to print the entire image, and not crop off the far left trolley or the far right trolley completely out of the image while printing.

But this is a learning experience and besides, I was doing this for Elliott and he likes it so that's all that matters in the end.

Except for when I really do need to print an image at an exact size and need a mat pre-cut for an exact size image.

Best Photo Printing Site?

Digital cameras may have taken the market by storm, and even though they do a great job taking pictures, digital picture frames haven't done much to replace actual photos. So when you want a physical print, where do you get it?

This week we want to hear about your favorite sites for getting your photos printed. What site do you use? What features does it have that keep you coming back? Best quality? Best price? Let's hear all about it in the comments below. We realize there are plenty of places to get digital images printed, but for the purpose of this Hive, let's stick to web sites where you can upload and order prints, then have them delivered to your door.

Hive Five nominations take place in the comments, where you post your favorite tool for the job. We get hundreds of comments, so to make your nomination clear, please include it at the top of your comment like so: VOTE: Best Photo Printing Site. Please don't include your vote in a reply to another commenter. Instead, make your vote and reply separate comments. If you don't follow this format, we may not count your vote. To prevent tampering with the results, votes from first-time commenters may not be counted. After you've made your nomination, let us know what makes it stand out from the competition.

About the Hive Five: The Hive Five feature series asks readers to answer the most frequently asked question we get: "Which tool is the best?" Once a week we'll put out a call for contenders looking for the best solution to a certain problem, then YOU tell us your favorite tools to get the job done. Every weekend, we'll report back with the top five recommendations and give you a chance to vote on which is best. For an example, check out last week's

Mac Lab ends free printing

The Computer Science Lab, commonly known as Mac Lab, terminated its popular free printing service last week. It was the last such service available on campus.

Mac Lab is now integrated with the unified campus printing system, which charges 10 cents per black-and-white page. Until this quarter, Mac Lab provided up to 30 pages of free black-and-white printing per student each week, but only for user-created documents.



Terminating free printing is one of several measures taken to curb the University’s printing costs. “It had to be stopped because it was bankrupting the University,” said William Sterner, director of the computer science department and Mac Lab.

Sterner sympathized with students’ frustration over the disappearance of the service, but said the widespread flouting of the Mac Lab’s rules played a role in precipitating the change.

“I don’t think anybody involved here...wants to make this difficult for students,” he said, adding “we constantly found students trying to push the limits that we were setting. It’s clear that we could have a very large expense if we just let that happen.”

To Sterner, this activity suggested a misunderstanding of the Mac Lab’s purpose. “We’re here to provide space for computer science courses,” he said. “We’re not a print service.”

Sterner said the “explosion of printing” coincided with many course documents being placed online in 2000. “NSIT was confronted with the problem of people printing thousands of pages, where before they printed 15.”

While other parts of the University began to charge for printing, Mac Lab developed the policy that allowed students to print content they had created, which was considered responsible and practical.

“That carried forward until very recently—until the library and the dorms and the college offices were revamped—and now they have a relatively uniform system. When that came up the library asked us to stop our free printing and switch to a pay-for-print [model],” Sterner said.

He added: “Basically, we decided that our alternative solution simply wasn’t working anymore and that we would throw in with the University system to help the University and make that as cost-effective as possible,” he added.

When the unified print system was implemented this year in libraries and dorms, traffic to the Mac Lab increased, Sterner said. “Once the unified print system got into place, students were very quick to identify that some free printing could be gotten in CS Lab. We saw a significant increase in printing.”

Second-year Jason Rowley expressed frustration at the decision to charge for printing. A frequent Mac Lab user, he said that while the change would not likely diminish the amount of time he spends there, he would be less likely to print at the Library in the future.

“I’m still going to use [the Mac Lab], but it’s definitely more prudent...printing at home,” Rowley said. Rowley added he used the Mac Lab to print PDFs he hadn’t created.

Sterner said the Lab is expecting similar reactions from other students. “It’s likely that we’ll see fewer people coming to the Mac Lab just to print,” he said. “As far as support for coursework and other things, I think we’ll see just the usage we’ve seen before.”

Free Printable Valentine's Day Coloring Pages

The internet is packed full of free coloring pages and other no-cost activities to print for Valentine's Day or February parties. Young children will enjoy making special gifts for Valentines, party invitations, and party decorations using easy and free designs.

Once printed, sweet, cute, and pretty outline drawings may be used as-is, colored with Crayons, filled in with paint or markers, or even fancied-up with glitter.
How to Make Valentine Party Invitations

For special invitations to a preschool, home, or elementary school Valentine party, nothing is sweeter than those made by kids themselves.

* Some free printable invitations may be found online (links below), ready to fold and color.
* Another idea is to use designs and reduce them in size. These can then be placed via computer into invitations, or cut out and glued into place for homemade invites..
* Valentine cards may be easily transformed into invites by simply adding party information.

Free Printable Valentine’s Day Fun Party Activities for Kids

One can find no-cost February Valentine’s Day pages to print at DLTK's Growing Together printables website. Some of those available to print for free include:

* Valentine’s Day coloring pages (or posters) - These include cute drawings of animals, Cupid, and other designs kids will enjoy, as well as Happy Valentine's wording for holiday fun. They may be printed in color or as b&w line art.
* Valentine cards - flat or custom folded cards to print. Designs include Sponge Bob Squarepants, Scooby Doo, Powerpuff Girls, Pokemon, animals, cards for teacher, and hearts.
* Free printable crafts for Valentine’s Day – These are more complex printable pages to color, print, and/or glue to make Valentine’s Day party decorations. These include a sweet candy and paper dragonfly card, lots of heart shape crafts, toilet paper roll crafts, napkin rings, and flower pot table decorations or gifts to make.
* Games to print – Look for hangman, Valentine’s Day bingo, dominoes, and cut-out puzzles. These are great fun for playing at parties!
* Other goodies to print on DLTK include awards, doorknob hangers, and party treat bags.

More Free Valentine’s Day Printable Activities for Children

The abcteach website is another great resource for parents, teachers, and kids looking for easy paper activities. They offer a large Valentine’s Day collection of printable pages.