Knock Off Print (With Tutorial)

First thing you'll come to find out about me is that I am cheap love to save money.

I got an email today from a website that offers discount Boutique items. (Discount or not, almost everything is still to expensive for me) One of the items listed was for a Personalized Chevron State Print.

The State of Minnesota with Rose Chevron Stripes

Since I've been editing some pictures with the online service, PicMonkey, I knew I could do this myself.

Step 1.

Start a collage

You can leave the collage blank if you want a white background, if not, pick a color from the side.

Step 2.

Save the collage in a easy place to get to.

Step 3. 

Go back to the PicMonkey homepage and select Edit a Photo.

Step 4. 

Open the collage you just saved.

You know you're in the right place if the Options on the left are different than before.

Step 5.

 Select the Overlays (Stickers)

Step. 6

Select the Arrows Tab and select the Arrowhead

Step 7.

If you want the stripes to be a color other than black, select your color in the pop-up options box.

Step 8.

The next part all depends on you and your preferences. I only wanted three sets so I didn't enlarge my arrow    too much. Regardless of size, rotate your arrow 90 degrees and align it with the corner.

Step 9.

This step will make you or break you. Right click the arrowhead and select Duplicate Overlay. It will be the exact same size and color of the arrowhead you just aligned in the corner. So much easier than starting from the left side bar. Believe me. 

Step 10.

Align your second arrowhead next to your first and simply repeat the process until you make it across the page.

Once you finish your first row, repeat steps 9 and 10 until you fill your page at the spacing you desire.

Step 11.

(You can do this step first, should you so desire.) 

Find a 'blacked out' image of your state.

(I used Google)

Step 12. 

This next part may seem unnecessary but, trust me, it is.

Open Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or Excel and open your picture once inside the program.

Then use the Remove Background feature.

Adjust the dimensions of the box to fit your state and select Keep Changes.

Right click and Save your image in a place you can find it.

Step 13.

Now let's head back to PicMonkey.

Once you click the Overlay/Sticker button, at the very top the is a button that says 'Your Own.' Click this button and a screen will pop up and allow you to choose one of your pictures. In this case, you will use your state image. 

*You may have to enlarge the image of your state to fit your background.*

Step 14.

(This is optional)

Head back over to the left and click the Stars category.

Choose a star and place it in the general area of your state capitol. (You'll probably have to shrink the size of the star.)

And You're Done!

You could use any number of online services to have this professionally printed and framed.

Another thought would be to put a heart in the general area of where you and your special someone met, the possibilities are endless.

That's the end of my first tutorial and I hoped you enjoyed it.

Thanks for stopping by.