Make a new church banner - Make the Design the right size

Your design is ready to make a working pattern . . . almost.
This wallhanging is going to be two feet by four feet. Most people don’t draw on paper that large. I know I don’t. The initial sketch was normal size and needs to be enlarged to full size.

How to get the small size drawing to the right size?

You have several options.

Project the sketch onto the wall with a tracing projector. I bought mine at a local art store for under $30. It projects a drawing onto a piece of paper taped to a vertical surface. If I move the projector back and forth I can approximate the size I need. Not an exact process, but certainly doable.

Sharp fine, very dark lines affects the quality of the projected image. Rough sketch this large drawing and fine tune it later.

Remember overhead projectors from school days? Another way to get from small to large is to trace or copy your sketch onto transparency film and project it with an overhead projector. Again, a sharp, clear image gives the best results.

Scan the sketch into your computer. Use your computer’s drawing program to get your normal size drawing to extra large size. Every Windows-based computer comes with a program called “Paint”. From a scanned file you can print out larger than life size drawings.

Calculate how much to blow up the design with simple math. Remember, if A is to B, then C is to D?

Or use a proportional scale. This is a handy tool that helps take away the guesswork when computing percentages. It helps you determine how much to enlarge or reduce images to the size needed. I bought mine in the same art supply store but look in office supply stores or stores that sell drafting supplies. It looks like a circular slide rule. Don’t worry it comes with directions. . . very easy directions. A proportional scale will save you a lot of frustration and a lot of wasted paper.
Now it’s just a matter of taping all the 8 ½ x 11 inch pages together to make a 2 x 4 full size banner.

I have the drawing done in the finished size and I make sure not to cut this drawing. From now on only copies will be used. You can trace off copies off this. Or take this huge composite to your local copy shop. I was surprised to find that a black and white drawing only cost me 75 cents a square foot to copy. For six dollars I had a life size drawing ready to use. Call ahead to find out if your local shop has this service.



Do you have an alternate method of blowing up a small sketch to a large full drawing?
Share it with us.