UPDATE
I have created two more free large-scale downloads of birds to accompany this heron.
Find them here and here.
After publishing the post about my DIY large-scale art a few weeks back, I received quite a few requests for a free printable version of my edited image.
I did contemplate sharing it originally, though didn’t want to breach any copyright laws or kill my site’s bandwidth due to the large file size.
I have since gained permission from the Biodiversity Heritage Library to on-share the image so decided to look into hosting the download elsewhere to save crashing my blog!
You may recall that in my original post I mentioned finding the image on Internet Archive.
Internet Archive is a digital repository which pools its content from a variety of online sources. The Biodiversity Heritage Library is one such source and was the origin of my Heron illustration.
To make things super easy for you guys, I have reduced the size of my image slightly so it will fit perfectly within any large (60cm x 90cm/24″ x 36″) standard poster frame! How cool is that? If you’re unsure where to find large poster frames, check out your local dollar and discount department stores, do a quick Google search or head into Ikea – they have a few to choose from! Of course, you can always DIY your own custom frame if you’d prefer, or use a thrifted one as long as the proportions will work with the aspect ratio of the image.
Now, onto the printing.
There are heaps of places which offer printing services. If you’re not certain where to start looking, check out your local office supplies store or have a Google around for “print and copy services”. You can visit a store in person or use an online interface. I personally prefer the ease and convenience of uploading my artwork online then having my print delivered direct to my door.
For the purpose of this post I’ll outline how to use three online services; Officeworks (Australia), Office Depot (USA) and Costco (Canada). Of course, you can chose to have your image printed through which ever service you personally prefer, just make sure you meet their particular document set-up specifications.
HOW TO HAVE YOUR IMAGE PRINTED VIA OFFICEWORKS ONLINE
(AUSTRALIA)
1 Download the free printable (Heron – Officeworks) located towards the end of this post.
2 Open the Officeworks website, click on the Print & Copy tab and navigate to Posters & Plans.
3 Select Colour Posters.
4 Check the B1 (707mm x 1000mm) option ($29).
Note: You can also choose to upgrade your material to 200gsm gloss or satin paper for an additional $13.
5 Click Upload Your Design then Select File and choose the image you wish to upload (be patient, the upload may take a few minutes).
6 Once uploaded, you will see a preview of your poster. If you’re happy with everything, click Accept Digital Preview & Add To Cart.
7 At checkout you can choose to collect the poster in person from an Officeworks store or have it delivered to your door.
HOW TO HAVE YOUR IMAGE PRINTED VIA OFFICE DEPOT ONLINE
(USA)
1 Download the free printable (Heron – Office Depot) located towards the end of this post.
2 Open the Office Depot website, click on Copy & Print and then on Posters.
3 Select the 24″ x 36″ ($19.99) option from the Poster Size drop-down and ensure Portrait orientation is checked.
Note: There is no need to check the Fit To Size box as I have already sized the image exactly. You can also chose to upgrade your material from the selections in the Paper Type drop-down.
4 Click Upload Your Files then My Computer and choose the image you wish to upload (be patient, the upload can take several minutes).
5 Once uploaded, you will see a preview of your poster. If you’re happy with everything, click Add To Cart.
6 At checkout you can choose to collect the poster in person from an Office Depot store or have it delivered to your door.
HOW TO HAVE YOUR IMAGE PRINTED VIA COSTCO ONLINE
(CANADA)
1 Download the free printable (Heron – Costco) located towards the end of this post.
2 Open the Costco website, click on Photo and then on Prints (you will be directed to an external site and asked to agree to some copyright terms and conditions).
3 Click Photo Prints.
4 Click Upload Photos then Upload Photos From My Computer and then the Add+ button and choose the image you wish to upload.
5 Click the Start Upload button.
6 Once uploaded, tick the checkbox beneath the preview of your image then click Order Selected Prints (you will be directed to your shopping cart where you can confirm print options).
7 In the Photo Finish section check Glossy or Matte and ensure As Is is checked.
Note: The 24″ x 36″ print size specifies “Lustre Only” however just to be safe I suggest selecting your preference of Glossy or Matte also.
8 In the Quantity section place a number 1 (or whichever quantity you prefer) in the 24×36 box ($17.99) and click the Apply button.
9 Scroll down to the Prints section and ensure the correct size and quantity are specified in the area below the print preview. If you’re happy with everything, click Continue.
10 At checkout you are asked to enter a Costco Membership Number and a valid Contact Phone Number. You can then click the Pick Up At Warehouse button and specify which store you would like to collect your print from. Click Continue.
11 In the Review & Place Order page under Print Options ensure AutoCorrect is Off. If it’s On, click Edit (beside the Print Options text) and check the box beside Do Not AutoCorrect My Prints.
12 Once you’re happy with everything, click Place Your Order.
Whilst I have pre-sized this image to fit within a standard large poster frame, there is room to enlarge it (within reason – perhaps by around 30% in order to maintain quality) if you wish to create a larger art piece, and of course it can also always be reduced.
If you would like to custom size, or further edit, my image though aren’t quite sure how to go about it, be sure to check out my Free Printables series for everything you need to know.
Note: As touched on above, due to the large file size of these images, I am hosting them externally (on Google Drive) to save killing my bandwidth.
To download, click one of the above buttons to be directed to the corresponding Google Drive page (allow a few moments for the document to load). Once there, click the arrow icon at the top of the screen to download (you may be presented with a Virus Scan message – rest assured, the document is clean). Depending on your connection speed, please allow a minute or so for download.
Don’t be concerned if the image quality appears super poor on your computer monitor. The canvas texture I have applied can present strangely on screen due to image compression. If you zoom in (magnifying glass icon at the top right of the screen) the depicted quality should improve within a few moments.
For the purpose of this post I have created three different downloads in order to meet the different upload requirements of the Officeworks, Office Depot and Costco online services.
:: Officeworks suggests that digital images should be sized in-line with their paper sizes. As they don’t carry a standard large poster size option, I have created a “canvas” at 70.7cm x 100cm (707mm x 1000mm) to match their nearest paper size. The actual printed image will be 60cm x 90cm.
:: Office Depot does allow for the direct upload of 24″ x 36″ images so a larger “canvas” isn’t required.
:: Costco doesn’t support PDF files so I have created a JPG document and reduced the resolution slightly in order to meet their maximum upload limit of 25 MB.
If you intend to use an alternate printing service, I would suggest using the “Heron – Office Depot” image. Just ensure the particular document set-up specifications of the printing company are met.
Have fun!
Did anyone else notice I just published two posts in the one week? I better go and lay down :)
Free for personal, non-commercial use only.
Republication, reproduction or redistribution in any form is forbidden.
If you’re after a pair of large-scale bird posters, be sure to check out this post for my free printable crane.
OMG!!! Thank you so much. This is brilliant and thank you for the information about printing. I can totally DO THIS and have this art in my home!
Yay! I was one of those that requested the image. Thank you sooooo much. It’s perfect.
Kristine,
I appreciate how you always go above and beyond – you’ve. done. all. the. work! Thanks. :)
Aw, thanks Deb. You’re welcome :)
Thank you so much for the beautiful poster. I love learning new things and this post gives me alot to think about.
You’re welcome Sandi :)
Thanks for the detailed how-to. I’m not too swift when it comes to computering…..and this is a great tute on creating posters……your folks’ room is going to be fabulous, i just know it is. Thanks again.
Thanks MJ. Glad you’ve found it helpful.
Oh my, what a generous gift. Thank you!
No probs Nikki :) You’re welcome.
Thank you so much for providing a Costco version! This is very helpful!
My pleasure Elizabeth. It was good to learn and will probably come in handy for the future :)
Thanks for doing this. If you are open to suggestions, I think it would be fantastic if you would consider doing this maybe once a month of different images. It can be difficult to resize images for us computer folks who aren’t as talented. I would love to have another similar image of the same size to put on opposite sides of the window. Thanks so much.
Thanks for the suggestion Melissa. I would love to be able to offer regular free printables like this. At the moment I can’t commit to once monthly (I’ve just decided to have no fixed blogging schedule due to being at home with my kids full time right now) though I will look into providing another large-scale bird print for you.
I would love to make it something regular in the future.
x
This is amazing! Thank you so much!
You’re welcome Linda :)
You are so sweet and helpful Kristine! Truly amazing for you to sort through the instructional process for everyone in their respective countries- above and beyond!
Aw, thanks lovely. I gotta admit, I did kinda enjoy learning about the different processes though (geek alert!).
That is a beautiful art piece!! Thank you for sharing it with us at the #HomeMattersParty
That’s so great you got permission to share this with us!! Love the piece and the frame is just perfect for it. Thanks for linking up to The Creative Circle. Hope to see you this week! xoxo
Thanks Kathy :)
And thanks so much for hosting.
Thank you, thank you! This is exactly what my room needed. My camera work isn’t as good as yours but they are perfect. Thank you.
http://wendysworld82.blogspot.com
How could I use these images you have formatted and changed and download them to resize them into a smaller frame using GIMP. I have two beautiful matted frames I found at goodwill but the image would have to be about 16 in. wide and 22 in. in height without bleed room. I’m new at this and have no idea what I’m doing haha. I have referred to your free printable series for help and It is fantastic so thank you for putting in the time and effort to help us newbies try to understand what to do.
Hi Haley
You will first need to create a canvas in GIMP sized to suit your frame. So, if the frame opening is 16″ x 22″ maybe create a canvas at 16.5″ x 22.5″ to allow for some bleed (ensure it is at 300 PPI). Next, you will need to open the free printable in GIMP then copy and paste it on top of the blank canvas you have just created. Obviously, it will be too large so you will need to resize it to fit. As the aspect ratio is different you will also need to adjust the scale slightly. Just have a play around until you’re happy with how it looks on the canvas.
You can find the full instructions here: https://thepaintedhive.net/2014/05/free-art-printables-finding-setting-up-printing-large-scale-images/.
Hope this helps.
Kristine
Downloaded and ordered! Thank you so much!
Fantastic!
OMG! I cannot believe I found this! I saw your quote printables on Pinterest, and what are the odds that I’d find a Heron! I just moved to a street named Blue Heron so I’ve been searching for a piece to put in my home…this is so perfect. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Perfect! And these are actually Blue Herons!
Thank you for sharing such beautiful artwork, I am going to get all the three printed and frame up.
Can these be printed a smaller size and still come out with good quality. I did the two large ones and they are beautiful.
Yes, generally reducing the size shouldn’t adversely effect the quality.
Hi, I am finally printing these since falling in love with them when you first blogged about them. I’ve noticed there is a white border around them when viewing them on my computer but the images you have posted do not. Do your final measurements include this border as I have a custom frame mat board I would like to pair with these and trying to figure out what size I would need. Thank you very much :)
Hi Paula
How did you go? Have you figured it out?
Sorry for the delayed reply. I have been away on holidays and the internet service was patchy and slow.
I assume you have downloaded the Officeworks version of the printables? These have a white border because Officeworks don’t carry a 60cm x 90cm poster sized printing option. The nearest option they have is B1 (which is larger at 70cm x 100cm) so I have sized the actual graphic at 60cm x 90cm yet placed it on the B1 sized canvas (hence the border). I hope this makes sense?
Thanks
Kristine