Draft: Will add photos here when I do my next batch.
I’ve been making these rescue dog fridge magnets at home for a couple of years now. They’re fun to hand out to folks who take the time to stop and say hi to Gwyd. If you’re doing hundreds, it may be more economical to have them produced commercially, but making small batches by hand has proven a satisfying hobby.
You’ll need:
- Software you feel comfortable in to do photo retouching and layout. Inkscape and Krita here.
- Access to a printer, I use a cheap “tank” colour inkjet but almost anything will work. Dot Matrix FTW!
- Heavier stock paper is best but again, anything will do. 72 pound generic photo has worked well.
- Magnetic backing material. I found a bulk deal on “photo sized” with a sticky backing.
- Something to cut up the magnets. A paper slicer, scissors, box cutter…
- A marker to run over the cut edges if using full colour.
- A coating to help preserve and seal the surface. UV protecting is a plus.
Make Pretty!
Manipulate the photo in a bitmap editor (if you like) and bring it into your layout software. If adding text or design elements only work on one photo at first. Then duplicate (or better, instance) the final assembly across your printing area. Sizing is up to you and may depend on the strength of your magnetic sheets.
Print!
Quality is up to you and will depend on the paper stock used. I let the printed sheets sit and dry as my blacks can smear a bit if handled straight away.
Magnet!
Because I use photo sized magnetic sheets, I cut the paper up but leave the margins on two sides so as to have “handles” to position the sheet over the magnet.
Cut!
A paper slicer is great if you can get one. The size rulers on it help keep things square. A metal “L” shaped thingie works too (a confusingly named “square”).
Pen!
My background is black so I run a big marker around the edges. Helps to hide small imperfections.
Gloop!
I lay out all the cut magnets and give them a blast of clear acrylic from a spray can as doing it with a brush took too long. Let the coating cure properly before handling or the magnets may stick together when stacked.