Another really useful tip (plus a bonus)

You may recall last week’s useful tip on enlarging patterns WITH MATH, and that I promised another useful tip if you chose to have Templatemaker give you a full-size template split over multiple pieces of paper, i.e., you have to assemble the template by cutting and taping the pieces together.

(This is also a life-saver for those times you have to tape together any printouts to make a graphic larger than your printer can generate, like banners or posters.)

The problem we’re trying to solve here is the tendency of two pieces of paper — pieces of paper you need to lie perfectly still so you can tape them together — not to lie still. Either static electricity or air currents or your own clumsy hands will make those pieces of paper jump out of alignment just as you seal their fate with non-removable tape.

Here’s the solution.

We start with the pieces we need to tape together. For demonstration purposes I am using the Templatemaker template for a sphere, here set to a 12-inch diameter. (The template is for one section of the globe.)

Some advice: If what you’re working on needs to be “clean” on the front with no tape, like a poster or a graphic, then trim the edges and work with the paper face down. For something like this, I’d trim one edge and leave the other one alone, for overlap, and work face up.

First, position the pieces of paper and align the edges.

Now, take two small pieces of tape and tape either end of the join, taping both pieces of paper to the table.

Now you can tape up the seam without the pieces of paper shifting or jumping up to meet the tape via static electricity. Ta-da!

You may fold the extra tape over or cut it off. Your choice. Repeat to add more sheets if you need them.

And now, as a bonus, here is one of the most useful things I learned when I went from being a high school media specialist to an elementary school. You know how when you put up a poster and you make little loops of masking tape and then the loops sag and the poster doesn’t stay straight on the wall?

Here’s how to fix that.

Take your piece of tape, sticky side down.