Hi,
I've often needed to enlarge a pattern and end up bringing to the library's printer.
I don't have excel, I have MS Works spreadsheet...I'm going to try it though..I'm pretty sure it will work the same way.
Thanks,
Sue in VT
http://www.vtbasam.com
SLOW DOWN AND SMELL THE BALSAM!

UPDATE:

When I taped the printout together, it wasn't square . The culprit is the printer. It is probably the way it enlarges the design (or document/photo) to make it poster size.

So I went back to Photoshop Elements, enlarged the image to the size I wanted and then cropped the image into page-sized segments. I then printed out the individual segments. The result is square.

In conclusion, DP5 and PE5 kept the measurements true. The printer may not depending on the printer.

Why am I going through this : ...because I do not have a projection device and I found the folded paper method tedious. I also have some other projects that may benefit. Hope this is helpful.
PS. I printed the Excel enlargement directly through the application, not using the poster feature of the printer. That wasn't square either.

DP5 is the Artista Embroidery Software.........Designer Plus level, Version 5. Designer Plus is the top level software and includes 60 different lettering fonts plus true type fonts from Windows, lots of embroidery designs, lots of art files for digitizing with full set of digitizing tools. Version 5 is the latest version of the software.

You can also purchase Artista software at the Editor Plus level. It has 55 different lettering fonts, lots of designs and auto-digitizing.

By the way, thanks for the link for the precut freezer paper.

kim

Libby -- Congrats! I recently purchased my first Bernina and am not familiar with the Bernina products yet. What is DP5? Deb

What a difference a little sleep makes . Taking a fresh look at the problem and doing a little consultation with DH, we found the solution. But the solution does not involve using Excel to make the enlargement . That is still a great tip but I don't think it can be used in a Rhapsody where a precise square is so important.

Process:
1) I used Bernina DP5 to create the skeleton and then saved it as an .jpg image. I did the full image and the quarter.
2) I opened the quarter image into Photoshop Elements (in my case PE5). I rechecked to insure I had a square.

Now this is the first place I went wrong. :shock: I enlarged the square to be the size of 1/4 of my finished quilt. What I should have done was to enlarge the image to be the biggest square that fit into 1 page. In my case 7"x7".

3) I selected PRINT from PE5 and went to the preferences of my HP7100 series printer. In the Advanced tab I enabled POSTER and selected a 4x4 grid which is 16 pages. I have the option of 2x2 up to 5x5.

This is the second place I went wrong with my previous attempt. . I didn't realize that by first enlarging the image to 20"x20" I now had multiple pages of a photo. What I was doing was asking the printer to make a 4x4 enlargement of just 1 page of a multiple page photo. Duh

The solution seems so simple now. I just need to ask the printer to create the one page photo on 16 sheets of paper. These 16 sheets represent 1 sheet of paper.

Next step is to insure that I have retained my square. Then I need to cut my freezer paper to fit in the ink jet printer. What a learning curve but I think I've gained some experience that will help me tackle future projects.

Hope this helps someone else. Thank you for your suggestions and patience with my fumbles.

Since my time zone is 9 hours ahead of Calif. & 6 ahead of NY, it was time for me to go to bed! For some reason my HP 7100 series printer didn't want to print poster size nor did Photoshop Elements. I was too tired to do the research but I am going to try again! Thanks for your input.

Libbi, I guess it's the distortion in the printing process of Excel. I have occasionally had distortion, but it never was enough to ruin the project. I don't have a solution for you without being there. It may be how your printer works with excel. Good luck in finding another solution. Cheers, Betty Jo

Libbi-My Lexmark printer came with a program that will print a pic poster size. It will make the "poster" using as many Pages as necessay. It works pretty good.
Sherry

Libbi, your printer may have an enlargement option. I'm at work and not near a printer so unfortunately can't give you a blow by blow but look in your printer options.

I have an ink jet rather than a laser printer so the freezer paper won't be a problem. BUT... I am absolutely frustrated with the enlargement using Excel. No matter what I do, I cannot get a square print out of the enlargement. I can actually use the Bernina D+V5 to make Rhapsody designs. I then save them as an image and that image of the quarter is square. The Excel enlargement appears to be square and I size it square, but it doesn't printout square. So until I solve this one, I won't be printing on freezer paper. By the way, freezer paper doesn't seem to exist in Switzerland except for a few precious boxes in some quilt stores. You ladies are sooooooooo lucky!

Please don't print on freezer paper in your laser printer. It will clog everything. If you have an ink jet, though, it works quite well. I do it all the time.

This looks like a great way to do some designs. Thanks for sharing.
eileenkny

Wow. I'm going to have to try that one!

Kim -- I bought them online at softexpressions.com (url below). I buy a lot of supplies from them. Great prices and quick delivery.

http://www.softexpressions.com/software/notions/frzpapr.htm

Deb