Makeup by Kayleigh Roy.

Since the tutorial is already so fabulously written by Photojojo, I’m not going to reinvent the wheel by writing my own here. Just buy the book, or steal my copy. Besides, you can always follow this super unnecessary helpful stop-motion video of my process.

For the last few months I have been printing old pictures, and trying to keep up with new ones for the purpose of this wall art. I was going to save all the 4×6’s for my basement studio, but since it is still at least a couple weeks from being finished, I figured what the hell, I can always move it. Overall, I am pleased with the finished product. And most importantly it is easy to add onto the pattern as I print more and more pictures. If you want to make something similar, which I fully recommend, here are some things to keep in mind.

DO:
***Use clear packaging tape: This tape proved to be the best fit for the project because it is wide enough to cover most of the seams and strong enough to hold a whole bunch of heavy photos together as they are tossed around. (I wasn’t very gentle with the strips and blocks of photos once taped.)
***Use Scots removable adhesive strips: These are great because with a razor or sharp knife you can cut the strips into pieces. Trim to size depending on how big/heavy your pictures are.
***Level and mark your wall area: With such a big piece, its important to level before you put it up. Not only will it look a little crooked, but with the weight of all the pictures there will be too much stress on one side, making the entire thing less secure.***Keep in mind the flip: I didn’t notice this until I had most of my pictures taped. Maybe I’m a little slow. Anyway, if you look at the video, you can see how when I flipped the pictures it reversed the order. I didn’t mind because I was working with a random order anyway. If your being exacting however, think about this before taping.
***Clean your working surface: I was constantly wiping sand off of the floor I was working on. Luckily the my photo paper had a thick gloss to it which protected the prints from most abrasions. A big table is ideal, plus then you don’t have to break your back.

DON’T:
***Drop the photos:
***Try to estimate the amount of time this will take: I thought this project would be a breeze. It ended up taking about three hours. But I was also taking pictures and making the short video at the same time. I’m also anal about straight lines and such. Bottom line, give yourself some time.
***Use different photo papers (if possible): I had all but two or three of my 4×6’s printed on a thick Kodak paper with the others on a thin Fujifilm. The Fujifilm paper was a few millimeters smaller in each direction and bent easily. Not the end of the world but it throws off the edges of the rows. If I add to the mural I’ll have to fill the gaps from underneath with extra photo paper.

http://fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com/post/16468768894/how-to-run-a-business-that-doesnt-suck-the-hank-and

I chose to power it through tumblr because with a $9.99 charge to my GoDaddy account, a free theme, and a few new colors, I’m done. It is a super simple site for a super simple purpose. Everyday (mostly) I open the tumblr app on my phone, attach photo and a brief caption. Upload. Party. Tumblr provides the ease of use necessary for me to make this a daily routine. Hope y’all enjoy and stay tuned.

It is not too difficult to take some screen shots of the Cover Photo layout and figure out the dimensions and crops needed to make an integrated Cover/Profile art. But I already figure it out when I did my own, so I might as well share. Click to download a Photoshop Action folder to create yours.

The file above will download as a group of actions. There are actually two separate actions. The first creates a PSD with the dimensions that you will need. After you add your own photo, the next action will create the two separate images that you will need. If you have never used Photoshop actions, check out this tutorial on how to load and use them.

Once you have the “Facebook Timeline” folder loaded into the actions panel just follow these steps:

1. Play the “FB TIMELINE CANVAS” action.

• This action will create a canvas with the necessary dimensions for the next steps. The size of 1704 by 704 pixels is double the resolution I lifted off of a screen shot I took of a Facebook profile. I doubled the size of the canvas simply to insure enough resolution. It is still a small enough file, so the workflow and upload online shouldn’t stress your computer or your Facebook profile at all.
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2. Open your the photo you want to use in another Photoshop window and drag it  into your new canvas. You can also copy and paste an image or use any other method of inserting your picture.

• A note on the photo you choose: Keep in mind the wideness of the composition. It is way wider than anything I am used to working with. When I used my wake boarding photo I had to use Content Aware Scale to stretch the photo a bit so it would fit right. Also, remember where the profile picture will be located. The actions however make it simple enough for you to make multiple versions with different crops of your photos. Make a bunch and decide what works the best.
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3. Once you have your photo positioned how you want it, play the “FB TIMELINE CROP” action.

• Woohoo! Check out that automation! If all goes well, you now have two separate images. A square Profile Picture and the rectangular Cover Photo. The action does not save either file, so that is up to you. If you want to save them for a later edit save them first as PSD’s. If not, just save them as full quality jpegs.
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4. Upload each picture to its proper place on your Facebook Profile.

• All done! Go brag to all your friends because you have the coolest Facebook Profile!
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Hope you enjoy, here’s some more inspiration: Get Creative With New Facebook Timeline Cover Ideas

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 7,200 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

For more, check out Newspaperblackout.com

Check out this slick campaign, Talk to Your Kids About Art School, by Team Detroit for the College of Creative Studies. All the photos are here.

Episode 1: 

Episode 2: 

Episode 3: 

Btw, I realized just now it has been snowing on the blog, guess that means it’s actually winter.