chinaphiliDIY // Laptop Case
Hi Everyone!
If you've been following me on instagram, you would have seen the finished product of this DIY. I haven't really done a DIY in a long time but I've been watching LaurDIY on youtube and I've been inspired by so many things. Also, I've come across a video on LEAF's youtube channel doing something similar, but it's a clutch instead of a laptop case. I've done an iTouch case DIY prior to this so let me know if you want a blogpost on that too!
For this DIY you'll need the following:
- Clear laptop case
- Scissors/Penknife/Paper Cutter
- Ruler
- Pen and Pencil
- Glue (I used Gluey tape but you can get those glues/pastes that dry up clear too)
1. Make sure you get a decent laptop case.
You don't want to get a really expensive one as you will be sticking the pictures onto the inside of the case. make sure to check that your case fits well to your laptop. We're only going to use the top section of it so you can place the bottom piece aside for this DIY.
This is the case I bought.
I got my case for $20 at AMK hub's basement. You can find these online or at Scape or Sim Lim Square I think. The case I got had the apple logo cut out so I'll add an extra step for that later on.
2. Get your photos.
You can get your photos from wherever you want. I got all of mine from my tumblr. So what you want to do is create a canvas on photoshop so you can roughly estimate the sizes of your photos. Just for those who aren't too familiar with photoshop, here's a guide to what I did.
Create an A4 canvas, make sure the resolution is about 300
You can chose any canvas colour you like. I chose a white background since my laptop's surface is silver and most of the photos I've picked have white or lighter backgrounds. Also, you don't have to make your canvas an A4 size but that makes it a lot easier to estimate the sizes of your photos and my laptop's surface is relatively near an A4 size. Also, just remember to set a higher resolution for your canvas so blowing up photos won't make them get all pixelated.
Open up all your photos and set their resolution to the same one as your canvas.
Just two photos to quickly show you how to edit the resolution of your photo. Make sure that you do this to ALL your photos or else they'll turn up really tiny when you copy and paste them onto your A4 canvas later on. If your photo turns out relatively small still, just go ahead and change it to an even higher resolution then copy and paste it again.
Just in case anyone needs to know how to do that copy and paste thing, just select the entire photo using the marquee tool then choose 'copy' then paste it down into your A4 canvas.
Label your layers
Once you've completed the resolutions and copy x paste steps, make editing easier by renaming all the layers. This is useful especially if you chose to have many little photos like me. Of course, you can have as many as you like.
Resize and Arrange
Make use of the grids on photoshop if you need help estimating or temporarily change your canvas background (like I did here) to make it easier for you to see. I made my photos overlap slightly because an A4 sized paper is only slightly smaller than my laptop surface and I want the whole surface to be covered.
3. Print your photos
Ready for printing!
4. Cut them out!
Prep for snipping!
These are how my photos turned out. I recommend using a slightly heavier paper, not too heavy but heavier than normal. It's best to use a matte photo paper as well because those are easier to handle as compared to the glossy and super heavy duty ones.
Make a boarder in pencil
This step would depend on how many photos you have that are on a white background. It'll be a lot easier to make the frame later on, and if you're skipping that step, the pencil boarder makes it easier for you to cut the photos as well. Also, I will be going over the pencil guide in pen so it's really a rough guide. Do not make the guide too dark as we will be erasing it off in a bit.
Outline in pen
Make sure no pencil lines bleed out of your pen line. The lines drawn in pen should be neat as they will be seen. The whole idea is to make the photos look neater. Make sure the lines meet just at the corner. Try your best not to smudge the lines too, this can be a little tricky with photo paper as the pen ink doesn't dry too quickly. Also, don't just slide the ruler away, try to peel it off to minimise the chances of the ink smudging.
Draw the boarder in pencil.
You can afford to apply more pressure on the pencil now as these will be the guide for your scissors later on. My boarders were a uniform 0.5cm wide. Make little dots and join them together so that you won't have to worry too much about your lines being straight etc. Like I said, you can skip this step if you want to.
Snip snip snip!
5. Place and paste
Once you've cut up all your pieces, you would want to make sure there are no pencil marks left visible. Unless you want it that way.
Arrange and prepare for sticking
So lay the images out onto your laptop case. Roughly arrange them here and there. I ended up cutting off some of the boarders because they didn't sit too well. I also realised I had some little holes here and there but I'm not too bothered by it. Then again, if you are one of those with an arty farty OCD, make sure you get your measurements right or else you would have to re-print your photos again.
Glue!
My laptop has curved edges, so for those of you who have the same 'problem' as I do, just make sure you trim the edge to fit your case. To do that, gently press the photo down into the case and see where it crumples and snip along there. Make sure you've cleaned your laptop case first, you don't want to trap any dust there.
I'm using Gluey Tape for this as I prefer the non-messiness of it and I won't have the risk of my photos smudging if I accidentally shift them before the glue dries. But if you like you can use stuff like white glue or any glue that dries clear. Make sure you have a paintbrush on hand so it will make your glue application a lot easier.
To glue the photo down, I traced a line of gluey tape on the entire boarder. Just the boarder and not on the photo itself. I then aligned it to the very edge of my laptop case and then pressed it down. Ensure that you have the photos in the exact position as gluey tape holds very well so you won't have any opportunity to take the photo out and reposition it. If you're using wet glue, the photo may smudge (depending on your paper and glue) so you don't want to have to reposition it or shift it about.
Done!
Keep repeating this step with your other photos. For the photos that have no boarders, I just made sure the line of gluey tape was neater. I recommend doing the corners first so you won't have to deal with the tricky curved corners anymore.
Now that centre piece
Using a pencil, just slightly trace the apple logo out onto your photo. Make sure it's all well aligned first so you won't have to erase anything and re-trace it. This bit can be a little tricky so take your time.
Using a paper cutter, carefully cut out the apple logo. Put a plastic mat or a cutting mat underneath so you do not scratch your workspace. Once you're done, apply gluey tape on the edges around the logo and on the outside of the photo as well then carefully stick it on and then you're done!!
Tada!
Alright so that is all for this post. I hope you've enjoyed it and feel inspired to do some of your very own DIY's. I realised I pasted a few of my photos in the wrong position but I guess I'll make do with them. I'm quite happy with how the final product turned out so that's alright. See you guys soon!
xx
Shayne
