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Hearts and Sharts

A Little Cute, A Little Unexpected

DIY Anatomical Prints

April 22, 2014 by Hearts&Sharts 10 Comments

If you are in the market for some cheap, easy and unique wall art, these are the best – and the possibilities are virtually endless.

Anatomical-Prints-1-www.heartsandsharts.com

If you’ve never heard of the “public domain”, Imma ’bout to rock yo’ world. Images in the public domain are images whose rights have expired, given up or do not apply. Basically, works in the public domain are public property, which means you can use them for crafty projects like this one.

The 1918 publication of Gray’s Anatomy is one such work. You can find these images here and tons of non-anatomical public domain images in the Wikimedia Commons.

When using images for commercial use, please make sure you double check that the images you are using are actually in the public domain.

If you follow the blog and have been sharting along with me for the past couple of months, you know I have had several family members in my life that were borderline hoarders. Like Grampa. Ohhhh, Grampa. He was in the USAF for a zillion years and kept a bunch of his papers…  training records, temporary leave requests, etc – a lot of them are pre-Vietnam and totally ancient. They make the perfect backdrop for Gray’s anatomical images.

Anatomical-Prints-3-www.heartsandsharts.com

If you don’t have a hoarding Grampa, flea markets are a good place to look for papers like these, but you can also use your daily newspaper, craft paper from the scrapbook aisle or even an old book from the thrift store. For these, I wanted a little bit more visual interest and added a chevron background to each one. (I actually made these last year when I was chevron-ing all surfaces – The last two weeks of my life have been spent ridding my life of chevron prints…  except these babes.)

Anatomical-Prints-9-www.heartsandsharts.com

Using the photo-editing software of your choice, create a blank image the same size as your paper. Merge your background into your blank image – You can Google things like “Free Printable Chevron Pattern” or  “Free Printable Herringbone Pattern“, save to computer and then open them in your photo editing software. For the patterned background, turn the opacity way down, I think the one below is at 10%. Turning the opacity down just means to make the background less visible – turning down the opacity in Photoshop literally makes the image more transparent, lighter. Basically, you just want to make sure that the background doesn’t steal from your foreground image or the whole thing will look too busy.

Create a new layer on top of your background and insert your anatomical/specimen image. Delete the white background. Most photo editors have a magic wand that will delete a solid background with one click.

Boom. Print it and you’re done.

Anatomical-Prints-6-www.heartsandsharts.com

You can frame it up with a thrifted frame or, you can mat it with some black mat and backing. I used 11×14 mats from Golden State Art. A buck fiddy each. You can’t beat that, especially when you search Google Shopping for “Anatomical Prints”. Those prices make me gag.

Skip the fancy frame by using metal clips and push pins. You can even use medium binder clips to give it a little vintage-industrial-ness.

Anatomical-Prints-8-www.heartsandsharts.com

Some simple text on top of the smaller print also makes for a much more visually interesting image.  The one below was made using the fonts Kraft Nine, NeoRetro Fill, and The Dreamer.

Anatomical-Prints-4-www.heartsandsharts.com

For those concerned, the AFB that these papers came from is now closed and I consulted with a USAF pal prior to publishing this post.

Anatomical-Prints-1-www.heartsandsharts.com

Happy creating, y’all!

 

Pom Pom Pillow
Thrift Score Thursday

Comments

  1. Sandy says

    January 3, 2015 at 5:16 pm

    I just found your blog through Pinterest. Didn’ t know about the public domain prints– I love these anatomical images. It’ s along way off but I have some Halloween wall art in mind and these will be perfect!

    Reply
    • Hearts & Sharts says

      January 6, 2015 at 12:56 pm

      Hooray for Pinterest! Thank you, Sandy!! Happy (early) Halloween!

      Reply
  2. Charlotte @ Ciburbanity says

    April 24, 2014 at 12:37 pm

    How did I miss this?!?! LOVE the public domain tip!! I need a print for above our family room tv (the shiz I have there now was a DIY flop). Adding to my ‘copied from Dena project list.’

    Reply
    • Hearts & Sharts says

      April 24, 2014 at 1:26 pm

      Thanks, Charo! You could find something you love and have it printed as an engineers print. Cuchi-cuchi!

      Reply
  3. Brynne@TheGatheredHome says

    April 22, 2014 at 2:08 pm

    These are great! They look like prints Urban Outfitters would sell for $40 each! So fun!

    Reply
    • Hearts & Sharts says

      April 22, 2014 at 4:31 pm

      Thanks, Brynne! UO is way overpriced.

      Reply
  4. Eska says

    April 22, 2014 at 9:21 am

    Nicely done. Now nobody has to spend $75 for a piece of art like that if they have a printer and paper.

    Reply
    • Hearts & Sharts says

      April 22, 2014 at 9:23 am

      Thanks, Eska! Yeah, those prices are nuts!

      Reply
  5. Melanie says

    April 22, 2014 at 8:21 am

    Love this concept! I will be pinning this. Although you lost me at “turn the opacity way down!” Lol I’ll have to re-read that after my 2nd cup of coffee! Love it though!

    Reply
    • Hearts & Sharts says

      April 22, 2014 at 8:35 am

      Thanks, Melanie! Sorry, I wasn’t sure how else to say it since I only have experience with Photoshop Elements for my editing software… Just make the background a lot lighter than then foreground or it will take over. 🙂

      Reply

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