I have written this tutorial on how to resize templates for cake decorating to share with you the technique I use all the time to make sure templates or fonts I print from my computer (to be used on my cakes) are in the exact size that I want them to be on the cake.
Sometimes, or many times for some, when you print an image or document from your computer, the size of the print out may not be as it appears on the screen and so you end up resizing and reprinting until you get the correct size.
Let me show you how you can resize your templates and get them printed in the exact same size on the first attempt itself.
How to Resize Templates for Cake Decorating - Step by Step Guide
When I made this cake, I did not have any special cutters for the number '8' topper. So I made my own template and used it as a guide to cut the number out. The template I used was a simple print out using my computer. I will use this cake as an example of this step by step guide:
Lets say I want the topper to be 8cm in height. This is how I normally do it:
Adjusting the screen size
- I log on to my Microsoft Word application.
- And then I adjust my ‘view’ setting to 100%.
- To make sure the 100% view on the screen is also a 100% view on paper, I measure the ruler bar on the top of the screen with an actual ruler. I make sure the 1-inch measure on the screen is exactly the same as the 1-inch measure on my ruler. This is basically the trick in this technique.
- If the measure is not the same (which is the case most of the time), I adjust the ruler bar length to match that of the ruler. To adjust the ruler bar length, I click on the 'View' tab and then choose 'Zoom'. A 'Zoom' box will be pop up. Here, I adjust the 'percentage' until the ruler bar measures the same as my ruler:
- Once the measure on the screen becomes the same as on the ruler, I stop the adjusting process. At this point, any print outs from the Microsoft Document will be in the same size as they appear on the computer screen.
Designing the template for cake decorating
- Once the setting is all perfect, next is typing out the number '8'.
- I start by typing the number '8' on my keyboard. And then I choose the font I want. In this instance, I chose 'Calibri'.
- Next, I adjust the font size to the actual size I want the topper to be on the cake (since I have already adjusted the setting in the earlier steps above, I can be sure that the print out will be in the exact same size as I see it on the screen). In this example, I wanted the topper to be 8 inches high and so I adjusted the size (in this case to size 500) until the number was 8 inches tall.
Setting the template to 'outline' mode
- Next, to not waste my printer ink, I set the font to the 'outline' effect. This is how to do it:
And that's it. The template is ready to be printed out and used for my cake.
Isn't this easy? With this technique on 'how to resize template for cake decorating', I save a lot of time from having to keep adjusting and reprinting my templates to get them to the size I want for my cakes.
I also use this technique when preparing images for my cakes. For example, when I did this Minnie Mouse cake for my niece, I wanted Minnie’s image to be large enough to fit my 11 inches by 13 inches rectangle cake.
The steps I took to resize Minnie's image were the same as above. However, since I used an image from the internet, these were the additional steps I took:
- I started by copying the image onto a Microsoft Word document.
- And then I adjusted my paper setting to A3. I wanted the image to fit my 11 inches by 13 inches cake which was pretty much the size of an A3 paper.
- After that, I continued by adjusting the ruler bar and resizing the image as per the steps above before printing it out as my cake template.
And that’s it. This are the steps I take in creating my own templates for cake decorating.
Hope this was useful. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them below. I will revert as soon as I can.
Happy Decorating:)
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