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    Home » DIY & Crafts

    Making Chalkboard Art on PicMonkey

    Published by Pam Kessler | 689 words. · About 4 minutes to read this article. -

    I've had a lot of questions about some of my chalkboard inspired headers.

    House Of Hawthornes blog chalkboard inspired header

    I actually created this one in Photoshop, but since quite a few of you use PicMonkey, I thought I'd show you how to do something similar in the PicMonkey program.

    PicMonkey Blackboard Art Tutorial:

    What you need to start off with is an image that looks like a blackboard. You can get a free blackboard background image at Foolish Fire or you can google "free blackboard digital paper" and find quite a few to get for free. Free is good.

    These come as jpeg files just like your normal photos do, so you are just basically writing text on top of your chalkboard image just like you can write text on top of a photo. Just remember where you save the jpeg.

    Go to Picmonkey.com and click on Edit A Photo. A box will pop up with your computer files on it, so just pick the chalkboard image that you had saved previously.

    Easy to follow tutorial on how to use PicMonkey to create chalkboard printables on your computer! Also includes 10 FREE fonts that look great on a chalkboard!

    When your chalkboard image is showing in PicMonkey, you need to click on the Tt icon on the left which signifies Text.

    Easy to follow tutorial on how to use PicMonkey to create chalkboard printables on your computer! Also includes 10 FREE fonts that look great on a chalkboard!

    It will give you different font styles that you can pick from. In this instance, I used Lobster Two for the word PicMonkey.

    Easy to follow tutorial on how to use PicMonkey to create chalkboard printables on your computer! Also includes 10 FREE fonts that look great on a chalkboard!

    I picked a white color for my type. I changed the fade from 0% to 8%, just to lighten the harshness of the text. Chalk isn't super duper bright on a chalkboard.

    Below that I typed the words Chalkboard Art in the font Eraser Dust.

    Easy to follow tutorial on how to use PicMonkey to create chalkboard printables on your computer! Also includes 10 FREE fonts that look great on a chalkboard!

    And the word Tutorial in the font Quentin Caps.

    Easy to follow tutorial on how to use PicMonkey to create chalkboard printables on your computer! Also includes 10 FREE fonts that look great on a chalkboard!

    Then on to the fun stuff.

    To add festive shapes to the chalkboard, you click on the butterfly icon which signifies Overlays.

    There are lots of shapes to choose from, but in this instance I chose the hand which for some strange reason is under the Postal category of the Overlays.

    I guess people used to write letters. People have hands. Hence hands under Postal???

    Easy to follow tutorial on how to use PicMonkey to create chalkboard printables on your computer! Also includes 10 FREE fonts that look great on a chalkboard!

    I wanted to put my blog name on the chalkboard, so I chose Ecuyer Dax as the font.

    Easy to follow tutorial on how to use PicMonkey to create chalkboard printables on your computer! Also includes 10 FREE fonts that look great on a chalkboard!

    And put the word From in the font Learning Curve.

    Easy to follow tutorial on how to use PicMonkey to create chalkboard printables on your computer! Also includes 10 FREE fonts that look great on a chalkboard!

    I clicked on the boxlike thing on the top of the column that signifies Basic Edits and cropped down my chalkboard to get rid of the excess.

    Easy to follow tutorial on how to use PicMonkey to create chalkboard printables on your computer! Also includes 10 FREE fonts that look great on a chalkboard!

    I saved it by clicking on the Save button

    Easy to follow tutorial on how to use PicMonkey to create chalkboard printables on your computer! Also includes 10 FREE fonts that look great on a chalkboard!

    and chose to save it in the Pierce size, changed the width to 1000 px wide and then Saved To My Computer.

    Easy to follow tutorial on how to use PicMonkey to create chalkboard printables on your computer! Also includes 10 FREE fonts that look great on a chalkboard!

    And you're done.

    Easy to follow tutorial on how to use PicMonkey to create chalkboard printables on your computer! Also includes 10 FREE fonts that look great on a chalkboard!

    PicMonkey comes loaded with a ton of fun fonts. Or you can get your own fonts for your computer, which then area accessible on PicMonkey.

    When you are in the Text area (Tt), just click on the brown box that says YOURS, instead of the blue box that says OURS and you will see a list of all the fonts that reside on your computer.

    Here are some of my favorites for chalkboards:

    10 FREE fonts that look great on a chalkboard. She also includes a tutorial on how to use PicMonkey to create chalkboard printables on your computer!

    All fonts were from DaFonts , except for Monterey BT from A-Z Fonts and Great Vibes from Font Squirrel

    Beware - font sites are very very fun. You will soon be redesigning logos in your sleep.

    Oh, and dingbats!!! Not calling you a dingbat, but there are things called dingbats that I am in love with too. You will type a letter in a dingbat font and a graphic pops up. For instance the little leaf type thing in my header is a capital letter S in the Bergamot font, which is a dingbat.

    Sure, PicMonkey has something similar in their Overlay section, but there are some pretty fun dingbats out there on the web and they are pretty much a requirement in authentic chalkboard looks.

    Gwenn Moss has a nice post about making real live chalkboards, not of the only-on-the-computer-screen variety. And she made a chalkboard with a typewriter on it for her office. Great minds think alike! She has lots of little tips including using hairspray after you're done. On the chalkboard, not your head, your hair is just fine.

    I hope you enjoy creating your chalkboards, either on the computer or on an actual blackboard.

    « Chalkboard Art
    Dreaming Of A Plastic Christmas »
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    Comments

    1. cheryl marner

      April 08, 2016 at 4:54 pm

      How do u put your print on a board and what kind of paper works best? Thank you

    2. Victoria

      March 17, 2016 at 3:16 pm

      Oh my goodness I've never used this site before and your tutorial was amazing! Felt like I had been doing it for years Exactly what I was looking for, the personalised "chalkboard" looks fantastic 🙂 Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou 🙂

    3. Anonymous

      January 08, 2015 at 11:48 am

      You may have already found this answer, but just because you wondered: the hand symbol is what the post office would stamp by the return address to indicate "Return to Sender." 🙂

    4. lifewithlorelai

      August 23, 2014 at 9:15 am

      Awesome tutorial, thanks! I love the Bergamot Ornaments--had to download them. 🙂 I can't wait to go make a chalkboard printable!

      ~Lorelai
      Life With Lorelai

    5. Samantha O Connor

      August 13, 2014 at 10:53 am

      Great thanks! Have you printed from picmonkey? I can't!!

    6. Jenn

      August 01, 2014 at 10:53 am

      I've resisted the whole chalkboard look craze, largely due to the fact that I had no clue how to do this. Now I blame you for what will surely become my newest obsession. Awesome tutorial, thank you!!

      Pinned, of course 🙂

    7. lizcoker29

      October 02, 2013 at 9:19 pm

      Quick question...can you print this once it's created? If so, what type/color of paper is needed? I've seen all these adorable chalkboard signs for 1st Birthdays and I'm eager to try it out for my daughters birthday on the 22nd. Any tips? Thanks so much, this was so much fun to read!!!

    8. Shauna

      July 05, 2013 at 11:50 pm

      Oh silly me, it's Bergamot Ornaments of course. Thanks for all the helpful information!

    9. Shauna

      July 05, 2013 at 11:46 pm

      Hi Pam, in the area where you have listed out the fonts, there is one that looks like it's titled 'of' with little flourishes around the word. Is that the actual name of the font? Seems to be a difficult one to find due to its vague name. thanks for letting me know if that is actually the name of that font.

    10. Emily @ RemarkableHome

      March 14, 2013 at 11:09 pm

      I'd love to know how to remove the background from an image in photoshop. I have it but don't know how to use it.

    11. Emily @ RemarkableHome

      March 14, 2013 at 11:07 pm

      I have photoshop but don't know how to use it. If love to learn how to remove the background from an image!

    12. Betsy@My Salvaged Treasures

      November 29, 2012 at 1:26 am

      I love this!! I'll be keeping this one close by for future fun.

    13. Debbiedoo's

      November 16, 2012 at 6:55 am

      Girl you did a fantastic job!

    14. Danavee

      November 15, 2012 at 10:58 pm

      PINNING THIS!!!!!!!!! Thanks!

    15. Karen

      November 15, 2012 at 8:21 pm

      That is really cool. Thanks for the great tutorial.

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