All about photography

You can use pictures in your quilts like never before, thanks to advances in printing and imaging technology. Whether you start with dusty old boxes of slides and pictures or a brand-new digital camera, you can easily incorporate photos into almost every kind of quilting project. Here are just a few ways you can start using photos:

Take pictures with a digital camera to capture images in a flash. Download them to your computer, or print them right from the photo memory card onto fabric.
If you have albums and boxes full of photos, negatives, or slides, you can scan them to use in a variety of quilting projects.

Incorporate photos that you get from a Web site, from the e-mail of family and friends, or on a photo CD. Just make sure they're high-quality, high-resolution pictures before you print them on fabric.

You don't even need a computer to print a photo on fabric. You can use an all-in-one to copy a picture and print it multiple times.

Before using your photos

You've probably had an idea for using pictures in your quilts for a long time. But there are many things to know about bringing pictures into your projects. Consider these photo basics before you get started.

Digital cameras: Like their film-based counterparts, when it comes to digital cameras, you get what you pay for. Entry-level point-and-shoot cameras can be great for taking snapshots and sharing them on the Web, but make sure they can take pictures of at least 150 DPI, so they will look good when printed on fabric.

Scanners: Most of today's entry-level scanners support a high enough resolution (up to 600 DPI) for printing good-quality photos. They may not be as fast or as flexible as high-end scanners, but they do a good job and are fine for quilting projects.

Resolution: Measured in DPI (dots per inch), resolution refers to how sharp your pictures appear. Higher resolution (300 - 600 DPI) works well for most printed photos. Lower resolution images have jagged edges, especially in the detailed areas.

How to choose and use the right photos for a quilting project really depends on what you're making. But here are some general tips for using pictures in your quilt.
Use pictures artistically, as graphics. Take photos of leaves and use them instead of a leaf fabric pattern. It can add an extra dimension to a project.

Focus on one photo. Sometimes too many pictures can overwhelm a quilt project. It may be a good idea to use one picture as the focus, and if others are brought in, they can be smaller or less prominent. Of course, this is just a suggestion - it's all up to you, and there's no wrong way to do it when you're being creative!
Find parallel composition. If you have five pictures that are head-and-shoulder portraits, and one that's a full-body shot taken from far away, it can be distracting. Try bringing the full-body photo into an image-editing program to crop away the extra elements and make it look like the others.

Step-by-step photo use

To use a photo in a quilted project, start with a digitized image. You can print it as is, or use image-editing software to improve it. Here are some basic steps for improving your picture. The specific steps will depend on which image-editing software you use.

Open the image you want to use.

Use the cropping tool to select only the part of the image you want to use. Edit out any extra, distracting areas.

Adjust the brightness and contrast if necessary.

Save it as a TIFF or JPEG file. Use JPEG for pictures you want to use in quick image.

Inspiration and ideas

Here are just a few ideas for using pictures creatively:
Make a photo window in your quilt. If your quilt pattern includes a house, train, boat, or building with windows, you can print pictures of friends and family and have them peeking out of each window.

Create a windowpane quilt. Use a quilt design like attic windows, and insert real landscape photos into each block. Learn how to make it look like a continuous scene by creating a windowpane quilt..

Make a living history quilt. Learn how to make a family-tree or genealogy wall hanging or a quilted photo scrapbook.

Print stunning black-and-white photos on fabric and add to your quilt for a unique and dramatic look. Learn more about taking black-and-white photos with this helpful video.

Learning more

Discover how much fun you can have by using photos in quilt projects. For more quilting ideas, read the other Quilting How-to articles. Start experimenting with pictures today, and see where your creativity leads you.

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