~ 3 Easy Steps ~
Print the
LIFE SIZE photo in page-size segments
Paste the pages on cardboard
Cut away the background
This life size standee is of my youngest son. I made this standee and really had some fun with it. I put it in the laundry room, and when my wife came around the corner, boy did she jump!
On first impression, you really do think he's standing there because it's made to be his exact height. That's why it's called "life size".
The materials cost me less than $25 and could have cost half that, but I made it out of 1/4" tempered hardboard, which I grew up calling "Masonite". I bought a 4 x 8 foot sheet at Home Depot for $10.
To buy a custom made lifesize photo cutout would cost you nearly $200. Yeah, it wouldn't have the little seams you see in the picture at the left, but two hundred dollars for no-seams?
You can make your own lifesize photo cutout of foam core board purchased at art and stationery stores or even make a cardboard standee.
The whole trick to making life size cutouts, is to use Brad Couper's program to print the life-sized sculpture image across several pages.
This is how I spread the glue on the back of each print.
You can use spray glue, but I wanted to be able to slide the pages into position and I don't think the spray-on glues allow that.
I used about 2/3rds of an 8 oz bottle to do the above cutout.
That's a foam paint roller. You could use a brush or even a sponge.
If you make your lifesize standee out of foam board or cardboard all you need to cut it is a box knife or maybe a rotary cutter. You'll also want scrap plywood to lay under the cutout as your box knife blade will try to cut anything under the standup. DON'T cut on the dinning room table!
I made this life size photo cutout out of hardboard, so I had to use a saber saw to make the cut. Since I had to cut from the image side (so I could see where to cut), I temporarily glued a paper shop towel to the saber saw so it wouldn't scratch the cutout.
If you are looking for ready made life size cutouts instead of making one yourself, check out the ads below;