PrintOnIt.com - Quality inkjet printing supplies!!!!

Print one sheet at a time. Load only one sheet in your printer at a time. Your design can be printed on either side of the sheet.

Before printing your image, you will want to lighten the colors of the image if they are dark colors. Colors tend to darken when images shrink.

	Try and put as many images as possible on one sheet without crowding, as you will need to cut out around each image. In the example to the left, these clipart images were not lightened as the coloring on them was not too dark. We fit four to a page. After printing your images, DO NOT TOUCH THE IMAGE SURFACE. Allow the ink to dry at least 5 to 10 minutes or longer. Drying time may vary with different inks. Light images tend to dry quicker.
	Once ink has dried, handle the printed material from the edges and carefully cut around the printed image. Don't cut right along the edge of your image, leave a small amount of unprinted area. In this example, you can see where the edge was cut. After cutting around your design, you will want to punch a hole in it with a hole punch if you will be hanging it.
	Preheat oven to 350 to 400 degrees F. Baking temperatures may vary depending on the exact heat in your oven, so you may want to experiment. Electric ovens or toaster ovens are best, gas ovens may not heat evenly. Place your printed shapes on a non-stick baking sheet.
	Bake for approximate 2 minutes. Baking time may vary. Within one to two minutes the material will begin to curl. It will then uncurl, shrink, thicken, and lay flat. After it flattens, immediately remove the baking sheet from the oven. In our test, the material didn't flatten completely, so upon removal from oven, we very carefully removed the material from the pan and set a cold iron on with some pressure to flatten the material. Be sure to use something that has a smooth, flat surface, or you will see textures left on the shrink from flattening.
	Here are our images. They are on top of an 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper and a penny is shown. Bake 'n Shrink is estimated to shrink to approximately 1/4 the original size. In our samples, we used a 1/4" paper punch for the holes and they shrunk down to about 1/8".
Creative Ideas and Tips You can also use rubber stamped images with Bake 'n Shrink. Use decorative edged scissors for fancy edges. Make pins, earrings, button covers, key tags, zipper pulls, luggage tags, charms, ornaments, decorations, and much more. When cutting around the image, rounded corners work best as straight edges may form sharp edges after baking. The Bake 'n Shrink is somewhat pliable when it is first taken from the oven. Because of this you can form your piece into shapes if desired. If you want a curled image, after baking, while still warm, curl the edges of your image with a pencil or other similar tool. To lighten your images, some printers have options such as "adjust brightness" or "enhance color". You may need to experiment with these settings to find what works best for you. If you remove the items from the oven too soon and they are not completely finished, you may place it in the oven again for a bit more until it is relatively flat. Over-baking may dull the colors and cause the edges to become irregular. If your pieces aren't laying totally flat, you can help them. While the object is still warm and pliable, right out of the oven, press something flat and somewhat heavy on it and your piece should flatten right away. Items such as a thick hardcover book, a cold iron, etc., will work. But remember, the plastic is HOT, you should handle it carefully. You can add embellishments such as beads, ribbons, jewelry findings, glitter, buttons, etc. Bake 'n Shrink doesn't always shrink evenly. Some images may shrink more in one direction than the other. This product is not for use by young children.