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Eleanor
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| Posted: July 29 2007 at 2:37pm | IP Logged
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Quite a lot of the printable materials available in PDF form (from Sarah Sellers, JMJ Publishing, etc.) are completely colored in, including the backgrounds. This is even the case with simple, mostly solid-color items, like the constructive triangles, sandpaper letters, pink/blue/green reading material, and geometric insets. Although I haven't done the calculations, it seems to me that this method is pretty expensive, as it uses a huge amount of ink. IMO, it also doesn't look as good as printing the materials on colored cardstock, and doing a little cutting and pasting if necessary.
Does anyone know of a source for printables in which these sorts of materials are done as black outlines on a plain white background? (Even better if they've used light grey, dotted lines for the parts that will be cut. This is very simple to do in MS Word, and it makes the cutting a lot easier, since any small mistakes are barely noticeable. When the lines are in black, as is usually the case, it seems as if a lot more trimming is needed.)
On a related note, does anyone know of a source for printable nomenclature cards (parts of a fish, continents, etc.) that are just black and white sketches? I'd prefer to color in the appropriate sections myself, as it would give me more familiarity with the materials. In fact, I really only need the images themselves, since it would be so easy to stick them in a template and add the labels. (And that way, the fonts and card sizes would all match.  )
I guess I could just search for some suitable public domain clip-art, but it would be a relief to be able to skip that part!
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Meredith
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| Posted: July 29 2007 at 2:50pm | IP Logged
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Oh Boy, and I am waiting anxiously for replies here as well...I think I saw some b & w nature "parts of" in the Montessori Services Catalog. The site is bit undesirable as there are no pics, but if you have the catalog these are in the Botany section. Don't know if this is helpful as I know you were wanting something online...
Blessings!
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Meredith
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montessori_lori
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| Posted: July 29 2007 at 2:51pm | IP Logged
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Great questions, Eleanor! When making my materials, I've often longed for clip art that could be used for nomenclature cards, but the problem is that usually the drawings do not contain all the correct parts needed for Montessori cards, and also even if you find some drawings, your cards all look different because of the differences in styles of drawings, etc.
When I wanted to make all the nomenclature cards for my business (bird, fish, mammal, etc) I actually hired my friend, who is an artist, to do the drawings for me. They turned out so beautifully. If you buy one of my sets, you will get a full page of blackline masters which you could easily use to make your own pictures (although mine are so nice I'm not sure why that extra work would be necessary ).
See here for examples: Zoology Materials
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: July 29 2007 at 3:06pm | IP Logged
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Eleanor -
What does "ISO" mean?
I am going to order the ones from Montessori Services....the 3 sets to go with the botany puzzle cabinet are only $3-4. Tree, leaf, flower.
After printing a few sets of various cards out, I'm wondering the same thing about the expense and quality of the cards that I'm printing out and laminating. Specifically, those with PHOTOS.
I couldn't afford to BUY the already-printed/laminated cards cuz they are so $$$$. But, I would certainly pay $4-5 dollars for them like on Lori's site. But, I still have to print them myself, which defeatst the purpose of paying money for them. If I ordered the already made cards, the price doubles (shipping). My printer is just average, pictures arent' all that great.
An example Landform Cards from Montessori Materials. You can certainly tell what they are, but they aren't GREAT.
those of you who are printing yourselves, are you using photo paper/printer? regular paper/printer? do you care about the quality? how are you making it better?
Is it really cheaper to use the ink / laminate ?
Sorry so scattered....thinking out loud....feedback?
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Suzanne in ID
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: July 29 2007 at 3:15pm | IP Logged
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If you go to my yahoo group, lapazfarmbioproject, there are files for many of the parts of animal cards. They are just blacklines that you color in the parts yourself.
Here is the direct link for those of you who have already joined:Montessori animal part cards
I would like to find blacklines for the grammar boxes to just print on colored cardstock.
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Theresa
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LaPaz Home Learning
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montessori_lori
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Great questions, Suzanne. A lot of this depends on who is buying - for the most part, the board here is homeschooling moms. Many of my customers are teachers who can use the school's printer and laminator, and in that case their costs are much less than buying things already made.
When I calculated the cost of selling printed materials, the cardstock and ink were not the big part (although I did buy a color laser printer so the printed quality is stellar). No, the cost is of course the time involved for me to print and mail them. (A lot of people think the extra charge is for shipping, but that's only a small part). So that's what you're paying extra for - the labor (isn't that always the majority of the cost? I'm thinking of car repair here).
So, if you can print and laminate them yourself, you are saving money even though you paid for the PDF. The other benefit of PDFs, that most people overlook, is that you can print from them as long as you like, as many copies as you like. Some sellers charge more for PDFs than printed for that reason!
The other two options are to find free versions (often low quality) or make them yourself - but your own time is money, so you're not really saving anything, although you might feel like you are. There's no one perfect way; it seems like everyone has their own idea of the best way to get quality materials.
I like printing on cardstock, but one of my customers says she likes photo paper for printing my stuff. This may depend on the printer and the personal preference of the person, so you might try a few different ways to find what works for you.
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: July 29 2007 at 3:26pm | IP Logged
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Thanks, Lori. That all makes sense and is very helpful.
I'm thinking that I would actually pay money for a few sets of things that I really want to look nice, and then just be satisfied with not-so-great-quality of other things.
OR, maybe I need a better printer, so I can do the PDF file. This one just CAME with my computer.....so, once again....you get what you pay for, right?  
Those of you who are printing your own cards, do you have a color laser printer?
I'm thinking of Meredith's rock cards. Or Lori's Types of Leaves Cards. They are so beautiful, but would look ridiculous printed on my printer.
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Suzanne in ID
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: July 29 2007 at 3:35pm | IP Logged
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I have a color ink-jet that makes things look pretty nice when set on photo quality and printed on white cardstock. But those color cartridges are expensive, so I only do photo quality with things that really need it.
I do wish I had a color laser printer, but they are so expensive.
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Theresa
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: July 29 2007 at 3:40pm | IP Logged
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Oh no.......ink-jet vs. laser jet. My head is spinning already!
I think I'll go back to de-cluttering my kitchen utensils and folding clothes
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Suzanne in ID
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montessori_lori
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| Posted: July 29 2007 at 3:42pm | IP Logged
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My color laser printer was $200, on sale with a rebate. It's the OKIdata C5500, and I love it. We looked at several, and this one printed better than other, more expensive computers. The toner cartridges are expensive, but it does come with half-filled ones to start.
Up until then, I too was using a "came-with-the-computer" printer, and when I finally saw my materials printed on a laser printer, the difference was so great that I cried! It's that big of a difference!
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SeaStar
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| Posted: July 29 2007 at 4:03pm | IP Logged
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At the JMJ site, if you scroll all the way down, there are black line templates that you can print out on colored paper for the constructive triangles. You have to go all the way to the bottom, though. HTH
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Meredith
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| Posted: July 29 2007 at 4:07pm | IP Logged
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SuzanneG wrote:
| I'm thinking of Meredith's rock cards. Or Lori's Types of Leaves Cards. They are so beautiful, but would look ridiculous printed on my printer. |
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Suzanne, I have an HP Officejet 6110 all-in-one Color Copier, Printer, Scanner, Fax that I got at Costco for under $200. It's AWESOME!!! I print all my "photgragh" nomenclatures (like the Rocks) on HP Glossy PhotoPaper, also from Costco. They come out so nice and after being laminated they are so great! All of my cardstock printables like stuff from Lori's comes out super as well. You COULD print on copypaper then mount onto cardstock (color of choice) and then laminate, but that's ALOT of extra time and patience with cutting etc.
HTH!!
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Meredith
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lapazfarm
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Meredith, I was wondering about that. How does laminating photo paper turn out for you, as compared to laminating cardstock? And what mil laminating film are you using?
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Theresa
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Meredith
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| Posted: July 29 2007 at 4:52pm | IP Logged
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SuzanneG wrote:
Eleanor -
What does "ISO" mean?
An example Landform Cards from Montessori Materials. You can certainly tell what they are, but they aren't GREAT.
those of you who are printing yourselves, are you using photo paper/printer? regular paper/printer? do you care about the quality? how are you making it better?
Is it really cheaper to use the ink / laminate ? |
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Yes, and yes!
ISO=In Search Of
I printed those same landforms cards on my HP Glossy Photo Paper from Costco and they look just like photographs  It IS worth it to me!
Blessings!
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
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Land O' Cotton
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Theresa, I just finished laminating some fruit cards that I got from the Montessori by Hand site. I had them printed out as photos at Walmart, then backed them with cardstock 1/4" wider all around, then laminated them. I think they turned out beautiful! I want to get the geometric shapes pictures that she has too, but I have to wait until my dd comes home to help me burn them on a CD.
Oh, and I'm using 3mil gloss pouches (Royal Sovereign) from Sam's club. They are working great for me so far!
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Vicki
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SuzanneG
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Meredith wrote:
[QUOTE=SuzanneG] Eleanor -
What does "ISO" mean?
ISO=In Search Of
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Here I thought it was some TYPE of Montessori card or activitiy!
And, I'm not even going to TELL you how long it took my to figure out what "KWIM" stood for!!!! 
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Suzanne in ID
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lapazfarm
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That's ok. It took me forever to get ETA. I couldn't figure out why folks kept adding it on to previous posts!
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Theresa
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Meredith
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lapazfarm wrote:
| Meredith, I was wondering about that. How does laminating photo paper turn out for you, as compared to laminating cardstock? And what mil laminating film are you using? |
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Theresa, for me it's no different than the cardstock. The Xyron 900 that I have works with a little roller that encases the material between the two sheets as you roll it through. So whether it's a sticker cartridge, laminating or a magnet cartridge it is all the same. I can't seem to find any mil or sizing as the cartridges come pre-set for what ever you are doing. Does that make any sense Anyhoo, I love the finished product
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Meredith
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montessori_lori
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The Xyron 900 isn't a heat laminator, is it? That's what I'm wondering about in conjunction with photo paper. I don't know what heat would do to it, if anything.
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: July 29 2007 at 5:10pm | IP Logged
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Oh, good point! Mine is a heat laminator.
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Theresa
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: ISO printables on a white background
