Can I use any photo paper?
Normal photo paper is often porous and can absorb the resin, making your image blotchy or discolored. Unless you'd like to do some experimenting, it's best to use the Little Windows Special Photo Paper, which is waterproof and forms a permanent bond with your printer inks, so that when you place it in your liquid resin, it won't bleed or run.
If you have any other types of paper or printed photos you'd like to use, you can add a waterproofing coating like Mod Podge to both sides and edges. Allow to dry completely before applying resin.
The paper won't feed through my printer
Our bright white photo paper may be thicker thank your printer is used to, so you may need to either help push it through gently with your hand, or use the flat feeder (if your printer has one). If it still won't feed, try using your fingers to slightly bend the first 1/4 inch of the sheet up, and cut off the top left corner. That should help feed heavy papers through.
To feed the smaller 4 x 6" paper, use the arm for envelope feeds, pushing it over to the correct width, and the paper should feed through. If you have an older printer, you may need to tape the smaller paper onto a sheet of 8-1/2 x 11" regular printing paper. Line up the small sheet in the top left corner of the big sheet, and put a piece of scotch tape only along the top edge. This can trick your printer into thinking you're sending through a sheet size it prefers.
Please check the online user guide provided by the manufacturer who made your printer for more details.
Feeding Paper Into Finicky Printers
As mentioned before, our bright white photo paper may be thicker than your printer is used to, so you may need to either help push it through gently with your hand, or use the flat feeder (if your printer has one).
If it still won't feed, try using your fingers to slightly bend the first 1/4 inch of the sheet up, and cut off the top left corner. That should help feed heavy papers through.
Click the link below for a how-to guide for working with printers that don't seem to want to accept our papers.
Guide for Feeding Finicky Printers
If that doesn't work, try taping a piece of clear tape along the top edge, folding it over to the back so it sticks to itself. This gives the printer rollers a chance to grab onto the sheet a bit more easily, and can trick it into thinking it's thinner paper.
Printer Settings
Sometimes it's tricky to find the right settings to print the 4x6" files you've created using our Little Windows Photo Croppers. Our amazing customer Barbara sent us this guide to help you find what you need:
What if I don't have a color printer?
Well, you have a few options:
- Crop your photos online, then email your file to us for pro printing. It's just $2.50 per 4 x 6" printed sheet, and will be shipped out to you within 2 days after we receive your file/s.
- Have a friend with a good printer? Email your files to them to print, or go visit the and crop online at their house, printing once you're done. You can use the Little Windows Photo Cropper wherever you have internet access, and the use of either Firefox or Internet Explorer as your browser.
- Take your files to a printing place, but make sure they either scale them to fit a "Borderless 4x6" sheet, or that they print your files at 34%, onto Little Windows Special Photo Paper. Each Medium Square cropped photo (for example) should measure 1 inch.
My Print Quality Is Poor
If your print quality isn't as good as you'd like, check that the images you're using are high-resolution (300dpi), then be sure you've selected the highest quality print setting your printer will allow. Also, be sure you've told the printer you're using high-quality glossy photo paper. If you're still not happy with the results you may want to try our pro-printing service, available in our shop. You just email your cropped LittleWindows.png file to us, and we will print them for you and mail them back within 48 hours. Depending on where you live, you should receive your printed photos within 1 week. Faster shipping is available.