Introduction: A Humorous Personalized Notepad

About: I miss the days when magazines like Popular Mechanics had all sorts of DIY projects for making and repairing just about everything. I am enjoying posting things I have learned and done since I got my first to…

It is fun to have and use your own personalized humorous notepad, or to give them as gifts.  This piece of note paper shows a line drawing of a computer.  The text says, "First the wheel and now this!  How does (your name) get such great ideas?"  (Many years ago a similar sample came in some advertising literature.  The computer in the graphic was an outmoded Univac style computer that filled an entire room.  I chose to use a more contemporary image and make my own notepad papers.)

Step 1: Get an Image

The drawing of the computer that I used came from a clip art graphics program I have.   In the graphic with this step you see a capture screen from Google Images.  I searched for "computer."  Look for a line drawing that will print well on your printer.  The image 3rd from the left in the 2nd row would work well.  Copy the image you want.

Step 2: Insert Your Image

Open your word processor and paste your image into a new document. 

Step 3: Anchor the Image

I use OpenOffice.org Writer 3.1.0.  Anchor the image to a character.

Step 4: Size the Image

Left click on the image's border to display the green edit points.  Drag one of the corner points to make the image the size you need.  This Instructable assumes you will be dividing a standard sheet of paper to make four note sheets.  In the USA a standard sheet of paper is 8 1/2 x 11 inches.  In many countries a standard sheet of paper is A4, that is: 8.69 x 11.69 inches, or 210.5 mm x 296.9 mm.

Step 5: Type Text

I formatted the page to left and right margins of 0.25 inches.  The top and bottom margins are 0.30 inches each.  I set the page for two columns spaced with 0.30 inches separation.  If you are using A4 paper, you will need to adjust these dimensions.

Type the text from the Introduction with your name. 

You can use other text, too.  They would probably require a different image, depending on the theme.  Some interesting text would be:

"I know you believe you understood what you think I said, but what you do not realize is that what you heard is not what I meant."

"For such a long time now we, the willing, led by the unknowing have been doing the impossible for the ungrateful that we now believe we can do anything with nothing at all." 

Brevior saltare cum deformibus mulieribus est vita. ("Life is too short to dance with ugly women.")

Brevior saltare cum deformis viris est vita. ("Life is too short to dance with ugly men.")

The five stages of any project:
1. Euphoria and Excitement
2. Disenchantment
3. Search for the Guilty
4. Punishment of the Innocent
5. Reward for the Uninvolved
(from Wiki Answers)

Step 6: Copy and Paste to Make Four Sheets

Highlight the text and image as one.  Copy.  Press Enter a few times to move the cursor down the page a bit.  Paste the image and text to make a second copy.  Repeat this two more times.  Adjust the number of line spaces made by pressing the Enter button so that the top two images and text are exactly opposite one another, and the bottom set of images and text are also exactly opposite one another, too. 

It is not easy to get the bottom images and text set at exactly the right point down the page so all four pieces have the correct amount of white space above the image and text when the sheet is cut in quarters.  The next step will offer a way to fix that fairly easily.  Just make the image and text sets exactly opposite from one another horizontally.

Step 7: White Space Above Text

The white space above the image and the text should be equal on all four notes when cut from one sheet.  Measure from the top of the text to the edge of the paper on the upper set of image and text groups.  The measurement on my setup was 9 mm.  Measure 9 mm from the top of the text on the bottom set and make a scratch mark with a knife point.  See the red arrow.

Step 8: Cut on the Scratch Mark

Cut the paper in two at the scratch mark.  The white space above the images and text on each portion of the sheet is equal.  See the green line.  The bottom edges are uneven.  See the yellow lines.  This will be corrected in the next step.

Step 9: Tape the Portions Together

Turn one of the portions from the page 180 degrees and join the ends of the two portions with frosted tape as shown.

Step 10: Copy and Cut

After taping the two portions together, make as many copies as you want.  Cut each sheet into quarters.  The image and text are now identically and evenly placed on each of the notes.  Place them into a desktop holder or clamp a stack of notes and paint the top edge with a rubber cement to make notepads.

File your master away so you can use it later to make more copies.

When you write memoranda on these notes people will want to know where you got them.  You can change the name in the master file and send them a copy by e-mail along with these instructions.  Then they can make their own.