The name is catchy and the premise is simple: for free - no money, nada, no shwingo - you upload your photograph to The Rasterbator and they send it back to you as a series of PDF documents that, when pieced together, are a huge version of your image.
This is what the link looks like: http://homokaasu.org/rasterbator/
With expertise and good printing quality, The Rasterbator allows you to cover entire walls with photographs or images of anything you can get your hands on. There is even a new color version on the site. All of this as an alternative to wallpaper. (Thanks, Marie & Matt!)
(First published 2004-11-23)
(Second published 2006-01-12)
(Third published 2007-11-21)
Derek's Comfy and Connected Corners 
Before & After: Molly's IKEA Rast Turned Campaign Chest
Like us on Facebook
RSS Feed (Atom)
Krups Compact Citru...
12 Recipes to Know By Heart
How To Make Cake Pops
Comments (16)
I downloaded this program (free) and use it all the time. I am a fiber artist and after drawing something I can easily scale it up or down to make a pattern. It's fantastic. I've also made roman blinds with my drawings on them by printing the images onto printable fabric and piecing it together. Have fun with it!
These will really spice up my rasterbatorium.
Love Rasterbator. A couple of years ago, we rasterbated a cool B&W sock monkey photo on to medium-weight white paper, and used it to cover one wall of our toddler's room. (He calls him "Earl.") It looks pretty cool and it's held up surprisingly well given that, to stick the pages to the wall, we only used that tacky gum-like stuff that teachers use.
I took a picture of downtown san jose at night and rasterbated it and put it on a wall. People have been commenting about how great it looks. I'm at home for thanksgiving now, but when I get the chance I will post mine online.
http://zero255zero.com
a few years back, we rasterbated a photograph of a richter painting and it came out beautifully:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shannonholman/16088807/in/set-386992/
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/competitions/bedroom-10-shs-laughing-laotian-ladies-002082
i tried this a few weeks ago and it didn't work!! :-( i think it had to do with my having a macbook. it's a more pc-friendly program. wah! i'm savvy with computers so i'm pretty sure it's not me. ree reeeee.....:-(
If you don't like the dots in the rasterbated images you can also use other programs to create poster size photos that you print on smaller pages. See this link for two programs I have played around with - http://fototiller.com/blog/2007/03/09/record-album-frame/.
And I have found those acrylic shadow box frames at any basic craft store like Michael's or AC Moore or (dare I say it) Walmart.
We've got a giant picture of Ulysses S. Grant up on the wall of my lab. No particular reason for the image choice. It sure does generate a lot of questions.
We've got another, smaller one of one of those Haekel guy's images of corals and diatoms. Less questions on that one.
I used this site to do them, which doesn't do the dot style thing:
http://www.blockposters.com/
There's a great product out now that is like a glue stick, but it's repositionable--basically your paper is turned into a big sticky note. It really works. We're not permitted to nail things at work or use tape, so we use this and the housekeeping department loves it. It would be ideal for this purpose. On one occasion we "blew up" a photo of one of my co-workers with Rasterbater and hung it on the wall for fun. At the time you could download a version to use on your own PC and we used that.
P.S. 3m has the "repositionable" glue stick, but other companies have the product as well. So just google for repositionable glue stick.
Here's an update from my earlier comment.
I rasterbated my photo to 4x5, then got some poster board from Michael's. I used a paper cutter to trim the edges from my print outs, then pasted the print outs to the poster board (after cutting it to the right size).
Then I used 3M command adhesives to put them on the wall.
Sidenote: 3M command adhesives are a GOD send (especially for non-home owners), I use them for everything.
Here is the final product. Cost around $25 (I printed out at Kinko's) http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2192/2064473255_e043fe3075.jpg
my blog
http://zero255zero.com
There's another option, too, if you have a Mac and don't want to, or can't, use the online Rasterbator: PosteRazor [http://posterazor.sourceforge.net/].
Another option to iron-on transfer is computer printer fabric. Basically, it's a 2-layer product: one layer of fabric one layer of backing paper. Load the sheets into your printer, print, peel the paper backing off, and then use the fabric as desired.
This method enables you to avoid ironing, possibly scorching your project, or getting watermarks from a steam iron, etc.
At least 2 companies make the product: June Tailor and Printed Treasures. It's available at sewing and craft stores like JoAnn's. It is NOT inexpensive, so wait for a sale or get a coupon (JoAnn's frequently offers 40% off coupon, on your choice of any one product.)
Final note: make sure you get the right fabric for your printer (ink jet vs. laser, etc.)
i agree with sexyartbeast...i used an old childhood photo and it looks great but next time i WILL go to kinko's. it really uses up your ink. you don't want to get halfway through a big piece to find the color fading!
holy freaking crap. I was just digging around on here looking for an idea for a GIANT wall in my living room... well, maybe not so giant, but its the first thing you see coming in the front door, and all thats on the wall is a lonely love seat. I wanted to do a mural of a nature scene (forest) but was NOT looking forward to stenciling and painting one... so this is a GREAT option. And on the hallway wall I wanted to do a large tree (I mean floor to ceiling and about 6' wide) and then hang small pix of family members over it... I'm going to try to use rasterbator for that and see how it goes...
Fah-bulous!
This would look great printed on transparent sheets (Like the ones used for overheads) They won't rip, look laminated, look cleaner, and can be moved around and will last longer. Hmmmmm. I believe I'll have to do this!