How to Nest for Less™

How to Make Your Own Chalkboard Printables

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If you’ve been browsing through the internet or Pinterest the past couple of months like I have, you’ve probably noticed the overwhelming number of Chalkboard Printables that have taken over. Seriously adorable, right? Well now I’m going to show you how you can make one for yourself! Keep reading to find out how!

how to make chalkboard printables

How to Make Chalkboard Printables

To begin, you will need some type of graphic computer software such as Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. If you don’t have one of those available to you, check out PicMonkey.com (although you’ll have limited fonts to work with).

Chalkboard background

Chalkboard Fonts

OK, to start off here’s a FREE black chalkboard background just for you! Yep, just save this background to your desktop to use as the base for all of your chalkboard art. It is sized to 8×10 inches, the perfect size to print on normal computer paper and fit into an 8×10 inch standard sized frame.

Next, download some cool fonts to use from Dafont.com. Some of my absolute favorites are these:

chalk board fontsAnd you can just type away right on top of the chalk board background in Photoshop (or any image editing program) with your new fonts! You can switch around your fonts’ types and sizes to get a really cool and fun effect. Also add some Dingbats, dotted and straight lines to add a little pizzazz to your design. I love messing around with this stuff until I get the look I want.

And just for fun I created two chalkboard style free printables that you can download right here!

art is plagairism printableAll you have to do is right click on the image and save it to your desktop. Once that’s done, open the file from there to print. Print on normal printer paper, then trim out and fit in an 8×10 inch frame.

fashion fades YSL printable

You will love creating these fun chalkboard printables for every occasion.
HOPE YOU ENJOY!

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Comments

  4. kp says

    these typefaces are amazing. I’ve been searching for the fonts with the right feel for a project like this – thank you for sharing!

    Reply

  5. Jill Wilhelm says

    Thanks for sharing Erin! I love these…I made one for my daughter to give to her teacher for Christmas and she loved it!

    Reply

  18. Grace @ sense and simplicity says

    Thanks so much for the chalkboard background to save. I’ve been dying to make my own, but didn’t know where to get a background like that. By the way, is there a trick to using fonts that you download. I don’t have Photoshop so I just use Picmonkey and I”m not sure if you can use them on there or not? Any advice? Thanks again.

    Reply

  19. Junque says

    Thanks so much for the background and the links, etc. I simply used MS Word and used the background as a picture, then changed the font color and made the background of the text boxes transparent… Easy Peasy!

    Reply

  28. Amanda says

    Love this whole tutorial! I’m trying to find the border you used on the last image. There are tons on bigstockphoto.com. Do you recall the name of the file? thanks!!!

    Reply

  31. Lisa says

    Love! However, I’m having a hard time adding the fun borders, dingbats etc. in my adobe photoshop elements program. Does anyone know how to do that? Thanks!

    Reply

  33. Brenda says

    Hi there! Thank you so very much for sharing your directions on making a chalkboard printable and especially the chalkboard background! I just started a little blog (really only family reading it so far) . I’m trying to understand all the do’s and don’ts of blogging. If I create my own chalkboard printable using your background, may I post it on my blog?. I will most definitely link to your site and give you the credit for the directions and background (and the inspiration).

    Reply

  37. jenmuddybootdreams says

    Thanks so much for sharing, and such a easy peasy tutorial to follow, I love those kind.

    I can’t wait to create something in Picasa with this…just wondering if anyone else is ever having problems with not all the letters showing up after they are downloaded. T’s and M’s are missing…I’ve googled until my head hurts, can’t find a solution.

    Jen

    Reply

  38. Jeanine says

    Thank you for the chalkboard background! This is wonderful! I will be using this for my daughter’s high school graduation party!

    Reply

  39. sewin2disney says

    I love it! Thank you for the free download! I think I’m going to pay it forward by creating something with it and listing it as a free download on my site.
    Thanks again! I’ll be sure to link back to you!

    Reply

  43. Rachel Honour says

    Thank you for this. I’ve managed to download the fonts and can see them in Word – I’ve got the blackboard background too. However when I get picmonkey up I can’t see the downloaded fonts. What am I doing there. I’m nearly there, got the background and the fonts just can’t put them together! HELP!

    Reply

  44. kellyqute says

    Thank you for this! I’ve been playing around with it all day – what a great tutorial! I’m dying to know though – what font family are the dingbats on the sides of “How to” in the post title image from? I think I’ve found every other font you used but that one, and those ornaments are too adorable. Thanks!

    Reply

    • howtonestforless says

      I think those little ornamental dingbats are actually clip art. I downloaded some different little swirls from Big Stock Photo online. Just do a search for like “black swirls”. Hope that helps!

      Reply

  45. Rhonda says

    I love all Subway Art, but hate using all of the ink to print the backgrounds. I generally try to find scrapbook paper that is not too busy, in this case plain, create my text and print directly on the paper.

    Reply

    • howtonestforless says

      You’re welcome Jessica! I got the scrolls from BigStockPhoto. It’s an online source where you can download images for a small fee. Definitely worth it if you plan on making a lot of these!

      Reply

      • Elena says

        Anyway you could post a link? I searched for black swirls, etc. and can’t find them for the life of me! 😉

  47. Joelle says

    Hey.. thanks for posting this!! I have 5 kids and LOVE this idea, but CANNOT PAY for 5 printables!! I do have CS5… suggestions on where to purchase a larger chalkboard template? Thanks so much!

    Reply

  48. Julie says

    Hi Erin! Love your website and thanks for posting this. I have been searching for the specific dingbat font you used in the “How to make your own chalkboard printable” (specifically the dingbats that surround “How to”). Please share if its not too much trouble. Thank you!!

    Reply

  49. emuchik says

    Thanks so posting can’t wait to try some for my daughters rustic beach wedding. Wonder if there is paper avail that looks like chalk board so I don’t use up a bunch of black ink?

    Reply

    • Jenn says

      Why don’t you just save the image and then print it up at Walmart or somewhere that has a photo print station? Do you know where I can find a bigger formatted chalkboard background? I’m on my phone right now. But if I wasn’t I could promise you I would be up 3 days straight playing with these amazing new tricks!!! Outstanding job!!!

      Reply

  51. Patty says

    Thank you so much for your chalkboard background download and your font suggestions. I just made a “chalkboard” for my parents 50th anniversary. Your help made it fun rather than frustrating. Have a pleasant day! Patty

    Reply

  52. Audrey says

    Do you have any suggestions if we would like a bigger chalkboard size? If I were to use photoshop would I be able to save it as a bigger size?

    Reply

    • howtonestforless says

      You should be able to make it 24 x 30 inches without too much pixelation when printed! You can always just create it 8×10 inches and tell your printer to print it 300% as well (or whatever size you need).

      Reply

  54. Cecilia says

    Thank you so much for the background and the link to the fonts. I found you through a quick search on Pinterest (what a lovely thing that is!). I’m planning on using them to create our Christmas cards this year 🙂

    Reply

  55. regina says

    love this! thank you so much! how did you make de border of the second card? because it has something much more complicated than just dotted lines haha, thank you so much!

    Reply

  60. Rachel says

    When I use this chalkboard background in Word, it looks okay on the screen but when I print it out it comes out as small boxes of this background instead of one big picture if that makes sense.

    Reply

  62. Kim @ WampumHome says

    Love this! I have a wall of just black and white photos and would love to add some inspirational quotes in the mix, this is a great affordable way to spruce it all up! Thx so much 🙂

    Reply

  63. Kimberly says

    Thank you, this is awesome. Do u know if I am able to use this template and have printed on 5×7 cards? I was wanting to make birthday invites for my little one!

    Reply

  66. Jenny says

    You rock! thanks so much for sharing. I also always give back and was thrilled to see someone else doing it. Much appreciate. In Sunny South Africa we would vote you as next president! We need more people like you out there.

    Reply

  67. Kristin says

    Do you know if you can get it printed bigger than 8×10. I’ve been looking for something like this to do for my seating chart at my wedding but I need it much bigger than an 8×10

    Reply

  68. Teresa Harris says

    I just wanted you to know that your article SAVED ME when it came to chalkboard signs for the wedding. I was going to try to hand letter everything on black posterboard until I stumbled onto this. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!!

    Reply

  69. Tani says

    HI There, Really liked the tutorial. Thanks so much. I was planning to make one for my son’s first birthday. But, I am aiming for the size for 25 X 40 in, can you please help me with your advice? I use the same background here you provided for 8X10? I am not really good in computer stuffs, so please forgive me for my nonsense questions (but please answer :P). Thank you in advance.

    Reply

    • howtonestforless says

      You should be able to create the artwork and have Kinko’s (or whichever printer you use) scale to size. I’ve blown up 300% before without any issues (final size 24×30 inches)! Not quite sure about 25×40 inches though…

      Reply

  71. Becky says

    Love the look and want to use this for my son’s graduation party in May! But I cannot figure it out and feel really dumb because everyone else seems to be doing ok with it. So I’m frustrated.Can you give me even more basic steps? Thank you for your help!!

    Reply

  72. Jenna says

    Thank you so so much! I just made an AWESOME (i must say so myself) invitation for my brother’s 30th birthday party!
    I couldn’t of pulled it off with our you! Thanks again so so much

    Reply

  73. Clare says

    I love these! Thanks! I made some 5×7 invitations for a shower and sent them to the printer and they are having a hard time getting it to print without the chalkboard looking pixelated (has tiny squares showing up). Is 5×7 okay for this background?

    Reply

    • howtonestforless says

      5×7 is perfect. Make sure you’re saving the JPG correctly when you’re completed with your design. I’ve used this background to make a 16×20 inch poster before!

      Reply

  75. Susan Shingler says

    Hi. As it’s been may times . . .AWESOME!! I was wondering if you could tell me where I could get the line and dots? Is this one font?? dingbat?? or have you used two to get that and if so, which ones? Thanks.

    Reply

  77. Susan says

    I am trying to print these fonts on chalkboard scrapbooking paper, with no results. Do I need to change the color of the font to gray or ? HELP!

    Thanks!

    Reply

  79. Amanda says

    Thank you so much. I wanted to get these invitations for my engagement party but I didn’t want to pay for them. But with your help I was able to make them myself and it looks exactly the same as the one I wanted. xxxx

    Reply

  80. Liliana says

    Hi there,

    thank you for awesome share. May i know what is the name of the font that you use to type “Chalk hand lettering” it seems that i can’t find one at datafont. thank you so much

    Reply

  86. Emma says

    Thank you so much for this! I wanted two signs for our engagement party and these instructions and background template worked amazingly!

    Reply

  87. Bonnie says

    Hi I feel so not so smart here. When I download the fonts it comes in as a zip file. I’m not sure how to open them. Am I doing something wrong or do I need something special on my computer. Any help would be so appreciated.

    Reply

  89. Kristi says

    Thank you so much for these instructions! I did have a question though. I am planning on making this into a poster size (24×36) printed at Staples. Using PicMonkey, should I upload this background using the design option 8×10 canvas to get the best results when printed?

    Reply

  90. Liza says

    I love this design! I’ve been wanting to have one of these made, but it’s pricey on Etsy. Thank you so much for providing an easy way to make one! Where do you get the lines and swirly scrolls?

    Reply

  91. dee says

    I love your work and have been trying to create come birthday boards, one is due tomorrow. The main problem I am having is with the horizontal and vertical dotted lines to basically outline each section. I can’t get the correct placement or one fully line in the size I need. Any help would reallllly be appreciated. Thanks.

    Reply

    • Jen says

      Hey Grace H…what I do is save my file then take it to a copy shop. Their black & white copies are cheap and you save your inkjet ink that cost the same as buying a diamond from a diamond mine…hmmmm. I’m doing printables for my sons wedding and the black and whites are really inexpensive to have printed.

      Reply

  93. Devin says

    Thank you so much! This was a perfect guide to help me create a chalkboard sign for our gender reveal party! Great info and downloads! Thanks again

    Reply

  96. Amanda says

    This is great thank you! One question, where can I find those cute borders and dotted lines, etc. you use to decorate your text? I’m using Photoshop.

    Thanks!

    Reply

  97. Penni Kinkade says

    Hi there. I love this tutorial I know this was posted a few years ago but I thought I would try to ask a question. What type of paper did you use to print?
    Thanks so much!

    Reply

  99. Melissa says

    This is my first time trying this out. Your information is incredibly helpful! What is the best most sturdiest thing to print it out on? I want to make a first day of school sign for my son going into JK. Thanks in advance!!

    Melissa

    Reply

  100. Kyra Joy Mosier says

    I appreciate your post on how to make your own chalkboard art. Three years later, after you posted it, I needed this information and it was valuable and all of the links and downloads worked like a charm. Great job. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  101. Alf says

    I found your beautiful chalkboard background via google-search and I’d like to know what exactly “free” means: I want to use it as a background in a screencast-lecture-series for students and those videos might find its way to youtube eventually. Is that OK for your (have you created that background) ?
    I would then of course provide links to your webpage.

    Reply

  104. DJ says

    Should this be printed in Black and White or should I be using the color option? I printed in B/W and the background didn’t look good.
    Thanks for posting this!

    Reply

  106. Kimberly Pagnozzi says

    Thank you so much! I love making digital overlaya for signs for the “First Day of School” but the fonts just weren’t right. This was so helpful!

    Reply

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