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How to Make a Hand Drawn Hologram

Impress your friends by transferring your simpler art into a holographic format with a few easy-to-find materials and a little time. Holograms are images that appear to be three dimensional, either rising above or sinking below the viewing plane. As the viewer shifts their position, the hologram appears to move as well, changing their view or the shape of the image itself. However, these images typically require expensive lasers and photography techniques to create. With almost no expense and a little time, you can create a simple hologram of your own thanks to a simple technique developed by Bill Beaty.

Things You'll Need

  • Piece of hard clear plastic, such as the cover of a CD case
  • Smaller piece of clear plastic (large enough to hold one point of the compass)
  • Compass with two metal points or similar device
  • Simple image to be transferred
  • Mirror or dark backing paper the size of your larger plastic (optional)
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Instructions

    • 1

      Place the large clear piece of plastic over the image to be made into a hologram. Make sure the area to contain the hologram is placed high enough over the image that one compass point can rest on the image and the other reaches the hologram area. You're going to need to be able to copy the entire image from start to finish without disturbing this arrangement.

    • 2

      Position the smaller clear piece of plastic directly over the image. This is where the first compass point will rest. This piece of plastic protects the plastic of your hologram so that you don't end up with strange "star" marks in the end. You can move this piece of plastic as needed while completing the image and it will not be a part of the finished design.

    • 3

      Rest one point of the compass over a spot on the original image and hold it steady. In positioning this correctly, make sure that the second point can swing freely over the area of the first plastic piece where you want your hologram drawn.

    • 4

      Gently scratch the surface of the first plastic piece with the second compass point. Drag the point across the surface in its natural arc, being careful to keep pressure very gently and even. There should not be white marks or dust created in this process.

    • 5

      Lift and move the first compass point to another point on your image and repeat Step 4. Do this as many times as it takes to trace through the various lines of your image. The more points you use, the more detailed your hologram will be. Large spaces between points will make your hologram shape appear as if it is made up of stars or dots rather than lines. Closer points will create a smoother image.

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