How to Make a Transparency on a Copier

Create a transparency using a copier.

Trainers, educators and other presenters sometimes want to present information to their audience using a projector and transparency sheets. These clear sheets, often called "transparencies", allow the presenter to add information using special markers and wipe the sheets clean at the end of the lesson or presentation. Particularly in schools, people often create transparency sheets by printing the desired content on a plain piece of paper and using a copier to transfer the same information to a transparency sheet.

Instructions

Instructions

1. Create the content for your transparency sheet using your work or personal computer. Aim for 6 lines of text with 6 words per line on a document with a landscape (wide) layout, the University of Central Arkansas faculty recommends. Use large fonts (24 points or greater) in Times New Roman or Arial. Try to limit the content on each sheet so that you can cover one major topic from your presentation in 30 seconds or less.

2. Print out your content on a desk or office printer. Use plain white paper 8.5 inches wide by 11 inches high. Ensure that your printer has adequate ink so that the black text and white background have the appropriate amount of contrast.

3. Obtain a transparency sheet. Check with your school or business office, if you need to make a transparency for a work duty. Purchase transparency sheets at an office supply store if your project is unrelated to work or if you cannot obtain transparencies through your office.

4. Use a copier in your office (or visit an office supply or copy store) to make your copy. Check the copy machine to see if it has a setting for "Transparency", as some machines do. Use the machine's default settings if not. Determine which copy tray the machine uses for paper by default (often indicated on the copier's display screen). Put your transparency sheet in that tray on top of the stack of paper so that the machine uses your transparency for its next copy.

5. Make a copy of the page you printed on white paper. Lift the top lid to the copier and place your white paper face down on the copier glass, if your machine has a top lid. Otherwise, feed your white piece of paper (face up or face down, depending upon the copier's settings) through the copy tray, if you typically use this method to make a copy.

6. Retrieve your transparency sheet, which should now have your content printed on it, from the copier's exit tray.

References

• University of Central Arkansas Faculty & Staff: How to Create an Effective Overhead Transparency
• State University of New York Institute of Technology: Making Overhead Transparencies