Revolutionize Your BetterPress Experience with These Simple Hacks
In this video project, I demonstrate how to use the Spellbinders BetterPress System, as well as share three of my favorite hacks I have created (plus two bonuses) to make your BetterPressing experience even easier!!
Hack #1
One of my most favorite hacks for the BetterPress system is using Temporary Adhesive to hold the paper on the lid. Gone are the days of the little tiny pieces of tape in the corners. Just add a little temporary adhesive to the back of the paper to hold it on the lid, easy peasy! **Only use one side of the lid for this technique.** I pressed the Hero Arts Floral Border Press Plate into the panel using VersaFine Clair Hawthorn Rose Ink.
Bonus Hack (already!)
The first bonus hack in the video is using magnets to pick up the metal BetterPress plates! No more broken or chipped fingernails! I love to use my super-strong Pawn and MegaPawn magnets from Glassboard Studio to pick up the plates from the platform.
Hack #2
My second hack is using the lid to pick up the paper. In the video, I positioned a die cut oval from Pinkfresh Studio’s Double Stitched Elongated Ovals (with temporary adhesive on the back), in exactly the spot I wanted on top of the Altenew Baroque Elegance Press Plate. I engaged the lid and pressed it onto the oval, picking it up by the lid. I then used VersaFine Clair Fantasia Ink on the press plate and was able to press the image edge-to-edge. By using the temporary adhesive to attach the paper to the lid, you don’t need to worry about the tape getting in the way of your pressed image.
Hack #3
This is my favorite BetterPress hack ever!! It came to me during a crafty Midnight Musings session last year in November 2024, when I was trying to figure out how to place my Spellbinders Morning Glory Press Plate in multiple places across a cardstock panel. It was breaking my brain to think in opposites!
I had the idea to place the paper on the BetterPress lid, then place the plate on the paper where I wanted it. Then I put the BetterPress platform on top of the lid, upside-down, and pressed down so the plate stuck to the magnetic platform. Before inverting your platform, make sure to tape your magnetic platform and shims into the base platform so they don’t fall out. Once the plate is in place, I took off the lid and inked the plate up, then ran it through the BetterPress Machine like normal. If you want to check out my Spellbinders Morning Glory video with my upside-down technique, check it out here: Upside-down Technique Video.
In today’s project, I used the Hero Arts Floral Border we pressed in Hack #1, and added the Hero Arts “Love” from the Love and Thinking of You Set to the middle of the panel, using the upside-down technique with VersaFine Clair Morning Mist ink.
Bonus Hack #2
This hack makes using the Registration-type BetterPress plates much easier and less messy. Registration BetterPress plates come with a mylar guide for you to be able to line up the plates correctly, usually for plates that have multiple layers. Typically you would tape the guide to the platform, line up the corresponding plates on top of the guide, and BetterPress multiple times with different colors to produce a multicolored BetterPressed image. A good example of this type of Press Plate is the Blooming Garden set. They also have similar guides to be able to build a pattern over the whole card panel, such as the Luxe Damask Press Plate.
Blooming Garden Press Plate and Registration Template
Luxe Damask Press Plate and Registration Template
The mylar guides can be kind of slippery, and it’s easy for the smaller BetterPress plates to slip out of place during inking or when wiping up excess ink near the plate. In addition, because the mylar is non-porous, the excess ink will sit on top of the guide and can easily be transferred to your project where you don’t want it.
Enter my hack… Make a photocopy of the registration guide and use that instead of the mylar one. Tape the paper guide to the BetterPress platform, and use it to line up the images correctly, just like you would use the mylar one.
**On the individual product listings for the BetterPress plates on the Spellbinders website, you can also download and print copies of the registration guides if you don’t have a copier.**
This hack helps on so many levels!
- 1. The paper surface is not slippery, so there is less chance of the smaller press plates shifting when inking or cleaning up excess ink around the image.
- 2. Any excess ink will absorb into the paper, which makes it more difficult to transfer onto your project accidentally.
- 3. Easy clean up! Just take the paper guide off and throw it away.
In the video, I show how to line up and use the Registration guide for the Luxe Damask Press Plate. I stamped the images using VersaFine Clair Veri Peri ink.
So there you have it! Three very easy BetterPress hacks, and two bonuses!! Let me know which hack you want to try or which was your favorite. I know that one (or all) of these are going to make your BetterPress experience much easier!!
Hope you enjoyed this project!
Step-by-step video:
For more information and projects using the BetterPress system, check out my YouTube playlist and blog posts.
Here are the products I used in today’s project. Please consider shopping through my affiliate links, as it greatly helps out my channel at no extra cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting me and my channel!
**Use code EGIDESIGNS for 15% off your order at Glassboard Studio**
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