Create attractive word patterns with Wordle

Start by launching a web browser then click once in the Address or Location bar to highlight what’s there and replace it with www.wordle.net. Press Return. When the site opens, spend a moment having a nose round. Check out the word clouds that others have created by visiting the gallery, or check out the frequently asked questions or the forum by clicking the links along the top. To begin making an original word cloud, click the Create link on the front page.

To create a word cloud, we’ll need some words. Rather than use our own, we visited www.quoteland.com and checked out the topic index until we found a nice quote about fishing. Then we highlighted the quote, chose Copy from the Edit menu, switched back to the Wordle website, clicked in the empty text box and then chose Paste from the Edit menu. Alternatively, we could have typed in the address of a blog or anything else that has an RSS feed into the box below – Wordle will take the words from the feed and use them instead.

Wordle arranges the words as it sees fit and displays them on the next screen. However, if the result isn’t satisfactory, there are plenty of ways to change it by using the menus that run along the top of the picture. Try changing the font, the way the words are laid out, the maximum number of words that Wordle is allowed to use, or try messing with the colour options and see what that produces. With T-shirt designs, for example, a black and white image sometimes works best.

Alternatively, rather than fiddle with lots of individual formatting options, let Wordle do it all by clicking the Randomize button underneath the word cloud. Keep clicking it until something comes up that looks good, then keep it safe (if it’s OK for other visitors of the site to see) by clicking the Save to gallery button. Choose a title for the word cloud and type in an author credit (or leave it as anonymous) and then click the OK button to add it to the others stored on the site.

Now let’s grab an image of the word cloud. We’ll do this using a free utility called MWSnap (www.snipurl.com/9jci1). Follow the instructions to download, install and launch MWSnap. Make sure it’s ‘on top’ of the Wordle window and click the button that has a dotted rectangle and red ‘+’ sign on it. MWSnap changes the cursor into a crosshair and hides its own program window. Click once to mark the top-left corner of the word cloud and then draw a rectangle round it with the cursor. Click again at the bottom-right corner to capture the image.

Click the Save button and give the cloud picture a name. Then open the dropdown menu next to Save as type in the dialogue box and choose JPEG. Click Save. Open a web browser and go to www.cafepress.com, then choose a design such as a T-shirt. Click the Create It button and then click Browse. Locate the image file you just saved, click it and then click Open. After a moment the design will load. It’s possible to use it to design a T-shirt, mug and many other novelty items.