I want to make my wife a Christmas present: $100. But not the actual banknote, I’d like to replace Benjamin Franklin face with mine before I give it to her. After all, I make money in the family, the government just prints it.
I have a scanner and a printer. I know that there are a lot of pro and semipro programs. All of them can put two pictures in one frame, turn them upside down, invert colors, etc. But which one will be able to take part of one picture and paste another one in the ‘hole’?
Photoshop LE should be able to handle what you’re looking to do, but…
There’s a store in one of the malls here that makes that kind of novelty money. You can either have your own picture taken, or buy a pre-made one with a celebrity’s picture on it. Maybe there’s a place in your area like this?
Adobe Photoshop. But it’s not cheap, and you have to actually learn to use it (I know this is a novel concept for some people).
Audrey, may be there is a shop. But I want my wife to have my money. I mean, made by me. In both senses. Besides, what’s the point of replacing one celebrity with another?
Panache, “to learn” the SW is one of the considerations. I think my art endevour won’t go beyond a few hundred dollars :-). So, I’d like to have a simple, eh, uncomplicated one. Once I tried a trial version of something like Imagepal and its on-line manual was “thicker” than Windows’.
“I have a scanner and a printer”
Keep in mind that most new scanners and printers have a ‘disable’ chip in them that makes copying money impossible.
I also seem to recall that when making a facsimile of a legal note, you must either blow up the image or shrink it considerably. Appparently, making a note the same size etc. is against the law.
I’m not too sure about #2, but I am about #1.
peace– Yeah, I know what you mean. I was thinking about that when I was typing out my reply. It’s just a lot more personal, the way you have in mind.
Celebrity, huh? 
Photoshop’s your best bet, but there are some less expensive options out there. I have Photoshop LE 4.0 (a current version of this will cost you about $100) and a $15 shareware app called GraphicConverter (Mac app, btw). I’ve never done a project like this, but I don’t think it’d be very difficult to do.
Optionally, would you consider having a graphics place do the work for you? I think they’d probably charge hourly, but it should be a pretty quick job for them.
CnoteChris is right about the equipment; Cecil did a column about it.
Audrey-
I’ve always been right when it comes to operating the equipment.
I’m curious now. I’m going to see if I can get a $20 bill to scan and print…
Chris, hon, let’s see you say that again with a perfectly straight face.
Please note that even if your scanner doesn’t have a feature specifically to make this impossible, what you propose is still very likely illegal. I don’t know the exact counterfeiting laws offhand, but I do know that they’re pretty strict, and you can get into a heap of trouble for what you just intend to be a joke. I would very strongly recommend that you not do this.
Tx, guys and girls.
What I am looking for is a simple (i.e., not requiring weeks of learning) SW, allowing to substitute one pretty face for another. If you definitely know of such, please let me know. TIA.
Chronos, I realize, that it’s me, not my scanner, who will be responsible for any illegal actions, even if my scanner does not have the “idiot stopping” feature. Yet I doubt that the Secret Service will spend any of our, taxpayers’, money to prosecute me for trying to pass a bill with my face, printedon one side on plain paper. Even Palm Beach county kakers who alledgedly could not figure out Algore’s position (on the ballot), would not accept it as legel tender. Considering that I will present it to my wife, asking for NOTHING in return, it’s very unlikely.
Chris, I own Epson Perfection 1200s, consistently ranked among the best scanners. It’s about 0.7 years old. It scans everything I put on top of the glass. I tried banknotes, XXXrated photos, stupid cartoons, portraits and sketches of politicians, even sat once on it with my bare ass - it does not mind.