How To Make a Ronaldo Mask

Wanting to make a Ronaldo mask for a football game or for Halloween? This method is cheap and quick, if you have access to a few tools. In particular:

• A Laminator
• A Colour Printer
• Laminating Sheet (We use 125 micron)
• Scissors
• Optional: A Hole Punch
• Optional: Elastic or String
• Alternatively: An Ice Cream Stick and Glue

Step 1: Print a Ronaldo Face

If in Google Chrome: right click the image above, then Open Image In New Tab. Go to the new tab with only the image, then press Ctrl-P to print. Adjust your print settings to be colour, and you may need to adjust the zoom (Scale: Custom eg. 110% or 120%) so that the face fills up a good portion of the page. If the face will be a good size when printed, then you can press print.

Step 2: Cut Out the Face

First cut carefully along the contours of his face. It's preferable to keep the outer white area of paper in 1 piece. Now, with your spare white piece, cut an extra margin of say 1cm around where the face was. Your laminator may say not to laminate an empty laminating sheet, so we will reuse this piece of paper to keep the laminating sheet mostly full of paper to minimize the chance of a laminating jam (laminate at your own risk).

Step 3: Insert the Face and White Paper Into the Laminating Sheet

Push the white paper to the top of the laminating sheet, and the face almost to the top of the sheet. Close the sheet to hold them in position. Pass it through the laminator.

Step 4: Cut Out the Laminated Face

Cut out the face, leaving at least a few millimeters of excess laminate beside the face at all points (so that the laminate will not re-open, or water will not seep in). Tip: Leave some extra laminate above the ears, so we can later punch a hole and pass elastic through.

Step 5: Punch Holes

If you intend to attach elastic or string to fix it to your head, then you'll want to punch holes in the laminate above the ears.

Step 6: Attach String or Elastic

Put some string around your head to estimate how much you'll need. Add a bit of extra length. Cut your string, then tie it through the 2 holes. If wanting to shorten the string to tighten it, then tie an extra knot where the string would be behind your head. Tip: Elastic is preferable. Alternatively, you could glue an ice cream stick to the back of the mask, to hold it up to your face.

Step 7: Put It On!

It's ready to wear. You won't be able to see through the eye holes, so this mask would be better for taking photos with. If you want eye holes, then you could either cut them now, or make a new one and cut eye holes into the face before laminating.

Step 8: Try Another Face

You can use this technique with any other suitable face images.

Getting the Size Right

The print scale matters more than anything else here, and it is the step most people get wrong. Measure the wearer from the point of the chin to the hairline, then hold a ruler against the image on screen or on a test print and set the zoom until the printed face is the same height. A mask an inch too small looks like a mask. One that matches the wearer reads as a face in photos, which is the whole point.

For most adults 110 to 120 per cent on A4 lands close. For a child, print at 100 per cent first and check before using a laminating pouch on it. Print the test page on plain paper in black and white to save ink, since you are only checking the size.

Making a Set for a Team or a Party

The steps are the same for twenty masks as for one, but the order changes. Print every face first, then cut them all out, then laminate in one run while the machine is up to temperature, then cut and punch at the end. Keep the offcut white paper from each sheet, because that is what stops the pouch running through empty.

• Cut a sheet of thin card to the shape of a pouch and keep it as the permanent filler, instead of saving offcuts each time
• Number the back of each mask with a marker before you laminate, if they are going to a class of children
• Punch the holes before you thread any elastic, in an assembly line rather than one mask at a time
• Use elastic cord rather than string for a group, since it does not need retying between wearers

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make this without a laminator?

Yes, with clear sticky-backed plastic or wide packing tape. Print the face, glue it to thin card, then cover both sides with overlapping strips of tape and trim to shape. It will not be as stiff or as water resistant as a laminated mask, and the tape seams are visible in a photo, but for a one off at home it takes ten minutes and no equipment.

What size should the mask be printed at?

Match the printed face height to the wearer, measured from the chin to the hairline. On A4 that usually means a custom scale of about 110 to 120 per cent for an adult and 100 per cent for a child. Print a plain paper test first and hold it up to the face before committing a laminating pouch to it.

How should I cut the eye holes?

Cut them before laminating, not after. Hold the printed face up to the wearer, mark the pupils with a dot, then cut a small oval at each mark, no larger than needed to see through. Cutting after laminating opens the sealed edge around the hole, so the layers peel apart with use and the cut plastic edge sits close to the eye.

Can I print a photo of a footballer to make a mask?

For a mask you make at home and wear yourself, this is normal personal use and nobody minds. Selling them or using them to promote a business is different, because the photographer holds copyright in the image and well known players control the commercial use of their likeness. If you want masks to sell or to brand an event, use a photo you took or a licensed image.

What thickness of laminating pouch works best?

We use 125 micron, which is stiff enough to hold its shape when held up on a stick and still flexible enough to cut cleanly. Thicker pouches at 175 or 250 micron make a rigid mask that stands up to a season of use, at the cost of harder cutting and a higher chance of a jam. Thinner 80 micron film curls and is not worth the effort.

Will the mask survive being used outdoors?

Yes, if you left a few millimetres of sealed laminate all the way around. That margin is what keeps water out, so a mask cut flush to the edge of the face will lift and soak at the first rain. Sun is the other problem, since a laminated mask left in a car or on a dashboard will warp. Store them flat, out of direct sunlight.

A Safety Note

Without eye holes, this is a photo prop rather than something to run around in. Do not let young children wear a mask they cannot see through while playing, near traffic or near water, and keep the elastic short enough that it cannot loop around a neck. Laminated edges are sharp when freshly cut, so round the corners with scissors before handing a mask to a small child.

Related Reading

• Football training equipment, the rest of what we stock for coaching sessions.
• 110cm inflatable defender and 175cm inflatable defender, for free kick and dribbling practice.
• Football coaching board, for setting up the session the masks turn up to.
• Free video analysis with Kinovea, if you want to look at technique rather than faces.