Any of the methods used for variable-height tactile pictures can also be used to make 2D tactile pictures, but there are several methods useful for 2D pictures that are faster and easier than the laborious methods described above.
A popular and inexpensive raised line drawing pad, sometimes called a Sewell pad, provides a ``quick and dirty'' method of making 2D tactile pictures. One places thin sheets of a special mylar polyester film on the rubberized pad and sketches pictures using some kind of stylus with a rounded tip. Many sighted people find it convenient to use a ball-point pen as stylus, because the pen leaves a more visible image. The sketched lines pop up, and a permanent image is obtained. The height of the image is marginal, but this pad can be a very useful means of instant graphic communication with blind people. A kit consisting of the rubberized pad, a stylus, and a number of mylar sheets is available from most organizations selling general supplies for blind people and costs typically $25 to $30. inch mylar sheets cost $8 to $10 for a package of 100.
Instant tactile images may also be created with the use of a special paper that swells when heated. One can draw directly on swell paper using the Thermo Pen (from Repro-Tronics and its dealers). One must draw slowly and evenly with the Thermo Pen to obtain good quality tactile images, but with practice and some care, one can create good quality images. The Thermo Pen and swell paper is a somewhat slower and more expensive alternative to the raised line drawing pad for instant graphic communication, but the resulting images can be much more readable than the mylar raised line drawings made using the drawing pad. Swell paper is manufactured by Matsumoto Kosan (whose US representative is JP Trading) and Repro-Tronics.
Another way of using swell paper is simply to draw an image using a black felt-tip pen, grease pencil, etc. onto the swell paper surface. The paper is then fed into a machine that passes it under a heat lamp. When the machine is properly adjusted, the black areas of the paper swell but the white areas do not. With some practice, one can make excellent tactile images.
A picture may also be copied onto swell paper using a photocopier and then passed through the swell paper machine. A fast photocopier usually does a better job than a slow one. Slow photocopiers sometimes heat the swell paper enough to cause the white areas to swell slightly and become somewhat textured.
The least expensive swell paper machine available in the US is the Thermal Image Enhancer manufactured by Repro-Tronics. The Stereocopier machine, available from JP Trading, combines the copying and swelling machines into one. With this machine, a picture can be copied directly to a tactile representation.
A common method employed by many professionals to emboss excellent quality images into braille paper is by using A small hand-held tracing wheel. The tool is used to press a line or other image into paper mounted on a firm rubber mat. Since the picture is drawn onto the paper from the back, it must be drawn in mirror image. Howe Press sells these tracing wheels and a variety of other tools for embossing, including a number of tools intended for geometry and math. A Grifhold pounce wheel, available from art supply shops, as well as marking wheels available in fabric shops are also useful for embossing lines.
2D images may be drawn on paper with the acrylic paint or fabric puff paint mentioned above. In addition, a standard hot glue gun can be used for making reasonably good tactile images and has the advantage that it dries much more quickly than the paint.