How to Control What Gets Printed in a Print and Cut

by | Jun 20, 2008 | Free Videos, Print and Cut

I had a customer contact me with questions on controlling what gets printed in a Print and Cut project. This is a GREAT question and a video was the best way to show you several options that you have. In this case (and it’s a VERY common case with scrapbookers), the project is a tag with lettering and the lettering is to be printed and the tag is to be cut. Note that I created the following video in KNK Studio GE, but the same color selection methods apply to regular KNK Studio AND to Design Master. Let me know if you have any questions about what you see.

ColorSelectioninaPrintandCut

A Miscellany of Good Stuff!

by | Jun 16, 2008 | Word

Today I have a mixed bag of goodies, so I’ll just share it all in one post.

(1) Check out: http://www.freeze.com/ (click on Clip Art on the right side). This site has some great clipart for auto-tracing. Be sure to select .bmp before saving and then the images should readily import into KNK Studio’s Scan and Trace Wizard.

(2) Also check out: http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/It has logos for thousands of products in .ai or .eps format… ready to download, import, and cut! While I couldn’t find all of my favorites (no Phoenix Suns, for example), it’s definitely worth a search to see if the logo you would like to use might be there just waiting for you to download!

(3) Lynn G discovered something quite cool! You can copy/paste your images from KNK Studio directly into Word for printing! The reverse cut and print method might be a bit easier with Word since the printing aspect in KNK Studio can sometimes be a bit confusing! Or perhaps you just want to design some images to include in a document you’re writing. Whatever the application, it’s just a matter of copying and pasting to instantly get your images into Word (or other Windows applications). Also, in case you missed it in the User Manual, you can also copy/paste your Word Art creations from Word into KNK Studio and they are ready-to-cut images.

(4) Last and certainly NOT least, I want to share a beautiful cut from one of my long-time Internet friend, Madeleine, who combined four files into a fabulous design that she then cut from heavy black paper. Thank you, Madeleine, for allowing me to share this with all of you! If this doesn’t motivate you to start cutting, nothing will! 🙂

Another Source for Tutorials…

by | Jun 15, 2008 | Design Master, Lattice, UK Scrappers

Check out the following link:

http://www.ukscrappers.co.uk/boards/forumdisplay.php?f=349

If you’re not already a member of UK Scrappers, then you’ll need to sign up before accessing this page. But it’s worthwhile joining because it’s an active message board and a source of tutorials and files. The link above takes you directly to the Design Master tutorials created by members there and, for those of you unfamiliar with Design Master, it’s like a lite version of KNK Studio. It’s missing two of the three weld tools, the ginsu knife tools, the measure tools (including the “oh so handy Notes tool) and a number of other menu commands. But otherwise the programs work the same way and anything you find in the Design Master tutorials will apply in KNK Studio.

I posted the link above, in particular, because a UK Scrappers’ member named Lesley figured out a way to basically “die cut” any image from a lattice pattern. Her method is very clever and definitely open ups some interesting designing possibities with lattices. The thread is called “Any Lattice Shape.” (Thanks, Lesley, for creating a terrific tutorial!)

Seven Settings We Should Talk About

by | Jun 14, 2008 | Settings, Shortcuts

Today’s post is all about some of the buried settings in KNK Studio that YOU might just want to check out for fun or for improvement in your KNK Studio experience. Here’s a list of where they are and what they do:

  1. Options>Klic-N-Kut Setup>General Preferences: The Duplicates setting controls how far a copy of an image is placed, from the original, when you use Ctrl-D or Edit>Duplicate. Some people want duplicates placed EXACTLY on top of the original. To do that, set the X Offset and Y Offset both to 0.
  2. In that same window: Grid Size controls the size of the grid. Most users probably already know this is the place to change your grid size, but just to be complete, I mention it here again. 🙂
  3. Options>Klic-N-Kut Setup>Display Units: If you want more decimal places shown or fewer throughout KNK Studio, this is the location to set that number.
  4. Options>Klic-N-Kut Setup>Selection Tool Settings: If you would like your selected objects to change color, as well as have the 9 little squares showing, then in this window you can check the box next to Highlight Selected Objects and pick a color (from a choice of 6) and a line thickness (1 or 2). This could be handy if you find yourself having a tough time seeing if you have interior parts of images selected or not.
  5. Options>Workspace Colors: Bored with the same colors for your grid, guidelines, Sign Blank edge, or background? Personally, I can’t imagine having a background other than white, but for the rest? It’s kind of fun to make a few changes using any of the 9 available colors.
  6. View>Toolbars>Customize: Check the box next to Use Large Icons and for those who struggle a bit with the small size of the icons on the toolbar will now have larger, easy-to-see icons. You’ll notice in my videos that I have this setting all the time so that it’s easier to see which functions I’m selecting.
  7. View>Show Bitmap Outlines: If you have a tough time, after vectorizing, figuring out which image is your original graphic and which one is the new vector image, then turn this feature on. All of your bitmaps (raster images) will appear as crossed-out squares, thus making it very obvious they are not vector images. Note also that the shortcut key, Alt-M, will toggle this option on and off.