by Sandy McCauley | Nov 29, 2008 | Vista 64
A very dear friend of mine, Susan Mast, recently purchased a second Klic-N-Kut to help increase production of embellishments for her mini-album kit business. The only problem is that her husband’s new computer, which she planned to use, had Vista 64 installed. Her husband works for Go Daddy and and is far more knowledgable about computers and has better resources than I do. He posted a response to my initial blog about the Vista 64 issue. Here’s what he said:
After many hours trying to find a solution to this problem I have found one that is so simple it makes me mad I spent so many hours trying to figure it out.
When you boot you system in Windows Vista 64 Bit if you Hit F8 it will bring up the advance boot options. Here is what I found on the Microsoft Developers website:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa906338.aspx
“Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista support the F8 Advanced Boot Option — “Disable Driver Signature Enforcement” — that disables load-time signature enforcement for a kernel-mode driver only for the current system session. This setting does not persist across system restarts”
This basically means you just need to reboot you PC select the “Disable Driver Signature Enforcement” option and install the driver.
It works, I have tested it and have run a test cut.
Also note if you boot your computer and forget to do this the driver will again not work, and you will have to reboot and disable it again.
The article also mentions a registry edit if you want to brave those waters.
Hope this helps all of you out there, having the same problem.
Chad Mast
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Chad later notified me that because of the hassle of doing this, he ended up installing a second version of Windows on their computer… an earlier version, so that they could install the driver without having to deal with this each time they started up the computer. This may be the best option for those with the 8″ Graphtec cutters (Craft Robo, Silhouette, and Wishblade) since the earlier method hasn’t been successfully used by any of those owners to my knowledge.
I will update this post as I receive more information and updates. This is all outside my realm of expertise, so I greatly appreciate it when someone emails me or posts about this topic. Thanks, Guys!
Update #1: Terry N emailed me to let me know that Quickutz plans to have a Vista64 driver available to their Silhouette owners by the end of January. That’s great news!
by Sandy McCauley | Nov 19, 2008 | Free Videos, Line Style, Round Corner, Spider Web - Designing a, Welding
The next few posts here will all be updates to previous posts based on receiving new information from different guys reading my blog. Thus, this is called my Thanks, Guys Series.
On October 2, I presented a video on converting a single line stick figure into a cuttable object and on October 14, I presented a video on how to design your own spider web. In both of these videos I used Transform>Round Corner to convert single lines in a drawing to 2D images that can be welded and cut.
A guy at CADLink contacted Chad at Accugraphic to let him know that there was a faster way to achieve the same results I was showing in those two videos. You use the Line Style window to create a Thick Style attribute, apply a Make Path and then a Basic Weld.
Spider Web Part 2
Two things I forgot to include in the video: Go to View and make sure Show Line Style is checked. Now this isn’t critical to the success of the method but without Show Line Style turned on, when you leave the Line Style window, your images will appear as thin lines again and you will think you did something wrong. Of course, it’s kind of fun to actually leave Show Line Style turned off and then go ahead and perform the Make Path and Basic Weld and watch your single line image turn into a thick welded object right before your eyes!
The other thing I forgot to mention in the video is that you have a choice in how your lines appear. There won’t be a big difference in the appearance but definitely try clicking on the End Cap choices and also the Sharp vs Rounded vs Mitered choices to view the effects on your image. The following screen shot shows the location of these settings in the Line Style window:
So, this is definitely an excellent alternative to using Round Corner, especially when you have closed paths in your images. Check in soon for the next post in the “Thanks, Guys! Series. ”
by Sandy McCauley | Nov 15, 2008 | Stuff that's scrap book related
Do you have a blog or web site that’s scrap book or cutting machine related?
I am always looking for quality sites that help other with their cutting machine and scrapbook projects.
Do you have a questions that’s scrap or KNK related? Feel free to post in the comments section. My passion is to help you enjoy and get the most out of your cutter.
I am familiar with pretty much every cutter on the market and as the writer for KNK product manuals I can help.
Stop by my blog anytime with your questions!
by Sandy McCauley | Nov 13, 2008 | MAXX
Sorry I’ve not had a chance to post in over a week. Finishing up the user manual for MAXX, helping customers sell their used KNK’s to upgrade to MAXX, and testing new and different materials on MAXX has been keeping me busy from dawn until dusk, literally. Thus, my life has pretty much been all about the new MAXX machine. If you’ve not had a chance to see it, here’s a link: Scrapbook Die Cutter
This latest product in the Klic-N-Kut line of cutters offers almost twice as much cutting force as present in the current Klic-N-Kuts, including the Element. It also comes equipped with three pinch wheels and a laser alignment light for faster easier print and cuts. The new bladeholder seat will adjust to fit just about any pen, bladeholder, or embossing tool you wish to use. And the grit rollers are far more… well… grittier to hold the mat tight and prevent skewing. The first two models being released are the 15″ and the 24″, both due to ship in about 2 weeks.
If you have any questions about the new MAXX line of Klic-N-Kuts, please either post here or email me at sandy@iloveknk.com. Also, if you are interested in buying one of the used KNK’s from one of my customers, also contact me and I can provide information on those. I have all sizes available: 9″, 13″, 15″ and 24″.
by Sandy McCauley | Nov 12, 2008 | Stamps
A BIG thanks to Bethany for sending me photos of both the stamps she has cut on her KNK Element (see below) and the resulting stamped images. I have tried a few myself, but it’s great to actually have someone who’s a true stamp expert make some and show me how it worked for her. I’m always amazed by the intricacy possible with this material. The clear rubber for cutting stamps can be purchased at http://www.scrapbookdiecutter.com/
