by Sandy McCauley | Jul 10, 2009 | Fit Object to Path, Free Videos, Rhinestones
I had extra time this morning, so I created both of the text videos to upload and announce. The first video covers locating and using the engraving fonts that come free with the KNK Studio software program. There are two types: those with single lines, such as Jott:
and then the types with internal lines, such as 5 Bodkin:
The second video covers using your own fonts and either aligning the rhinestones along the outer lines OR using Center Line Trace to convert the font to a single line similar to the engraving font, Jott, above. The resulting patterns for these fonts appear like this:
So, you have a number of options for handling text and there’s even a couple more. Be sure to check out the next tutorial which will be the first of two tutorials on filling images with circles.
by Sandy McCauley | Jul 9, 2009 | Free Videos, Rhinestones
As promised yesterday, I’ll be presenting free videos to teach you everything you need to know about designing rhinestone patterns in KNK Studio. The first video shows you the technique of using Transform>Fit Object to Path function to align circles along a vector path.
Fitting Circles to a Path
The important things to remember from this video are:
- Size your image before adding the circles.
- Size your circle by looking up the maximum diameter for your rhinestone and then adding 0.1 mm to that size. Thus for an SS16 rhinestone, which has a maximum diameter of 2.9 mm, you will want to draw a 3.0 mm circle.
- Always choose Nodes and Distance in the Transform>Fit Object to Path window.
- The spacing you enter in the Transform>Fit Object to Path window should be the size of the circle PLUS the distance you want between the stones.
- Examine your image carefully to see if any circles are too overlapping or two close together. Tweak as needed.
Tomorrow, I’ll have a video on the various options for text.
by Sandy McCauley | Jul 8, 2009 | Rhinestones
We have a NEW application for our Klic-N-Kuts….. Rhinestones!!!!
As of today, at www.scrapbookdiecutter.com, you can purchase all of the necessary supplies to create your own rhinestone designs to iron onto T-Shirts, denim jackets, tablecloths, purses, shoes, and more! The process, which will be posted in a tutorial at their site tomorrow, was used for the T-Shirt in the photos above. This was a shirt that Kylee embroidered and I wore at our St. Louis retreat. Last week, I decided to add a heart to the front. So, I used one of two methods we have available in KNK Studio to create the design. Then I cut it from motif template rubber on the Klic-N-Kut, added the rhinestones, used a special rhinestone transfer tape to pick up the rhinestones, and then ironed them onto my T Shirt using my own home iron. And the really cool thing is that this same rubber template can be used again and again!
To see the products for this process, go to:
Rhinestone Supplies
Note that besides the motif template rubber and the rhinestone transfer tape, there are plenty of beautiful rhinestones to choose from, in 2 different sizes, and in sparkly clear crystal and 10 additional colors. The rhinestones are also sold in single gross packets (144 stones in a gross) or in larger quantities for cost savings.
Be sure to check back here over the course of the next week as there will be free videos showing how to create rhinestone designs in KNK Studio. Also, Accugraphic has ordered heat presses to add to their store in the near future. These will be useful for both rhinestone applications, as well as their T-Shirt Transfer Vinyl.
Please post if you have ANY questions at all. Oh… and we WILL be doing this at the Celebrations Retreat in Raleigh in October!
by Sandy McCauley | Jun 28, 2009 | Metamorphosis
Thanks to Gerti for today’s topic! What a GREAT application for the Metamorphosis tool in KNK Studio.
Here question involved taking a flower shape and trying to create her own set of nested shapes, progressively getting smaller without having the shape become distorted using Transform>Inline. If you’ve ever tried to use that particular function on, say, a heart, you’ll see that quickly you lose the shape:
However, there’s yet another hidden treasure in KNK Studio called Metamorphosis. To use this function, start with your original shape and then make a duplicate. Resize both to create the largest size you’ll need and the smallest size you’ll need. Then select both and use Alt-7 to perfectly center:
Then select both and go to Transform>Metamorphosis. Enter the number of extra hearts you want created between these two sizes, for example, 14:
Click on OK and there you have it! If you want to delete every third one for the look of a Nestability, do so. Personally, I would just keep all of them since you never know what sizes you might want to use:
Finally, thanks to Kelly for asking me about the Match Layers and New Layers option. These are used when you want to have transitioning of the colors, as well as the sizes. With Match Layers, the program will pick existing colors from the Shop Palette to create the transitioning colors. With New Layers, the program will first try to match, but then will create new colors, as needed for the transitioning.
To use, create your two shapes. In this case, I made the inner heart white and the outer heart red. I then made sure that the white heart is on top (select it and use Ctrl-F). Then I did the Transform>Metamorphisis and this is the result, which would be REALLY useful for a Print and Cut.
Play with this… using different colors for the two shapes! You can create some really cool things to print out! : )
by Sandy McCauley | Jun 24, 2009 | Fan Shape Tool, Free Videos, Guidelines, Polyarc
Rachel in New Zealand contacted me yesterday with a design request. She wanted to recreate a slightly unusual welded word title she had found on a card. The above screen shot shows the image based on the design she sent to me. So, how do you create it easily? Well, maybe you would like to give it a shot yourself first in KNK Studio before watching the video. Hint… I started with the Fan Shape.
Modified Fan Video
If you are interested in learning more about welded lettering, be sure to check out two videos I sell in my store: Creating Welded Letter Titles and Creating Monograms. I now sell directly via Paypal and my videos can also be purchased at Scrapbook Die Cutter via credit card and Paypal.
