by Sandy McCauley | May 30, 2008 | Reviews
The following review was written on March 30, 2007, a few months before the Elements was actually released. The review was written based on knowing the capabilities of the 13″ KNK and the changes that were being made to the Element. I’ve added some updated comments in blue. I also want to add one comment about the Klic-N-Kut line of cutters. They are production-quality machines and can be run all day long without overheating. This is not true of most other digital die cutters in the same price range or less. You will even find that some of these others are not warrantied for production use.
Onto the review….
10 Reasons to Buy the Klic-N-Kut (KNK) Element
(1) The KNK cuts like butter! 🙂 Finally, I don’t have to worry about ANY of my Bazzill cardstock not cutting. I pulled out one particular heavy weave that I couldn’t even cut in two passes on my CR and it cut right through on the 13” KNK. The Element has the same 500g of cutting force and uses the same blades.
(2) I can plop ANY of my scrapbooking papers or cardstock on the mat and not have to trim them first. I suppose if some company starts producing 18″ x 18″ cardstock, then maybe we have a problem. But I don’t see THAT happening, do you? While the Element is limited to a cutting width of 8.5”, the cutter itself will have an opening wide enough for 12” wide cardstock. Note: there is no limit on cutting length. The KNK Element will hold a 13″ wide mat and will cut up to a full 9″ on the left side of 12″ x 12″ cardstock. Thus you can more efficiently utilize a sheet of cardstock compared to other similarly sized cutters, such as the Wishblade, Craft Robo, and Silhouette.
(3) Because of the way you set the origin at an EXACT corner, I can get a lot more out of a sheet of cardstock and know precisely where an image will cut. Further, the software has settings to allow a WYSIWYG approach, so that the way I see it on the screen is the same orientation as how it will cut on the mat as I face the cutter! (No more upside down cutting, as with the Wishblade and Craft Robo!)
(4) There’s a keypad on the front of the cutter where you set both the speed AND the pressure. I can even change these settings DURING the cut! Speaking of speed, the maximum setting is 24.5″ /sec which is about 6 times the speed of the CR or WB.
(5) The Klic-N-Kut Studio software is LOADED with all the features a scrapbooker can ever dream of using. I can easily make welded titles with mats, fill a page with identical images and “scrunch them” to save on cardstock, and auto-trace images imported from my scanner, hard driver, or even the Windows clipboard. Please refer to my separate review of the KNK Studio program. This review is in the blog just posted before this one.
(6) With the optional engraving tool, the Element can emboss on paper/cardstock and not just do outlines! The KNK Studio software has “color fill” functionality, thus one can emboss back and forth across an image to give a true raised look. I created beautiful embossed images on vellum, too!
(7) I LOVE the handle! Being able to simply lift this cutter by a handle to move it has proven to be a great feature! Even moving the CR and WB felt a bit awkward to me. I’ve taken the 13” KNK to crops and classes to teach and it was easy to get it in and out of the car and to carry in one hand while pulling my scrapbooking tote with the other. The Element will be even easier. And this has proven to be VERY true. I always take the Element, rather than my 13″.
(8) The KNK has a built-in tool storage. The new CR II’s and WB II’s no longer have the little extra storage for one tool… what’s up with that? The KNK can store up to FOUR tools. The Element will have at least this much storage also available. You can purchase additional tool holders, as needed. Some crafters like to have several bladeholders to hold the new drop-in accessory tools and various types of blades.
(9) These cutters cut chipboard! For the first time, I’ve been able to cut my own letters and shapes from scrap chipboard! The software has the built-in capability of doing multi-pass cutting to make it easier for thicker chipboards. I found that thin chipboards cut in one pass at only 300 g of pressure. The thicker chipboards took several passes at 500 g. There’s a new sliver blade that improves the cutting ability of thicker materials, such as chipboard, Grungeboard, foam board, stiffened felt, etc.
(10) The price is great! Okay, the Element IS $549, but with the added functionality and amazing software package, it is worth the extra $100 – $200 over either Wishblade, either Craft Robo, the Silhouette, or the Pazzles Mini.
Negatives
There are only a couple of disadvantages I see:
(1) You still won’t be able to cut ALL chipboard. If it’s thicker than the maximum blade length or really stiff chipboard, then forget it. On the other hand, I’ve had no problem finding suitable samples from my stash and I’ve located a terrific on-line store for buying a reasonably thick, acid-free chipboard that cuts beautifully in two passes. Note that NONE of the other cutters, even those in the $1000-$2000 price range, will cut all chipboard.
(2) The following isn’t really a negative, but rather a warning to the prospective buyer. The Klic-N-Kuts are heavy-duty cutters and are not light weight and compact. They are made of metal and have far fewer plastic components compared to the cheaper cutters. Again, they come with a handle to make them easy to move, but if you’ve seen the cheaper cutters, realize that the KNK’s are substantially bigger. The KNK Element is 8.75″ x 19.5″ x 9.5″ and weighs ~20 lbs.
Summary
I LOVE the Klic-N-Kut! It solves all of the problems I’ve had with the Craft Robo, namely the inability to easily cut through certain cardstocks and the limitations in software capability. I can now cut certain chipboards! Additionally, it’s far easier to know where something will cut. I will keep my Craft Robo because I teach WB and CR students using it, but I haven’t used it for my own personal use since the KNK arrived.
Let me know if you have any questions or comments! I’m eager to discuss. You can also email me privately at sandy@iloveknk.com.
Sandy
PS Please feel free to share this review elsewhere.
by Sandy McCauley | May 30, 2008 | KNK
KNK Studio GE was created for the owners of 8″ Graphtec cutters, specifically: Craft Robo’s, Wishblades, and Silhouettes. The difference between the GE version of the software and the regular version is minimal… but still it’s worthy noting:
(1) GE utilizes the Controller window you are already used to seeing in RoboMaster or Wishblade or Silhouette for setting the Speed and Pressure.
(2) In GE you can switch to Landscape cutting by just changing the document to landscape (like in RoboMaster). In regular KNK Studio you have to turn off Axis Swap in the defaults.
(3) GE will do print and cuts… a window was added to turn on reg marks like in RoboMaster or Wishblade or Silhouette and you switch to a Knife with reg marks tools and that tells the Controller to do the search using the optic eye. Regular KNK Studio is not designed to utilize an optic eye.
(4) Regular KNK Studio has the drivers to cut to all KNK’s, AC40/Pazzles Pro, CR Pro, and WB/CR/Silh (but without the features in 1, 2, and 3).
by Sandy McCauley | May 30, 2008 | Breaking Path, Grouping, Making Path, Ungrouping
As promised, I pondered about real life examples that might help users better understand Grouping versus Making Path. My first thought was Fruit Salad versus a Smoothie… but then I realized that with a Smoothie, you cannot go backwards and extract the individual pieces of fruit back out of it! lol
So, I pondered some more and come up with the following analogy, which I think is pretty cool. 😛
Grouping is like a car pool where you put various people together into a vehicle for the purpose of moving them together from Point A to Point B, BUT those people are still very much individuals from different locations each with their own purpose and priorities. And so, with grouping, the images retain their color and their original format… even raster images remain raster. When grouped you simply can move them as one, rotate, resize etc.
Making Path is more like a sports team where individuals come together, they wear the same uniform (become the same color) and there’s a bigger purpose for them to be together. They perform in unison. Making Path on selected vector images will make them all the same color, convert them all to polyarc or polygon, the nodes for all will show up at once when selected, and if you send then to cut, along with other objects, all of the objects in that “Make Path” group will be cut together before or after other objects.
Does this help?
by Sandy McCauley | May 30, 2008 | Breaking Path, Grouping, Making Path, Raster, Ungrouping, Vector
Thanks to Kathy TwoBears for today’s subject. Great suggestion, Kathy!
In Klic-N-Kut Studio, the difference between Grouping and Making Path can be very fuzzy for most new owners. I even had to get Chad Youngblut at Accugraphic to explain it to me, in detail, early on in my KNK Studio mentoring. Rather than try to explain it in technical terms, he simply provided a few examples to me over the phone and suddenly, the light bulb came on!
Before I begin explaining the differences, remember that a vector image is an image made up of nodes, connected by lines or curves, and these are the required kinds of image for cutting. A raster image is made of thousands or millions of little squares of various colors, like a photograph. A raster image must be traced first, so that there is a vector image to send to the cutter. So now, onto the subject of today’s post…
Applying Layout>Group on two or more objects means:
- KNK Studio still sees them as individual objects, but will have them “linked” together. Thus, when you click on any one image in a group, ALL of the images are selected and you can move them, resize them, rotate them, etc, as one object.
- If the images are different colors, then grouping them WILL retain those assigned colors.
- You can group a raster image with a vector image. This can be very useful with Print and Cut projects where you want to make sure the two images stay perfectly aligned.
- In KNK Studio, you can have layers of grouping. For example, if you have three images: A, B, and C, you can group A and B first. Then group A/B with C. When you then select Layout>Ungroup, the result will be that A and B are still grouped and C is separated. You need to then go to Layout>Ungroup again to separate A from B. This is a VERY useful feature in the software!
Applying Arrange>Make Path on two or more objects means:
- KNK Studio sees them as ONE object. Double clicking on the image will bring up the nodes for ALL of the paths for the images, even though they are made up of separately closed paths on their own. A great example is to type a letter “B”, go to Arrange>Text to Graphics, and then double click. You’ll see the nodes for the exterior path of the “B”, as well as the two interior paths. However, if you double click on grouped objects, this causes the Group Viewer window to open, rather than seeing the nodes. This tells you immediately that if you wish to view the nodes, then you must ungroup those objects and then double click on just one of the objects.
- If the images are different colors, then Arrange>Make Path will cause all images to become the same color…. which color will be selected, amongst the choices from each object, is yet for me to determine! I think it’s whichever color is assigned to the earliest object created amongst the ones selected… but does it really matter? If you don’t like it, change it! lol
- You cannot do an Arrange>Make Path with a raster image included in the selection of images. This option will be grayed out if you try to include the raster image.
- There are no “layers” of making path. Again, let’s go back to images A, B, and C. If you do an Arrange>Make Path on A and B and then do the same on A/B and C. Then when you do Arrange>Break Path, all of the paths immediately become individual paths.
Now, perhaps I’ve just made this MORE confusing rather than LESS? If so, don’t fret, I will address this again after I have a chance to sleep on it and maybe think of some great analogy outside KNK Studio. 🙂
by Sandy McCauley | May 28, 2008 | Toolbars
Customizing your toolbar is a way to make your KNK Studio experience even better. I have several functions that I like having readily available, but be sure to think about what YOU might find handy, rather than just copying my list. Further, my list are all functions that are NOT already available in other toolbars, however YOU might prefer to create a single toolbar that contains those icons from the other toobars that you use most often so that you only have a single toolbar on your entire KNK Studio screen. This will reduce clutter and provide a larger working area for you to view your images.
Before listing my favorites, note the procedure for creating a customized toolbar:
- Go to View>Toolbars>Customize. Note that at the bottom of the popup window, you can check a box to make all of your icons larger. I have this checked primarily because I want them to stand out in my videos. But it’s also nice for anyone who strains to see the icons on the screen.
- Click on New and give your toolbar a name. Click on OK.
- A new window will open and you will see all available icons on the left side. Simply pick an icon and click on Add. The icon will be added to the right side. If you change your mind, select it on the right side and click on Remove.
- You can add pale gray divider lines by clicking on Separator at the top of the list and adding.
- You can change the order of our icons by selecting one on the right and then clicking on either Move Up or Move Down to change its relative location.
- When you are done adding icons, click on Close, make sure your new toolbar is checked and then click on Close again. Your new toolbar will appear at the top of the screen and can be moved to your preferred location.
- Finally… and this is VERY important: go to View>Toolbars>Save and save your current configuration. Customized toolbar setups have been known to suddenly vanish and need to be recreated! But if you have saved your configuration then you can go to View>Toolbars>Load to retrieve it in case this happens.
And now for my favorites:
- Remove All Guides: a quick way to delete all guidelines in one click
- Convert to Polyarc: I love the editing functions in Polyarc mode and find myself converting to polyarc frequently.
- Contour Object: another way to create an outline mat: this one has the ability to ignore the interior parts of letters in a title.
- Outline: the other way to create an outline mat: I keep this one handy since it can create multiple outlines, as well as inlines.
- Zoom to Selected Object: absolutely essential for any kind of editing… you always want to zoom in on your individual objects.
- Zoom to Sign Blank: also essential so that you can quickly go back to see your entire document area.
- Notes: I tend to use this rather frequently in tutorials and videos, so it’s nice to have it right there on a toolbar.
Again, it’s up to YOU to figure out what you most need in your toolbars. And don’t forget to save it once you create it. 🙂
