A Miscellany of Useful Tips

by | May 18, 2008 | Links, Mask, Outlining Images, Shop Palette

I had several new things that popped up this weekend, so I think I’ll just cover all three in one post:

(1) A couple of new links to recommend:
http://www.picsearch.com/(type in anything you are seeking and it will find images all over the Internet with that name in the file… great for finding images to trace).
http://www.theperfecttitle.com/ (a great site to find interesting and different titles for your scrapbooking layouts, sorted by theme for easy searching)
Coloring Page of the Day: see the bottom of my blog for the link. While these aren’t vector pdf’s, they do import easily into KNK Studio and yield some great tracing results, using default settings. Check back every day to see if you can use the latest image. Also note the site has past coloring pages arrange by theme to download.
(2) A GE owner had been playing around with the Shop Palette and inadvertently saved her new configuration as the default. I’ve done this myself and I’m not sure what happened, but there is a fix. First of all, try clicking on the Context Menu icon on the Shop Palette (it’s the one with the three little dots). In that menu, click on Reset and see if the original palette is restored. If not, then you need to replace a file called factorydefault.pal with the original… which can be downloaded from: https://iloveknk.com/ImportantFiles/KNKStudioFiles/. Simply save this file into c:\Klic-N-Kut Studio (or whichever folder contains your KNK Studio installation). Answer OK or YES when asked if you want to replace the existing version. Open KNK Studio and you should have the original restored.
(3) One of the readers here asked for an example showing masking. I thought about it and the best example that came to mind would be file where you have several objects that are different colors and you want to create an outline around those objects, but retain their original colors (Let’s say you want to cut Happy Birthday from different colors of cardstock and have the letters adhered to a mat). In the Transform>Outline window, make sure both of the icons on the far right are indented: Keep Original and Create Mask. Create your outline and after closing, you will, for some reason, have a duplicate of your original images in the new trace color. Simply delete it and you will also have your originals in the individual colors. In the following figure, I show the three steps: the individual letters colored, the image right after closing the Transform>Outline window, and finally the result after deleting the copy of the letters that gets created and placed on top of the originals:

The Hottest of the Hot Keys!

by | May 17, 2008 | Hot Keys, Shortcuts

If you’ve never browsed Appendix A of the KNK Studio, KNK Studio GE or the Design Master User Manual, then you should take an hour, sit down with your favorite “hot” beverage and play with these “hot” shortcuts! Note that it took 3 pages in each of those manuals to cover all of the hot keys in this program! That, in itself, should get you excited about the possibilities of finding some real jewels to make your designing and image manipulation life easier! 😛 Also note that there are plenty of unused keystrokes remaining that YOU can use to create any additional hot keys not covered already. I have a tendency to just add icons to my custom toolbar, as needed, but there is ONE very handy hot key that you might be interested in adding and it’s listed at the end of my list below.

My list contains the ones that have truly made my life better. Naturally everybody’s needs are different, so I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see YOU have a different list of favorites. The purpose of my list is to get you to check out these particular hot keys and see if they aren’t worth taking note and practicing. Remember that it only takes 3 weeks to make something a habit.

Ctrl-A : Used to select ALL objects (great when you’re not sure the marquis-select has truly captured the entire screen

Ctrl-D: Used to make a duplicate of whatever is selected. You can control where that duplicate is automatically located under Options>Klic-N-Kut Setup>General Preferences (or for those with DM, it’s Options>CraftROBO Setup>General Preferences)

Ctrl-F and Ctrl-B: Used to move objects to the very front or the very back. When dealing with paper piecing patterns and you have Fill turned on, it’s nice to be able to move the individual pieces to a location (an order) that matches how you would glue them to your layout. Note that Ctrl-U and Ctrl-L will move them one level, up or down, at a time when there are more than two objects involved.

L, R, T, B: I LOVE THESE FOUR…. no extra Ctrl or Alt or Shift keys involved. Simply select two or more objects and typing those keys will align the objects all to the Left, Right, Top, or Bottom, respectively!

Alt-7 : A BIG favorite since Ifirst got hooked on KNK Studio – this function, when applied to two or more objects, will center them. This is great when creating frames for welding.

Alt-S: Toggles Fill… useful when you forget there’s actually a spilling can icon up on your Smart Bar that does the same thing! lol But hey, I forget and find myself using it, so it’s worth listing. 🙂

Alt-W: A new one I had forgotten… toggles guidelines on and off… again, a great choice when you’re tired of viewing your guidelines, but not quite ready to just delete them all.

O: when in the node edit mode, select a node, and then type the letter “O”… it will turn the path for that node into a perfect circle! This is great when editing an auto-tracing and you receive slightly less than desirable results with small items such as eyes, wheels, button noses, flower centers, etc! Definitely test this if you’ve never tried it before.

I promised you my FAVORITE made-up key stroke and I think it might be “A : Unselect All Objects.” I’m frequently teaching new KNK owners how to “click away” and many don’t quite get it when I use that term. By setting the letter “A” to be the opposite of Ctrl-A, I keep it simple to comprehend, quick to remember, AND easy to execute. Note that Shift-F3 is also “Unselect All Objects”, however after a year, I just cannot seem to keep that keystroke at the tip of my fingers! Thus, i find a simple “A” to be MUCH easier! 🙂

Oh… and before I go… the instructions for how to set up a custom hot key are at the end of Appendix A. Think about what might make your KNK Studio experience much better! 🙂

What’s the Purpose of the Mask?

by | May 15, 2008 | Mask, Outlining Images

Well, I finally looked it up today and it has a VERY useful purpose! As you know, in KNK Studio, you can create an outline (shadow mat) using Tranform>Outline. Up on the Smart Bar, you will find an icon on the far right which you can indent for masking or outdent to leave off. Masking, in essence, is used for creating a single welding outline when there is more than one image selected. With the Masking off, the outlines will remain individual. That’s it!
Lynn G reported another related discovery this morning: if you initially have only selected one object for the Transform>Outline but then click on other images, the outline will be applied to each one.

Identifying PDF Types

by | May 15, 2008 | KNK, PDF

Here’s a question I get at least twice a week: How do I tell if my PDF file is raster or vector after I import it into Klic-N-Kut Studio?

Answer: Great question!

And here are some general guidelines I use to figure it out:

(1) Select the image and go to: Arrange>Break Path. If it’s grayed out, then you definitely don’t have a pure vector image. It’s either raster or a hybrid.

(2) If you double click and it brings up the Accuscan window, then another good sign it’s a raster. Go ahead and try tracing it.

(3) If you double click and see nodes, you pop open a bottle of champagne… it’s a vector pdf! lol

(4) If you double click and it brings up the Group Viewer, then you go to Layout>Ungroup. Click away so that nothing is selected and start over. If you STILL get the Group Viewer, then it’s a hybrid and dealing with those is going to take a video or two! Which I promise to make and they will be free due to the source of the samples I’ll be using 😉

Make a "Note" of This!

by | May 13, 2008 | Measure Tools, Notes

This is a BIGGIE for those of you who design files to share or sell to others. Definitely take note (and pardon the pun, in advance)!

There is a Notes function in Klic-N-Kut Studio which allows one to add text labels and instructions to files that will then be ignored by the cutter. I always appreciate designers adding that information directly into a file so that I don’t have to keep extra .txt or .doc files with my cutting files AND the information is right there on the screen. I ALSO love it when users will include the name of any font they used in their file in case I want to use that same font to further create items for my project.

To use the Notes function, click on the Measure tools icon, on the Tools Toolbar and it’s the last icon on the right. Up on the smart bar you will be able to type the text you wish to add in paragraph form. You can change the font, font size, font style, etc by clicking on the Fonts button. ALSO: Be sure to use a common font like Arial or Times New Roman so that anyone else opening your file won’t need YOUR special font installed. Otherwise, they will receive an error message and be required to pick a substitute font before the file will open.

After typing your notes, just click on Close and your notes will appear as an item you can move around on your screen just like any other text object, except it won’t be a cuttable object. You can even change the color of the text from the Shop Palette and resize it by dragging a selected corner. If you’ve purchased any of my videos or watched the demo, you will see that I’ve used the Notes function at both the beginning and end of each video! 🙂

Be sure to check out some of the other useful features under the Measure Tools… you can also add notes with arrows pointing to a particular location or easily add dimensions to your fold-up template projects. This really adds a very professional look to your work!