by Sandy McCauley | May 3, 2008 | Blade Length, Craft Robo, KNK, Silhouette, Wishblade
A HUGE thanks to Lynn B for emailing me and pointing out that when you go to my profile and check out my interests (and the first three were cutting, cutting, cutting), they were all LINKS that took you to blogs where people were into… well… stuff that none of US would want to look at! Yikes! But I think I fixed it! I got rid of my “cutting, cutting, cutting” words. And surely my interest in cardmaking, scrapbooking, and mathematical puzzles won’t lead any of you to bondage sites? lol
So… let’s get to a tip of the… weekend? I can’t commit to frequency… lol These free tips/videos/tutorials will always be based on inspiration and not the calendar! 🙂
Don’t expect your blades to always be the same length! Heck… don’t expect your bladeholders to be identical. And that’s okay. With the KNK system, you simply back off or increase the blade length, as needed, to match the thickness of your cutting material. With the WB/CR/SIL replacement blades, check carefully when you install a new one and just assume you might need one LOWER colored blade cap than usual. If you previously needed the pink cap to cut your favorite cardstock, then you might find you need the yellow one now.
As I always preach at the Yahoo groups and to my WB/CR/Sil students, more blade never equals better cutting, so the KNK owners shouldn’t be extending that blade out all the way and, for the WB/CR/Sil owners, don’t ever think that the pink cap is the key to perfect cutting for ALL materials. Nope… that’s just not right! I even found the other day that I could easily cut Sam’s Club white cardstock with the blue cap on my Craft ROBO! This is something that I would NEVER have even thought to test a few years ago. My guidelines were always what was being said at the Yahoo groups and I would read posts from these super-confident, supposedly expert cutter owners who would post such absurd comments as, “I ALWAYS cut all materials with the the pink cap” or “I always cut using the fastest speed but no O Rings.” Those comments are really sad because, unless you ALWAYS cut the exact same material, then you are just WRONG about using the same settings every time.
So, get that blade length just right so you aren’t using the most important part of the blade to etch your designs into your mat, and you’ll find that you get much better cutting. And if your blade tip isn’t cutting into the mat, then you can use more pressure or even multi-pass cutting and not worry about damaging that blade. Instead, you’ll be getting better cutting and that’s what it’s all about! 🙂
by Sandy McCauley | May 2, 2008 | Free Videos, Invisible Colors, Job Palette, Print and Cut
Users of KNK Studio will discover that some files they import or open will have white or invisible colors. These can both be very misleading and I always get rid of them as quickly as possible! The only time I might choose to use either is with a Print and Cut file where I wish to hide my cutting lines for the printing portion. But even then one can usually just send the trace lines to the back so that the raster image hides them… but that’s another tip for another day! lol
So, here’s a quickie video that shows how I get rid of invisible lines. Note that I have the Job Palette showing on the right side (View>Show Job Palette) and then I’m simply dragging a new color (with my left mouse button) and dropping it on top of the invisible color on the Job Palette. One thing to note… I don’t let go of the mouse button until I see that little black circle disappear. Watch closely for that.
ChangingColors
Now…. go practice until you master that little trick. It comes in handy! 🙂
by Sandy McCauley | May 1, 2008 | Comparisons
Hi all,
Today’s post is about the differences between Regular KNK Studio and KNK Studio GE. I get asked this question about three times a week by members at the various boards. Below is a list I compiled to explain the technical differences but we’re also being asked, based on what cutter you own, which software would be the best choice. Here are the guidelines:
(1) If you own an 8″ Graphtec cutter (blue WB, pink WB, blue CR, new CR, Silhouette), then you want GE. Again, read the differences below.
(2) If you own a KNK, then you would have received KNK Studio with your cutter and you can also cut to a CR Pro, AC-40, Pazzles Pro, and any of the above 8″ Graphtec cutters. However, unlike with GE, you cannot do a print and cut using the built-in optic eye on a Graphtec cutter.
(3) If you own another cutter, such as the Pazzles Inspiration, you may want to buy KNK Studio for the additional features. Fore example, we’ve sold a number of copies to those who want to import vector PDF files and then save in a format that will import into other software programs. In this situation, you should just buy GE because it costs less. 🙂
Now… onto the differences between regular KNK Studio and GE:
(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).
Be sure to let me know if you have any questions! Oh… and I own a Yahoo group just for KNK Studio GE. It’s at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KNKStudioGE/
by Sandy McCauley | Apr 25, 2008 | Blade Length
So, I’m joining the world of blogging and I hope, rather than bore you with mundane details of my life, I will provide a place where you can get great tips on cutters, cutter software, and the actual act of cutting! My goal is to have at least one GREAT tip or new idea per week to entice you to check in on a regular basis to read the latest. I feel I have an encyclopedia of information in my head now… especially for the Klic-N-Kut and Craft Robo cutters.
Today’s tip? Well, this one is credited to Klo Oxford who demonstrated this in her Pazzabilities class. To see if your blade is the right length for the material you are cutting, fold a sheet of cardstock over onto itself and, with the bladeholder in your hand, run it across the top layer, using the same pressure you would with, say, an Xacto knife. If the blade cuts through the cardstock AND cuts or scratches the cardstock beneath, your blade is too long! Back off on the length and try again. You want to cut the top layer but leave no marks on the layer beneath. This is the key to getting GREAT cutting. More blade NEVER equals better cutting. 🙂
