Designing Flourishes… It’s Not Going to Get Any Easier Than This!

Inkscape has done it again! They’ve come out with a new enhancement in version 0.47 that’s an answer to most scrapbookers’ number one Wish List item. It’s a SUPER easy way to design swirls and flourishes that match those you see for sale in the stores. I downloaded the beta version and tested it myself and it’s just so much fun to play with!!! This, in combination with the ability to export from Inkscape as .eps and import into KNK Studio, KNK Studio GE, or Design Master to cut your designs, makes this the best solution for those wanting this capability. Watch this video produced by a guy who calls himself “Heathenex” and see how it works.

Inkscape 0.47 Demo

Note that because 0.47 is a beta release, you may wish to wait until it’s considered a stable version before downloading. That’s entirely up to you. Since I only use Inkscape for specialty cases like this, I went ahead and tested it out. I had no problems with using this feature and exporting/importing for cutting to my KNK. The beta versions of Inkscape are available from:

Inkscape Beta Releases

Undo Navigator – It’s Like a Time Machine!

Today, I have a free quickie video showing how to use the Undo Navigator to back up to different points in time during your file designing. Using Edit>Undo (or Ctrl-Z) also works fine, but let’s say you need to go back 10 or more steps? It’s a lot faster to use this handy feature that can be found under Edit>Undo Navigator to see a list of the various steps and click at any point to return to the state of your design right before you executed that step. Just watch the video and you’ll get the idea! 🙂

Undo Navigator

The Power of Power Weed

If you plan to cut large items from vinyl, then today’s post will definitely be of interest to you.

Power Weed is a function in KNK Studio which allows allows you to sort of “chop up” the waste part of your vinyl for easier removal. This is important because (1) you do have to remove the waste first from the backing sheet, leaving your cut letters or images and (2) if you’re not careful, the waste vinyl might flip over onto your nicely cut images and stick!

So, have a look at today’s video and let me know if you have any questions!

Power Weed in KNK Studio

Modifying AI Files in KNK Studio

Today’s post involves handling .ai files in KNK Studio. Melanie had downloaded a .knk file (from a message board) and the images appeared invisible when she opened it. The reason is that the file originated in Adobe Illustrator and this is not an uncommon occurance. To correct you can simply turn off Show Fill or turn on Show Line Style, as I show in the video. Also I show how to get interior details of an image to turn white and not vanish when you turn on Show Fill.

Hope you learn something new! Modifying AI Files

Controlling Cut Order

This post is thanks to Jenny who was trying to cut a series of adjacent rectangles and they were not cutting in order from left to right. Because she’s cutting rather large rectangles from 15″ wide vinyl, this was bothering her. I know that I also never like it when objects will seem to randomly cut from different locations on my 12″ x 12″ cardstock.

Not to worry! There’s a way you can specify the exact order in which items will cut. Watch this!

Controlling Cut Order

From .GRA to .KNK with Cute Writer

This post is mostly directed to users of Design Master, however Cute PDF Writer may be of interest to anyone who doesn’t already have a .pdf-creating program. In this video, I show where to download the free Cute PDF Writer application and how to use it in Design Master to print your image to file and then import the resulting .pdf into KNK Studio. This appears to be best way to do this conversion and, once again, I credit a member of UKS for discovering this easy successful method.

Converting GRA to KNK

Note that if you need to convert from .knk to .gra, then exporting as .ai is still the easiest method. Also, note that because .pdf’s will now import into Inkscape 0.46, this may also be of interest to those wanting to share their .gra creations with users of Inkscape who can then either export as .dxf for RoboMaster or save as .svg for Sure Cuts A Lot.