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ACS/Eagle with Make The Cut – PDF Format

1. File name Judy K Cupcake Wrapper Style 2 mtc Click on Open and the saved file will open as a new project Files of type Make The Cut Projects MTC There is also a Basic Shapes library available Refer to Section 3 08 Plus other file formats such as svg eps and ai may be imported into MTC Refer to Sections 4 01 4 08 As you open new projects or existing files the Tab Bar will show each project This project has been saved using the name shown but the asterisk indicates This is a new project that that changes have been made since the hasn t vet been saved file was last saved This project has been saved using the name shown ea Ribbons and Bows mtc ey Turkeymtc em MTCProject2 e 44 e Click on any of the tabs and that project window will be displayed You can scroll tab through the projects using any of the following o Press Ctrl F6 o Press Ctrl Tab Goto Window gt Next Window e All of the projects can be displayed at once in separate windows by choosing one of the various options under Window on the Menu Bar 3 06 3 Previewing Thumbnails for Existing MTC Files e A downloadable application is available for viewing thumbnails of mtc files in Windows Explorer or when you go to File gt Open within MTC Note that it will only work with Windows Vista 7 and 8 Make The Cut File Viewer e Af
2. e Locate the path that had the extra outside flower border traced and select that layer Click on the layer preview e Apply a Ctrl B Break so that the pink flower border that was traced with the flower pot can now be selected and deleted Then the flower is ready to cut from individual colors of paper cardstock vinyl etc 6 03 5 Color Scans Trace Video e Version 4 3 3 of MTC introduced a fifth tracing tool called Color Scans This feature will trace by color similar to the ways that Palette and Color tabs work but it will do all of the colors in one step You specify how many colors you want identified This is the image to be used in this example e To switch to the Color Scans Trace method click on the tab named Color Scans and the following will appear 110 Resample Image and Despeck will be used just as they were in Pixel Option for changing how layers are constructed Option to remove internal paths from outline layer of image Option to convert to Trace Settings Resample Image x1 0 None 3 to Blackout Outlines L Gray Scale Background Color Click on the Color Scans tab Select the number of colors be identified For PNG files the Background Color can shades of gray only be modified if desired e The first step is to select the number of colors you want to scan Always include white in the count To see the original importe
3. Eraser Tool results in open paths r i i in closed paths o The Eraser Tool doesn t break the shape into individual shapes whereas the Knife Tool does Eraser Tool results in one shape until you apply Break Knife Tool results in separate shapes gt Ne e Knife Tool can only cut straight lines Eraser Tool can cut custom paths e f you are creating a popup card where the tops and bottoms of the shapes needs to be deleted then the SURS OU 142 e If you are breaking up an image to create a paper piecing project the Eraser Tool is the better choice Y gt gt 7 11 Draw Freehand Lines ET i e The Draw Freehand Lines function Pencil Tool is the 3 icon on the Node Mode Toolbar and can be activated by clicking on the icon or pressing F3 This tool is used to freely draw thin or thick lines with your mouse or tablet or even draw dashed lines or a path of circles Your shapes can then be edited using the other tools on the Node Mode toolbar as well as customized using other functions in MTC Drawing Thin Lines e There are a number of settings which will affect the outcome of your drawing Smoothing is used to control whether the drawing is more angular made up of straight lines paths or rounder made up of curves Precision is used to control the number of nodes used as the image is drawn The Force Closed option when marked will automatically cl
4. One rectangle is placed around all of gt the images and their insets e The rectangle layer must be turned on for both printing and cutting Because the inset shadow layer is hidden behind the original images it can also be left on for printing However when you are ready to cut the original image should be hidden so that only the surrounding rectangle and the inset cut line layer are sent to cut Hide Layers x ER Cartoon Cow Pas o vx ae DP yer eS 4R gE New Layer Sa All layers are left on for printing Turn off original image layer for PNC process Make although shadow layer is optional sure shadow inset cutline layer is showing as well as the rectangle layer 9 07 Print and Cut without Printing from MTC The following sections cover PNC situations in which there will be no printing performed from within MTC 9 07 1 Printing from another Program e Sometimes users prefer to design and print from a different computer program In this situation the best course of action is to add a rectangle that complete encloses the images that will be printed and later cut from MTC The key things to remember are The size of the rectangle being added should be a specific and noted size so that an identical rectangle can be added in MTC The borders of this rectangle will define the locations of the registration marks for the PNC process Ifavector program e g Adobe Illustrator C
5. 0 1 e n order to get equal spacing and for the images to overlap for welding begin tweaking the Vert Align and the Space settings The Space seiting is actually changing the Spacing setting you originally entered by some percentage so that you can visually achieve equal spacing of the repeats around the circle If the Spacing entered were positive then a larger Space value will logically increase the spacing between the objects But with a negative Spacing such as in this example a larger Space value decreases the Spacing resulting in more overlap Wrap Objects To Path MM R V Repea Wa The goal is to eae Ms achieve a spana 0 01 E terameteras Adjust the settings to symmetrical E O achieve the goal Use the pattern QT NV eee OA Li en arrow keys on the keyboard to change values in smaller OR Cancel increments If needed click here to reset to default values e Once you have the settings needed to get the desired overlap click on Accept You will be given the option to weld and you should respond Yes Then apply a Break and remove the interior shape Move the oval away or hide it so that the remaining scallop with eyelets can have a Join applied After clicking on Accept After deleting interior e Then we can create an Inset Shadow of the original oval to make it smaller Then remove the original oval select everything and apply a Join Inline oval is added Original oval deleted Fill i
6. 46 3 08 Opening Basic Shapes Video MTC has a rich selection of basic shapes available To access the Basic Shapes library use one of the following ry 4 Y Y A F o Click on the Import Basic Shapes icon on the Import Toolbar or on the Node Mode Toolbar o Press Ctrl Shift B o Goto File gt Import gt From Basic Shapes You may then select one of the predefined categories and all shapes within that category will be displayed Double click on a shape to import it directly onto the screen at the same height and same location as the Caret Enter part of the file name if needed to refine your search wx Basic Shapes Double click shape to addfo Shape will be placed in pele Category 3 items found lt same location as the 7 Caret and the same height Double click K KR ont on shape to import Drag bottom of window to make larger if needed Note that one of the categories after you get it set up is labeled Your Shapes which allows you to assign shapes to that category for quick access If you have a shape that is repeatedly being used then saving it to the Basic Shapes menu will save time in the future Refer to Section 4 10 The Basic Shapes library can also be accessed from the Node Mode toolbar Using this access versus the ways described above will allow you to drag your mouse freely to set the height and width of the shape as well as flip it Refer to Section 7 07 3 09 Selecting
7. KN KU SA 2shapes one for Home of the Zing each line of text Split by Spaces Spaces created using the space bar will divide text into separate shapes KNK USA _ 6 Shapes one for Home of the Zing each word Split by Glyphs Each typed character will be its own individual shape KN K LJ SA 19 shapes one for each character characters can be Home of the Zing individually moved as desired The different options are useful depending on what the next planned step will be with the text For example if you plan to overlap the characters to weld together then you want the text to be Split by Glyphs But as you explore other designing functions you will learn how the other options will be better choices If you inadvertently select the wrong option for your intended design not to worry You can use the Split function Ctrl P on the text after you close the Add Text Group window to Split by Glyphs Then if you want Split by Lines or Split by Spaces then just marquee select the characters groupings one at a time and apply the Join function Ctrl J to recreate the splitting you wish to have For example marquee select the entire top line of the title that was Split by Glyphs and apply the Join tool KNK USA ES KNK USA Home of the Zing Home of the Zing Marquee select top line of characters Apply Join Ctrl J Top line is now all one shape o KNKUSA KNK USA Home of the Zing Home ofthe Zing Marquee se
8. Pa er Stars are now spaced further apart This same method can be used for vertical spacing as well The shapes also do not need to be the same You could equally space for example a star a letter B and a straight line Mirroring and Flipping To horizontally mirror a shape select it and then use one of the following O Click on the Mirror icon on the Magic Toolbar Right click on the screen and select Shape Magic gt Mirror O Press Ctrl M Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Mirror MTC JIM To vertically flip a shape select it and then use one of the following Click on the Flip icon on the Magic Toolbar gt Right click on the screen and select Shape Magic gt Flip 66 O Press Ctrl F Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Flip MIC WiC 67 4 Importing and Exporting 4 01 Accessing the Import Options Go to File gt Import and select from one of the available import options Note the shortcut keys for the various file types For all raster shapes Phel Trace poniendo Opens LD s web site with access to Freely shared files from gt other MTC owners Ready to cut vector formats From Lettering Delights user s account and ability to import free From MTC Gallery Ctrl Shift A and purchased files From Basic Shapes Ctrl Shift B SVG SVGZ File eee Shanes which come with MTC as well as Vector PDF PS EPS AI File Ctri Shift D user s own assigned shapes True Open Typ
9. The paper is not adhered well to the mat Make sure the mat is clean sticky and the paper is pressed smoothly and evenly on the surface You may be using too much cutting force Try reducing it and doing test cuts You may have too many nodes in the shape Refer to Section 7 02 The material itself may be subject to tearing especially on intricate cuts Also if the cardstock has been exposed to humidity then the moisture in the material can make it difficult to cut cleanly Try blow drying the cardstock or placing in a slightly warm oven for half an hour Worst case try a different cardstock am cutting a file with dashed lines for folds and the dashes look terrible in some places How can fix this e Those dashes are probably a series of separate straight line paths or even rectangles versus being a solid cut line with a dashed line style assigned Try replacing them with solid lines Section 7 10 and then converting the line style from solid to dash as shown in Section 3 14 Video My shapes are not completely cutting out They are still attached to the waste part of the material e Make sure you have turned the Blade Offset back to the appropriate value for the blade you are using If the Offset is at 0 then your closed paths will not quite close when cutting with a blade My cardstock is not cutting all the way through have the blade all the way out and using the maximum force e Please refer to Section 2 01 It
10. Turn off the cutter to abort the Cut Press the Pause button during the cut and the cutter will immediate stop cutting At the end of a cut the Repeat button can be pressed in Offline Mode to activate the same cut aaain 10 1 06 Blades and Accessories Testing Pen Holder Video e The testing pen should be used until you are comfortable with the operation of the ACS 24UHF and know with certainty where images will cut To assemble this testing pen remove the top cap slip the spring over the top half of the pen insert and then drop the pen insert into the bottom half of the pen holder Slide the cap over the pen insert allowing the pen insert to fit through the hole at the top of the cap Screw into place an p Spring goes over top of insert and stops at a small ridge on the pen insert Blades Included With ACS 24UHF Purchase e There are two kinds of blades included The 45 degree red capped blade is suited for cutting thinner materials such as paper and vinyl The 60 degree blue capped blade is a much longer blade and and is well suited for cutting thicker materials such as heavily textured cardstock chipboard gum paste craft foam poster board and rhinestone template material Blade Installation Video e The blade must be carefully inserted into the blade holder Do this over a soft surface e g over a hand towel It s important to protect the fragile blade To install follow the numbered step
11. geome Image 0 Mone Despeck 200 Color Color Scans Pixel Alpha Palette By Luminance By Average 1 1 pre ae As the slider is moved on or the Scale setting the Width 4 95 Height 4 95 2 popup shows NEw Sale 87 dimensions of image ee Blackout Path Size x5 69 Ottse 0 00 0 00 Scaled 5127512 e The pixel trace is a monochromatic vectorization In the Pixel Trace window blue trace lines and green fills will appear regardless of the colors in the original image These are defaults and can be changed by going to View gt Default Colors After tracing the tracings in the main window will be colored according to the Virtual Mat color selected They can be changed to other colors just like any other shapes e The Threshold setting ranges from 1 255 Decrease this setting to add more distinction between colors and increase the number of individual paths recognized and traced Increase to lessen the distinction between colors and decrease the number of individual paths recognized and traced At the extreme of 255 you will have nothing more than a box around the outside of the image being traced e The following screenshots show the same image with different Threshold values used and the resulting trace when imported onto the screen Image in Pixel Trace window Resulting trace after import Threshold 1 Threshold 75 Lots of detail Lo
12. Click on the Select All button on the Magic Toolbar he o Go to Edit gt Select All To scroll through shapes forward or in reverse use any of the following o Right click on the screen and choose Next Shape or choose Previous Shape o Press Shift Tab or press Shift Esc o Go to Edit gt Next Shape or go to Edit gt Previous Shape To unselect all shapes use one of the following two ways o Click away click anywhere else on the screen and the shapes will be de selected o Press the Esc key o Go to Edit gt Select None Moving To move a selected shape hold down the left mouse button anywhere within the bounding area and drag to another location You can also move a selected shape in small increments by pressing the arrow keys on the keyboard Further if you hold down the Ctrl key while pressing these arrows keys the shape will move in larger increments with each keystroke With a shape selected the Sel Properties Bar indicates the exact location of the top left corner of the bounding area of your shape under X and Y Note that the 0 0 location is at the top left corner of the gridded part of the mat You can enter values into either or both of the X and Y windows to move the shape to a new location X Y location of top left corner of selected shape UN X 0 0000 Y 0 0000 Wi 3 6089 H 1 7960 You can also use the Rulers to identify where a shape is located as well as the dimensions of the shape In this ca
13. Mark the Blackout TP OS Path option and then S Scale 100 click on Apply Texturize Path Y Blackout Path Changes One of the A Apply Changes petals stil Print Dimensions 1 94 x2 39 et 0 17 x0 16 Import Cancel appears There is one small spot where the black is not a continuous path But there s a problem Instead of seeing one large black outline of the flower there s still a petal showing This is because the black wasn t recognized as extending around the outside edge of that petal But not to worry increasing the Resample Image value to X2 0 Times provided a closer trace and which then covered that thin section around that particular petal 103 Outline now looks complete Je File Pink Flower jpg Di Resolution 96x96 DPI Print Dimensions 1 94 x2 39 Layers 1 Nodes 127 ensions 186x229 px Bi Size 1 55 x2 07 Offset 0 17 x0 16 Visialization Settings Alpha 127 Zoom 188 F Show Nodes Resample Image Increase Resample Image Then click on Apply Changes Despeck 13 Color Color Scans Pixel Alpha Palette 9 Median Cut Octree _ BEE Background Color i Scale 109 Texturize Path V Blackout Path Apply Changes Click on Import and answer Finish Tracing On the Layers Bar you will see the different layers of your image However there is no Show Hide Layer icon on those indivi
14. Size 1 00 e Shown above are four Toolbars seven Bars one Window two Rulers two Shapes and a Caret e Some of the elements shown such as the Rulers Notes Window as well as some of the Toolbars and Bars can be turned on or off by going to View on the Menu Bar e Hovering your mouse over any of the screen icons will pop up the icon s name and or function and shortcut key Identification of these icons is also presented in Sections 3 02 3 03 and 7 06 37 Most of the bars and toolbars may be moved to different locations on the screen Hold down the left mouse button on the gray dots along the left side of the bar or toolbar and drag To position these bars and toolbars vertically drag to the left or right edge of the screen Shapes are the objects or images that you will be adding to your projects They can be created from scratch or imported from other sources As you will see throughout sections in this user manual you have many options and resources available to you The Caret indicates where an imported or pasted shape will be placed and the height of that shape To move the Caret double click at any desired location on the screen The size of the Caret can be changed on the Virtual Mat tab refer to Section 3 04 The Notes Window also called Project Notes is opened from View on the Menu Bar This is used to provide information such as instructions or Terms of Use and to attach files Refer to Section 8 15 There i
15. f E e AR gt gt Four borders are The four borders O positioned gt SY around the circle now bend to hug the circle Notice that where one border ends and the next one begins indicated by the green arrows below the scallop spacing is greater than between the scallops along a border In other words the repeats need to overlap more so that the spacing looks more even This is first accomplished by decreasing the Spacing setting Wrap Objects To Path ES Y Repeat y Warp Repeat Count 3 Y Stretch Y Parameterize j 0 15 E Spacing in 0 151 lt ln dd Offset 0 00 Vert Align 100 St xtend 0 00 Decrease Spacing until scallops looks even between the repeated borders A change in Spacing does not affect the start and end of the stretch However there is still the same gap between the initial start and end of the stretch as indicated by the blue arrow above This is where the St Extend setting will correct the gap By changing it from 0 to 50 the start and end will now overlap and the spacing is correct 168 Wrap Objects To Path E v Repeat Repeat Count 3 SNS ID 10 g E ing n 0 15 EE Spacing n 7 V latten x1 Vert Align 100 Increase St Extend os to 50 Spacing is now the same as between the other borders Upon clicking on Accept a popup w
16. s important to only have as much blade exposed as is necessary to penetrate the cardstock You may also need to raise the blade tip height Reduce your force back to suggested values for the material you are cutting and do a test cut e Do not use more pressure than is needed If the cardstock is cutting through about 90 of the cut then turn on Multi cut Some cardstocks do better with a second pass Software Issues cannot get the MTC Bridge to install on my Mac e The Mac O S needs to be 10 5 8 or newer e You may need to change a setting which allows programs not download from the Apple Store to be installed Refer to this link http knkusa com resources MTC will not accept the registration number on the CD that came with my ACS 24UHF 235 e The Activation Pin is the number on the CD envelope This number needs to be used for registering your copy of the software at the web site shown in Section 1 09 Once you register you will be given a Registration Number to then use in MTC have a new computer and want to install MTC I cannot locate my registration number for MTC e Go to this link to have your registration number emailed to you at the email address you used when registering your copy of MTC http www make the cut com LostRegKey aspx e Ifthe email address you used for registering is no longer valid go to this link and submit a support ticket to MTC http www make the cut com Support prefer to work in metr
17. same blade holder with all of your PNC applications as the distance can also change with larger or smaller diameter holders e The distance is measured in mm in an X direction and in a Y direction Laser dot Tip of blade N X Offset y Y Offset e This calibration only needs to be done one time for a given blade holder and then you can record this calibration in case you ever need to install MTC on a new computer or you have to reformat the hard drive on your current computer The units are in mm which are easier to measure in very small distances e The KNK plug in has a set of default calibration numbers which will be somewhat close to your final numbers but not exactly the same To access these numbers click on the tiny wrench icon Click on the wrench to open the calibration wndow Laser Offset Default Values 7 KNK MAXX y gt 15 0 X 15 mm Default 15 mm Baud Rate 57 600 10 0 Y 38 mm Default 28 mm e The process involves performing and repeating a PNC to see how much you need to adjust the X and Y values in order to get perfect results And you SHOULD be able to get perfect PNC s 9 03 PNC Procedure Part 1 Setting Up and Printin e What do you need before you begin a PNC First you need an image to print a printer and the blade holder you plan to use for all of your PNC s The diameter of the blade holder will impact the laser calibration o You need to be we
18. 4 04 4 05 qdo 38 Magic Toolbar e The Magic Toolbar contains the functions that are used in editing and designing Select All Flip Split Break Join Boolean Join Bezier Warp Shadow Rhinestone 3 09 3 15 5 04 7 01 7 01 5 08 7 01 8 07 5 08 8 05 8 12 VAN NN OFA Y iS t aL ee oo Bb LAO gt Ch BRE pf f Pf f AN NN Mirror Rotate 90 Layer Blackout Weld Texture Conical Warp Lattice Advanced 3 15 3 13 7 01 7 01 5 04 8 06 Snapshot 8 10 8 11 7 02 7 05 8 13 Node Mode Toolbar e The Node Mode Toolbar contains the functions used in editing paths and nodes in vector images You may never find it necessary to use these tools But if you need the ability to modify images at the most basic level the tools are available and powerful in their functionality Refer to Section 7 06 for identification of the individual icons and how to use them 3 03 Bars There are seven bars in MTC presented below In this section only the individual icons will be identified To learn more about using the functions refer to the user manual sections as indicated Menu Bar e Like most Windows applications the Menu Bar in MTC provides access to most of the functions in the software The following text boxes indicate the primary functions found in each of the Menu Bar choices Open close save Cutter plug ins and Navigate to and organize import export print files cut preview windows arrange icons Window and program y A contr
19. B zier 1 8037 1 8821 Line 1 8037 1 8879 Line 1 7848 1 8879 Line 1 7659 1 8879 lt Line 1 7670 1 8790 gt Begin 2 5404 1 8858 B zier 2 5405 1 8718 B zier 2 5487 1 8369 B zier 2 5560 1 8201 Line 2 5594 1 8120 This is a step by step list of paths which make up the selected shapes It forms a roadmap of how the blade will travel when cutting The Nodes on Mat function is an on off feature which will be turned off when MTC is first installed When turned on the nodes on all shapes will be shown on the screen Nodes On Mat turned off Nodes On Mat can be accessed in the following ways 0 0 0 0 Click on the Advance icon on the Magic Toolbar Press Ctrl Shift l Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Nodes On Mat from the menu Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Nodes On Mat Nodes On Mat turned on and select Nodes On Mat To view the order in which shapes will be cut click on the top line on the right side to highlight it The location of that starting cut will appear on the shape on the left side Next press and hold the down arrow key on your keyboard There is no way to actually control the order in which shapes cut As of Version 4 3 shapes will automatically cut in order from right to left Flatten Paths The Flatten Paths function removes all B zier curves from a shape It is very seldom used because other functions perform it aut
20. Double click the image you Y JE want and it will be inserted PKG at the location of the Caret Scroll to make a images larger MA if desired i e AAA Ch Some dingbat fonts will show up as images in the drop down list of all fonts Thus uncheck Show Face as needed rc i e Resize and arrange the dingbat shape as desired Also overlap the letters with each other as desired Then apply the Weld Ctrl W tool e Note that dingbat fonts are not the only shapes that can be welded to letters Any shape imported or created within MTC can be used 5 06 Welding Titles in Imaginative Ways e Some fonts simply do not work well with the traditional overlapping of the letters to be welded into one piece for cutting For example let s take an extreme case with Arial font and the name Billy Note what happens when you take the work and then overlap the letters in this particular font 83 D UN J gt E IN J gt E i J Type the letters Overlap the letters Weld the letters undesirable result e Most crafters will just start looking for a different font one with ligatures extenders that easily connect the letters to one another However many fonts with ligatures are script fonts and may not convey the desired look So is there a solution Definitely Look for objects that can be used to connect the letters A basic thin rectangle is an easy solution Just align it along the bottom of the letter
21. Moving and Deleting Shapes Selecting To select a shape click anywhere within the bounding area or bounding box which is indicated by the rectangle appearing around the shape Bounding box defined by gt S outer rectangle J There are several ways to select more than one shape o Select the first shape and hold down the Shift key while clicking on additional shapes Note that as your mouse moves over a shape a red outline will appear This makes it easier to select a shape which is overlapping other shapes If you are having difficulty selecting a particular shape you may need to hide other shapes around it Refer to Section 3 12 o Hold down the left mouse button and drag your mouse to form an imaginary box around the images you want selected Always make sure you start clearly outside the boundaries of the images you want to select If part of the shape is outside the selection of that shape it won t be selected This method of selection is referred to as a marquee select throughout this manual o If all of the shapes are on the same layer click on the thumbnail for that layer Refer to Section 3 12 47 The Caret will disappear while you have a shape or shapes selected but will reappear in the upper right corner of the last selected shape once unselected If you wish to select all of the shapes on the screen there are several options o Press Ctrl A o Right click on the screen and choose Select All from the menu
22. The green is the fill that will show up if the trace is accepted Information about the original image size resolution etc Pixel Trace Cartoon_owl svg hi png Print Dimensions 4 20 x4 11 Information about the tracing of nodes size number of paths etc PRESTA Despeck 2 A AAA Trace options and Pixel Alpha Palette settings covered rir oa in detail below Threshold 127 Background Color pd ae After each setting a change click Apply Changes to see new 225 Apply Changes of dare ds Import when ready or Cancel trace process e When experimenting with the various tracing methods remember the following Each time you change a setting you need to click on the Apply Changes button to see the updated 0 preview Before beginning the Pixel Trace process position your Caret in the top left part of the screen You will then also see a preview of the tracing on the main screen as you test different settings in the Pixel Trace window You may need to move the Pixel Trace window to see this tracing Experiment Remember that you can change settings and refresh the results without making any commitments Take notes when you discover something new about tracing A combination of tracing methods might occasionally yield the best results Each time you click on Import you will be given the opportunity to place the
23. choose File gt Save As Name the file choose a location and click on Save e f you wish to save all of your open projects go to File gt Save All or right click on a project tab on the Tab Bar and select Save All from the menu The various windows in which you ve made changes will then open in sequence with the option to save the changes or not or cancel the saving process for that file e You can also turn on an auto saving option by going to Help gt Advanced gt Advanced Settings The setting is located under Automatic Project Saving Check the box next to Enable Automatic Saving Check box to bring Up Automatic Project Saving Automatic Saving settings gt v Enable Automatic Saving e This is a very good idea when doing extensive designing or editing of files It s not unusual for graphic programs to occasionally crash or the possibility of a sudden power outage to occur Once you check the box the following settings window will open Enter location where por backups will be saved Enter Maximum Saves before deleting older ones Automatic Save Settings ma Enter ti mi Ng for Interval in minutes 2 frequency of saves Autosave Path C Users Sandy Documen Backup C Maximum Saves 20 Click on OK m x Cancel e o change the save settings uncheck the Enable Automatic Saving box and then recheck the box so that the Automatic Save Settings window will reopen and changes can then be made
24. the child shapes then have individual bounding boxes and they fill will color This indicates that the child shapes are no longer joined to their parent shapes There are now bounding boxes The inner paths are i around each inner path now filled with color Once you apply Break you have complete editing control over every individual shape within a design But be careful Its also easy to inadvertently move an individual shape especially the tiny ones and you can risk messing up the design So only use Break when needed and then most importantly know how to rejoin your shapes which is covered in the next section n The Join function is used to combine individual paths curves and lines into a single shape This is basically the opposite function to Break After selecting two or more shapes the Join function can be accessed in any of the following ways Click on the Join icon on the Magic Toolbar Press Ctrl J Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Join from the menu Oo gt gt o Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Join If the Join function is applied to the Bob example in the above section on Break the word will now become all one shape and even the individual letters can no longer be selected 125 The grid is visible again inside the inner parts of the letters E One single bounding box around the entire word e Another reason to apply Join before cutting is to control the order of
25. total will be 3 Space 100 00 os ES not quite fit Casar cones gt 3 Enter desired Spacing 7A py Pu MB 84 The lettering doesnt fit But not to worry Begin to tweak the settings Vert Align moves the text inwards towards the center of the shape or away Offset is used to move the starting location of the text Wrap Objects To Path Repeat Repeat Count 2 Now all three are arranged evenly around the circle Spacing inches 0 5 Offset 26 47 Vert Align 110 Q Space 50 40 Cancel Space moves the individual characters closer or further apart Click on Accept when done To end up with a perfectly arranged design work with the settings in this order 0 0 Repeat Count If you want a particular number of repeats enter it Spacing This is the distance between each of the repeats In our example it is the space set between the end of Birthday and the start of the next Happy Note that this may not be retained as the Space setting is adjusted to get all of the repeats visible Space This is the distance between the individual shapes making up the design In our example it is the space between all of the letters making up Happy Birthday Vert Align This indicates how close the original text is positioned to the circle At 100 the text just touches the circle but the setting can be increased to move the text outwa
26. you can type the first letter and you will be taken to the products which begin with that letter This allows you to more quickly scroll through the products Once you have selected a Lettering Delights product double click on any image and a window will open where you can choose to go to the Lettering Delights web site to purchase this particular product The shapes in that product package will then be available to download directly into MTC in the future when you log into your account The following example shows a collection of clipart called Arizona Grand Canyon State that has been found at the Lettering Delights site but has not yet been purchased You can see the images contained in this collection and upon double clicking any of the images a window will open Lettering Delights smccauley45 cox net x E Defaut Page PE L a Fer EPS A AE ALE ESP E BRA ALS ee B Learn about the Arizona Grand Canyon State collection Arizona Grand Canyon State You currently do not own the Arizona Grand Canyon State collection from Lettering Delights gt Wordart 1 Bird Sun Tree y MA Cactus License Plate Wordart 2 12 If you answer Yes your Internet browser will open and you will be taken to this link http www letteringdelights com clipart arizona_grand canyon state 10057 html where you can again view the images in this collection browse projects made with this collectio
27. 24UHF will then cut out your shapes based on triangulation This is far more precise than WYSIWYG because it takes into account not only any misalignment of your printout on the mat but also any errors in the printing Most printers do not print images in the same location on the paper as they are located on the screen e Note that raster images JPG BMP PNG etc will need to be pixel traced first so that cut lines are created Refer to Chapter 6 for tutorials on how to do the pixel tracing also called vectorizing e Refer to Chapter 9 for tutorials on the print and cut process 2 08 Serial Port and Test Connection e Under Serial Port you select the connection which will be used for connecting your computer to your ACS 24UHF Look for the words USB Serial Port if you find that there are more than one listing in the drop menu ACS is assigned to COM 7 This is not the Connection between the computer and the cutter COM3 MosChip PCI Serial Port o The Test Connection button can be used to verify that your computer is communicating properly with your ACS 24UHF Pressing it should cause a small movement of your blade carriage COM USB Serial Port Click here to test communication gt EA 30 2 09 Important Checklist Before You Cut Do you have your material on the mat and the mat inserted into the cutter Note materials with a backing sheet such as vinyl and iron on transfer do not requir
28. 94 A 94 UI TINCT TRACE MEDI illa 96 O03 ZAPNI TACO ME o o ol lino aa cdi 98 A I e s s E PIE A cereus E AAE ET ished ste E ERE eee cosas E AE idk E aden GRA ene eae anne ee 101 GW ORC Ge 6 get ef A meer Pn E 105 US COI SC aI aCe eshte Sr Me are A A 110 OF IAIN Sl RACING A A loae toe gece a 118 Importing an Image for Manual Tracing aa AAA css sande wa ech ernest dhe tna 119 Manual Tracing Using the B zier Curves and Straight Line Pen Tool ssssesccssssssesssssssesssssssssscsssssessessssscssessssasscssesessacasesessasasesessssasssesessaras 120 Flip Mirror and Weld to Complete Symmetrical Shapes ui Ao 123 EDITION aos 124 1 01 SEPARATING AND COMBINA PES e e aL 124 A Tan PITY OTT SET UN CEO EE SPCR Ee TRC OUT T TR eee TUR Oey Tene 124 A Reel SeR ntl ete Nath Aad Music ata ar Sed hice acid Maal eS Glad d tlad aS Get Mad hc Gadi acide Radi Maas cut tee Saal S Aacdn 125 E 5 ae ee E Er ee ee E ee ee eT A ee eT 125 RON 126 127 7 02 SHAPE MAGIC ADVANCE PART 1 THE SIMPLIFY FUNCTIONS ooncocncnconnncncninnncnnccrnnncnnnn ro ron nro rare rara 128 COLA O IN AS o 128 A SN A O o Po a or Co Mere Mo ec ere 128 CO2 3 MOVIES IMPI oo A O AA Ri 128 TOS SHAPE MAGIC ADVANCE PART DEA o 129 Ma e al Rt sce c etcetera tel acl 129 DOGE S ON MIO etree la betta alee Sin A Ni ciel NaN iae o Ad 130 7 04 SHAPE MAGIC ADVANCE PART 3 THE PATH FUNCTIONS cccccccscsscsccsssessesvsseevsesseseessesecsesvsssessnsvseessesveseevsaseesnsvssessnsv
29. Answer Continue Tracing Click on the Color box again and then pick another color This time choose the green leaves Vistalization Settings pesseeccccccceccseseseessssnccceccccceceeeseeseneseey A AAA Trace Settings Resample Image x1 0 None i Despeck 19 Pixel Alpha Palette Color Color Scans Color il Tolerance Tolerance 14 E is still set to 14 Print Dimensions 5 11 x5 11 Offset 1 27 x1 59 The leaves and stem are both traced e lf you want the leaves and stem to be traced as different shapes then reduce the Tolerance lt was required to reduce the Tolerance all the way down to 2 in order to get just the leaves traced Vieudleation settings Alpha 127 Zoom 84 Resample Image x1 0 None v Despeck 19 Pixel Color Color E Tolerance Tolerance 2 E is reduced to 2 Background Color Import Settings Q E Texturize Path el Blackout Path Apply Changes ion DPI Print Dimensions 5 11 x5 11 Just the leaves are traced e Click on Import answer Continue Tracing to trace more layers and then select the stem color Again the Tolerance must be kept low in order to trace the stem only and not include the leaves in the selection 107 Vieta lizaci n settings r Alpha 127 Zoom 84 x1 0 None v Tolerance kept low Import settings Scale 100 E Texturize Path a E Bl
30. By Height gt Mark Adjust Color box Y Adjust Color start Finish MN roses o ie E For a spectrum of colors enter ct 10 360 36 Preview 36 Created Caa Click on Preview i e The Rotated Hue function is used for this application For a spectrum of colors which begin and end with the same color the degrees are calculated by dividing 360 by the number of duplicates In this case 36 duplicates are chosen so the Rotated By setting entered is 10 deg After clicking on Accept we have our finished flower Texture Snapshot can again be applied Click on Accept when done 8 14 Jigsaw Puzzle Video e The Jigsaw Puzzle feature installs as a separate application To open it go to your Windows Start button select All Programs locate your Make The Cut folder and then select Jigsaw Puzzle Generator e The following window will open J Make The Cut Jigsaw Puzzle Generator A b Enter desired Width and Height which can be changed after importing into MTC Preview of jigsaw Enter desired Rows and Columns to puzzle determine number of pieces in puzzle Increase or decrease Corners to change the roundness of the 4 corners of the puzzle Click on Generate Puzzle after each settings change to update preview Click on Export Puzzle when the puzzle is complete e If you plan to apply this puzzle over a specific image you may want to choose dim
31. COPY PASTE ult 76 AO ooo 76 no An Tee rw ree Ye ee ee 17 KNK SUHO AC S O eel 17 S WORKING WITA TEX ontario idds 78 SO a ad ef BM lO WES AB ea air POPS Ry oT a rr EOS PE oO E eee ee 78 AA A O II II 79 US A E AOE 79 ROANG TO RAI A A A A das 80 SPUING CONUS ics ee area og ace aca Sa CG Se GN SIA cea a 81 5 04 CREATING A CONNECTED LETTER MEE vac olclinyipcaluneearcdealiaeaardS snack chai ayincaluncetanciualanar nna tad avecdabienaness 82 5 05 INCORPORATING DINGBAT SHAPES INTO A TITLE cccccssccesssesscsvsstesseeecsesvsssessesesseesstsusseessesessnessesecsnssseeecensvstsesensesnesseseconessnseesnavsatees 83 5 06 WELDING TITLES IN IMAGINATIVE WAYS iio 83 5 07 FTNG TEXT TO THE OUTSIDE OF A SHAPE e a E a e aa eae aah tienes 84 ADDING Text around AGING CPP A n a A A E 84 Wrapping Text Half way Around the Top and the Bottom of a Circle c ccccssessssssessssescsssscscssescsssscscssssssssessssssssassesessssesasseeassssesasassesassecasaeeasseeeacates 85 O FITTING TEXT TO PATAS did ad 87 Closed Famn Bezier War d 87 ODEN NA A Ni hal aa aie Sh eas a She noses i her as hip Sho eae ie Sha eee a ie ae 88 5 09 CREATING AN OVERLAY TITLE AND WELDING TEXT TO FRAMES ccccccsccssccsssccssscssecceecseesesesccesseseuceesseseascesscsuasenescsuaseeussusseeaseaseeeeans 89 oO STENCIENG LETTER apace emcee Gia aa Sane ec 91 Os WW OPEN RATA FONTS Uca aid 92 O TRACING aan 93 OU RAS TERR VERSUS VECTOR ces 93 6 02 FINDING EASY IMAGES TO DRA Entidad oo aaa
32. Caret 26 54 x 4 15 Size 1 00 20 207 e f you hold the Shift key while dragging one of the four corners the shape will be pinned in the diagonally opposite corner and will rotate around that corner If you hold the Ctrl key while dragging one of the four corners the shape will rotate in 15 increments Ctrl Shift Rotate will rotate around the opposite corner in 15 increments e f you need to rotate in increments other than 15 go to Helo gt Advanced gt Advanced Settings and change the default to the desired increment from 1 to 180 Rotate By 45 Degrees When rotating a selected group of shapes while holding the CTRL key rotate by this many degrees 1 180 Aselected shape can also be rotated exactly 90 clockwise by using any of the following E Click on the Rotate 90 Clockwise icon on the Magic Toolbar o Press Ctrl G Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Rotate 90 e f you drag one of the double headed arrows along a side versus a corner you can slant the shape instead of rotating it 99 Drag a Drag a side to slant corner to rotate Rotated Square Slanted Square e Note that if you are using an earlier version of MTC then refer to these two videos Rotating raster images in MTC 4 2 or earlier Video V deo Warping e Inthe warping mode shapes can be transformed dramatically by dragging the handles at the corners Dragging along the sides results in the same effects as slan
33. Curves can be re shaped nodes can be dragged to new locations and added or deleted In this case the inner portion of the Broad 2 shape will be edited to be more pointy in order to alter the stretched shape on the curve Before editing object After editing object Note the rounding of the interior Resulting change to Wea Modified object Repeat Wrap Objects To Path ES Warp Stretch Ta Y Parameterize y V Flatten x1 Offset 0 00 Vert Align 100 Eres 0 00 OJR Accept Cancel AJA aly Duplicate Path To New Layer v v Curves are made straighter and center nodes dragged inwards e There are additional icons just above the displayed shape which permit zooming in or out and even auto smoothing If you hold the space bar you can then pan the small screen moving to other parts of the shape which is convenient if you have zoomed in close on particular areas to edit Undo Redo Zoom Auto Smoothing A m A AQA Y Option to have a duplicate of current modified shape added to the Layers Bar a _ Duplicate Path To New Layer e Anoptions box at the bottom of the window allows you to copy the currently modified object and place it on a new layer on the Layers Bar for later use as needed You might also want to then save this new shape to Your Sha
34. Fill Outline so that you can clearly see the image 119 e One little additional tip when manual tracing and editing it can often be troublesome if you inadvertently click on and select the imported image A way around this issue is to have the import image on one page and perform the tracing on another page But first you want to make the imported image visible on other pages To do this right click on the current page containing the imported image and select Visible E Dpt Poon Ll Right click on current Move Backward page to open menu an Move Forward Rename Duplicate Copy Paste Merge Paste 4 Click on Visible Visible Delete e Now click on the icon to add a new page Le and you will see the imported image clearly on the screen but not be able to inadvertently select it L NS ae e The image will now be slightly grayed but still distinct enough for tracing Manual Tracing Using the B zier Curves and Straight Line Pen Tool Simple Video intermediate Vdeo e As mentioned at the beginning of this section you will want to read Section 7 12 to learn how to comfortably and successfully use the Pen Tool e Now the best method for tracing a symmetrical image is to only trace one half Then you can make a mirror image copy and weld to the origin to create a perfectly symmetrical shape This is what will be done in this case because the dress is symmetrical 120 e Before beginning
35. O rings for thicker materials These rings can be cut from cereal boxes with two glued together to create one ring The cutting file for these is located here http www iloveknk com FreeFiles KNK Important Adjust the Speed Force and Number of Passes Based on the Material and Shapes Using correct cut settings is equally important as the type of blade blade length and blade height Refer to Sections 2 03 2 05 for details Keep the Cutting Mat Clean and Sticky e Press your materials evenly to the mat Think about using a brayer both before AND after cutting Repressing the material after cutting can greatly aid in weeding the cut shapes from the waste e When necessary tape thicker materials to the mat to keep them from slipping during the cut e lf you cut a range of materials you might need more than one mat so that you can use stickier mats for certain materials Perform Test Cuts e Use the TEST button on the ACS 24UHF to perform test cuts Do not proceed with your cut until the test cut is clean When cutting intricate shapes a test cut of an intricate image such as a letter or a small portion of your rhinestone pattern might be a better indicator of correct settings e While in offline mode press the TEST button to cut a small rectangle This will indicate if your pressure settings and blade length are sufficient If necessary change your settings move your origin and perform additional test cuts until the material
36. Offset Color Default settings Left 0 0000 Top A Adjust Color Transform Q Rotate 0 00 Q Y Rotate Associated Paths Rendered Texture Size 4 11x4 11 To create a repeating pattern of the penguin at a much smaller size and with other customizations the following changes are made in the Change Textures window Choose Texture LE Choose Texture From Project Clicking on Adjust 0 Choose Texture From File Preview of C 0 Denver Class 6 It s All About the Settings z Color will open texture using ___y Mm this window currently Flipped Horizontally 7 Flipped vertically Change color adjusted Texture Offset Color settings as settings Left 0 0000 Top 0 0000 desired Then click Transform ars Rotate 45 00 on Apply Q Scale 18 00 Rotate Associated Paths Scale Associated Paths Rendered Texture Size 0 74 x0 74 o ana Check Tile Texture box adjust Rotate to 45 degrees and Scale to 18 and then click Adjust Color After clicking on OK the shape fills with the new customized texture 62 Removing a Texture If you wish to delete the texture from a shape right click on the shape and select Change Color Texture Line and then select Remove Textures Changing Line Style Video The Choose Line Style window allows you to create dashed lines instead of solid lines as needed Similar to Choose Tex
37. Paths Refer to Section 7 02 1 CAUTION If using the Inverse Eraser and cross from one individual shape into another this addition will not automatically be welded and when sent to the cutter you may end up with unwanted cut lines For example let s say you have a flower and there are two leaves that are not attached to the stem You decide to use the Inverse Eraser to join those leaves to the stem Everything looks like it worked as you wanted but you cut out the flower stem leaves the new leaf stems will cut into the larger stem However it appears to be what you wanted because you have Fill turned on If you switch to Outline mode and zoom in on the leaves you ll see this 141 welded to the stem YI a The leaves are not e lf you realize this has happened you only need to apply the Weld tool L3 to remove the overlapped parts NY e To prevent this first select the shapes in the case the stem and two leaves and apply the Join tool Pid Then you can use the Inverse Eraser and the parts added will be automatically welded Eraser or Knife e In Section 7 09 it was shown how the Knife Tool can be used to cut shapes into parts The Eraser Tool can also be used for this same purpose when the Size is set to a very small value such as 0 03 mm the minimum size allowed The differences between the two tools are o The Eraser Tool automatically closes the paths on both sides of the erased parts Knife Tool results
38. Ratio is locked and type in 10 in the W setting box Enter 10 to resize the lines and make the gaps smaller nodes closer together q 0 4375 Y 1 4375 MW 10 H 0 0000 4 e Once the line is resized click on the Join icon on the Shape Magic toolbar to join the segments and then the Fuse n Weld function can be applied in any of the following ways o Click on the Advance icon on the Magic Toolbar and select Fuse n Weld o Press Ctrl Shift M o Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Fuse n Weld from the menu o Goto Edit gt Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Fuse n Weld E n Weld E Slide the Tolerance to the maximum and then click on Apply 0 0500 in e For closing tight gaps such as in this case slide the Tolerance to the maximum and click on Apply e To resize the selection type in 10 r into the W setting so that the reciprocal will be applied and the line will be resized to its original width Reverse Paths e The Reverse Paths function is used to change the direction of a cut This is not a commonly used function but can sometimes fix cutting issues with some files e To see the direction of a cut press F10 to open the Measure Tool on the Node Mode toolbar Move your mouse over a shape and it will fill with stripes A green arrow will point in the direction of the cut In the following example the cut will proceed counterclockwise around the shape 132 Close up Green arrow indi
39. accept all defaults On the Control Panel press the Menu button and verify that the Baud Rate is set to 57600 Refer to Section 1 05 Step 4 Serial Connection Turn off the cutter and connect the RS232 cord to the right side of the cutter and into the serial port on your computer Turn on your cutter The Windows Hardware Manager will identify the USB connection On the Control Panel press the Menu button and change the Baud Rate to 9600 Refer to Section 1 05 Step 4 1 11 Verify Communication and Test Draw Shapes New owners tend to be VERY eager to try out their cutter It s also important to test your cutter to ensure that data is being sent properly from your computer to the cutter The following steps will allow you to do some testing with the pen tool But note that the following steps are for DRAWING not cutting Before inserting the blade tool into your cutter please read the following Sections 1 05 1 06 1 07 and 2 07 15 1 11 1 Setup for Communication Test and Drawing Press an 8 5 x 11 sheet of paper to the mat If your mat has NO adhesive then use tape to firmly attach the paper to the mat surface Note do NOT use this method when you begin using the blade You must spray your mat with adhesive so that when images are cut they will remain attached to the mat While the paper can be placed anywhere on the mat it is recommended that the paper be placed so that the wheels will pass over the edges of the paper This
40. begin with that letter e Some fonts will change significantly if the Bold option is selected so be aware of that possibility The same is true of the Italic option Make sure it is not indented blue in color 78 5 02 Opening Font Files Video e True type TTF and open type OTF fonts which are already installed on your computer are ready to be used in MTC However unlike most other Windows applications uninstalled fonts do not need to be pre installed in Windows in order to be used They can be opened directly in MTC as easily as importing other vector files e A font can be opened in MTC using any of the following ways T I Click on the Import TTF OTF icon on the Import Toolbar Click on the Add Font from TTF File icon on the Font and Text tab of the Main Bar EN Press Ctrl Shift H Go to File gt Import gt True Open Type Font File e After invoking one of the methods to open a font file the following window opens a Open font file l i Browse to locate a folder Lookin Y 0 Forts 02 Pm Name Date modified Type Size _ akaFrivolity otf 2 16 2003 12 52 OpenType font file 36 KB Click on the font _ akaFrivolity ttf 2 16 2003 7 45AM TrueType font file 158 KB name and it will a 0 1 2009 7 14 AM TrueType font file LKB _ ALGER TTF 10 29 1999 12 42 TrueType font file 74 KB appear be OW AliciaWonderland ttf 5 8 2010 4 35PM TrueType font file 355 KB Baskerville ttf 8 4 1995
41. computer When tried to cut nothing happened no error messages either e Make sure your cutter is online e Check the baud rate on the machine to make sure it matches what is selected in the window When tried to cut received an error message that said Access is Denied e The Latency Timer needs to be changed on the Com Port assignment To do this watch the video called Communication Fix at this link http www iloveknk com FreeVideos Support lve reinstalled the driver and change the Latency Timer but my computer keeps losing the connection to the KNK e You may need to change the power settings for the USB ports To do this go to Windows Control Panel gt System and Security gt Power Options Click on Change Plan Settings and then Change Advanced Power Settings In the Advance Power Settings window click on the next to USB Settings Make sure the USB Selective suspend setting is Disabled e If the KNK still becomes disconnected make sure you are using the latest plugin These are available at http knkusa com resources e Try applying Flatten Paths before sending to the cut window Select your shapes click on the wrench icon at the bottom of the screen and select Flatten Paths from the pop up menu e Try changing the COM Port that has been assigned Video 232 Operating Issues My mat is rotating when the ACS 24UHF starts to cut e Both pinch wheels need to be gripping the mat Move the mat either le
42. cut oo gt gt Begin with Easy Materials and Easy Shapes e You didn t begin your first driving lesson out on the freeway You probably started driving on a farm or in a parking lot Then you progressed to the neighborhood and other low traffic streets Then you began driving on major streets Think of your cutting in the same way and don t start your first cuts with thick difficult materials or detailed cutting files Instead start cutting basic shapes and inexpensive materials such as cardstock from Wal Mart or just scraps you have on hand Work your way up to more difficult cuts after you master the easy ones Record Your Successes e As you begin to have great results take note of settings such as cutting force velocity blade offset blade type brand of material etc There is a blank form at the end of this chapter that you can print and use to record your results There are also suggested settings for a range of materials in Section 2 03 more specific settings at the end of Chapter 2 and in Chapter 10 These were obtained on a KNK Maxx but should provide good starting points on the ACS 24UHF as well Remember that your results may vary based on the many factors which can affect cutting Use the Correct Blade for the Material You Are Cutting e Your ACS 24UHF comes with a 45 blade red cap and a 60 blade blue cap An optional fabric blade is also sold Use the following as a guide for choosing the appropriate blade for the
43. des 209 10 APPLICA TON Sii AA A 210 IDAS ARDS FOCI AND PAPER unidad wba eae canta Potala cto date alos tena ean anton 210 DOO CHIC G HOSOK OO PROPONE cea hicatad aeatectine hs Mctoulescet a 210 A 210 A A Sinner 210 A A eanaine ede tees 211 PP PPR e yaatinsate adel T T T centers inne euclidean eat tes 211 So RA acca chet T TAE ate Se hea aceasta ate tenctacuses otek IE 211 Trouble SI OOUING PORRO ANN 212 A O e o o A 212 TYPOS OL VIN co cesses ech ek o o 212 A e A e ee AS 212 A E 213 A A A A II antestatunn E T 213 Te RONEN TRAIN GTE Fa naar doren 214 TVPG SOU ALOT On lo ea A Ede a ra 214 CUINA ONO AAA AAA AR AAA AA aa coma aa ae 214 A O nn ee eee ene ce ere eer er ee 215 IO AINE TONE TEMPE os ao iaa 215 DESIRE to a a aiii 215 Cutting Rhinestone Template Maia IA AAA AAA A A 215 Weeding and BUS O in TRIM STON ES AAA AAA AAA AAA AAA AAA AAA 216 Pearke S SHI RANES Stes eras acannon ipa ac Sa rsa raN AIST 216 EXT OM IRAINGSTONG AD DICAUONS olla 217 10 07 DRAWING WITHA PEN OR GLUE PEN stan dilata la naaa 217 Adjusting for the Difference in Diameters of Tools and Blade HOlders sccccssssssessssssssesessssssssessssscssessssssssssessassessessssasssesessasseesessssseasesessasseeses 218 10 06 EMBOSSING AND SCORING 5 A iiiaae a e e rei a n a a a a 219 IOI ENGRAVING 220 Proc E ENGTAVING a Dog Ta siaaa E A A AAA AA A 221 TOPO USING THE PUNCH OLE lacra N 222 IONES ME DECORA TIN rroa aN a a aa a a N A a teas 223 TOPE FAO DITION AES Pil
44. e ltis not necessary to set the origin or even put the printout on the mat in advance of starting the PNC procedure Watch this video for a way to make the process a little quicker Video 9 06 Print and Cut Scenarios 9 06 1 Cutting Multiple PNC Images on the Same Page e When performing a PNC on multiple images whether they are all the same image or different images the procedure is the same One set of four registration marks will be printed along the outside edges of the bounding area of ALL of the images on the page 201 Multi image PNC in Landscape mode Multi image PNC in ____y Portrait mode O TT X OS S UITTXS 8S 191197 ID 90 sie OS S X OO TT UITTXS S 193197 Woe ie aN Ue g i LF aa sonas Prem 0058 Old port dH JOJULIA 19150 Y Ai ba 9 06 2 PNC With a Contour Shape Larger Than the Printed Image Video e In Section 9 01 two other PNC applications were shown In one case an outside contour will be cut In the other an alternative shape is added such as the tag shape shown below Contour is added e You want to remove the cut line on the cow which was created during the pixel trace so that the only line cut will be the shadow line To do this o Make sure the raster image the cow in this example is on a higher layer than the shadow to be cut o Select both the cow image and the shadow and apply the Weld function from the Magic Toolbar The in
45. e OA III o e POD POE O SA 39 OT e e ld o 39 AP A 39 o OR 40 LV BAT RN 40 AT 40 Page Dal ysis casa S A EEE AA Sa a AE AA a 41 US BD A A E AS 41 A R esp ent aaa cga ea a eds eas tame taba danas natabanec untae 42 OF ZOO MING ATID FAINTING arado E road iO ona 43 SANADA ERE ato ooo can os 44 3 00 7 Op nng a INOWER IO PO OC it AAA AAA AAA AAA Ad 44 00 2 ODEN AN A SAA isc ata tga eee dc A 44 306 3 Previewing Thumbnails for Existing MICROS a eee 45 AV INGE MTC FILE O atacada ii a N 46 3 00 OPENING BASIC SHARES cara 47 3 09 SELECTING MOVING AND DELETING SHAPES E e e to 47 A eon ee eee RN ee ee ee ee ce ne eo nnn eee ee een 47 MOUN oea A A ent rer ads verity rer ir err 48 DM cea oa 49 3 10 CUTTING COPYING PASTING DUPLICATING 0ooononononnnnna es 49 IRE ia O UU EEE EOI rene et 49 3 10 2 Copying Shapes and Copying to TAS CUIDA E SDA 49 ie A A A ea A ea ee a 50 3104 DUDNCQUNG DUPIE NE es ere ha cera alia a 50 90 1059 DUDNCAUNG Nested DU DN CAG risina tat satan SA ena A ik Bias Ni tal oes Ns Cl Stina tl eta iat aia Ns ia a ta secals 51 3 10 6 Duplicating Rotated Duplicate a aaa 53 UN O Sra rn A A E A a 54 GO Oe e aseado 54 A beh eh ra alae lw beh aloe val uid vada nn bed nad nde ned ag Main aaa 55 COU MeV Fe eS cess eaters evn ce secede aden a aa aa a een na ata dada natera das hen ata at teak enna atten aaa 55 3 13 RESIZING ROTATING SLANTING AND WARPING ooo ens 58 AESA yo EME E E TA AE NAO 58 Rotating ana SANN G osii
46. example with the flower where both the outlines and the inlines changed shaped the further they were duplicated from the original This is not the case with basic shapes such as circles or polygons Duplicates become distorted No distortion in duplicates No distortion in duplicates Scaling by Width duplicate paths stay scaled to the original and the width will be changed according to the gap selected The resulting height may result in a different gap from one duplicate to the next The flower again demonstrates the difference quite clearly A circle will not be any different However notice how the rectangle responds in order to keep the same aspect ratio between the height and the width 92 o Scaling by Height is basically the same as Scaling by Width Again the circle is no different and the flower being symmetrical doesn t vary from the Scaling by Width option But the rectangle is quite different ES Adjust Color There s also the option to create a color gradient using the Adjust Color option On the Virtual Mat turn on Fill and then enter a Start and Finish color to create something like this Mark Adjust Color and then select start and end colors for the gradient Click on Preview and then Accept when done The Texture Hue setting can be used to apply a color gradient on nested duplicates containing a texture Refer to Section 8 13 for an example 3 10 6 Dup
47. face the cutter and the Height is the up and down measurement Calibration Calculator OO Measure the actual width and height by measuring with a ruler Be as accurate as you can Enter width and height that you entered for W and H Your current resolution is 1016 by 1016 DPI Calculations will be based off of these values Fractions are allowed when entering the numbers above Using a large image for your calibration will result in a more accurate calibration Note that it doesn t matter which units are used Just enter mm even though it shows in Click on Calculate after entering the measurements Click on Calculate and the following window will open asking you if you want to accept these numbers as your new resolution numbers Answer Yes and then test again Now if either number is significantly different from 1016 more than 1030 or less than 1000 you may have made an error and you ll want to re enter your values again Based on the information you provided your new resolution would be X Axis 1018 546 Y Axis 1013 466 Would you like to use these new values Answer Yes to accept the newly calculated values After responding Yes the Resolution numbers will be updated If after testing again you find that you re still slightly off then just repeat again If you need to be very precise and you cannot accurately measure the sides then you can also just slightly adjust the actual numbers the
48. g s U8 a s H s H Pa t e e 3 e ti 4 e e o A e o e 2 e A e e e e e e o en A e 0 s y s 7 4 Click on the Copy icon With right side still Delete the top and bottom Apply the Join followed by the Paste In selected press right circles since there are function and the Place icon and then the arrow key until right identical copies on top of design is Mirror icon side is in place one another complete 8 13 Texture Snapshot e The Texture Snapshot function is used to create a texture from one or more selected shapes Upon execution any overlap between the shapes is removed and a single trace line around the exterior is retained The fill becomes whatever color or texture the selected shapes had It can be accessed in any of the following ways o Click on the Texture Snapshot icon on the Magic Toolbar a o Press Ctrl 1 Right click on screen and select Shape Magic gt Texture Magic 0 Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Texture Magic e This feature is handy for print and cut applications For example a detailed paper piecing pattern can be instantly converted to a print and cut using this function 178 A paper piecing snowman where there are 17 individual shapes Creating a Gradient Texture Fill After applying Texture Snapshot exterior cutline with a texture fill e The Nested Duplicate function can be used to create a gradient color texture for any given
49. gt From Basic Shapes and select the category called Polygons Then scroll down to locate the Square and double click to place the square onto the screen 7 MAPA A A T ala Polygons ind items founc Select Polygons cog GA aga g 4 O i Parallelogram Pentagon Pentagon 2 Rectanale a Right Triangle Slanted Rectangle Stretch Hexagon Double click on Square to add to the screen AAA AAN To resize the square select it and then at the top right of the screen change the W to for example 8 inches Note that the larger the shape the more accurate your calibration will be If you prefer to enter a size in mm then enter 200 mm but enter it just that way with the mm following the 200 The value will be converted to inches but not to worry you can still perform the calibration in mm 31 Enter 8 0 and press H will automatically change the Enter key to 8 0 as well if Aspect Pi Ratio is locked To calibrate in inches X 1 9097 Y 4 9722 W 9 H 8 0000 4 Make sure this is locked Ww J Enter 200mm T librate in metri SN 10007 EA aor E onn EE o calibrate in metric wm Y 1 9097 Y 4 9722 W 200mm H 7 8740 After pressing the Enter key both W and H will be converted to inches but you can use a metric ruler to measure your drawn square and enter the results in mm as shown below x E men i j We NA 5 4 A 5 g 50 a 19097 Y 49722 Wi 7 8740 H 7 8740 Set the origi
50. in an oven that has been preheated to 100 150 F but then turned off before placing the cardstock inside With each brand of cardstock record the settings that worked well so that next time you ll have a good Starting point for your test cut Settings Remember to set your blade exposure to only cut through the material For thin paper just the tiniest tip of the blade will be needed For thicker cardstock use a little more blade but still not as much as you may think Revisit Section 2 01 for reminders on both the setting of the blade length and the blade height There are recommended forces shown in the Suggested Settings for Various Materials table near the end of Chapter 2 Use these as guidelines for your test cuts and then adjust as needed Remember to record your own successes A speed of 200 250 should work well for most cutting of paper and cardstock Some users prefer to cut faster and some slower Use your own experience as a guideline For most paper and cardstock use the red capped blade For very thick or heavily textured cardstock you may wish to use the blue capped blade The cutting force will vary depending on the density of the paper or cardstock any exposure to humidity dullness of the blade and even the dye used to color the material Two passes can often be needed with some cardstock regardless of the cutting force available Keep your cutting mat clean and sticky Brayering cardstock to the mat will i
51. inside the printed image so that no white areas will appear around the cutout e Typically these inset lines are very close to the original trace lines and cutting both lines could lead to cutting issues such as tearing or fine slivers of paper coming loose For that reason you will want to turn off the Original trace lines so that they are not cut However the registration marks are tied to these original trace lines because they are larger than the new inset lines If you simply turn off the original printed layer when you start the PNC process the print and cut will not work correctly But there is an easy way to make this work e Move the new inset cut line layer to the bottom of the Layers Bar so that it is behind the original imported image e Add a large white rectangle to the project If the page will be filled with multiple objects then the rectangle should surround all of the images If there is only one image then the rectangle can be sized to fit just that image Place on its own layer and move to the bottom p 3 i Original image should One rectangle is 6 be top layer placed around the Me sererai original image and its D eS set snacow inset ha POUSO ie lt Surrounding white Oo I rectangle If there are multiple images 207 Layers Es Cartoon Cow HA VX lt lt Original images should M E be top layer ge Inset shadows
52. is to import a raster image You can access the Open Image for Tracing window in any of the following ways a Click on the Pixel Trace icon on the Import Toolbar o Press Ctrl Shift T o Go to File gt Import gt Pixel Trace Q Drag and drop a raster image into a running instance of MTC e When the window opens there are three options for importing your raster image Preview of image i Open image for tracing lt Look in d Images Option 2 Scan image Option 1 Browse to into MTC find image folder Click on the im age 1215441515112629 12154416611241 121613976027892 he File N 5659lemmling_Car and the File Name pee Option 3 Paste from will appear below A Windows Clipboard preview will appear Click on Open to File name 1215441515112629565Semmling_Cartoon_owl svc import the image Click on Open Files of type All Supported Formats o Option 1 Import a file that is already on your computer CD flash drive external drive etc o Option 2 Import an image using a scanner connected to your computer 94 o Option 3 Copy paste an image from Window Explorer or from the Internet e The image will open in the Pixel Trace window Note the following information in this window On screen Preview will appear at current location of the Caret Visualization Settings adjust for personal preference only These settings do not affect the trace The blue lines indicate the trace lines
53. key while dragging your mouse Important Before using the Eraser tool for extensive changes to an image turn off Auto Simplify Paths Otherwise the shape will begin to lose its form as the simplify process is applied repeatedly To do this right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Auto Simplify Paths from the menu or refer to Section 7 02 1 for the other methods Then after you have finished using the Eraser tool apply either the Auto Simplify Path or Smooth and Simplify functions to reduce the number of nodes for smoother cutting Refer to Sections 7 02 2 and 7 02 3 The flower that was traced in Section 6 03 will be used to illustrate the Eraser Tool The flower will be re colored blue so that the red eraser lines in the screenshots will be easier to see in this user manual The arrows indicate the areas that need to have some of the blue layer erased 138 gt Re color flower gt When using the Eraser Tool all layers will be erased in the location where the eraser is applied So to avoid erasing the black layer when erasing the blue the black layer needs to be hidden Select that layer and press the Selection to Own Layer icon at the bottom of the Layer Bar Then hide the black layer by pressing the Hide Layer icon amp After hiding the layer the icon will change to a closed eye Black layer is on it Black layeris on ts ad if AFA Zoom in close so that you ll be able to see ex
54. little differently from most Windows programs When you select Paste the shape on the clipboard will be placed at the Caret s location and sized the same in height as the Caret If Paste in Place is used instead then the pasted shape will be the same size as the original and placed in the location of the original at the time the Copy was applied To Paste shapes from the clipboard use any of the following Click on the Paste from Clipboard icon located on the File Toolbar O Right click on the screen and select Paste Press Ctrl V Go to Edit gt Paste Oo gt gt o To Paste in Place shapes from the clipboard use any of the following Click on the Paste in Place icon located on the File Toolbar Le Right click on the screen and select Paste in Place Press Ctrl Shift V o Go to Edit gt Paste in Place Oo o o Note that once you press Paste in Paste you ll see a darkening of the original image if you haven t moved the original image since invoking the Copy 3 10 4 Duplicating Duplicate The Duplicate function allows you to make multiple copies of a shape aligned in rows and or columns with the spacing you desire To access Duplicate first select the shape s and then use any of the following o Right click on the screen and select Duplicate gt Duplicate o Press Ctrl D o Go to Edit gt Duplicate gt Duplicate To fill your grid with images move the selected shape s to the top left corner of the gridded part of the V
55. materials such as chipboard where multiple passes allow the blade to progressively carve through the material Cutting of certain fibrous materials such as fabric where a second pass will insure that all of the fibers have been cleanly cut Cutting intricate or detailed shapes such as scripty titles from certain materials such as heavily textured cardstock where a single pass may leave certain spots not cleanly cut Cutting rhinestone template material where a second pass results in much cleaner weeding of the cut circles 2 06 Blade Offset e The recommended Blade Offset for most cutting with both the 45 and the 60 blades is 0 25 For the fabric blade an offset of 0 4 is recommended When drawing with a pen or engraving set the Blade Offset to 0 This setting is found in the settings control window Blade Offset can be changed by checking this box and then entering a new value 2 07 Cut Type e There are three modes in controlling where images will cut to the ACS 24UHF They are called o Knife Point Moves the shapes to cut at the origin you have set on the cutter itself Use the blade tip to set the origin for cutting o WYSIWYG Cuts the shapes where they are positioned on the Virtual Mat Use the laser light to set the origin either at the corner of the cutting mat or the corner of the material as described later in this section o Print and Cut Cuts shapes relative to registration marks printed
56. o 005 120 Offset 0 50 Seen ea ps 140 Fun Foam ee lad a S Gum Paste Blue 15 100 nan out using pasta press Coat mat with shortening Allow to set on mat 10 min before cutting pe pepe ey ye side reverse image lron kni WWW o com 150 II side up reverse image Transfer T Shirt n Magic Mesh Blue 200 One pass on mesh alone two passes when pre applied to C S Mylar 1 10 E EE E a brand Adhesive Rhinestone green www ee com Blue 75 Remove backing sheet Rubber before pressing to mat Rhinestone black formerly sold at Blue 250 2 2 N Remove backing sheet Rubber knkusa com before pressing to mat 2009 2013 Sandy McCauley All Rights Reserved Shrinky Dink Red 130 150 1 1 Y Regular Shrinky Dink Blue 140 150 2 Had to punch cut a few but Printable were fine Remove both outer sheets and press well to the mat Cut clean in 2 doesnt give perfect results when cutting intricate detail Sticky Flock ka k EE Styrene 02 kad tt oe pe CR 2009 2013 Sandy McCauley All Rights Reserved lroned tissue first carefully rolled onto mat to avoid wrinkles used UnDo to remove from mat 36 3 MTC Basics This chapter begins the Make The Cut User Manual and is based on Version 4 6 1 As noted on the first page this is meant to be an online interactive manual Refer back to that page for features to use while reading online It is highly recommended that you do not print
57. of the Auto Simplify Path function in which you can choose how much simplifying will be applied Select the shape and then open the Smooth amp Simplify window in any of the following ways Click on the Advance icon on the Magic Toolbar and select Smooth amp Simplify o Press Ctrl Shift J Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Smooth amp Simplify from the menu 128 o Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Smooth amp Simplify e The following window opens with settings which can be adjusted as desired Adjustments will be reflected in the preview so that distortions of the image can be avoided Smooth and Simplify 88 Show Detail Option to show nodes 54 Simplify Nodes I Adjust these Ei Smooth Nodes i i settings and note Preview of E Ignore Length changes to shapes how image will be Before 638 nodes i changed After 428 nodes Reduction in nodes based 2 92 reducti i 32 92 reduction on current settings chosen Click on Accept when done La e The Ignore Length option can be used to control the amount of smoothing applied to an image For example in the following image of a very angular apple the higher the setting for Ignore Length while holding Smooth Nodes at a constant value the more rounding of the shape DDD Original Shape Ignore Length 0 15 Ignore Length 0 36 Ignore Length 0 43 Ignore Length 0 71 e n general the Smooth and Simplify func
58. on Save DF _se Y e Goto your Applications folder and hold the Ctrl key while clicking on the MTC icon Choose Open from the drop down menu e Enter the registration number you received when you registered the software e f you lose your registration number and you need to install MTC onto another computer please go to the following link to have it emailed to you http make the cut com LostRegKey aspx e You may now skip to Section 1 11 1 10 Connecting the ACS to Your Computer under Windows e Place your cutter on a sturdy horizontal surface If you have not yet done so attach the bolt on tables to the cutter refer to the instructions in Section 1 08 If you are not going to use the tables then be sure to allow enough free room in both the front and the back for the mat to extend during cutting e Connect the power cord to the left side of the cutter and plug into a wall outlet or power strip Turn on the power using the power switch on the left side The yellow LED display should come on and the cutter will initialize carriage will move to the far right side of the cutter e Connect your cutter to your computer using either of the following USB Connection Turn off the cutter and connect the USB cable to the right side of the cutter and into an available USB port on your computer Turn on the cutter The Windows Hardware Manager will identify the USB connection If the Hardware Installation window pops open proceed and
59. on Selection is moved below the layer with the separate layers with the text above to New Layer icon text by clicking on the down arrow the rectangle on that layer 89 Resize the rectangle to be wide and thin so that the letters extend a little above and below it Then resize and re space individual letters as needed to overlap the rectangle Remember to zoom in for a closer look at the overlap A Zoom in to verify ca IN the overlap and NN EN adjust individual letters as needed PA If the regular weld tool were applied at this point the letters would disappear with the exception of the tiny overlaps at the top and the bottom A Thus an alternative type of weld must be applied The one to use is part of the Boolean Join options Refer to Section 8 07 for more details on the Boolean Join But before the Boolean Join can be used you must reduce the number of individual shapes to just two the letters as one single shape and the rectangle To combine the letters to be treated into a single shape click on the preview of the text layer on the Layer Bar and then apply the Join function which can be accessed in any of the following ways Click on the Join icon on the Magic Toolbar o Press Ctrl J Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Join from the menu o Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Join Now marquee select both the rectangle and the letters and bring up the Boolean Join menu using any of the follow
60. on a Mac There are three things to install the MTC program the MTC Bridge and the KNK Plug in These are contained within one file which can be downloaded here http www iloveknk com Support Software Make The Cut MTC Mac Before installing please read and follow instructions regarding Apple s Gatekeeper software scroll to Mac Users please note the following error at the following link http knkusa com resources After the download has completed open the Downloads folder and launch the downloaded MTC dmg file A blue window will open with instructions to use for installing the software and bridge Watch the following video first so that you can better visualize what needs to be done This video was originally designed for the Zing however all steps are the same with the exception of testing the connection Wait to do this from within MTC Make The Cut Please unplug your cutting machine from your computer O install the FTDI USB Driver by double clicking on this icon 9 Watch this video BUT remember it works a bit differently on your 14 e Inthe Bridge program after selecting the tty listing under COM 1 be sure to click on Save at the bottom of that window 60 Make The Cut COM Bridge COM1 P tty usbserial A900ZEFO 4i COM2 Select the tty connection here O Not Bridged si s COM3 O Not Bridged ry lis com4 Not Bridged A irs Show All Serial Hardware Then click
61. on your printer Refer to Chapter 9 for complete instructions on the print and cut process Amite Oni Knife Point Select Cut Type mode to be used print and Cut Knife Point e This is the mode recommended for most applications as it economizes the use of your cutting materials 27 e Shapes can be located anywhere on the screen including outside the Virtual Mat The shapes will be moved and cut to where you set the origin on the material The origin is set using the position of the blade tip e When more than one shape will be cut the shape closest to the origin will be cut at the origin and any other shapes will be cut the distance and direction from that shape as positioned on the screen The following figures show examples of where images will cut Note that it doesn t matter whether you choose Portrait or Landscape modes for the Virtual Mat The shapes will cut in the same relative locations on the material Use the arrow on the Virtual Mat as a guide to the direction to insert the actual mat or material into your ACS 24UHF o Knife Point Portrait Mode Feed the mat this direction into the cutter FE Al AO Dl A O 0 E al TO 2 OS Dl O DO DD al AT Indicates Portrait E mode 3 Origin set here using blade tip Location of shapes on the screen Where shapes are drawn or cut on material o Knife Point Landscape Mode KLIC N KUT Feed the mat this direction into the cutter Indicates Land
62. or select the layer and then click on the Layer Options Menu icon and the following menu will open Most of these are self explanatory o e i Move Layer To Top Move Layer To Bottom Cut Layer H a Cut and Paste can be used to merge layers opy Layer Paste Layer This option will move every shape on gt gt To Each Rs Own the selected layer to its own new layer Reverse Layer s Shape Order Selected Layer To Own Page Each Layer To Own Page 57 e To merge two layers right click on the thumbnail for one of the layers and select Cut Layer Then right click on the thumbnail for the other layer and select Paste Layer Then immediately click on the Selection to New Layer icon This will create a new layer containing all of the shapes from those two layers 3 13 Resizing Rotating Slanting and Warping e The Resizing Rotating Slanting and Warping functions are presented together because all four can be readily applied to any selected shape e When you first select a shape you will notice that the bounding box has double headed arrows at the four corners and in the center along each of the four sides A double click inside the bounding area of the shape will change those icons to other choices resulting in three different modes 1 Resizing Mode Rotating Slanting Warping Mode Mode Resizing Video e With the shape selected use your mouse to drag any corner of the shape to resize proportionately Dragging the
63. ount 5 Blackout Outlines Gray Scale jackground C Bac id Color Ei Scale 100 _ Texturize Path _ Blackout Path Apply Changes Shapes 47 Size 3 73 x2 79 offset 0 00 x0 00 import Camel It is decided that the simplicity of the one with a Count of 4 looks better But there are some touchups required The background on the right doesn t match the background on the left White patches will be removed Small squiggle needs to be removed e After editing we have the final grayscale trace of Leonardo DiCaprio 6 04 Manual Tracing e There are two ways to manually trace an imported image in MTC 118 o Using the Draw Freehand Lines tool Pencil Tool refer to Section 7 10 If you own a graphics tablet and enjoy freehand drawing you may find this method workable for manual tracing It s not covered in this tutorial because it s fairly simple to freehand draw lines and curves as presented in Section 7 10 But unless you have a very steady hand your tracing will probably require considerable node editing if you want smooth curves in the final design o Using the Draw B zier Curves and Straight Lines tool Bezier or Pen Tool refer to Section 7 12 Review this section and practice using the tool to draw both straight lines and curves before attempting to repeat the steps shown in the following tutorial Importing an Image for Manual Tracing Raster images can be imp
64. prevents adhesive from the mat sticking to the rollers Raise the pinch wheel levers in the back and slide the mat into the cutter aligning the mat along the right side of the cutter Make sure the wheels are aligned with white rectangles on the cutter Refer to the photo below The pinch wheels can be slid left and right as needed Once under rectangles drop the levers Note that only 2 wheels need to be used for this testing or when cutting most materials The left most wheels can be moved to the far left side and left in the up position Set origin in front right corner of paper Wheels should be located under white rectangles Assemble the pen holder as shown in Section 1 06 Make sure the pen will write by scribbling on scrap paper Then loosen the screw on the blade holder seat and insert the pen tool Make sure the pen nib is slightly above the cutting surface so that it will not drag across the paper Firmly tighten the screw Video Refer to Section 1 05 Control Panel for instructions on the display panel Set the origin by going off line and then using the and buttons to move the tool over to the front right corner of the paper thus most of the mat and your material are behind the cutter at the start of the cut Press the Origin button to set the origin Press the Online button to return to online mode NOTE you must reset the origin every time you turn on the cutter Video For drawing the Force f should be se
65. reason some users will use canned air to blow the crumbs away from the surface between each pass You may also need to clean the inside of the blade holder by removing the blade and taking it apart so that any small pieces can be removed If the test cut was perfect but the shapes failed to cut cleanly the mat may not have been sticky enough to hold the chipboard throughout the cut Rather than add more adhesive you may want to use a stabilizer as described under Selecting Chipboard Also try slowing the cut it the shapes were fairly detailed and the uncut sections were on tight curves If a stuttering sound is heard during the cut and or the shapes are distorted then reduce the speed and force and increase the number of passes The blade is catching in the chipboard causing the mat to slip You need to make things easier on the cutter as the blade works its way through the dense chipboard 10 03 Vinyl Mone Info Types of Vinyl There are a number of different kinds of vinyl available at KNK USA Decal Sign vinyl which can be used to make stickers for windows tumblers etching projects etc Wall vinyl which can be removed without damaged to interior walls It has a beautiful matte finish and can also be applied to tiles chargers and even greeting cards Outdoor Vinyl which has an extended outdoor duration 3 5 years There is also a 5 8 year High Performance variety O Metallic Vinyl which has a permanent adhesive and
66. shape Decide which color you wish to use for the main shape for example yellow Add a rectangle from Basic Shapes and change the rectangle to that color Rectangle can be any dimension e Select the rectangle and apply the Texture Snapshot function e Create the shape you wish to fill In this example a flower will be used Select the shape right click and select Change Color Texture Line Pick Select Texture and the following window will open where you can select the yellow texture and also mark the tiling option so that the entire shape will fill with the color regardless of the size of the original rectangle Rendered Texture Size 0 83 x0 96 Choose Texture 8 Choose Texture From Project Texture Snapshot e 0 83 x0 96 300 0 DPI Choose Texture From File Tile Texture 4 _ Flipped Horizontally _ Flipped Vertically Texture Offset t 0 0000 Color Top 0 0000 Adjust Color Transform Rotate 0 00 Scale 100 00 Rotate Associated Paths V Scale Associated Paths lt Mark box and then choose texture from drop down menu Mark the Tile Texture options Click on OK e Now with the shape still selected access the Duplicate Nested function by right clicking and selecting Duplicate gt Nested Duplicate The following window will open 179 Nested Duplication Ea Duplication Settings Count 36 Enter duplicate count Gap 1 mm Y By Scaling Scale
67. stem and the little circles and apply Join me Recolor the stem to be green The design is completed 190 9 Print And Cut 9 01 What Is a Print and Cut PNC e The print and cut process involves printing an image from MTC to any printer you own and then with the aid of the ACS 24UHF s laser having the image or images cut out with perfect precision Below are three typical kinds of print and cut applications but there are more so be sure to check out Section 9 06 and 9 07 Cuts along the actual borders of the printed image s ES P o Image is precisely cut along D printed borders Cuts outside of the borders but following the shapes of the printed image s ES Es SD o Cuts follow a different shape from that of the printed image s O e X D e J A custom shape is cut O R around the printed image 9 02 What is a PNC Calibration Video e Inorder to get precise PNC results you must tweak the Laser Offset calibration This is nothing more than determining how far away the laser light on your ACS 24UHF is located relative to the tip of the blade Because the laser is manually installed into a small hole inside the blade carriage the distance from the laser light to the tip of the blade will vary from one ACS 24UHF to the next Also you will want to use the Image is cut in same shape but offset from outside printed borders 191
68. text Jonas and Eli August 2011 Options for Splitting by Lines by Glyphs by Spaces or No Splitting Alignment options Begin typing to enter text into wndow Press Enter key to start new lines Click on Accept to enter text onto screen Click Reset to erase i As you type the text it will also appear on the screen at the location and height of the Caret refer to Section 4 01 After clicking on Accept in the above window the Add Text Group closes and the text is ready for any additional editing desired cdenas and Gli Ctugust ZO Note that text can also be imported into this window from other Windows applications Word Outlook Excel or other text programs using the normal copy and paste method Rotating Text To create vertical text select Rotate Left in the Add Text Group window Select Rotate Left Add Text Group o o o ag iil from menu and each individual letter will be rotated 90 to the left Only one line is typed thus alignment and vertical spacing does not matter A gt Then select the text created and rotate 90 Ctrl G to rotate Text after clicking Text after lt _ apply Ctrl G on Accept H pply ARO IRE 80 Splitting Text There are four options in the Splitting drop down menu No Splitting Entire text is treated as a single shape KNK USA Home of the Zing 1 shape Split by Lines Individual lines of text will be separate shapes
69. the Blade Offset Don t Get Frustrated Get Help e Besides having your own ACS dealer as the first line of contact there are many user forums message boards Yahoo groups etc where you can post questions and get answers from other users dealers and Make The Cut experts Utilize these resources Main Klic N Kut Yahoo Group http groups yahoo com group Klic N Kut o KNK Support Forum http knkusa com forums o Make The Cut Yahoo Group http groups yahoo com group makethecut 2 02 Cut With Klic N Kut e Before accessing the cutting window you need to have at least one shape on the current page to cut If you have no shapes then attempting to access the cutting window will result in a popup message stating There is nothing inside the current project to cut e To confirm what will cut you can access the Cut Preview function in the following ways G Click on the Cut Preview icon on the File Toolbar o Press Ctrl Shift E 24 o Goto Cut Project With gt Cut Preview e The cut preview will display the shapes that will be cut Immediately invoking the function again will show the material with the cut shapes removed This is also sometimes called the negative Shape as shown Shape shown with first Shape shown after second on Virtual Mat click of Cut Preview click of Cut Preview e The Cut with Klic N Kut Series window can be accessed in the following ways o Click on the Cut Projec
70. the arrow is outside the green borders move it so that it falls within the boundaries 196 cl lt Information about your current printer settings are shown here 00 TT X OS S WITTAS 8 193197 Green dashed lines indicate the part of the screen that will be printed Four registration marks should appear at the corners of the bounding box y Go to File gt Print Preview and you will be able to see the arrow plus the four registration marks which should be aligned with the boundaries of the arrow Va Next Page Prev Page Two Page Zoom Out Click here to print Check this preview carefully Do you see all four registration marks red arrows point out the 4 reg marks Will you be getting what you need printed Note that the Wireframe option was turned off for this screen shot so that the image could more clearly be seen in this tutorial Always make sure you can see those registration marks before continuing since they are an integral part of the PNC process If your print preview matches the one above and you see the four marks click on the Print button Also verify that what is being printed is what you need For example you may have added an extra shape to be cut but you do not want it showing up in the printout This is where you will want to use the Layers feature to control what will be printed as well as what will be cut later You may want to print several 4 or
71. the conversion from KNK Studio to MTC this is simply a correction to remove the Bezier control points Refer to Flatten Paths under Section 7 04 The Notes function in KNK ACS Studio will also allow text to be copied and pasted to the Notes Window in MTC If any of the VEF and WEN fonts specific to KNK ACS Studio have been used to create text that text may also be copied and pasted from KNK ACS Studio to MTC even though those particular fonts cannot be opened in MTC If you have any problems using the Windows Copy Paste method export your files from KNK Studio in either EPS or PDF format to import into MTC Refer to Section 4 04 To export from MTC to KNK ACS Studio select the shape s and use either the EPS or PDF export functions described in Section 4 1 Imported files in KNK ACS Studio will need to have fill colors assigned and Thick Line Attribute set to No Line or Hair Line Refer to the KNK Studio User Manuals 17 5 Working with Text 5 01 The Text and Fonts Tab e On the Main Bar in MTC you will find a tab called Text and Fonts Main x Virtual Mat TextandFonts _ _ Click on this tab to access Text and Fonts e The Text and Fonts tab is used for o Browsing and selecting which font to use for creating a text shape Note that marking the Show Face option will display the font names in their font type o Browsing all of the characters glyphs available in any given font o Open
72. the trace take note of how many changes in curves and straight lines exist This will help you understand where you will be beginning and ending paths as you trace Trace will begin and end here moving counter clockwise around the dress Red arrows indicate where a change in direction or curvature occurs and where a new path begins e The process guidelines are as follows 0 0 0 Left click once to plant a node Right click to end a segment and plant the end node A series of straight line segments can be made one right after another without needing to right click Curve segments can also be created one after another although it may be difficult to get the curves to look exactly the way you want For this reason it is often easier to end each new curve by right clicking before starting the next segment After ending a segment you can left click in that same spot where the last one ended to begin the next segment The new segment will automatically connect to that last node You do not need to end a straight line segment before adding a curve segment After left clicking to plant the last node for the straight line segment click and hold the left mouse button at the point where that next curve segment should end and drag the mouse as needed to form the curve that fits the image With the left mouse button still held down right click to end that curve When you reach the original starting point and right click on it the s
73. this entire manual It is updated frequently as additions and changes are made to the software Also hyperlinks to new online videos are added with each update These are provided to enhance your learning experience Wherever you see a large green Video icon click on it to automatically link to and open a video related to the topic that follows 3 01 Main MTC Screen Below is a screen shot of the main screen in MTC identifying toolbars bars and other important elements on the screen Note the specific names of the items shown as they will be referenced throughout this user manual File Toolbar Import Toolbar Sel Properties Bar Main Bar Make The Cut Main Screen mtc File Edit CutProject With View Window Help a B a ATTE 6810440040 a Main Screen mtc op a o SS Mai a A EE gt 7 Virtual Mat Text and Fonts Mat Configuration A Typical Mat 7 12 00 x 12 00 Page Bar Tab Bar Menu Bar O tight Blue v al Landscape v O Fill Outline v Show Cirdes O Show Margins ctivate Node Mode Zoom 100 Caret N Caret Size Snap Position NO0de WIOdGE DOID 1 No Snapping Y Use these settings on every new project Notes p L 7 Layers wE Project Notes Notes Files The font used in this project is called 1 Bean Sprout DNA Set Font and Color Magic Toolb L io _ Ki A Position 7 06 x 7 79 Caret 7 72 x 2 18
74. way you expected Examples are often fold up templates where corners and fold lines do not quite meet Having the ability to move segments and nodes can perfect these kinds of designs and provide cleaner and more professional end products 7 14 Reconnecting Broken Seqments Video e A shape that appears closed but will not fill with color has one or more broken segments In many cases it s not necessary to close the path because often the disconnected nodes are so close to one another that a closed cut will still be obtained However you may still wish to have your shapes fill so that you can better see what the final design will be e lf you cannot easily see where the segment is broken select the Measure Tool from the Node Mode Toolbar and then hover over the shape Because a cut will always begin at a disconnected node on an open shape the green direction arrow will show where the cut begins thus indicating where the segment is broken Green arrow indicates where the gt path is broken e There are several ways to connect open segments The first one listed below Is restricted in its application Any of the others can be used to close one broken segment at a time Using Fuse n Weld e lf the shape has many tiny gaps where the nodes to be connected are within close proximity then refer back to Fuse n Weld portion of Section 7 04 Using Edit Paths at Node Level Node Edit Tool e Select the broken segment and then right
75. which a well known logo will be traced shows the effect of Stack Scans nh Hut e After tracing the layers are separated Note the differences in what is created 115 Stack Scans not E EE checked VAZIA Pizza Hut Nw Stack Scans Sa p i Hut Hut e While the Stack Scans function was developed for certain printing applications paper crafters may find it useful for some paper piecing projects For example using Stacked Scans to trace a simple image of a basketball will eliminate the need to individually adhere all of the sections of the basketball onto a black background Instead a single black overlay can be cut and laid on top of a single orange piece Image traced SG Blackout checked Eight orange sections would need to be glued onto the back background Stack Scans checked One black O overlay would need to be glue onto one orange background Grayscale Option The Grayscale Option introduced with version 4 6 converts imported raster images into the closest of 256 possibly shades of gray based on the number of colors selected It is well suited for photos or paintings When selecting a photo for the Grayscale application look for a solid color background and bright lighting on the subject you wish to trace Here are examples of a good choice and a poor choice Will work well solid background Will not work well busy good lighting background object
76. 00 outline RARA If the design extends beyond the Trim Bottom Overh 7 rca no bottom you have the option to w 100 00 trim the overhang Cancel Scroll to decrease the Width of the wrap Option to import the outside shape of the wrap cone 173 Before clicking on Import click on the Rolled View tab You will be able to drag your mouse across the screen to rotate the tumbler and view from virtually any direction i z haw iew Rolled View Unrolled View Rolled View Unrolled View E Unrolled View Rolled View If you wish to save this image to your computer double click the image while in Rolled View and a window will open with the option to save as a png file You can continue to make changes to the settings in the Rolled View as well and click on Import when done lf you selected Import Cone then you will see both the outside shape of the wrap for the tumbler as well as the original image reshaped to fit the wrap zapen This feature can also be used in the design of cupcake wrappers Video 8 11 Lattice Video The Lattice feature can be used to create a lattice design within a shape or part of the entire shape itself It can be accessed in any of the following ways e Click on the Lattice icon on the Magic Toolbar lt x o Press Ctrl E o Right click on screen and select Shape Magic gt Lattice 0 Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Lattice Latticed Circle Begin with a cir
77. 127 Zoom 188 Show Nodes Trace Settings Resample Image x1 0 None Despeck 13 Color Color Scans aiil Pixel Alpha Palette 9 Median Cut Octree ae a Mark the two green CO boxes after deselecting all of the pink ones Click on i Scale 100 Texturize Path Apply Changes F Blackout Path Layers 1 File Pink Flower jpg Nodes 89 q Dimensions 186x229 px a Apply Changes Resolution 96x96 DPI Size 1 45 x2 02 Print Dimensions 1 94 x2 39 Offset 0 22 x0 20 Import Cancel Click on Import Then decide if you wish to also trace the black shadow around the image or create one using the Shadow Layer feature in MTC refer to Section 8 05 If you decide to trace the black layer then answer Yes Repeat the above step but only have the black color box selected Now before clicking on Apply Changes stop and think about what you want to create You do not want individual black parts to be created as separate shapes Instead you want the large black outline on which you will adhere the individual pink petals and green leaves So mark the Blackout Path option in order to remove any interior parts Then click on Apply Changes to see the results i Veuaaton settings A Alpha 127 Zoom 188 Show Nodes Trace settings Resample Image x1 0 None y Despeck 13 Color Color Scans Pixel Alpha Palette 9 Median Cut Octree
78. 5 copies since you will want to repeat this process several times in order to get your calibration settings perfect 197 e After printing place the printout onto the mat in the same orientation you see in the main window and insert the mat into the ACS 24UHF As you are facing the ACS 24UHF the printout should be on the mat in a portrait orientation with the arrow pointing towards the right end cap KLIC N KUT Feed the mat this direction into the ACS 24UHF Place your printout on the cutting mat in this orientation Set the origin in the bottom right corner of the printout using the laser 9 04 PNC Procedure Part 2 Aligning and Calibratin Aligning the Laser with the Registration Marks IMPORTANT Set Us and Cut Speeds to 200 e Click on the Cut Project With icon to go to the cut window If you haven t yet performed a test cut do so now using either the Knife Point or WYSIWYG setting Perform the test cut in a location that won t be part of your final cut or use a scrap of the same material you are cutting e After the test cut is successful move the laser light or alignment pin until it is directly over the lower right corner of the printout as indicated in Section 9 03 Set the origin e Under Cut Type select Print and Cut Print and Cut e Click on Start and the following window will open Check Fixed Length and enter 11 0 or whatever width you used when setting up your custom Virtual Mat The
79. 5 40PM TrueType font file 74KB Click on Open AlexBrush ttf Files of type All Supported Types v Cancel gt AlexBrush Check this box if you wish to keep font installed in MTC pp Install permanently inside Make The Cut e When MTC is closed any new fonts which were opened during that session but not permanently installed in MTC will automatically be uninstalled from MTC Not to worry Once a particular font is used to create text and that file is saved then that same font does not need to be re opened when opening that same file e f you wish to open more than one font at a time hold the Shift or Ctrl keys just as you would when selecting multiple files in other Windows applications e f you wish to continue using that same font or fonts in MTC for other projects then check the Install permanently inside Make The Cut box at the bottom of the Open Font File window e To remove a font permanently installed in MTC select it and press the Delete key on your keyboard or right click on the font Note that this only works with fonts you installed from within MTC not fonts installed in Windows 5 03 Add Text Group Video e There are two ways to open the Add Text Group window for creating text for your project o Click on the Add a Group of Characters icon on the Text and Fonts tab 19 o Press Ctrl l Vertical Spacing Rotation options to rotate letters for WS creating vertical
80. ACS 24UHF Eagle with MTC User Manual October 28 2013 This manual is based on Make The Cut MTC version 4 6 1 Because of regular updates to MTC we recommend not printing this entire document but rather read it on the screen or print only those pages you need at any given time Features of this Online Interactive User Manual gt Turning Pages To turn pages click on arrows enter a page number click or swipe on the lower corners of the pages or click on triangles on right or left sides of pages Print Select pages to print to your printer It is recommended that you do not print the entire manual as it is updated every six months or so Thumbnails Displays the thumbnail images for all pages in the book Zoom Zoom in and out as needed You can also double click on a page to zoom in or out Note that while zoomed in moving the mouse automatically scrolls the page up and down E has Enable Full Screen Click for Full Screen mode Press Esc or click on icon to return to regular mode Bookmark Table of Contents opens and you can click on any chapter section or subsection to immediately access E iki Sound Click to turn off or turn back on the page flipping sound Search You can search by any word s in the manual Click on the Search icon enter the word s and all pages with that word or words will be listed Click on a listing to be taken to that page Video Videos This user manual con
81. HF Blade Holder thus allowing you to draw with the pen and then cut out a shape The pen will draw in the correct relative positions to the cut Outside cut circle is aligned with pen drawn circle Outside cut circle is __ NOT aligned with pen drawn circle al If you do not own the Zing Pen Holder or you wish to use a pen which does not fit into the holder then refer to the following section Adjusting for Differences in Diameters of Tools and Blade Holders When the project involves both drawing and cutting you will need to use WYSIWYG for the cut mode so that the shapes will be aligned Always draw first and then cut Turn off the Blade Offset for drawing because it is not needed and can give undesired results But then remember to turn it back on for the cut process Do not have the pen positioned too low in the blade holder seat or the tip of the pen could drag across the paper when moving from one shape to the next Make sure your shapes will not be drawn where any of the pinch wheels travel over the material Otherwise the ink or glue could smear Position your material on the cutting mat accordingly The Sakura Quickie glue pens work well in the ACS 24UHF They will fit into the Zing Pen Holder as well as directly into the blade holder seat if alignment with cutting isn t needed 217 e The open path fonts available in MTC should work well for drawing as they provide single drawn lines and curves versus an
82. If you like certain settings remember that the option to save settings Presets is available 5 09 Creating an Overlay Title and Welding Text to Frames e Creating a frame for welding single letters or images is very easy Using the steps in Section 5 03 create a title The font chosen for this example is Times New Roman Also Split By Glyphs is selected so that individual letters can be resized if needed to overlap the frame MIALA E JAY e Click on the Import Basic Shapes icon on the Import Toolbar and select Polygons Scroll to locate the Rectangle shape and double click to add to the screen i OEN PER i ero E a e On the Virtual Mat settings tab on the Main Bar refer to Section 4 04 make sure you have Outline mode selected so that you will be able to see the rectangle and the letters clearly Also change to No Snapping under Snap Position so that you can resize the rectangle and letters with precision e It will also be easier to select individual letters if the rectangle is on its own layer and below the text With only the rectangle selected click on the Selection to New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers Bar and then move the rectangle layer so that it is below the text layer Layers x Layers x Layers x Times New Roman Layer le Max amp Jay X e E ela woe ela Fae SE The selected rectangle is moved to Then the layer with the rectangle Now the two shapes are on its own layer by clicking
83. Import you will be asked if you wish to Continue Tracing or Finish Tracing Select Finish Tracing Click on Finish Tracing Continue Tracing e a aa Would you like to continue tracing and add more layers Continue Tracing Finish Tracing e Next let s have a look at the Layers Bar Opening the trace layer shows that each of the 9 colors not only has those shapes joined together but also have been named with the corresponding color Layers asd fe K eq BBE De De EF Even though Count was set to 15 only 7 layers colors were traced Note the layers are named based on the color De Ele E 19 De 83 196 wel C1 De x g e x E e If the Blackout Outlines option had not be marked then the black layer would not be filled in ES Blackout Outlines not checked Blackout Outlines checked e You ll notice there s also a white layer which will always be created unless the background of the image is a color other than white This white layer can be deleted except in situations where there are white shapes that make up the image For example here s an image that s been traced and it contains white 113 E E on Es E Die E Y T E 3 Seven layers De 8 198 gt le E 196 gt Ie x lx El cy P e talso c
84. N s 9 Auto Size Scroll these two appear like this S U i settings to 25 to N U kht fit text halfway around circle Option to zoom preview image Option to save current settings Click on Apply when done Open Path in B zier Warp e To use an open path the Close Curve option is unchecked so that the path is a line instead of a circle Next more Points are added and then the points are dragged to create the desired path Use the Zoom setting if you cannot see your entire text Scroll Smooth setting to make curve more rounded B zier Warp Increase Points to add General Settings Smooth 88 more changes in the Flat 0 021 curve Auto Simplify Text falls Points 4 Change Vert Align from along Vert Align Middle lt Top to Middle to equalize Close Curve top and bottom of letters Parameterized Size amp Position Auto Size custom Y e design path i Uncheck Close Curve to create an open path Check the Manual 8 Manual Size Horz Align Center v Size box Width 69 00 Height 108 30 WO Adiust Width and Height Other to create desired look Path can be Zoom 100 modified by dragging green blue and red handles points Zoom out as necessary Click on Apply when done 88 had bin e Inthis example Manual Size was selected but you can also try Auto Size again too The Bezier Warp process is about experimenting and having fun with it
85. OUT GUTTING ooonccincnnicnnnnicinicinicinocinocanoriror rr 21 YOU Have TO MaKe MISTOKO oreren a EE edicts daa EENE gs aaa dada sand pada adtae sins dcusadiniaibin dds 21 The Most Common Mistakes Made by New OWNELS ccccssssssessesssessscsssescscssssesssscsssssssscscsssesssesssasessesssasaesssacssasessesssasaseesacasaseesecasasaseasasasaseseases 21 Begin with Easy Materials and Easy SAQD S ccccsscssscssssssssssssssssscscssssesssscssssssscscsssssssscsssssescscassssasscsesssssssssassuessecssasescecssasseeecssasaneeesscasaneseasasas 21 Record Your SUCCESSO Siepesi n EE E da 21 Use the Correct Blade for the Material You Are Cutting ccccssssesscsssssssesssssessessssssssssesssssessesessacsescssassesssssssscsesssssassessssssasasesessasaeesessasacasesessaraeases 21 Set the Blade Length Exposure AA o IA 22 Set the Blade Tip Height Above the Material csssssssssssssssssssssssssesssssessessssassessessassessssesacsesssssassesssssesacsessessausessssasacssssessacseesessasaesesessasasesensatan 22 Adjust the Speed Force and Number of Passes Based on the Material and Shapes c cccccessssescssssescssessssssesssssssscssessseesssasesssesecssseessssseessaseesess 23 Keep the Cutting Mat Clean and SUCK sex tisccdcsnascstorsbesndnaciseansatasadisdanschsonsycadesabe eanzeassagnsdhacesasiaesedeatauedeasshesedeasasdassutusadeadanadasasausadesubeseannsauseassihseats 23 nn o race ve lo occa e UE EAE AAE EE 23 Know Where Your Images Will Cut ccccccs
86. Raster Fie q _______ Export shape as a raster file 4 10 Exporting to Basic Shapes Video When exporting a file to the Basic Shapes library a popup window will appear asking for the file to be named Enter a descriptive name for the shape and then click on Add That shape will be added to the category Your Shapes Add Basic Shape Name Flourish E Please enter a name As you build Your Shapes library you may want to back it up in the event you have a hard drive crash or if you want to load Your Shapes to other computers you own To access this function go to Help gt Advanced gt Advanced Settings Under Backup Restore Shapes you will find the options to either Backup or Restore Backup Restore Shapes Backup Restore 13 e Clicking on Backup will bring up a Save As window where you can browse your computer to find a locating for storing such as onto a flash drive Clicking on Restore will bring up an Open window where you can then browse to locate the backup file you created 4 11 Exporting to MTC Gallery e When exporting to the MTC Gallery you have a choice between exporting as an SVG or as an MTC To export just a selected shape from MTC to the Gallery select the file and then choose the Sel as SVG to MTC Gallery option The following window will open where you can then enter information and select a category Enter a title for your file Title Avacado Thumbna
87. TF or OPF then the font file will be added to the installed fonts list and be available for creating text shapes The font does not need to be installed first in Windows nor does it need to be re opened in MTC after the file is saved and opened again on the current user s computer or any other computer More details on importing font files are covered in Section 5 02 4 07 Importing from Lettering Delights If the Lettering Delights option is chosen then the Lettering Delights window will open at the left side of the screen You may log into the following web site http www letteringdelights com and purchase new cutting files or load existing cutting files from your account 71 Log in or Register Currently ee Click to only show products selected gt 12 hems 4 4 you ve already purchased product Click on down arrow to open drop down menu of other products at Lettering Delights Note that if you click on the Star icon above only products you ve purchased will be shown The Lettering Delights cutting files you own will be displayed in alphabetical order by Collection Name If you wish to change the sorting order to Sort by Date Added go to Help gt Advanced gt Advanced Settings and select the other option under Sort Lettering Delights Sort Lettering Delights Sort order menu for lt Lettering Delights products When working with Sort by Collection Name if you know the name of a particular LD product
88. When cursor reaches other Select Node Edit Tool to cursor over one of the drag cursor towards other node release Ctrl key and create desired curve nodes end node left mouse button Using the Draw Bezier Curves and Straight Lines Pen Tool Hover your mouse over one of the end nodes until a small circle appears around it Then drag the mouse to the other node When you see a small circle appear around that node right click to release and a straight line connecting the two nodes will be created Return to Edit Paths at Node Level if necessary to drag the line to form a desired curve Use left mouse button to When circle appears Shape fills with color and Hold cursor over one of the end nodes until drag cursor towards over other end node curve can be created circle appears other end node right click with mouse using Node Edit Tool 153 8 Designing 8 01 Where Do Start with Learning to Design MTC offers some excellent easy to use designing tools to assist you in creating whatever you can imagine The best way to learn these tools is to focus on only one at a time watch the related video and pause the video after each step to repeat what you are seeing You might want to also jot down some notes about any particular settings or tips presented in the video Try to imagine how the same tools can be used for other kinds of designs and write down your ideas 8 02 Add Basic Shapes Basic Shapes Tool The Add Basic Shapes fun
89. a connect the dot puzzle in which little dots called nodes or points are connected to each another with paths either straight lines or curves Digital die cutters need those paths so that that they can communicate to the cutter where the blade should travel in order to make the cuts you want kind of like aroad map In MTC the nodes look like this e As mentioned earlier you can often tell whether a file is a raster or a vector based on the file format Here are some guidelines Raster BMP JPG TIF PNG GIF Vector Al EPS WMF DXF SVG Either PDF sometimes EPS amp WMF e Toconvert a raster into a vector MTC offers two options Pixel Trace and Manual Trace Because the Pixel Trace feature in MTC is so fast and powerful it is always worth trying it first The only situation in which it may not be able to provide the results you need are 1 the image is very tiny or has a very poor resolution or 2 the image has poor contrast between one part and the next For example imagine a brown dog lying on brown carpet How would the software know what part is the dog and what part is the carpet Thus you may need to manually trace some images so both functions are covered in detail in this chapter 93 6 02 Finding Easy Images to Trace e What qualifies as an easy image The obvious answer is an image which gives you the results you want But those who are new to the vectorizing process do not always realize which images are going t
90. ackout Path Nodes 32 Shapes 2 jon Size 2 29 x1 57 Print Dimensions 9 11 x3 11 Offset 1 27 x1 60 Apply Changes Stems are now traced Click on Import and now repeat the same process for the blue and pink flowers This leaves the yellow centers of the flowers Click on the Color box to bring up the original raster for color selection The centers are not one solid color but rather radiate from an almost white color in the middle to a very dark yellow almost brown shade on the outside In cases such as this pick a shade somewhere in the middle of the color range a darker shade of yellow but not the darkest Pick somewhere between the lightest and darkest shades of yellow Watch this box for a medium shade of yellow to appear RGB 227 226 7 HTML e3e207 Left click on the yellow The Choose Color window will close The Color box will show this selected yellow color Click on Apply Changes Increase the Tolerance and the full outside of the yellow regions are included in the trace Vistalization Settings x1 0 None v Increase Tolerance to 5 Import Settings Texturize Path Blackout Path Layers 1 Nodes 39 24 Di ions Shapes ion Size 3 31 x1 26 Print Dimensions 5 11 x5 11 Offset 0 79 x0 76 Apply Changes 108 The inner circles where the color is a very pale yellow are not included Increasing the Tolerance gradually reduces the s
91. actly where you need to erase When you activate the Eraser Tool the following settings will appear at the top of the screen size 02 mm lt Enter the Size thickness of Leave unchecked gt inverse Eraser eraser you want to use Hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse in a small line where you want to erase A red line will be drawn and when you release the mouse button the portion of the shape beneath that red line will be erased gt Y Shape needs to be erased Drag mouse along path to be Release mouse and path so that this petal matches erased A red line will appear under the red line is erased the others as you drag If the line was too thick and you erased more than you wanted then use the Undo button or Ctrl Z to back up a step Then enter a smaller Erase Size If not enough was erased then increase the Eraser Size and go over your path again with the thicker eraser Apply the Eraser tool to the other two areas of the yellow petals In the next example one of the petals needs to be separated from the center of the flower Petal is connected Eraser Tool is used Eraser Tool is used again Petal is now separated to center of flower to disconnect to smooth edge of petal and from center of flower around center of flower 139 e In this last example one of the petals sticks out a little too far and will be trimmed back On the second erasure the Ctrl key is held down so that the
92. ade mat and cutting strip as you learn where images will cut and the basic operating procedures DO NOT unplug the USB cable from your computer or from the cutter unless you first turn off the cutter Doing so can cause power fluctuations that in turn can damage the cutter Always turn off the ACS 24UHF when not in use Leaving the cutter turned on for extended periods of time can possibly damage the machine 1 02 Contents of Box Please verify that you have received the following items If anything is missing please contact your ACS supplier as soon as possible Rasa ee ACS 24UHF Cutter Blade Holder Two blades 45 degree and 60 degree Testing Pen Holder with 2 pen inserts User Manual in PDF format Cutting Mat Spray Adhesive for Mat Bolt on Tables Screws and screwdriver for bolt on tables Power Cord Serial Cable USB Cable OOOOdOd 1 03 Items to Note Power Ratings 110 240 VAC 50 60 Hz 1 0 2 0A Power Supply The ACS 24UHF s power supply is 110V 240V If your supply is different from this please use a power converter Remove the power cable if the cutter will not be in operation for a significant length of time Connecting to Your Computer You have the option of connecting via the RS232 serial port OR via the USB port Your shipment contains both a USB cable and a serial cable although your computer may not have a serial port installed Blades The blades used by cutters are extremely fragile Do not dro
93. ade Offset set to 0 since you do not need an offset for pens Refer to Sections 2 01 and 2 06 My cut started out fine but by the end of the cut it s not cutting through the material e Make sure the blade holder housing doesn t have any bits of material inside of it e Make sure the front screw is tight so that the blade holder isn t slipping upwards during the cut My cut is clean in some places but not in others Why am I not getting consistent cutting e Try raising the blade holder a little ways up in the blade holder seat 1 16 If the blade is too close to the material not enough force is being invoked e Make sure your material is pressed firmly onto a clean and sticky mat assuming you are cutting a material such as paper or cardstock e Your material may require two passes If a material is not homogenous or if it is heavily textured using two passes is sometimes needed to get the entire shape cut cleanly Also if the material has been exposed to humidity then it will become difficult to cut in one pass You can dry paper and cardstock in a 100 degree oven for half an hour or so to release the moisture am getting a lot of tearing in my cuts 234 e Anumber of things can cause tearing so work through this check list Too much blade is exposed If you see cut lines in your mat shorten the blade exposure You should only be cutting through the material itself The blade is chipped Try a different blade
94. ade Offset setting when scoring or embossing but turn it back on when you get ready to cut When embossing paper or cardstock it is recommended that you use the Shadow Layer function to create a very small outline and inline say 0 01 These tiny offset lines will then produce a slightly thicker overall outline of your shapes This works better than fill embossing which can stress the cardstock and cause wrinkling Here are the steps o Create the shape you wish to emboss In this example the numbers 25 are used for a 25 wedding anniversary Select the shape and go to the Shadow Layer function and perform the following Generate Shadow Layer Ez Shadow Width 0 01 lin v Set Shadow Width to 0 01 Corner Join Mitered y Select Corner Join style Miter Limit 20 E Options Blacked Out Auto Simplify Output Click on Accept After clicking on Accept re select just the original image and go to the Shadow Layer function again and perform the following Generate Shadow Layer EJ Shadow Width oo mv t Set Shadow Width to 0 01 Corner Join Mitered v Select Corner Join style Miter Limit 2 0 Options Blacked Out Y Auto Simplify Output Click on Accept Now you have three versions of your shape and when using the embossing tool you will have a thicker outline of the shape The followi
95. adow is the opposite of an Outset Shadow instead of creating a contour that is larger than the original shape a contour is created that is smaller and fits inside the original shape e For example let s say you are going to create a two color vinyl sign that says For Sale For Sale e f Outset Shadow is used to create the second layer the letters will automatically be welded because of their proximity to one another This may not be suitable for your application e Instead create an Inset Shadow by inputting a negative number for the Shadow Width Insert a negative number to create an inset shadow Generate Shadow Layer Previews 0 03 in Select desired Corner Join style and enter Miter Limit if Mitered is selected Corner Join Mitered z Miter Limit 18 E For Sale Blacked Out Y Auto Simplify Output Accept Click on Accept when done e The result after re coloring the layers 161 For Sale 8 06 Weld Tool e The Weld tool removes the overlap between two or more selected shapes After selecting the shapes it can be applied in any of the following ways o Click on the Weld icon on the Magic Toolbar a o Press Ctrl W Right click on the screen and select Shape Magic gt Weld o Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Weld Designing a Balloon e In Section 5 03 the Weld tool was used to remove the overlap with lettering It can al
96. an Al fails to import that is the most likely issue From some programs such as Funtime it will be necessary to save in a different format such as PDF or EPS A PDF created from a raster image will not import into MTC In the preview window will be a message saying Nothing to Preview and a message in blue type will appear at the bottom of the window This message will give you the option to access the Pixel Trace window so that that image can be vectorized first Refer to Chapter 6 d Open Adobe File oxo Look in jj PDF 98 r Name Date modified Type Nothing will appear in this FE CadlinkMIMEa04844 pdf 8 14 2008 9 44 AM Adol oolhing shaw i window if the PDF contains FE CadlinkMIMEa05808 pdf 6 16 2009 5 41PM Adol raster images ap Car Decal pdf 4 27 2011 1 56PM Adol E cardbox_template_revised pdf 2 16 2012 5 10 PM Adol ee of1 iii his blue ei PE CC_BorderDies pdf 10 11 2008 8 17 AM Adol nstead this b Ue TINK Wi PE Chapter 5 Text pdf 10 13 2011 4 37 PM Adol import Strokes and Fils y appear and clicking on it Li Chapter 8 Designing_withcomments Imv pdf 10 13 2011 4 34PM Adol Large Preview Chap gning p will then open Pixel Bi Chardonnay pt adel 21 2012 9 49 AM Adol ps cheerleader pdf 9 2 2010 2 49 PM Adol Trace Refer to Chapter 6 i File name Chardonnay pdf Open Files of type Supported Adobe File Types Y Cancel Notice Raster images detected on this
97. and slightly thinner It has the same advantages as Rock it The first step before cutting the template is to check the size of the design you ve created and then cut a piece of rhinestone template material that is at least 1 larger in both height and width compared to your design It is beneficial to have a little bit of material around the edges of the design where excess rhinestones can still be brushed back over the design 215 Peel off the backing sheet first and press the rhinestone material to a clean sticky mat Brayer firmly to make sure the rubber has excellent contact with the mat Set Multicut to 2 times again to aid in weeding the cut circles Use a 60 degree blade for cutting and a force of about 75 for the green rubber and 60 70 for the flocks Perform test cuts of small numbers of circles say around 8 10 to make sure the force you re using is sufficient Weeding and Brushing in Rhinestones After cutting brayer the template material again As you lift the pattern the majority of the little circles should remain stuck to the mat If there are still circles attached then press firmly and lift on other parts of your cutting mat Eventually you should have the majority removed If your template was cut from a rubber apply your pattern to a backing material such as stencil board or foam board Make sure it s a different color from your rubber You may wish to first cover the backing board with clear mailing tape fo
98. ape e When starting a new project shapes will automatically be assigned to a Default layer To move a shape to ptos I LH a new layer select it and then click on the Selection to New Layer icon e Any new shapes that are created will automatically be assigned to the currently selected layer with the exception of a few situations To create a new empty layer click on the Create New Layer icon El e When adding text a new layer will be created and the name of the layer will be the font used for that text as shown above where the font used for KNK Zing is called 1 Bean Sprout DNA e o completely remove a layer from being displayed but at the same time not delete the layer move the layer to its own page using the Layer Options Menu at the bottom of the Layer Bar e Click on the Delete Empty Layers icon to delete any layers that contain no shapes e Click on the Visible Toggle menu S to offer options to Show All layers Hide All layers or Toggle Visible which will reverse the current hide show status of all layers i e hide layers currently visible and unhide layers that are currently not visible e Click on the Lock Toggle menu al to offer options to Lock All layers Unlock All layers or Toggle Lock which reverses the current lock unlock status of all layers i e unlock layers currently locked and lock layers that are currently unlocked e Right click on a Layer Name or right click on the layer s thumbnail
99. arrow and verify it points to the right app Po goa we a Oe A ed e Notice that the arrow is pointing to the right on the screen Make sure your arrow is also pointing to the right e Next go to File gt Print Setup select the printer you plan to use and set the Orientation to Portrait x Print Setup Printer Select your printer p rene Status Ready Type HP Officejet Pro 8500 A909g Series Where USBOO1 Comment Paper Orientation Verify paper size Size Letter 8x1 tin O Porta Choose Portrait Source Automatically Select X D Landscape Click on OK when done e Next go to File gt Print Options and mark the following boxes Print Options Show Paper On Mat Print Shape Outlines Do Not Offset Printer Margins Print Registration Marks Show Reg Marks on Mat Make The Cut Reg Marks kd Check these three options J C16 K Set to 0 as this does not Print Wireframe Only a apply to the ACS 24UHF Blade Offset 0 mm Check this option if you want an outline only of the arrow printed to save on ink K gt Multicut peverrreretrenerrirtrririrts Color Mi lt Option to change color of the image outline Click on OK when done L 54H Cancel e After clicking on OK you should see the green borders on the Virtual Mat indicating how the printout will be placed on the mat and where the arrow will be printed If
100. ase the Offset Y to located them closer to the center Rotated Duplication a Dupe Count 2 Rotate By 34 E deg OffsetX 0 mm Offset Y 30 mm ce Change to 36 Rotated Duplication Dupe Count 9 Y Rotate By 36 deg Offsetx o mm Offset Y 20 H i Cancel Click on Accept when done Decrease to 20 e The Offset X value will move each shape that distance in the X direction Note how an increasing value of X affects the arrow shape in this duplication Rotated Duplication ES Dupe Count 9 E Rotate By 36 deg OffsetX 0 mm Offset Y 30 mm Laa Lonas Offset X O the beginning of this section 3 11 Undo Redo Undo Offset X 15 Offset X 30 The designing possibilities are unlimited with this magnificent feature Be sure to watch the video linked at e As with most Windows applications there is an Undo function to reverse the most recent steps performed You can use any of the following to execute the Undo function Click on the Undo icon on the File Toolbar o Press Ctrl Z Goto Edit gt Undo e lf you are experiencing software crashes due to memory limitations two solutions are available re 54 Goto Edit gt Clear Undo History o Limit the number of Undo Redo steps stored in memory To do this gt Goto Help gt Adva
101. at and switch to No Snapping have Pixel Traced an image and imported it for a print and cut But my original image is faded How do import the image so that it looks like the original e On the Virtual Mat select Contrast from the list of available colors Note that your image will print just like the original regardless of the mat color selected But if you prefer to see your image in full color then use the Contrast option My raster images cause MTC to be very slow Is there a fix for this e As of version 4 2 0 this should no longer be a problem Go to Help gt Advanced gt Advanced Settings Check the box next to Enable Image Caching Image Caching a AA A 237 My raster image isn t showing up when I print it for my print and cut e Two possibilities Check the Layer Bar and make sure it is not being covered by another layer Also go to File gt Print Options and make sure you do not have Print Wireframe Only checked am trying to use Boolean Join but it is grayed out I have my shapes selected Why can t I select this function e Boolean Join can only be applied to two shapes at one time If for example you are trying to stencil some letters using rectangles then all of the letters need to have Join applied first And all of the rectangles need to have Join applied first Then you have two shapes Alternatively you could just stencil one rectangle and one letter at a time was using the eraser tool and my image ha
102. atten Path command adds a substantial number of nodes it is advisable to follow up this function with the Auto Simplify Path function presented in Section 7 02 2 Thin Paths Video e The Thin Paths function is used to convert a shape into a single line or curve This is useful in rhinestone designing for converting thin fonts into single line fonts It can also be used after tracing a black and white line image aka coloring book image such as this wolf image L ie Original image Shape after Shape after Pixel Trace Thin Paths e After selecting the shape Thin Paths can be applied in any of the following ways o Click on the Advance icon on the Magic Toolbar and select Thin Paths 131 o Press Ctrl Shift K o Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Thin Paths from the menu o Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Thin Paths Fuse n Weld e The Fuse n Weld function is used to remove duplicate shapes in the same path and also join nodes together that are on top of one another This is mostly commonly used when importing certain file formats in which there can be hundreds of small disconnect paths making up the shape e Asan example let s say we have several disconnect straight lines paths e Toconnect these we need to first make sure the gaps are very small To that we will select the line segments and resize to say 10 using the method shown in Section 3 13 In other words make sure the Aspect
103. being cut will be less likely to come unstuck from the mat The installation of the front and rear tables on your ACS 24UHF is best done with two people Each box contains 2 identical tables front and rear and 8 screws 12 First lay a soft towel down Next gently turn your ACS 24UHF upside down to expose the bottom panel Unscrew the screws along one side of the bottom panel Next slip one of the tables into place and put the bottom screws back in Once the screws are tightened turn the ACS 24UHF back over where the cutter is facing up Insert 5 of the 10 screws that were packaged inside the box with the tables Be sure to keep the five screws relatively loose until all have been inserted Then tighten down but not too tight or you will risk stripping the threads Repeat this for the other side of the ACS 24UHF 1 09 Installation of your ACS Cutter and Software Registering Make The Cut IMPORTANT Please read this section If you received a 14 digit Activation Pin with your purchase of Make The Cut MTC software this is NOT the code you use in the software This pin must first be registered If instead you already have a much longer number beginning with MTC then use that number in the software to register and skip the next two steps Go to the following link to register your Activation Pin https www make the cut com reqgister aspx Complete the form using the Activation Pin Carefully enter your
104. bmitted By You Delete Item A Click here to remove your file from the MTC Gallery 4 12 Exporting as SVG e To export as an SVG file select the shape or shapes and then either go to File gt Export gt Sel to SVG File or right click on the selected shape s and choose Export gt Sel to SVG File e Choose a location and name for the file You also will have the option to set a Stroke Color and or Stroke Width Note the stroke doesn t appear if you re import the file into MTC However you will be able to view this stroke in other vector programs such as Inkscape 74 o Save SVG as a Select location for Save in Y SVG fi Name z Date modif Type Size savin 9 Ne Select e LD Freebies 8 31 2011 File folder lt nothing to show gt e Miltos 8 31 2011 File folder Image to de PDF 9 13 2012 File folder expo rt e Skeleton 9 13 2012 File folder de svG 9 13 2012 File folder e Test Judy 6 8 20121 File folder 3DCupcakes Petal Top svg 5 25 2010 SVG Docu 220 KB 214 x6 puzzle SVG 9 18 2011 SVG Docu 15 KB gt Click on Save when ready to File name Palm Tree Save as type Scalable Vector Graphics SVG SVGZ Y Force Stroke Color PY export Y Force Stroke Width 0 06 lin v Provide a file Options for Stroke Color and name Stroke Width 4 13 Exporting as EPS Al or PDF e For either of these formats first select the shape or shap
105. borders of the printed O image in such a way that it is smaller in one direction but larger in the other Sweet Sweet Sixteen SIXLCCN Original imported image A heart shape is to be added and cut In this case the same Join and Break method is applied as shown in the previous example Make sure the heart shape is colored as you desire and is on the lower layer After applying the two functions drag one shape away from the other Sweet Szxteen Sweet SZXLEEn Original imported image can be discarded or hidden Shape is now ready for PNC 205 e A print preview shows that only the original graphic will be printed Note how the registration marks are printed based on the large white rectangle L Sweer Sixteen El E e After printing proceed with the usual process 9 06 5 PNC with an Inset Cut Line Video e This situation may seem to be identical to the one presented in 9 06 3 The difference is that the original trace line will not be eliminated because it is not desirable to eliminate parts of the original image By using the following method a bleed allowance is introduced e A pixel trace can often have areas where the trace line cut line will be outside of the original image This is especially true of tight interior corners or sharp turns on the image This results in white areas appearing around the print and cut The red arrows indicate spots around our cow s left ear where wh
106. cates direction of cut SGi Hover cursor over outside line of shape to highlight it Reverse Paths can be accessed in any of the following ways Click on the Advance icon on the Magic Toolbar and select Reverse Paths Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Reverse Paths from the menu Goto Edit gt Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Reverse Paths Applying Reverse Paths to the above example will cause the arrow to now point downwards and the cut will proceed clockwise around the shape Close up Same shape after Reverse Paths is applied Green arrow is now indicating that cut will proceed counter i clockwise around the shape Refer to Section 7 08 for additional uses for the Measure Tool 7 05 Shape Magic Advance Part 4 Tiler The Tiler function is used to split a shape or selection of shapes into smaller sections for cutting In the following example it is assumed that you wish to cut a 58 wide design such as the one below but your cutter only has a maximum 14 cutting width such as the KNK Zing 4 y 4 LA Y nv 2 i 7 04 af 17 Py Eo TO i Ah y gt y A N After selecting the shape the Tiler function can be accessed in the following ways o Click on the Advance icon on the Magic Toolbar and select Tiler o Press Ctrl Shift N 133 o Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Tiler from the menu o Go to Edit g
107. ch should be aligned with the boundaries of the arrow NN Click here to print Check this preview carefully Do you see all four registration marks red arrows point out the 4 reg marks Will you be getting what you need printed Note that the Wireframe option was turned off for this screen shot so that the image could more clearly be seen in this tutorial e Always make sure you can see those registration marks before continuing since they are an integral part of the PNC process If your print preview matches the one above and you see the four marks click on the 194 Print button Also verify that what is being printed is what you need For example you may have added an extra shape to be cut but you do not want it showing up in the printout This is where you will want to use the Layers feature to control what will be printed as well as what will be cut later You may want to print several 4 or 5 copies since you will want to repeat this process several times in order to get your calibration settings perfect After printing place the printout onto the mat in the same orientation you see in the main window and insert the mat into the ACS 24UHF As you are facing the ACS 24UHF the printout should be on the mat in a portrait orientation with the arrow pointing towards the right end cap KLIC N KUT Feed the mat this direction into the ACS 24UHF Place your printout on the cutting mat in this orientat
108. chelle Hessler for posting this technique o Carefully measure the dimensions of the item For example it if is a circular dog tag then measure the diameter Recreate the shape in MTC and size it to be the same In the follow example the diameter of the dog tag is 1 1 8 so a circle of the same size is drawn Photo of actual Circle created in MTC at the dog tag same diameter as the tag o Because this shape will be cut from another material to use in the alignment process the shape is resized to be a tiny bit larger For a circle you can simply resize it in the Sel Properties Bar If the shape is something non symmetrical then use the Shadow Function with a Shadow Width of about 0 04 O Next the desired lettering and or shapes are added In this case the dog s name and a phone number with Please Call are chosen Because there is also a hole near the top of this dog tag a Y high square is added just to show the top limit of where the lettering could be located This is deleted as soon as the lettering is added and positioned i gt OMA AMA J Please Call Please Call 480 839 3849 480 839 3849 The lettering is placed on one layer in MTC while the circle is place on a different layer A sheet of thin chipboard is placed on the cutting mat Using WYSIWYG cut mode the circle is sent to cut Tape chipboard to top of mat the rest of the chipboard 221 Circle layer is sent to cut a
109. cky mat be used If no stabilizer has been applied then brayer the fabric firmly and evenly to the mat With most fabrics it will be necessary to use stickier mats than normal and tape the outside edges of the fabric Because the backing sheets on Steam a Seam 2 and Heat n Bond are slippery spraying them with Odif USA 505 Temporary adhesive can then make them stick firmly to the mat and not slip during cutting Some residue from the 505 may get onto the mat thus the reason to use a dedicated mat for fabric This residue will add to the bonding for future cuts Thanks to Lynn Keniston for this idea some users also prefer to remove the backing sheets on stabilized fabrics before brayering to the cutting mats This works as well The best unstiffened soft felt to use is 100 wool It cuts cleaner than other types A wool blend should also work well The Nonwovens WoolFelt is 35 wool 65 Dacron and tends to cut very cleanly If the felt you have is not cutting well consider applying one of the stabilizers mentioned above If the felt is pre stiffened then it should cut fine using the blue capped thick materials blade versus the fabric blade Because of the thickness you may need to tape the felt to the mat to prevent slippage during cutting In general you will need to use 2 or 3 passes when cutting most fabrics and felts It is necessary so that all fibers will be cleanly cut 213 e For cutting force it will depend on the fabric F
110. cle select and then click on the Lattice icon on the Magic Toolbar This window will open 174 A preview of how the lattice will appear in gt the selected shape Width 0 05 Gap 0 20 Angle 0 Rotate 45 00 V Auto Simplify Output Delete Original _ Inverse Lattice Apply amp Preview On Mat Settings which will alter the appearance of the lattice Click on Apply amp Preview On Mat to see how the current settings actually look on your selected shape The selected circle indicates that the current settings for Lattice will result in a much smaller detailed look than desired But with the adjustment of the Width and Gap settings both made larger the result is much more practical for cutting Preview indicates the lattice is now much larger Width 0 20 Gap 0 58 Angle 0 Rotate 45 00 Auto Simplify Output Delete Original Inverse Lattice Apply amp Preview On Mat Width and Gap both increased Option to Delete Original shape if no longer needed Click on Accept if design is complete e Now the design shown would cut exactly as shown You would have a single cut piece But for some lattice designs the opposite is wanted For example when cutting a design from the front of a greeting card you plan to keep the card and not the design itself In this case you would mark the Inverse Lattice option and perhaps twea
111. click on the end node that is not connected to another segment The following menu appears Delete Node Join Node To Closest Node Join Node To Closest Node with Line Y Auto Smoothing 152 Join Node to Closest Node if this is selected a segment will form between that node and the nearest node and will appear perfectly straight but will still be a B zier curve with B zier control points to maneuver Right click on end node and Ends are connected and the B zier control points are select Join Node to Closest shape is now closed moved to create desired Node curve o Join Node to Closest Node with Line if this is selected a straight line segment will be formed between that node and the nearest node but will not be a B zier curve However dragging the line to form a curve will immediately transform it back into a B zier curve TO gt nan CC Ends are connected with a Select and drag the curve B zier control points appear and can be moved to create desired curve Right click on end node and select Join Node to Closest straight line and the shape is Node with Line now closed Using the Drag Freehand Lines Pencil Tool First press and hold the Ctrl key Then drag your mouse from one end node to another and release The path will close with a straight line Return to Edit Paths at Node Level if necessary to drag the line to form a desired curve Hold Ctrl key and place Use left mouse button to
112. ction Basic Shapes Tool is the 5 icon rey on the Node Mode Toolbar and can be activated by first opening the Node Edit toolbar GA or pressing W and then clicking on the Basic Shapes Tool icon or pressing F5 This tool will access the same library of shapes found on the Import Toolbar with the exception of the Your Shapes category However instead of double clicking on a shape to automatically place that shape on the screen this function allows you to hold down the left mouse button and freely drag your mouse to create the size you desire In this example the kite shape from the Polygons category has been selected Begin dragging mouse from gt top left towards bottom right 7 Cursor will jump to Note that cursor icon looks bottom left and shape like the chosen shape will be drawn K Holding the Ctrl key while dragging to create the shape will release the Aspect Ratio allowing you to make the shape thinner or wider You may need to set Snap Position to No Snapping on the Virtual Mat tab With Ctrl key held or shape can be shape can be drawn _____ gt s drawn taller and thinner shorter and wider e re Dragging from the bottom upwards rather than from the top downwards will automatically vertically flip the basic shape on the screen rc 0 Shape is drawn Begin dragging mouse from vertically flipped bottom right toward top left ae Upon releasing the left mouse button you may immediatel
113. current trace into your main window but then return and try different settings or different methods Be adventurous in your tracing You can always go back and delete parts of a trace you don t like or duplicate tracings that are not as perfect as perhaps one of the others Chapter 7 contains methods for editing your tracings as well For print and cut applications mark the Texturize Path box so that the original raster graphic will also be imported with the trace You may also want to mark the Blackout Path box so that only the outermost trace line will be imported If your imported graphic has many images and you only wish to trace one or if you only want to trace a part of an image hold the Ctrl key and marquee select the portion you want Only these two images will be traced 100609 Despeck 2 Color Scans Alpha Palette 9 By Luminance By Average Threshold 127 ior Import Settings Scale 100 Texturize Path Blackout Path Apply Changes J mort cancel 95 o If you decide to cancel your selection just hold the Ctrl key and left click once anywhere on the preview e f you choose to use the Scale function to resize your image before importing then note that as you are sliding the bar the new size of the image will appear 6 03 1 Pixel Trace Method Video Resolutio y 5P Print Dimensions 5 69 x5 69
114. curs using Blackout The inner child paths are deleted Blackout All child paths are After applyin l gt Silas deleted Blackout e What happens if there are nested child paths Before applying Blackout joned together o gt MOB fo ji 4 individual circles create one shape I yO 2 shapes an inner ring and an outer ring After applying Blackout Nothing happens because these individual circles do not have child paths All of the child paths are deleted Each ring loses its child path 127 7 02 Shape Magic Advance Part 1 The Simplify Functions 7 02 1 Auto Simplify Paths The Auto Simplify Paths function is an on off feature which should be turned on when MTC is installed Its purpose is to continuously reduce the number of nodes after other functions are applied so that a design will cut smoothly and quickly to a cutter Auto Simplify Paths can be accessed in the following ways Click on the Advance icon on the Magic Toolbar and select Auto Simplify Paths Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Auto Simplify Paths from the menu o Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Auto Simplify Paths Most of the time this function can be left on However if you are extensively editing an image such as using the Eraser function over and over on the same selected shape then it may be necessary to turn off this feature Repeated applications of the Auto Simplify Pa
115. cut keys and then rotate back into place e f you want to outline your design then create the outline first using the Shadow Layer function Ctrl H Choose a Shadow Width at least the size of the circles plus the spacing In the 10SS example the circles were 0 13 in diameter and the spacing was 0 03 If the same settings are used in this next example then the Shadow Width needs to be 0 16 note that mm or cm can also be used Generate Shadow Layer ES Set the Shadow Shadow Width H Cad Bt Width to at least the 0 ra size of the circles Rounded y plus the spacing Options Blacked Out v Auto Simplify Output Accept Cancel e The resulting design with the shadow set to the circle size plus the spacing looks like this 177 PON E 3 coto e e A a 2900 ides e o C0 KA OS PA K 3 Wo 99000 00220 ooo E T Ss CESS ae egg e With symmetrical rhinestone designs consider using the following process to perfect your design 0 This heart outline is clearly not symmetrical Right half of heart is s lt not symmetrical with E left half Mey e ee Delete the right half and position the upper and lower circles to the desired location 4990 a e ics Right half is deleted a and then circles tweaked to positions yn desired e o Select circles and then perform the following steps shown PN pan ean tee ote gotta j e t 4 f
116. cuts a clean shape e Repeat test cut in the same location to simulate multi cut cutting for thicker materials that will clearly require two or more passes This is easy to do After the first test cut press the Online button to go offline again and press the TEST button again A second cut will be made in the same location e While in the online mode pressing the TEST button will cause nothing to happen 23 Know Where Your Images Will Cut e Practice with the test pen until you know with 100 confidence where your images will be drawn This is important since you do not want to be guessing when you begin actually cutting with a blade Refer to Section 2 07 Adjust Blade Offset e What is the blade offset It is the horizontal distance from the center of the blade shaft to the tip of the blade A pen or engraving tool has an offset of O because the tip is centered with the center of the pen engraving tool shaft But a blade is different Imagine a line There is no The Offset is the distance between passing through e Offset is the distance betwee the center of the Offset on a the center of the blade holder and test pen or ade the tip of the blade blade e What happens if you set the Blade Offset to 0 Or what if it s set too high B LEI v Offset is too low Offset is too low Offset is too high paths do not close outer corners are Divots will appear rounded around corners e Refer to Section 2 06 for setting
117. d then you have 5 individual shapes You would need to apply either Weld or Join so that those 5 letters become one single shape Then you could perform a Boolean Join with that text and some other shape to achieve your desired design This will become clearer later in this section After selecting two shapes the Boolean Join menu can be opened in any of the following ways Click on the Boolean Join icon on the Magic Toolbar o Press Ctrl U o Right click on the screen and select Shape Magic gt Boolean Join Q Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Boolean Join The menu contains the following choices Boolean Join A B Difference J Remove B from A AAA A B Difference y Remove B from A 0 B A Difference Remove A from B Five tools are shown with the purpose of each tool The screen y Intersect will also show the net result as you select each one p Exclude Bitwise XOR Union Same as Weld tool Bitwise OR When you apply a Boolean Join to shapes of two different colors the resulting shape will be the color of the shape that was on the higher layer Note There is an Auto Simplify option in the Boolean Join window You may need to uncheck that option to get the desired result For example the Exclude Function will not perform correctly without unchecking that option Cutting One Shape from Another If you wish to cut one shape from another then the Boolean Join menu provides the solution you
118. d bottom of the red erase line indicate that the line is perfectly vertical Hold Ctrl key and drag mouse down through the middle of the B Release the Ctrl key and the left mouse button The B will now have a gap through the letter Batteries 91 9 Repeat the process with the other letters containing child shapes lf at any time something goes awry use the Undo key at the top of the screen to back up a step Now when you cut the letters to create a stencil all parts of the letters remain connected Batteries Completed stencil Note that the erased lines do not always need to be vertical For example with the font Cooper Black the o s are angled thus you might want to angle the erase lines the same way Colombus Colombus Vertical Stenciling Angled Stenciling on the angled letters 11 Open Path Fonts OPF Besides TTF and OTF a third type of font Open Path Font OPF can be opened in MTC This font consists of single lines curves only OPEN PATN Font These fonts are useful when using a pen or engraving tool in your cutter or for designing single line rhinestone titles Refer to Section 8 12 for more information on the Rhinestone function in MTC o e e ewe pie 000 ete e ee o 8 3 3000 o se y s 2 Soo 00 gt Soe o o 8 o s 3 LL sooles coe ee 4 e00 co oo oF ey Currently this font type only works in Make The Cut and doe
119. d files are also called Projects The Tab Bar shows all of the currently open projects Under Windows on the Menu Bar you can choose how to view opened projects with similar display options found in other Windows programs such as Cascade Tile Horizontal Tile Vertical etc Open Projects Files ES Ribbons and Bows mic Turkey mtc xa MTCProject2 ep 3 06 e Right click on any Project name on the Tab Bar and a menu of options will appear This screenshot indicates the user manual sections where this will again be referenced Mew 3 06 Open Close Save 3 07 Save As Save All 4 01 4 08 gt Import 4 09 4 14 gt Export Print 9 02 Print Preview Print Setup Print Options 1 Thanksgiving Popup Card mtc 2 Rhinestone Heart mte Most recent files e 3 Zing Puzzle mtc 4 Ornaments2 mtc Close MTC Ft Ctrl N Ctrl 0 Ctrl F r Ctrl Shift P 40 Page Bar e The Page Bar allows you to move shapes or layers to individual pages within the same project file Each page will have its own tab and the pages can be renamed or deleted as desired 3 Abbon Page E Bow Page E il add a new e Right click on any Page name on the Page Bar and a menu of options will appear Move Backward Move current page forward or A Move Forward backward along Page Bar Re
120. d image hold the right mouse button over the preview Pixel Trace birthday cake 2 candles hi png Hold right mouse button to see Original image and count colors Alpha 127 C Show Nodes MSGs Zoom 300 Resample Image x1 0 None Despeck 2 face Settings Color Color Scans Count 8 El LD Stack Scans C Blackout Outlines C Gray Scale Background Color Pixel Alpha Palette Import settings Change number of colors or accept default of 8 to see what gets traced Click on Apply Changes Scale 100 _ Texturize Path _ Blackout Path Apply Changes Import Cancel to see results of current ical settings e Inmany cases you might want to just go ahead and check the tracing results if the default Count of 8 is used Before deciding any particular Count seems okay be sure to check the number of shapes In this case it shows 113 Tracing around the flames needs to be tighter Preview of traced image on Virtual Mat Pixel Trace birthday cake 2 candles hi png MS ES Import setings Scale 100 _ Texturize Path _ Blackout Path Apply Changes Number of Shapes 111 e Some of the settings will now be adjusted o Based on how loose the tracing appears to be the Resample will be increased o Based on the excessive number of shapes the Despeck setting will be raised to about 20 Thi
121. de 10 6 11 1 LCD Display 7 Offline Mode moves carriage to the left 2 Test Cuts a small test shape when cutter is in Online Mode increases cutting force Offline mode 8 Offline Mode moves mat to the back Online 3 Online Offline Toggle Mode increases cutting speed 4 Menu 9 Offline Mode moves carriage to the right 5 Repeat repeats last cut when cutter is in Offline Online Mode decreases cutting force mode 10 Offline Mode sets the Origin 6 Pause stops cutting 11 Offline Mode moves mat forward Step 1 Turn on the ACS 24UHF A welcome message will flash for a few seconds when cutter is first turned on Then the cutter will come to rest in the Online Mode Experiment with and buttons as shown Step 2 Press the Online button This will change to Offline mode Experiment with TEST and Origin buttons as shown Online Mode decreases cutting speed Online Mode Display v cutting velocity mm sec f cutting force scaled from 1 to 200 Increase Decrease Velocity Speed 4k Increase Decrease Cutting Force Pressure Offline Mode Display x forward back distance from origin y left right distance from origin Move the mat forward or towards the back Move the carriage left or right Press the Test button for a Press the Origin button to set the small rectangle to cut at the origin Note the cutter will remain in origin Note the cutter will the Off
122. dle to rotate the polygon as desired Drag inward to A decrease in size K Rounded This feature is used to curve the sides of a polygon The default is 0 While you can hold the Shift key and drag the handle to change the value the range is much larger from 10 0 to 10 0 if you input values in the setting window at the top Here are just a few of the many possibilities 0 8 Q Rounded 0 15 Rounded 0 75 Rounded 1 5 Rounded 3 0 Drag up or ar down to rotate Drag outward to a increase in size Outlined This feature removes all or part of the interior paths on a polygon which may result in shapes better suited for cutting Rounded oe Outline Off Outline On Outline Off Outline On 159 8 05 Shadow Layer Video e The Shadow Layer function allows you to create an outline or an inline of any shape including of course text After selecting the shape or shapes the Generate Shadow Layer window can be opened in any of the following ways o Click on the Shadow Layer icon on the Magic Toolbar o Press Ctrl H o Right click on the screen and select Shape Magic gt Shadow Layer o Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Shadow Layer Outset Shadow e Inthis example three stars have been added to the screen from the Basic Shapes library and they have been colored red white and blue LS e Marquee select the stars and then use Ctrl H to open the Generate Shadow Layer window Enter size of Shadow Width a
123. double sided arrow on one of the four sides will allow you to resize either vertically or horizontally while leaving the other dimension constant e Depending on the current setting for Snap Position on the Virtual Mat the resizing will occur in increments matching that setting To freely resize the shape change Snap Position to No Snapping e f you wish to release the aspect ratio while dragging a corner press the Ctrl key while dragging This allows the height or width of the shape to be freely changed without changing the other dimension e If you need to make the shape an exact size then enter the dimension in the W or H box in the Sel Properties Bar The lock icon can be toggled depending on whether or not you want to hold the aspect ratio constant Enter desired dimension including a decimal S point and then press Enter key lt _ Indent to hold Aspect Ratio out dent to release and allow W or H to be changed without automatically changing the other a X 2 8026 Y 1 0865 W 3 0000 H 3 0000 e Dimensions can also be entered in mm or cm as long as those units are entered along with the value When entering units other than inches add the units The size in inches will be automatically to the end calculated and then displayed rE oS A 7 nm gt X 2 9062 Y 0 7812 W 0 5906 H 0 3243 A e Atthis time it is not possible to display these settings in metric If you need to know the W and H of a particula
124. dth 3 mm Dash Style Solid w Line Cap Flat w Line Cap End Flat Z Choose from Flat Round Triangle Arrow Anchor Square Anchor Round Anchor and Diamond Anchor 7 13 Edit Paths at Node Level Node Edit Tool Special note As of version 4 6 the end nodes on a selected path are displayed as squares instead of small circles The screenshots in the following sections reflect the way nodes were displayed prior to this change qa e The Edit Paths at Node Level function Node Edit Tool is the 27 icon on the Node Mode Toolbar and can be activated by clicking the icon or by pressing F2 Use this tool to edit both paths and nodes in any shape e Before editing paths and nodes it is recommended that the following settings be made Nodes On Mat should be made visible by pressing Ctrl Shift I or any of the other ways shown in Section 7 03 Set Snap Position on the Virtual Mat to No Snapping so that segments and nodes can be dragged freely O Set the display on the Virtual Mat to Fill Outline or Outline so that nodes will be visible Segment Editing e Inthis section the Tools shape from Basic Shapes will be used Select the head of the hammer and then activate the Node Edit Tool You will notice that as you move the mouse over the shape whichever individual segment is beneath the mouse cursor will change to red This is similar to how individual shapes will turn red when in the regular mode in MTC If you left c
125. dual layers Thus you need to click on the Layer Options Menu and select To Each Its Own While individual layers can be selected you cannot individually turn the layers on and off for cutting by colors Thus click on Layer Options Menu and select To Each lts Own Layers SS Pink Flower Trace Now each of the four colors has been moved to its own higher level layer where you will now be able to turn on and off individual layers for cutting Also you can move the layers up and down so that the black layer is on the bottom where it serves as an outline Layers Arrows were used to change the order of the layers so that the black layer is now on the bottom Ha Pink Flower Trace 2 104 e ls the flower perfect No The blue arrows indicate where the image needs some tweaking e There are easy to use editing tools to tweak the petals in this image These tools will be presented in Section 7 11 6 03 4 Color Trace Video e The Color Trace is similar to the Palette Trace but you can individually click on a color from your original imported raster to trace and then specify a Tolerance level which will add or subtract similar colors to include in that selection This is the image to be used in this example and has been imported e To switch to the Color Trace method click on the tab named Color and the following will appear Trace Settings Resample Image and Despeck A Resample Image will be used jus
126. e Font File tri Shift H WPC File Open True Type and Open Type fonts that AS are not preinstalled in Windows Alternatively click on the appropriate icon on the Import Bar Note the sections of the user manual included with each label Lettering Delights Basic Shapes Font Files WPC Files 4 07 Pixel Trace of JPG BMP E TIF PNG GIF files 9 4 08 6 02 MTC Gallery 4 02 3 08 4 06 5 02 5 11 405 Sy SCUT SCUT2 Files ane eal a vided 4 05 SVG SVGZ PDF Al EPS ns GSD Files Files 4 03 Files 4 04 4 05 arete Alternatively right click on the project tab on the Tab Bar and select Import from the menu This is the same as going to File gt Import 4 02 Importing from the Online MTC Galler Video The MTC Gallery can be accessed using the three methods shown above or by going to Help gt Free SVG s and MTC s When selected the following window opens and you can choose from thousands of freely shared files from other MTC owners apronal ener a seater tem Search Term Thanksgiving Select a Category from that may have been used in the drop down list file name or description Search Categories All a Select a particular User ID Select Sort By Date Title rch User fA E ES Select File Type SVG MTC File Type Y SVG Y MTC or both Sort By Date hal Accending Decending Select of Items to view per page Description or ID and Items Per Page 130 choose bet
127. e ION aaah a a acura stale tat es weal arta eGe seen ta tt nate facie outta olaanta tata caioia tic ttosant en solaneacient eta 223 WOO shear hy O REO 223 Gran te EE PS ee er ET ee ee ee ee ere er ere 223 SUGGESTED ACS 24UHF SETTINGS FOR VARIOUS ACCESSORIES 1 ccccccccssssessssessessseessesssesseesseesseesanesaessaeesanssanusanesanesneseneseneseneeeneaes 225 SETTINGS FORM FOR ACCESSORY TOOLS arar licitatorio 226 APPENDIX A KEY DOARD SHORTCUTS emira cate cusinuaginaniesderaencmane enieraccnmenetunits 227 APPENDIX B TROUBLESHNOO TN isidro 232 OMG ATIONS UE id 232 Fe INN ISSUES iaa 233 CUTINGIDRAWING ISSUES nooo 234 OV Ne ii AA As 235 AGKNOWLEDGEMENT S zaysciysnnnna tea ac let te eet Sl locas A a eee 239 1 Introduction to the ACS 24UHF 1 01 Unpacking Verify that you have received all contents There is a checklist in Section 1 02 Please notify your ACS supplier immediately if anything is missing Remove any plastic zip ties foam pieces or other packaging before turning on the ACS 24UHF The ACS 24UHF and other computer connected cutters are not plug and play devices Be sure to follow the installation directions carefully and make all recommended settings before operating Use the enclosed pen and pen holder during at least the first day of operation as you become familiar with operating the ACS 24UHF Place scrap paper into the cutter and simply draw images rather than cut them This will prevent possible damage to the bl
128. e There are different methods for creating a continuous string of straight lines and curves The straight lines are easy because as you left click to plant nodes the straight lines remain straight and do not change as you create the next connected straight line However once you begin creating B zier curves you cannot return to straight lines without right clicking to end the curves and then beginning the next straight line from that point A pan PAN f i br f A j A y 4 y A j y d 2 straight lines are drawn and But then when you attempt to switch back to a then a curve is created straight line the curve becomes distorted 146 e Notto worry Once the curve is complete you can right click to end that curve and then left click in the same spot to begin a new straight line or another curve without disturbing the one just created IN e Inthe end all of those points nodes will be connected This is a method that can be used to do manual tracing as presented in Section 6 04 Fat Path and Super Smooth e The Draw B zier Curves and Straight Lines function like the Draw Freehand Lines function has the option for Fat Path and Super Smooth There are the same five Dash Style types and the same seven options for Line Caps at the start and end of the Bezier curves lines Refer to Section 7 11 for examples Choose from Solid Dash Dot Dash Dot or Dash Dot Dot Fat Path super Smooth wi
129. e a mat for cutting Do you have the mat under the pinch rollers and the levers lowered in the back Have you set the blade length exposure based on the thickness of the material you are cutting Do you have the blade holder firmly mounted in the blade holder seat and the blade tip at the correct height above the material Have you set the origin at the front right corner of your material or where you need the origin to be Have you set the force And the velocity Have you selected the correct Offset value for the blade you are using Do you need to turn on Multi cut for this material Do you know with confidence where your shapes are going to cut 2 10 Calibrating the ACS 24UHF Resolution A square will appear on the screen Digital die cutters may cut shapes slightly off from the size of the shape in the software For example an 8 x 8 square might cut 7 15 16 x 8 1 32 Now this might be perfectly acceptable for the type of cutting you do Therefore it may not even be necessary to do this particular calibration However if you do want to make sure your shapes are cut precisely the following procedure will allow you to calibrate your ACS 24UHF Note that this Resolution only applies to Knife Point and WYSIWYG cutting modes For Print and Cut applications Resolution is determined automatically based on where the registration marks are set with the laser light during the print and cut process Go to File gt Import
130. e for the Laser Offset calibration An arrow is ideal because you ll be able to quickly verify if you have the printout correctly placed on the cutting mat Also it s a great shape for seeing how to adjust your X and Y calibration numbers You can use most any image but to follow the rest of the tutorial more easily an arrow from the Basic Shapes library is highly recommended IMPORTANT Make the arrow at least 4 high as shown below for an accurate calibration Mat dimensions should match printout Import an arrow and rotate to face upwards ITAL CIT VW Mat Configuration Letter Size m I 11 00 x 8 50 v 0 Light Blue v Al Landscape v _ Choose O Fil outiine FI Show Crdes Landscape Zoom 50 l L Caret Size Snap Position 1 00 E No Snapping Use these settings on every new project e Notice that the arrow is pointing upwards on the screen Make sure your arrow is also pointed upwards Later when you print the arrow and place the paper on the mat the arrow will be pointing to the right as you insert the mat into the ACS 24UHF e Next go to File gt Print Setup select the printer you plan to use and set the Orientation to Landscape Print Setup Select your printer gt Verify paper size E ae Name HP Officejet Pro 8500 A909q Series Printer y Properties Status Ready Type HP Officejet Pro 8500 A909q Series Whe
131. e in Place Ctrl Shift V or the icon on the File Toolbar Ls to import the shapes at the original size Note the fill and stroke colors assigned in Inkscape will not be brought into MTC Similar to Al files duplicates can occur with some shapes during the copy paste process Apply the Fuse n Weld function noted above to reduce any duplicates into single occurrences If you have any problems using the Windows Copy Paste method try importing your saved SVG files into MTC Refer to Section 4 03 KNK Studio ACS Studio Video Video In KNK or ACS Studio select the shape or shapes and use Ctrl C or Edit gt Copy to copy the images to the i Windows Clipboard In MTC use Paste in Place Ctrl Shift V or the icon on the File Toolbar Ls to import the KNK shapes at the original size The Fill color in KNK Studio will also be maintained If you need to cut by color then it may be easier to select one color at a time in KNK Studio to copy paste over to MTC A new layer will be created on the Layer Bar and those shapes assigned to that new layer This may be faster and easier then copying and pasting everything to MTC and then trying to reassign same colored shapes to their own layers If the dimensions of the imported shapes are larger than the same dimensions shown in KNK Studio which will happen with rhinestone patterns for example apply the Flatten Paths command and the dimensions should then match The shapes have not changed sizes during
132. e in Place Ctrl Shift drag Create a duplicate of selected shape s Ctrl D i Create duplicate copies of selected shape s Edit gt Duplicate Cutting Deleting Shapes Ctrl X Cut to clipboard Edit gt Cut a Delete selected shape s Edit gt Delete Shift Del A Delete all shapes in the file Edit gt Delete All Ctrl Shift R NIN Delete all shapes smaller than specified area W x H Edit gt Delete By Area Manipulating Shapes Arrange shapes with equal vertical or equal horizontal Edit gt Align 4 Space gt Space gt Vertically or spacing Horizontally Align selected shapes along bottom of bottommost shape _ l Edit gt Align amp Space gt Align gt Bottom or Top or along top of topmost shape Ali lected sh long left side of leftmost shape or sl iia f dd ia pet Edit gt Align amp Space gt Align gt Left or Right along right side of rightmost shape i Center stack selected shapes Edit gt Align amp Space gt Align gt Stack l Edit gt Align amp Space gt Align gt Horz Center or Vert Hor V Align selected shapes along horizontal or vertical center Center Ctrl F Vertically flip selected shape s Edit gt Shape Magic gt Flip q Ctrl M Horizontally mirror selected shape s Edit gt Shape Magic gt Mirror gt Ctrl G Rotate selected shape s 90 degrees clockwise Edit gt Shape Magic gt Rotate 90 deg Ctrl Drag middle right l dd 7 Modify spacing between selected shapes icon on selected shapes Opening Windows Ct
133. e of the rightmost shape of the group Edge Right aligns shapes along their right side of the leftmost shape of the group Edge Top aligns shapes along their bottom edge of the uppermost shape of the group Edge Bottom aligns shapes along their top edge of the lowermost shape of the group Edge Left aligns the shapes along left edge of blue ring Edge Right aligns the OF _ TT shapes along right edge of purple bow O y y 65 Edge Bottom aligns the shapes along OP bottom edge of purple i yO O Edge Top aligns the AMM shapes along top edge of pink heart Spacing There are two alignment functions used to equally space shapes either horizontally or vertically After selecting three or more shapes these functions can be accessed using any of the following o Right click on the screen and select Align and Space gt Space gt Vertical or Horizontal o Press or see below o Goto Edit gt Align and Space gt Space gt Vertical or Horizontal Vertically press equally spaces shapes between the uppermost and bottommost shapes in the selection Horizontally press equally spaces shapes between the leftmost and the rightmost shapes in the selection Another way to increase or decrease the spacing between a selected group of shapes is to hold the Ctrl key and drag the middle A meee seme RA AA RA AR A mse ames A AS Hold the Ctrl key and drag i lt this red handle to the right
134. e shape is moved away from the other to show what makes up each of these new separate shapes TO o oo O Parent paths of Bob sata A A 1 hil kagi have been joined into gt Child paths o Bob have been one shape joined as a second shape e A different result occurs if we go back to the Bob example in which the word has been Split first and then apply Layer Again it looks similar to the results of a Break 126 e This time instead of getting two individual shapes we end up with six one for each parent path plus one for each inner set of child paths The difference is that that two inner child paths inside the letter B remain joined as one shape The three parent paths are AE three shapes The two child paths of the letter H Pen i The two child paths of o B are now one single shape and b are the final two shapes Blackout e The Blackout function deletes all child paths from their parent paths e After selecting a shape that contains one or more child paths the Blackout function can be accessed in any of the following ways o Click on the Blackout icon on the Magic Toolbar o Press Ctrl R Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Blackout from the menu o Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Blackout e Inthe prior Bob example it doesn t matter if you have Split the text into individual letters or the text is still one shape the same result oc
135. e the bottom of the shape so that when cut the shape would still be attached to the material and could be folded up The Knife Tool will be used to remove the bottom line of this shape la To slice off just the bottom of the shape select the Knife Tool and hold down the mouse button outside of the shape on one side just barely above the bottom of the shape and then drag the mouse over to the other side letting go once the cursor is outside of the shape Drag the mouse to the other Begin cutting just gt A o side and let go when the outside of and above b 4 b 4 cursor is beyond the shape the bottom the shape M o ON o gt border Then click on the Select Tool Edit this project normally Ly at the top of the Node Mode Toolbar Now you can select and move the cut line away from the bottom of the shape and delete The shape no longer has a connecting line along the bottom Drag bottom q af el Shape is open at line away and Jo N Fai es the bottom delete St f 7 10 Erase Sections of Paths Eraser Tool Video Erasing ry d l j i on the Node Mode toolbar and can The Erase Sections of Path function Eraser Tool is the 8 icon be activated by clicking the icon or by pressing F8 Use this tool to erase parts of a shape as well as adding to a shape To erase drag the left mouse button and the shapes beneath that drawn path will be deleted For a straight line erasure press the Ctrl
136. eas IU a Soiree But not too high or blade maternal E T E material when dropped Perfect Height Too Low Too High e There are several methods to use in making sure the blade tip is set at a consistent height from one cut to the next One recommended method for getting the same height set for all of your cuts is to use a spacer of some kind Place the spacer on top of the material you are cutting Loosen the front screw and insert the blade holder so that the tip of the blade is touching the top of the spacer Now tighten the front screw and remove the spacer This distance will provide the blade some punch room to give the extra force and more consistent cutting of your material What to use for this spacer For materials such as cardstock and fabric try using 25 Post It note sheets or 12 squares cut from cardstock When cutting very thick materials such as 0 03 chipboard felt or craft foam use 13 Post It note sheets or 6 squares of cardstock instead An alternate method is to cut O Rings to slip over the bottom of the blade holder and then allow the blade holder and O Rings to sit on top of the blade holder seat Use 1 ring for thin materials paper and vinyl 2 rings for cardstock 3 rings for rhinestone template materials 4 rings for thick chipboard and so forth Unlike the method above you do not have the material itself lifting the blade holder position so you need to keep increasing the number of
137. ed as the cut line 90 OS FLUTTOf AL O y al Cc gt 203 Original imported image An interior scallop is to be added and cut e Since anything outside of the scallop will not be needed that part will be eliminated This is done by first arranging the scallop over the image and then moving the scallop layer to its own layer and to the bottom on the Layers Bar A scallop shape is added and aligned as desired Layers 90 FLUTES SS y Scallop is moved to N the bottom layer so S that it is behind gt gt original image e Next marquee select both the original image and the scallop or use Ctrl A to Select All and then apply the Join function from the Magic Toolbar The scallop will now appear on top E eC A Z i e AAA AAA a e Immediately apply the Break function from the Magic Toolbar The original image now appears but with the scallop shape around it 204 Click elsewhere on the screen so nothing is selected Then click on the image and drag one image away O from the other New scalloped 4 version eN FLUTTE e segs FUT N ll O so This original can now be deleted The original can now be deleted and the scalloped version duplicated if desired and the PNC process conducted as normal ing the Printed Image 9 06 4 PNC With a Contour Shape Overla This situation is similar to the prior one however in this case the scallop overlaps the
138. email address because you might need to request your registration number again in the future and it will be sent to that address Upon completing the form a registration number will be provided This is your permanent registration number for the computers you own You can leave this window open until you get MTC installed or you can verify that the number has also been emailed to you 13 Installing in Windows All new owners should download and install the latest version of the software and the latest plug in for the KNK Go to the following link to download the latest version of MTC http www iloveknk com Support Software Make The Cut MTC Windows Then go to this link to download the plug in for the KNK Maxx which will work with the ACS 24 UHF Eagle http www iloveknk com Support Software Make The Cut Plugins Maxx Groove Groove e Install the software and plugin Then open MTC When asked if you wish to register or continue using the trial mode enter the registration number that was provided when you registered Ny E AN If you missed opening the software when asked you will find the icon on your desktop or you can open by locating Make The Cut from your Windows Start gt All Programs menu If you lose your registration number and you need to install MTC onto another computer please go the same prior link and click on Recover Pin It s now time to connect the KNK to your computer Go to Section 1 10 Installing
139. en holding the left mouse button freely drag your mouse to create a polygon at the size you desire Set Type to Polygon gt Type polygon v Spoke Ratio 0 487824 O Corners 5 Rounded 0 C Outlined p A blue handle will appear p at one of the corners As you drag your mouse a polygon will be formed 158 If you need to move the polygon hold the left mouse button down anywhere on the shape except on top of the handle and drag to another location If you inadvertently draw a new polygon while trying to adjust the current polygon press the Delete key to remove it There are several settings used to control the appearance of the polygon as well as a Reset Examples of how these settings change a polygon are presented in detail Note however that there are thousands of possibilities based on combinations of these settings Change the curvature of the sides Reset to default values Set number of sides points Sang Type Polygon v Spoke Ratio E O a Rounded 0 outs 4 Convert to an Outline version of current design Corners 5 Corners This controls how many points or sides are present on the polygon The default is five However the range is 3 to many Here are a few examples AH Corners 3 Corners 4 Corners 5 Corners 6 Corners 15 To resize a polygon hold the left mouse button and drag the blue handle inward or outward You can also use this same han
140. ensions 5 11 x5 11 Preview on screen Vta lizaci n settings Alpha 127 Zoom 84 F Show Nodes Trace settings pean ne Despeck 19 Pixel Alpha Palette Color Color a Tolerance 5 a Background Color m Import Settings e r Scale 100 Texturize Path F Blackout Path Apply Changes Despeck raised to remove tiny paths The Color box changes to the color selected with the eyedropper Click on Apply Changes each time a change is made to update the preview Let s assume that you want the entire flower pot traced instead of just the interior Increase the Tolerance setting to expand the color range that is close to the original color In this example the Tolerance is increased to 14 and the flower pot looks great The entirety is now traced Unfortunately the outside of the pink flower also fell into this color range and is being included But that s okay That part can be deleted later after the tracing is completed Outline of flower is also traced The entire flower pot is now traced as one shape Trace Settings i Despeck 19 Vieualzation setungs Color _ Tolerance 14 l T Texturize Path E Blackout Path Pixel Alpha Palette Coir Background Color Tolerance increased to 14 Apply Changes 106 e Click on Import and the program will ask you if you want Continue Tracing or Finish Tracing
141. ensions that correspond to your image For example let s assume you have imported a 4 x 6 photo into MTC and plan to make a print and cut jigsaw puzzle Enter those dimensions into the Jigsaw Puzzle Generator as shown above e Further to keep the pieces from becoming too distorted or worse overlapping you should make the number of Rows and Columns similar to the dimensions as shown If you want more pieces then you can increase the number of Rows and Columns proportionately For example instead of having 4 Rows and 6 180 Columns use double the number to 8 Rows and 12 Columns or 1 5 times to 6 Rows and 9 Columns Note how the pieces would look if a rough proportion were not maintained The pieces would cut into one another Make The Cut Jigsaw Puzzle Generator General Advanced Dimentions aa Instead of following the Height BA dimensions of the puzzle the PANN numbers entered for Rows Puzzle Corners and Columns are opposite to pieces what was used above overlap ees There is also an Advanced tab you can use to alter the design of the pieces and even save your new settings When you are satisfied with the appearance of your puzzle pieces click on the Export button and a window will open and you can save your puzzle as an SVG file In MTC import your SVG puzzle file and align it over the image you wish to convert into a puzzle Perform a print and cut as presented in Chapter 9 Alternati
142. er can be deleted 4 04 Importing Al EPS PS PDF You can also import SVG files using drag and drop into a running instance of MTC If the selected file format is one of the following vector formats Al EPS PS PDF vector only then importing the graphic works the same as opening MTC files or importing SVG files There are a few different import options e Open Adobe File m LX Preview of the file to be Browse to locate A Lookin AWESOME PDF VECTORS Oc fr A imported folder containing Name E Date modified Ty Select page number if the file 1 pdf 7 23 20097 25PM PI ip ti fi B 2 pdf 1 23 2009 7 27 PM PI Its a mu l page Ne 3 pdf 7 23 2009 7 26PM PI LS spe LEM EMD TAO PA Pl oan l ofs Option for Importing Import Strokes andrils 4 Strokes Only Fills Only Click on the file or Strokes and Fills and it will appear under File name a Click here to open a window to display a large File i o dod preview of the file shape s Files of type Adobe Files PDF EPS7 PS7AI Cancel Click on Open and the saved file will open as a new project Note that when the file has multiple pages such as some PDF vector files the user should choose which page to import Click on Large Preview to better see the individual shapes or use Adobe Reader to view the pages in the same way you would view any PDF file MTC will only import Al files that are Version 9 or newer Thus if
143. er or lint you can use a lint roller Tear off a sheet and then press down and pull up across the surface of the mat to clean in sections When mats begin to lose their stickiness they can be washed Use a mild dishwashing detergent warm water and a brush to thoroughly clean the surface Then allow to thoroughly dry Normally the mat will regain its original stickiness But if not apply more adhesive Avoid direct contact between the pinch wheels and the mat as the rubber on the wheels will tend to pick up the adhesive and then later stick to the material you are cuiting If this happens these rubber wheels may be cleaned with isopropyl alcohol or Un Du Move the wheel away from a grit shaft apply the cleaner to a clean rag or paper towel and rub the entire wheel until free of adhesive Alternatively silicon spray or silicon grease can be applied to the rubber wheels and then the adhesive from the mat will not stick to the rubber Do not spray the wheels directly instead spray a clean rag or a paper towel and then apply the wet paper towel to the wheels or use a cotton swab to apply the silicon to the wheels 1 08 Attaching the ACS 24UHF Bolt On Tables lt is strongly advisable that you attach the included bolt on tables They do not require any table support beneath thus can extend out over the front or back of a desk The benefit is that these tables support the cutting mat and prevent bowing in the middle Additionally the material
144. er star then you could subtract the Path Area of the inner star from that of the outer star To measure an angle place the cursor at the point where the two sides of the star meet and drag outwards along one of the sides The length and the angle of this side to the horizon are displayed Then hold the Ctrl key and bring the mouse cursor down to the outer tip of the other side The length of this side and the angle relative to the other side are now displayed Units Length 0 4118 in mrem Angle 109 48 A Length of side is shown along with the Angle of this side to the horizon Length 0 4025 in m Angle 109 93 N Hold Ctrl key and move cursor to to the end of the other side Properties shown are the Length of the side and the Angle between the two sides Similarly the Angle of the other star can be measured and then the full list of properties compared between the two stars Units Length 0 3919 in Inches Angle 118 11 Units Length 0 3765 in O Angle 124 00 137 7 09 Slice Shapes and Lines Knife Tool The Slice Shapes and Lines function Knife Tool is the 9 icon ES on the Node Mode Toolbar and can be activated by clicking on the icon or pressing F9 It is used to cut an existing shape or shapes along straight lines or freely drawn paths For example let s use the Secret Agent Man shape from the Basic Shapes library Let s say you want to remov
145. es and then either go to File gt Export or select the Export option from the drop down menu right click on selected image for Export option Then choose either Sel to Al EPS File or Sel to Vector PDF File A window will open Savein J EPS Select location for S e ect Name Date modified Type Size savin g fi e i m age to a HA Square eps 12 19 2012 2 06 PM ACDSee Photo Ma 27 KI t ers crowns eps 11 28 2012 10 39 ACDSee Photo Ma 27 Kl expor GH fishnet eps 11 5 2012 9 35 AM ACDSee Photo Ma 1 383 KI ers Ea eps 10 25 2012 8 29 AM ACDSee Photo Ma 69 KI GH Wine Tests eps 10 18 2012 7 27 AM ACDSee Photo Ma 1 423 KI GH Template StandardCape Print 1 eps 10 3 2012 9 34 AM ACDSee Photo Ma 74 KI fers DragonEye eps 9 24 2012 6 07 PM ACDSee Photo Ma 64 KI fers Frankie eps 9 23 20129 25PM ACDSee Photo Ma 289 KI fers Reaperl eps 9 23 2012 9 24PM ACDSee Photo Ma 297 KI GH Palm eps 9 21 2012 11 54 AM ACDSee Photo Ma 71 KI Click on Save Flename Palm Tree when ready to Save as type EPS AI Files EPS Al expo rt s Provide a file name Select EPS AI Files 4 14 Exporting as a Raster File e There are many reasons why you might want to export your file as a raster For example 1 The image could be posted on a web site or blog 2 The image could be shared with a friend or a customer 3 The image could be used in a digital scrapbooking program e Select t
146. es will not overlap Also you may want to resize the lettering vertically to make the letters taller This allows more circles to be applied and can improve the ability to read the text Letter is still 6 wide i but is now 3 6 tall and will show up Letter is 6 wide but DIAEA only 2 3 tall f better on the shirt To apply a rhinestone outline select the shape and then click on the Rhinestone icon This window opens Select a circle size Rhinestone Preview Count 221 Stones a EET EEIE eee PR af larger than your stones S o gf amp Pol Stone Size Pearl Plate Millimeters i iS Q 8 o 5511 PP23 2 90 3 00 0 D Sh 6 r Y gg La S512 PP24 iS 29 08 2 9906 6 i pea D gt O 0 00 00000 5513 PP25 20 3 D 8 5 0 2 28 9 Qi Select desired 5513 PP26 30 3 i elo 0 Q oF 8 8 ss Q e Spacing 5514 PP27 3 40 3 50 0 1330 ES A s 9 8 8 8 O Gi 0 ing 0 0333 D 3 O 0 O 8 8 2 gi 9 Outline Shapes o9 p 000 9 2 P0909 he P A i a O O O i ill Shapes I O O O O Ol Cicwon Outline sou Hra ORAS minun PO AAQA vena ves ARE sl Shapes F a Click on Accept Preview of Option to Delete Click on Preview whencdone p design Original shape button to see effects of settings 176 e tis recommended that you mark the Delete Original option while previewing your design on the screen However before clicking on Accept remove the mark You may need to recreate your design at some point and
147. ew window using any of the following Click the icon on the Tab bar e o Right click on a project tab on the Tab Bar and select New from the menu gt Click on the New icon on the File toolbar Press Ctrl N o Goto File gt New 3 06 2 Opening an Existing MTC File An existing file can be opened into MTC by using any of the following Click on the Open icon on the File toolbar E Right click on a project tab on the Tab Bar and select Open from the menu Press Ctrl O Go to File gt Open gt gt gt o Double click an MTC file in Windows Explorer refer to Section 3 06 3 for instructions on installing and using the MTC File Viewer gt Double click an MTC file attached to an email o Drag and drop an MTC file into a running instance of MTC Import from MTC Gallery refer to Section 4 02 In all cases a window will open where you can browse to locate the file you wish to open i s Open Make The Cut Project m A preview of the file shape s will appear Browse to locate folder Lookin MTC 2 py Name Date modified easy E Lime mtc 8 20 2011 4 44 PM ee a Saving File Test mtc 8 17 2011 7 44 AM E Cat Nappingmte O 8 17 2011 7 42AM_ Click here to open a window mud pc Wrapper PIERE ans PASTLAB PM to display a larger preview id ij A of the file shape s Am Mia rin mm muaa oe ult Page Click on the file and it will appear under File name
148. ext to Enable Automatic Saving and the settings window will open Check the location for your backup file shown by Auto save Path When import vector files into MTC I lose the individual colors All of the shapes end up the same color How do retain the colors that were used in the original program e Some file formats may not import with the original assigned colors If possible choose SVG as an import format when MTC is not available am trying to import a PDF file but nothing is showing up e PDF files can be made from vector or raster or a combination If MTC doesn t detect any vector paths then you should be able to click on a blue link at the bottom of this import window in MTC versions 4 3 and older The Pixel Trace window will open and allow you to then vectorize the raster image s within that PDF file am trying to use my scanner to import a file to Pixel Trace but the Twain button that shows in Chapter 6 isn t there How do I get it back e Goto Help gt Advanced gt Advanced Settings Check the box next to Enable Twain am trying to move a node but it keeps jumping can t just move it where want e You probably have Snapping turned on Check the current setting on the Virtual Mat and switch to No Snapping When trying to resize an image by using the boxes at the corner of the image am having a problem controlling the SIZING e You probably have Snapping turned on Check the current setting on the Virtual M
149. fault e You also have the option to create your own custom mat sizes to add to the drop down list Select Custom Mat from the drop down menu and the following window will open Enter a name for your new mat Use a new name for each new mat With a KNK mat do not mark this box Create Mat Size ie Name Maxx Air Mat Dimensions Width 22 Margins 0 00 0 00 Height 13 0 00 Enter the dimensions Width and Height for your new mat Note that the Width should be the up down dimension and Height should be the left right dimension Click on Save when done e Important Always set the longer dimension of your cutting mat as the Width For example in the above screenshot a Width of 22 and a Height of 13 are entered and the mat configuration will look like the following depending on whether you then set orientation to Portrait or Landscape 42 1 Portrait Landscape Per per rr 101310141 im Use a unique name for any custom mats you create Repeating the same name if you have the same dimensions but a reversal of the W and H can cause the original mat to appear even when selecting the newer version If you wish to delete a custom mat from the drop down menu select it and then press the Delete key or just right click on the mat name and an option to delete will open If you
150. for the Spiral Tool allow you to have a Fat Path control the thickness of the Fat Path as well as the style of path and the end caps Enter a Width Choose from a menu of five Check Fat Path box thickness of the line different Dash Styles Fat Path Width 3 mm Dash Style Solid Line Cap Flat Line Cap End Flat ka The five available Dash Styles are e ne PSA A oe A om 4 Tes Wien ISS ES SN EN SW GEESE WWD US TSA sent N ER Solid Dash Dot Dash Dot Dash Dot Dot The start and end point styles of the spiral can be changed to any of seven different line caps Choose from a list of seven different Line Cap styles Fat Path Width 3 mm Dash Style Solid Line Cap Flat Line Cap End Flat kd The available Line Caps are 9999999 Flat Round Triangle Arrow Anchor Square Anchor Round Anchor Diamond Anchor Once a spiral is created and you click to another function it cannot be modified further However the most recently used settings will be retained when you go back to the Spiral Tool 4 Create Stars and Polygons Star amp Polygon Tool Video The Create Stars and Polygons function Star amp Polygon Tool is the 7 icon if on the Node Mode Toolbar and can be activated by first opening the Node Edit toolbar L Ga or pressing W and then clicking 156 on the Stars Polygon Tool icon or pressing F7 This function allows you to create customized stars and polyg
151. ft or right so that it is under both wheels The rollers are ripping the top layer of my material e It s important to keep the rollers clean of adhesive Use Un Du or Goo Gone to thoroughly clean the wheels Then either make sure the wheels are always over the material you are cutting or place strips of paper where the wheels will be crossing the mat Some of the buttons are hard to use on the control panel have to press really hard to get them to work e There is a tutorial available for fixing that It s very easy to do and will make a big difference http www iloveknk com Support T utorials Klic N Kut Buttons Sticking Cleaning the Control Panel paf At low pressures the blade doesn t touch the surface e That is correct Simply increase the pressure as necessary to get a good test cut The ACS stops cutting when the screen saver comes on e This can happen with some computers Turn off the screen saver before cutting During a cut the ACS stopped and went into the Pause mode e The blade is trying to reach a point outside of the available cutting width Turn off the cutter and click on Cancel Answer Yes to quit Then turn the cutter back on Set your origin closer to the far right limit so that you have the full cutting range width available Sometimes while the ACS is turned on but not cutting there s a faint whistling sound being emitted e This is due to what is called micro stepping It is a high pitched
152. ften the tracing just as they were used in the Pixel Trace method In this particular case only Despeck was applied Now before we accept this part of the image you can add more colors if you wish For example the very center of the flower is more of a purple but if you are going to cut this as a paper piecing pattern or as a vinyl design perhaps you want to use the same color for the petals and for the center Thus clicking on that color followed by click on Apply Changes results in that color being added to the parts that are traced The flower center is now added to the tracing Visualizaci n se tings Alpha 127 i Zoom 188 Trace Settings Resample Image x1 0 None v Despeck 13 Color Color Scans Pixel Alpha Palette 9 Median Cut Octree B BAA Mark the dark Background Color M purple color and Mtoe then click on Q Scale 100 Apply Changes Texturize Path es Blackout Path Antro l Nodes 121 apply Changes Print Dimensions 1 94 x2 29 offset 0 29 0 22 Click on Import and the program will ask you if you want to Continue Tracing or Finish Tracing Answer Continue Tracing Now click on the pink and red boxes again to turn them off or right click on the colors and choose Select None from the menu Then click on the green boxes and click on Apply Changes 102 Image on screen now shows both the pink and green shapes Vistialization Settings Alpha
153. ge with scissors before weeding Note that it s really hard to see the cut image so be careful e Use a paper piercer or craft knife to grab onto a piece of the waste vinyl and then pull to remove Remember to weed small internal parts as well 214 Adhering Iron On Use a hot dry iron cotton setting and with steam turned off Use a fairly firm surface Not a highly cushioned ironing board Insert a cloth between the layers of a shirt in case adhesive melts through to other side Press shirt first to create a smooth flat dry surface Arrange pattern on shirt carefully centering Press firmly for 10 full seconds Do not move iron around just press firmly Allow to slightly cool and then remove top heat resistant layer If pattern begins to come up then cover with the heat resistant layer and immediately repress for another 10 seconds Some people will also flip shirt inside out and press from other side for another 5 seconds Note other types of iron on may require additional pressing time or even less pressing time Contact your supplier for information Wait 24 hours before laundering 10 06 Rhinestone Templates Designing Rhinestone Patterns Refer to Section 8 12 for specific instructions on designing rhinestone patterns in MTC The most important things to remember are o The circles must be several sizes larger than the actual stones you ve purchased For example if you have 10SS stones then design using 13S8S
154. hape onto 9 p Open Wrap Objects to Path window another 230 Shortcut Icon Description Menu Other Location Output o pe Paths change direction of cut on selected Edie Shape MadiesAdvencods Reverse Pati 2 foj Draw Bezier Curves and Straight Lines On the node editing toolbar 231 Appendix B Troubleshooting Communication Issues There is no USB Serial COM Port connection available in the list of available COM ports e Unplug the ACS 24UHF from your computer In MTC go to Help gt Advanced gt Download and Install FTDI D2XX Drivers Once the drivers have installed reboot your computer When your computer has finished restarting reconnect the ACS 24UHF to your computer You should get a pop up that will finish the installation If this fails again unplug the ACS 24UHF from your computer Download and install the driver for the KNK Maxx Groove e from here http knkusa com resources Once you have downloaded and installed the driver reboot your computer When your computer has finished restarting reconnect the Eagle to your computer You should get a pop up that will finish the installation If you continue to have trouble contact your Eagle dealer or KNKUSA When tried to cut got an error message that said Overlapped I O Operation is in Progress e Verify the correct listing is selected in the Serial Port menu e Verify that the USB cable is securely plugged into your ACS 24UHF and into the
155. hape will fill with color and you will have a closed path in spite of starting and stopping along the way e Now to show this process in more detail 0 0 Trace the straight portion as show Letreliala 1 Left click once to a ance Na a begin the trace here rs 3 Left click once S Nia k e y Y Now to do the first curve go to the point at which the curve ends hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse so that the curve matches up with the dress Then while still holding down the left mouse button right click to end the segment 121 4 Hold down the left mouse button here and eee begin to drag the mouse to fit the curve o 5 When curve is perfect do NOT 8 release left mouse button until you right click to end the segment Next left click where the last curve ended move to where curve will end hold down left mouse button and drag to form curve Immediately right click to end that segment r 7 6 Left click on top of 7 Hold down right mouse 8 Drag mouse to fit curve and where the last segment button at end of next then right click before releasing ended segment left mouse button o Now there are two more straight line segments so just left click at each one Then again move to the end of the next curve hold down left mouse button and drag to fit the curve and then right click to end P P SG i f j j Fi j j f A Un Ti do A 6 he m
156. hat were connected to this segment Note that if the shape was previously a closed shape and Fill was turned on it will now be an open shape with no Fill YY as Deleted segment is erased and A shape is no longer filled with color Auto Smoothing all changes to a segment will result in smoothing curving of this segment as well as adjacent segments This should be turned off when segments have sharp junctures or cusps with other B zier curves A heart will be used to illustrate this 149 The top two segments will be Auto smoothing is turned off Auto smoothing is turned on dragged upwards sharp cusp is retained sharp cusp is converted into a Or Node Editing e f you hover your mouse over one of the end nodes on a selected path you will see it become encircled with a dotted red path That means the node can now be edited For example you can drag the node to a new location and the connecting segment s will move as well Red dashed circle appears Drag the node to a new Segments on either side of around a node as the location the node are modified mouse cursor is held over it e f you right click on a highlighted node the following menu will open Explanations for each option are described below 5mooth Node Symmetric Node Delete Node Break Node Auto Smoothing e For the sake of illustrating the node editing the hammer claw has been modified so that there s a bump or warp at the inter
157. having the original shape will be beneficial e The final step will be to tweak the design using the short cut keys mentioned at the beginning of this section Rhinestone Fill e The other option in the Rhinestone feature is Fill Shapes Instead of outlining the shape the image will be filled with circles in horizontal rows In our prior example the same letters will now appear like this t F UOOI0000 DOJOO F Number of E 00000000 000000 _ 1 Pearl Plate l R 000000000 00000000 circles in design 860 S000 S000 0000 g PP23 90 3 0 1100 iDO 000 0006 000 e 600 000 i 2 84 888 O0000000 gy PP26 30 3 0 1330 OOO T 006 00000000 e 000 0000000 i Ei PP27 STS a RS u 0 1330 E i Q petete petete 500 l Spacing 0 0333 i 600 600 000 000 600 909 900 909 900 i 0000000000 6000000 ti Daina 600000600 00000000 Click on Fill Shapes I 000000000 0000000 il p Accept Cancel it QDOQQO never ROLLO e rar 010101010 E e i Preview of design e Note that in the title of this window the number of circles in the design is shown Rhinestones are typically sold by the gross and 1 gross equals 144 stones Additional Tips on Rhinestone Designing e Sometimes the circles you want to re space equally may fall closer to a 45 angle versus vertically or horizontally Select your entire design and rotate until the line of circles is closer to vertical or horizontal Re space using the or short
158. he image and right click to bring up the menu to select Export and then select the last choice Sel to Raster File This window will open 19 ta Option to save selected Export Raster Image 1044x1001 px 3 48x3 34 in settings to reuse on Presets Last Used gt Gel future exported rasters Raster Details PNG Format JPG Format Image to be e oi o exported 2 J Outined Specifications for with optional S Dimensions the image drop shadow o cpp k added ee Border Size 3 er 7 Drop Shadow PA X 8 SY ae Alpha 50 41 i gt Drop Shadow Settings us Blur 50 Optional z Color Shadow Each watermark 3 Y Watermark added Image Haley Enterprises jp Position Bottom Midde y Watermark Settings Scale 29 4 Alpha Copy to Clipboard Print saveto File Cancel Raster can be copied pasted to other programs Raster can be printed and or saved e Note the many settings available for the raster export If the image is to be imported into a layering program such as Photoshop or a digital scrapbooking program then PNG will be the preferred format For commercial applications you may wish to add a watermark to protect your image from being copied A drop shadow can be added to give your image dimension Experiment with these settings and if you find certain ones that you wish to use repeatedly click on the option at the top to save the settings and a window will open where
159. hick layers of gum paste Icing sheets can be cut on the regular ACS 24UHF mat although it s a good idea to have one dedicated to cake use only The same is true for the blade holder and blade Press the icing sheet to the mat making sure the pinch rollers will not travel over the icing sheet The plastic backing on the sheet acts just like the backing on vinyl cut through just the icing leave the backing intact Peel off the cut and put the leftover sheet back in the bag When cutting fondant or gum paste roll it out and place it on a lightly greased piece of wax paper and stick that down on the sticky mat Whether you cut through the wax paper or not the wax paper makes it easier to get the cut shapes off the mat without distorting them Some people prefer to use shortening applied to a mat with no adhesive however it can be tricky getting the shapes cleanly off the mat 10 12 Additional Applications Wood Video Cutting wood can be tricky because it is subject to splintering Stick to very thin pieces of balsa or birch 1 16 or thinner Use a low force and not the typical blade tip height used for other materials which can increase the chance of splintering when the blade drops to puncture the wood Try using 6 Post It notes for setting the blade tip height Tape the balsa to a sticky mat to keep it from shifting during the cut Also decrease the blade offset so that corners will be cut more rounded Use a low speed 50 or slo
160. ht Adjust Color Initially start with By Shadowing Number of duplicates to make Selected shape gt le to duplicate if Texture Hue Output Setti Blacked Out E Click on Preview to apply new settings e tis desired to have a total of 6 nested shapes so 5 is entered as the Dupe Count duplicates to be added The spacing is changed to 2 mm and the Shadow Setting set to Mitered Before accepting click on the Preview button to see the duplicates 51 Nested Duplication Adjust Color Texture Hue Output Settings Blacked Out Shape style for duplicates Nested Duplication El choice of Rounded Mitered Duplication Settings a cant 5 E or Beveled along with a Limit setting for the Mitered option By Sha Mitered v Limit 5 Auto Simplify Output By Scaling Scale By Height Adjust Color Texture Hue Output Settings Blacked Out Preview 5 Created Click on Accept when done In order to create in lines instead of outlines enter a negative number for Dupe Gap Negative value Preview 12 Created Accept Cancel Shadowing Versus Scaling There are three options for how shapes can be duplicated in Nested Duplicate Shadowing duplicate paths will always be the same distance from the prior duplicate and may need to change shape in order to do so This is evident in the prior
161. ibed below Insert Node Dbl Click e _ Insert Mid Point Node Ctrl Dbl Click 4 N ote S h O rtcut made case keys for several of Convert To Line the drop down Delete Segment Del lt options Auto Smoothing 148 Insert Node a node will be inserted wherever your mouse cursor is currently positioned on the segment and the segment is now split into two segments gt UN EA oS Place cursor where Segment is split into two segments you want node added at location of new node Insert Mid Point Node a node will be inserted exactly half way along the selected segment and the segment is now split into two segments of equal length MER aP Place cursor anywhere Segment is split into two along segment segments at the midpoint Neutralize Segment the segment will become perfectly straight but will still be a B zier curve with B zier control points to maneuver This is something of a panic button to use whenever a segment becomes extremely distorted Neutralized segment is still a B zier curve with control points o Convert To Line the segment will be converted to a straight line and will no longer be a B zier curve However dragging the line to form a curve will immediately transform it back into a B zier curve Line segment is no longer a B zier curve has no control points o Delete Segment the segment will be erased and will leave unconnected nodes at the ends of the two paths t
162. ic versus inches How do switch to metric e Atthis time MTC will only display the rulers and location sizing in inches However you can enter a dimension in metric by typing the size and then followed by mm or cm Refer to Section 3 13 To verify the dimension of shapes in metric units use the Measure Tool on the Node Edit toolbar Refer to Section 7 08 Is there a way to see thumbnail images of my MTC files in Explorer e Yes The link to download the MTC File Viewer and instructions for using are detailed in Section 3 06 3 have a very complicated file that am attempting to edit MTC keeps crashing e You can allocate more memory by going to Help gt Advanced gt Advanced Settings and enabling the Limit Undo Redo Size Or you can clear the Undo steps by going to Edit gt Clean Undo History Refer to Section 3 11 for more details When importing images into Pixel Trace window MTC is freezing up e Goto Help gt Advanced gt Advanced Settings Uncheck the box next to Enable Twain red A A nd lm having problems using the 3D view under Conical Warp e Goto Help gt Advanced gt Advanced Settings Uncheck the box next to Enable OpenGL The 3D view will now be disabled nd A rd MTC crashed and I thought had Auto save turned on But my file isn t being recovered 236 e The last version that was auto saved should be available in the folder specified here Help gt Advanced gt Advanced Settings Uncheck and recheck the box n
163. if you open one of the drop down menus from the Menu Bar the Status Bar typically provides additional information about the purpose of that icon or menu choice For example resting the mouse over the Break icon causes the Status Bar to display the following Break apart a selected group of shapes to its basic elements 41 3 04 Virtual Mat Virtual Mat Settings VISO where the shapes will be cut Creating a Custom Virtual Mat Video e The Virtual Mat serves as a design area for the software as well as to indicate in some cutting modes e o change the appearance of the mat click on the Virtual Mat tab on the Main Bar Select mat dimensions Choose from 8 mat colors Choose how shapes will be displayed Fill Outline or both Scroll to desired Zoom level Choose Caret Size which will become default size for pasted and imported shapes Main Mat Configuration Typical Mat 12 00 x 12 0 O Light Blue O Fill Outline Zoom 100 I Caret Size 1 00 Use these settings on Virtual Mat Text and Fonts o A Landscape Fl show Cirdes lt T_ Show Margins x Select Portrait or LA Landscape Orientation Option for circular gridlines A eae Option to show mat margins Snap Position Mo Snapping every new project Choose snap to grid e ail positioning Click to make current mat 4 settings the new de
164. il of image i e a Description Avacado seed Great for a Ati will automatically aan iene leer de Add a description and notes for appear 7 Feel free to share the person downloading Category rs Select a category from the drop down menu Check this box after reading 4 8y checking this box you certify that you have the rightto Click on Go to upload File distribute this content and that it does not contain any adult Pa y will appear after being Read Full terms and A pinay ala approved conditions e When another MTC owner imports the file it will automatically import at the height and location of the Caret If necessary the designed size could be mentioned in the Description For a file such as this avocado it s not necessary But for something like a cupcake wrapper it could be important for the user to know the Original design dimensions e Another alternative which preserves the original dimensions of all shapes in the file is available From the Export options choose Sel as Project to MTC Gallery An identical window appears but the upload will include everything in the file including the same Virtual Mat settings Notes Layers etc e lf you upload a file and then later wish to delete it locate your file and click the Delete Item link at the bottom of the image window Avacado Download Avacado seed Great for a guacamole recipe layout Feel free to share Su
165. in you are only interested in the very center inset The original shape the one that was used for the Shadow Layer may also be deleted Place another circle on the mat from the Basic Shapes library Select both the new Circle and the center inset and press S to Stack them Select just the inset shape and then click on the Lattice icon to open the Lattice window Check the boxes for Inverse Lattice Auto Simplify Output and Delete Original Note the other settings used and click on Accept 186 Width 0 06 Gap 0 17 f Q Angle 0 y O Rotate 45 009 A Y Auto Simplify Output Q v Delete Original Y Inverse Lattice Join the Circle and the lattice by selecting both and applying the Join function To remove the tiny cutouts press F8 to activate the Eraser tool Check the Inverse Eraser box and set the Size to 1 Then erase the little cutouts that you do not want Flower Shadow or Mat The last part of the main flower is to create an outset shadow of the entire flower The first step is to select the entire flower head and apply Copy and Paste in Place to create a new copy on top of the old Move the new copy away from the flower and apply the Weld tool Select the flower outline and press the Shadow Layer icon Generate Shadow Lye ES Shadow Width 0 0675 J Corner Join Use the settings above to make a shadow for the flower Press Accept when you are done Delete the Original outline the sma
166. in front of face poor lighting 116 e Import the photo and select the Color Scans option Because you will most likely be layering your cuts mark the Stacked Scans option Then start with a count of 2 and work upwards comparing each trace to determine which is desirable Remember that with increase in count a new layer of cutting will be required _ Show Nodes Alpha 127 Zoom 115 f Count 2 Count 3 Count 4 Resample Image x1 0 None v Despeck 2 Palette Count 5 The last two screenshots have the detail but until the Despeck setting is applied it s not clear which one might be best Remember that any tracing can be edited so large unwanted paths such as the background in the lower left of the last scan can be easily removed after the completion of the tracing process Be sure to read relevant sections of Chapter 7 In the next two screenshots Despeck has been set to 20 117 E Count 4 Stack Scans C Blackout Outlines Gray Scale Background nd Color E Scale 100 C Texturize Path Blackout Path File Leonard DiCaprio jpg Dimensions Shapes 32 Apply Changes Resoluti Size 3 73 x2 79 offset 0 00 x 0 00 import Camel Resample Image x 1 0 None vj i Despeck 20 Pixel Alpha Palette i Color Color Scans Count 5 El C Y Stack Scans
167. indow provides the option to weld the repeated borders Responding Yes followed by deleting the circle yields the final scalloped frame a 8 08 3 Live Edit Window e One last feature in the Wrap Objects To Path function is a Live Edit window which allows you to modify at the node level the object being placed onto the path In this example the Basic Shape called Broad 2 is being applied to a curve and stretched Note the roundness at the middle of the Broad 2 shape at both the start and end of the curve Centers area y bit rounded Ar e Without needing to leave the Wrap Objects to Path function the Broad 2 shape can be modified by clicking on the red icon at the bottom of the window The Wrap Objects To Path window will expand and display the current object Wrap Objects To Path Wrap Objects To Path E Warp Stretch Parameterize Par eee Maten x5 0 03 an x1 Offset 0 00 Vert os Offset 0 00 er Align Vert Align 100 St Extend 0 00 Repeat Warp Repeat i v Stretch Y lt 4 4 4 St Extend 0 00 oN amet conc O W accept cancel qa Aly Click here to open Live Edit window Object is displayed gt Duplicate Path To New Layer 169 e Atthis point the object can be edited as if you were using the Edit Paths at Node Level tool presented in Section 7 13
168. ine of the image Look at the same spots where the PNC didn t follow the image perfectly This could be the cause of the inaccurate PNC There are three ways of dealing with this situation O Retrace the imported image increasing the Resample setting This will result in a tighter fit of the trace line to the original graphic Use Node Editing and Segment Editing to move the trace lines to more closely fit the original graphic This is covered in detail in the last part of Section 7 13 Create an inset line to use for cutting instead of the original trace line This is presented in Section 9 06 5 PNC with an Inset Cut Line e Ifa PNC is not precise and the cause is not the alignment of the trace lines then try slowing down the speed If the mat is moving numerous times in and out of the cutter a slight shifting can occur especially at high speeds Try reducing the Us speed and Cut speed from 200 to 150 e Remember that the calibration of the Laser Offset is specific to the blade holder type being used Thus if you change brands the laser calibration will need to be modified e f your test arrow is cutting perfect thus indicating you have the correct calibration but your next print and cut is way off then perhaps your situation is something outside of the ordinary Please review the following section which covers different scenarios in which a few extra steps will be required when setting up the layers for your print and cut
169. ing Click on the Boolean Join icon on the Magic Toolbar o Press Ctrl U o Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Boolean Join from the menu o Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Boolean Join The following popup menu will appear and as you move your mouse over the various options you will see your image change on the screen The option called B A Difference shows the rectangle outline disappearing where the letters overlap which is what you want in this case Click on drop down menu to select one of the five choices Boolean Join C B A Difference o taeiaeaaaie When the image shows the weld you 7 Auto Simpify mE want click on Apply ii Now this resulting weld would work fine for an overlay where the negative part of the image is what you want to keep To have an actual frame add a rectangle to the outside and then select all apply Stack Ctrl S which will center the two shapes and perform a Join Ctrl J Here are the two results 90 orar VAX SX JAY Title welded to a frame MAX amp JAY 5 10 Stenciling Letters Video When creating a stencil you want to keep the waste or negative of a cut When using regular fonts such as Arial some of the letters such as a B a and e will not work because they have interior paths called child shapes Those child shapes are not connected to the waste portion of the material and will be lost from the stencil as shown be
170. ing test before cutting and make adjustments in order to get a clean cut 25 The cutting force ranges from 1 to 200 on the force scale The maximum of 200 represents the 1500g of cutting force on an ACS 24UHF To change the force F use the left and right and buttons while in Online mode You cannot change settings from the Cut Project With window in MTC Dull blades will need more force than new blades thus anticipate needing higher force over the course of the life of the blade When cutting materials that can use either blade the 45 degree blade needs more force than the 60 degree blade because of the extra contact with the material being cut Materials that absorb moisture such as cardstock paper fabric and chipboard will need more force and possibly more than one pass if they have been exposed to humidity One tip is to blow dry these materials before cutting The following are approximate force settings for a range of materials Again remember to use the Test button on the machine to cut small rectangles to verify the pressure setting and your blade length are sufficient for the cut Also remember to remove the test cut and observe the mat for any cut lines Decrease the blade exposure as needed to prevent unnecessary cutting into the mat o For vinyl set the pressure setting to around 30 40 Cheaper vinyl such as cling vinyl may require a slightly higher pressure Iron on transfer will need a force
171. ing importing new fonts o Accessing the window for typing text o Choosing to make text bold or italic Main x Refresh list of available fonts Virtual Mat Text and Fonts ooo Drop down menu for Installed Fonts Click to open window where text selecting a font TA TT Beah 8 may be typed and added to project refer to Section 5 03 BJ z Options for making _ text Bold and or O AA E ma Italic CA Bi Open a font not already BSS RIOR e installed in Windows refer to DE FEA Section 5 02 SO UV GO Mark box to show all possible characters glyphs available in Scroll to increase decrease A Y E l N gg selected font size of text characters displayed gt y s Mark box to display font name in ore y drop menu in font face e Fonts appearing in black in the drop down menu are installed in Windows Fonts appearing in blue have been opened into MTC during the current session Fonts appearing in green have been opened during this session or previously opened with the option marked to permanently install in MTC Refer to Section 5 02 e You can click on any font in the drop down menu and then use your mouse scroll button to scroll through all of the fonts in the menu Make sure the Show Face option is marked if you want the font names to appear in the actual font e If you are looking for a particular font type the first letter of the font name and you will be taken to the fonts that
172. ion Set the origin in the bottom right corner of the printout using the laser Go to Section 9 04 to continue with the next steps Portrait Mode Option To begin create a new custom mat that s set for letter size or A4 or whatever size your printout will be Refer to Section 3 04 if you need instructions for creating a custom mat Uncheck the Margins box For letter size make the Width 11 and the Height 8 5 For A4 set the Width to 11 69 and the Height to 8 27 Since you are reading the Portrait Mode Option section of the user manual set the Virtual Mat to Portrait and select your new custom mat What s the best image to use for the Laser Offset calibration An arrow is ideal because you ll be able to quickly verify if you have the printout correctly placed on the cutting mat Also it s a great shape for seeing how to adjust your X and Y calibration numbers You can use most any image but to follow the rest of the tutorial more easily an arrow from the Basic Shapes library is highly recommended IMPORTANT Make the arrow at least 4 hiah as shown below for an accurate calibration 195 im Tm m m CA UN UI Mat Configuration Mat dimensions should iii match printout aaa Choose 0 tight Blue El Portrait 4 Portrait Fil outine 50n ees Zoom 60 z ly Caret Size Snap Position 1 00 1 32Inch X Use these settings on every new project Import an
173. irtual Mat With the shape s still selected use Ctrl D or other options above to open the Duplicate Shape window Enter the totals desired in each Row and in each Column plus the Spacing Click on OK to accept 50 Increase Rows and Columns to fill Virtual Mat and change Spacing as desired or as needed e To create a single row of repeats set the Rows value to 1 For a single column of repeats set the Columns value to 1 To overlap the repeats enter a negative number under Spacing Refer to Section 8 06 tor a tutorial on how this function can be used to create a border 3 10 5 Duplicating Nested Duplicate e The Nested Duplicate function allows you to make multiple outlines or inlines with the spacing you desire To access Nested Duplicate first select the shape s and then use either of the following Right click on the screen and select Duplicate gt Nested Duplicate Go to Edit gt Duplicate gt Nested Duplicate Outlines and Inlines e Inthe first example a scalloped circle is selected and the Nested Duplicate function accessed The following window opens with defaults settings shown and settings are made to create 4 outset repeats of the scalloped circle each 1 mm apart Nested _ Duplication Settings AO ane E nm vt Spacing between duplicates Mitered v igi 5 _ Auto Simplify Output By Scaling Scale By Heig
174. is setting is O to 1 0 You can also change this setting by dragging the outer point handle inward or outward You will see that it changes both the thickness and the size of the star You can also rotate the star using this handle aa Drag Drag Drag further Drag further Rotate inward outward inward outward 157 O Dragging the inner corner handle up or down also changes the thickness but not the size of the star Dragging the handle left or right rotates the interior of the star lt also creates a far wider spectrum of design possibilities Drag up Drag down Drag to the left Drag to the right Drag up and Drag down Rotate Rotate further to the right and to the left clockwise clockwise Ifyou hold the Ctrl key while dragging either handle no rotation will occur Rounded This feature is used to curve the sides of a star The default is 0 While you can hold the Shift key and drag the handle to change the value the range is much larger from 10 0 to 10 0 if you input values in the setting window at the top Here are just a few of the thousands of possibilities xe Ge Rounded 0 5 Rounded 1 4 Rounded 4 25 Rounded 6 0 Rounded 2 43 Outlined This feature removes all or part of the interior paths on a star which may result in shapes better suited for cutting Rounded 6 0 Rounded 8 5 Outline Off Outline On Outline Off Outline On Polygon e o draw a polygon first set the Type to Polygon Th
175. is suitable for outdoor use or for party decorations greeting cards laptop covers etc Accupro Wrap Vinyl for wrapping cell phones laptops notebooks etc lron on Vinyl for decorating garments or other surfaces such as cardstock Refer to Section 10 05 for details on cutting and applying Settings Vinyl has a backing sheet which can serve as the carrier mat during cutting The vinyl needs to be at least 4 wide so that both sides will be gripped by the pinch wheels If you are cutting from vinyl which is narrower than this or cutting from scraps then use a cutting mat to hold the vinyl during the cut On long cuts it s important to have the vinyl aligned straight in the machine Cut the needed length from the vinyl roll add a few inches for error allowance Feed the excess underneath the cutter and around to meet the other end Line up and drop the pinch wheels Use the and buttons on the Control Panel to feed the vinyl in and out most of the way to make sure the vinyl stays aligned Set the origin at least 1 2 away from the right side and a little ways in from the bottom Make sure the vinyl is past the screws on the flatbed table or apply clear mailing tape to cover the screws so that the vinyl will not catch on them While there are many types and thickness of vinyl in general it is very easy to cut Thus start with a conservative estimate for the force setting in the initial test cut say 30 Use the red cap
176. ite areas would show when cut The original trace line doesn t quite fit the image in those spots e Atthe end of Section 7 13 it was shown how to use node and segment editing to correct the trace line so that it better fits the original image Sometimes however there may be more editing needed than would be practical to do In these cases an inset cut line can be created While the same method presented in Section 9 06 3 could be used in this case it is desired to have what is called a bleed allowance a margin of error for cutting by allowing the original larger image to still be printed e Select the traced image and access the Shadow Layer function in any of the following ways Click on the Shadow Layer icon on the Magic Toolbar Press Ctrl H Q 0 o Right click on the screen and select Shape Magic gt Shadow Layer Q Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Shadow Layer 206 e Select the desired Shadow Width using a negative number so that an inset is created Note that this is typically less than 0 03 Select a Corner Join option and refer back to Section 8 05 for reference Click on Accept when done A A EE Set desired Shadow Width using a negative number E so that an inset shadow is created Corner Join Mitered v T a Select Corner Join type Miter Limit 4 09 Options Y Blacked Out _ Auto Simplify Output KK Click on Accept when done Accept Cancel Note how the new inset line will clearly cut
177. izes of those inner circles A O AAA ceespeperees A tio Yellow centers expand with higher Tolerance Print Dimensions 5 11 x5 11 Vieta zaci n settings Alpha 127 Zoom 84 Show Nodes Trace Settings Resample Image x1 0 None r Despeck 19 Color EJ 7 Increase Tolerance 40 Tolerance Background Color E to 40 Import Settmgs Q T Texturize Path E Blackout Path Layers 1 pane Apply Changes Size 3 34 x1 28 Offset 0 78 x0 75 However there s an easier way to handle those Just mark the Blackout Path box and they are instantly removed from the trace Se lt UN ede MA Yellow centers fill in completely with Blackout Path marked Visualization Settings Trace Settings Resample nage Despeck 19 Color O Tolerance 40 Background Color _ Import Settings 1 Blackout Path Blackout parte Apply Changes Path Size 3 34 x1 28 Offset 0 78 x0 75 Now for the editing To select the tracing click on the Layer Options Menu icon and select To Each Its Own Now the image can be edited as needed and the colors turned on or off for cutting 109 2G 1 EXROO After selecting To Each a Its Own from the Layer lA Options Menu each YX color that was traced will E have those shapes on l free clip art flowers 1 034 Y their own layer Layer Options Menu HN
178. ject ee ana EN mo G Hue Sat Lum mE ColoriSolid T Cama ee a Custom Colors if desired Note that a new Custom Color will only be saved and available in the current project Changing Texture Instead of using a solid color you can also fill shapes with textures which are typically raster files such as omp jpg png imported into MTC When you access the Change Texture function the window which opens will depend on whether or not you already have a texture available from another shape in your project If you do not then when you go to Change Texture the Open Image for Texturizing window will open and you can browse your computer to open a texture file scan one into MTC or paste one from Windows Clipboard Pr Open image for texturizing Lookin Ji Fills 2 en O a Option 2 Click on TWAIN to scan texture image into MTC Metal BMP Plaid BMP rabit bmp Roses BMP Smile BMP Star2 BMP Option 1 Browse computer to locate folder and file containing texture you wish to use Option 3 Click on PASTE to paste an EE Ue 1 A X image from File name Roses BMP Windows Clipboard Files of type All Supported Formats 7 Cancel After importing this first texture or if there was already a texture open in your current project then the Choose Texture window opens In this window you have options to o Tile the Texture fill a shape with a modified version of the texture o Vertically or h
179. jt gsd GSD 4 10 2006 6 49 PM GSD File 52 KB 2 Diploma GSD 10 19 2005 4 56 PM GSD File 17 KB Auto Fuse n Weld opti on a Grad Cap_mah GSD 8 23 2006 3 08PM GSD File 3 837 KB l aedi 9 graduate_02 GSD 3 10 2006 6 50PM GSD File 67 KB will connect individ ual A graduate_03 GSD 3 10 2006 6 50PM GSD File 81 KB segments hig hly graduate _04 GSD 3 10 2006 6 50PM GSD File 81 KB recommended graduates_01 GSD 3 10 2006 6 50PM GSD File 92 KB v File name raduate_02 GSD Open gt Increase Tolerance if the i z i r y Cancel adu EEESC breaks are not being closed v Auto Fuse n Weld 0 0245 in _ _ _ _ K lt Converts embedded D rende ment Lo Set smaller if nodes are metafiles to a texture TA a a la connected that should not be Indicates how many paths are found Note that with Auto Fuse n Weld turned on the imported graphic in this example ended up with 7 paths instead of 143 It is recommended that both the Auto Fuse n Weld and Render Metafiles To 300 DPI be left turned on The Fuse N Weld option is needed to connect the many individual segments making up paths in GSD files The Render Metafiles function is use to identify embedded wmf and emf files used for print and cut applications and convert those to textures Before saving an imported GSD file run the Auto Simplify Path to reduce nodes Refer to Section 7 02 2 4 06 Importing TTF OTF Font Files If the imported file format is TTF O
180. k the Width and Gap settings some more Notice the difference In this case the lattice part will be attached to the cut material 8 12 Rhinestone Design Designing Video Q l i Rotate 45 00 Auto Simplify Output Delete Original Editing Video Applying Simulations Video Checking circle size Video Resizing Existing Patterns Video Re spacing Existing Patterns Video Width and Gap modified after switching to Inverse Lattice Click on Inverse Lattice to reverse the type created Click on Accept if design is complete e MTC s Rhinestone feature provides both outlining and horizontal fill of shapes with the size of circles needed for your rhinestones and the spacing desired It can be accessed in any of the following ways ODA D o Click on the Rhinestone icon on the Magic Toolbar Goo 175 0 0 0 Press Ctrl K Right click on screen and select Shape Magic gt Rhinestone Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Rhinestone There are some very specific guidelines to follow when designing a rhinestone pattern 0 The shape needs to be sized before applying the rhinestone circles If you wait until afterwards and then realize that you want your overall design to be twice as large then resizing will make the circles twice as large and the spacing twice as large too So before accessing the Rhinestone feature decide on the overall size you wish to use The circle size selected will need to be
181. l with color and you can click one last time to end the process You do not have to right click to end the drawing if the shape is closed 145 AN aa Left click to start Move to 3 location and As you approach the As soon as the shape and then left click left click again start watch for the fills with color left click at 2 location shape to fill to end e Again if the shape is closing you can left click or right click to end the drawing of that shape If the shape is not closing then you must use a right click to stop the drawing of that shape Drawing Curves e Drawing curves is a bit more difficult The key is to take it one step at a time practice the technique a lot and remember that you can later correct your curves using the Node Edit Tool refer to Section 7 13 e To draw a curve use your mouse to left click once where you want the start the curve Then instead of left clicking hold the left mouse button down and begin dragging the mouse outwards Continue holding the left button and notice a dotted line appears with two points at either end These are called control points Control Points a e As you drag the mouse you ll see that you have full control over how long this dotted line will be as well as where the control points are positioned Experiment with longer and shorter control lines as well as rotating the line to bend the curve in a range of different ways Combining Straight Lines and Curves
182. lade did cut in those spots and your design will then be released from the waste This is the best way to maintain smooth outer edges My shapes are not quite cut out Most of them are still attached to the waste at one spot o You probably have Blade Offset turned off or set too low Make sure the setting matches what is needed for the blade you are using Refer to Section 2 06 10 02 Chipboard Selecting Chipboard There are many types of materials considered to be chipboard Some can be cut and others cannot The best guidelines are o If the chipboard is thicker than the maximum blade length then it cannot be cut o Ifthe chipboard is very stiff and cannot easily be bent then it possibly can be cut but the shapes may need to be simple o Thin flexible chipboards are the best choice It s worthwhile finding a particular brand of chipboard such as that sold at KNK USA to use in your projects so that you will know which blades and settings work best each time o Fora thicker look consider cutting two copies of the same shape from thinner chipboard and adhering together o Just like with some textured brands of cardstock some chipboard types will yield cleaner cuts on the bottom side So mirror your images first after verifying so that you can use the other side of the cut shape Settings As with all materials set the blade length to be just a fraction longer than the thickness of your chipboard and use the thick ma
183. lar m N i gt e After double clicking the arrow you should see it on the screen In this test it doesn t matter where you place the arrow as it will be drawn at the origin you set on the machine If you like you can drag the arrow shape to the Virtual Mat on the screen if it s not already on the mat More on moving and manipulating basic shapes is covered in Section 3 09 To open the cutting control window go to Cut Project With gt Klic N Kut Series A new window will open where you can locate your COM port assignment under the Serial Port menu 17 CutwithKic N Kut Series Guten gl ea Open menu and locate COM port with the USB Kk MAXX v comz USB Serial Port y Fo Serial Port connection Select KNK Maxx Baud Rate 57 600 Test Connection FC and Spee Set Force and Speed Click on Test Set the Baud Rate to Connection match what s set on your KNK refer to Section 1 05 D E y Knife Point A Click Start when you are ready to cut Start 1 11 2 Communication Test e To test communication between your computer and cutter click on the Test Connection button The blade holder will make a small movement indicating that the connection is working Here is a list of some of the possible communication errors that might occur Overlapped I O Operation is in Progress 1 Verify
184. larger than the stone size you purchased As a general rule select a size three numbers larger than your stones Thus if you purchased 10SS stones then in the rhinestone design window you will want to be selecting 13SS stones This larger size will allow the 10SS stones to more easily brush into the holes When selecting a font to use be leery of fancy fonts You want the lettering to be readable after it is converted to circles When in doubt have someone who doesn t know the words you ve typed attempt to read the circle design on the screen If they cannot decipher your words then try a more basic font Rhinestone designs almost always need tweaking which involves adding deleting moving or re Spacing circles You will need to apply a Break Ctrl B to separate the pattern into individual circles To quickly add a circle select one click on the Copy icon and then click on the Paste in Place icon and drag the circle to its new location Then you can continue to just click on Paste in Place to add more To re space a row or column of circles marquee select and then use the shortcut keys and to provide equal vertical and equal horizontal spacing respectively Rhinestone Outline In this example the initials from a high school will be outlined As mentioned in the introduction to this section the first step is to size width and height of the lettering Make sure there is enough space between the letters so that the circl
185. ld to Complete Symmetrical Shapes e The final step to complete the dress involves making a mirror image copy and then welding it Select the dress and do a Copy Paste in Place Then immediately click on the Mirror tool If the line of symmetry were horizontal then you would click on the Flip tool Then use the arrow keys to move the symmetrical copy to overlap as desired and perform the Basic Weld Copy dress trace Apply Mirror tool Move copy to overlap Apply Weld tool and Paste in Place dress trace 123 7 Editing 7 01 Separating and Combining Shapes Split e The Split function is used to break up combined shapes into individual shapes but keep inner paths joined to their respective outer paths Sometimes the outer paths are called parent shapes and the inner paths are called child shapes e After selecting a combined shape the Split function can be accessed in any of the following ways Click on the Split icon on the Magic Toolbar o Press Ctrl P o Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Split from the menu o Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Split e As was shown in Section 5 04 if you apply Split to a word such as Bob the child shapes inside the letters B o and b are still a part of the parent shapes There are no bounding boxes around the inner paths The grid is visible through the inner empty paths I e Three things will let you know that the child and
186. le double arrow icon to the left to decrease spacing e When you are satisfied with the overlap select all of the letters and then apply the Weld function using one of the following Click on the Weld icon on the Magic Toolbar L4 Press Ctrl W Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Weld from the menu Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Weld Chad and Colina e To create an outline shadow for titles and other shapes or if you need to thicken a font that turns out to be too thin for cutting refer to Section 8 05 ec gt gt o 82 5 05 Incorporating Dingbat Shapes into a Title Video e A quick way to incorporate a shape into a welded title is to use any of thousands of dingbat fonts available from the Internet for free In this example a free font called 1 Bean Sprout DNA is being used for the title and the dingbat font Wingdings will be used for the shape e Using the steps in Section 5 03 create the title with the Split by Glyphs option selected Barber Shop e Marquee select the left side and drag away from the right to create a gap for a shape Barber Shop e On the Text and Fonts tab select the font Wingdings from the drop down menu Scroll to locate the scissors image Rather than entering the Add Text Group window you can double click on the image you want to use and it will added at the location of the Caret refer to Section 4 01 Virtual Mat Text and Fonts Select p Twaa 17 E font
187. lect bottom line of characters Apply Join Ctrl J Bottom line is now all one shape 81 5 04 Creating a Connected Letter Title e Using the instructions from Section 5 03 type the letters of your title In this example you will want to choose Split by Glyphs so that individual letters can be moved to overlap one another as desired VSpace 0 split By Glyphs Ino Rotation Chad and Elina Chacal ama Alena e f you forget to select Split by Glyphs then select your title and use the Split function in any of the following ways Click on the Split icon on the Magic Toolbar Press Ctrl P Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Split from the menu Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Split Oo gt gt o e With the letters split you can select one or more and use the left and right arrow keys to change the spacing between letters overlapping as desired It is advisable to zoom in on the text to get a more accurate view of the actual positioning of the letters You may also want to check the text both with and without the Fill turned on which can be changed on the Virtual Mat tab e You can also quickly overlap letters by selecting them all holding the Ctrl key and then dragging the middle right of the bounding area towards the left Note that you must be in Resizing mode for this to work refer to Section 4 13 Make sure text is in Hold Ctrl key and drag this Resizing mode sol i lt midd
188. lete nodes at the start and at the end of the Swirl to reduce the number of turns To convert to the spiral that will be welded to the flower stem select the modified Swirl and use Copy and Paste In Place to make a copy Select the copy and reduce in size to make it smaller but not change the shape Arrange the two shapes and press S to Stack them 1 E Combine the two paths into a single shape by using the Pen Tool in Edit Node Mode press F5 When you activate the Pen Tool you will notice four nodes now appear at the ends of the two spirals Connect the nodes by left clicking on one node and right clicking on the node to which you want to connect Repeat with the other set of dots nodes to finish closing the open path into a shape To position the swirl shape select it and click the Mirror icon Next click the Rotate 90 degrees icon Move the spiral into place against the stem Select the stem and spiral and click the Weld icon ee A ELTI P E ee Add a Leaf Stem Click on the leaf and position it a little away from the stem Click on the Pen Tool again This time check the Fat Path box Select a Size for the Fat Path to use for drawing the leaf stem Left click on the flower stem and right click in the center of the leaf 189 Select the flower stem the leaf and the leaf stem and click on the Weld icon Add three circles and resize two to be progressively smaller Position them on the stem as shown below Select the
189. lete the shadow layer that was pixel traced from the original and then use the Shadow Layer function in MTC to create a new one refer to Section 8 05 But in this case only that one spot seems too thin e Several things need to be done before using the tool If you plan to use it for a number of spots around the shape then again turn off Auto Simplify Paths refer to Section 7 02 1 Note that if you are still in the Eraser Tool function you ll need to click on the Select Tool to return to normal MTC mode e Next unhide the black layer and move it down on the Layer Bar so that it is now behind the petals 140 Black layer moved to the A x bottom so that it d j Ww is now behind the blue petals and A race Stape ae green leaves Black layer ti gegen moved to the bottom Activate the Eraser Tool again confirming that the Inverse Eraser box is marked Then zoom in on the area where the black shadow was very close to the petal Drag the left mouse button to extend that border around the flower First path is added Another path is added overlapping with thick area overlapping with first More is added again Result of added paths overlapping with first path Black border is too thin As with the erasing process apply the Auto Simplify Path function refer to Section 7 02 2 if you turned off the Auto Simplify Paths before using this tool Then turn on Auto Simplify
190. licating Rotated Duplicate The Rotated Duplicate function allows you to make duplicates arranged in a circle or partial circle pattern 0 To access Rotated Duplicate first select the shape s and then use either of the following Right click on the screen and select Duplicate gt Rotated Duplicate Go to Edit gt Duplicate gt Rotated Duplicate e To illustrate how this works start with a small circle from Basic Shapes Select it and then activate the Rotated Duplicate function using either of the methods just mentioned The following window opens A Enter number of repeats Dupe Count 2 S Rotate By 30 fe Enter Rotate By Offsetx o al 4 Enter distance from the center radius Offset Y C Cos To create a semicircle of for example 10 shapes increase the Dupe Count to 9 Then click on the small sigma icon which will then change the setting inside the Rotate By window so that a perfect semicircular pattern of equally spaced shapes is created 53 Rotated Duplication Dupe Count 9 Rotate By 30 OffsetX 0 Offset Y 30 Acet cance Enter 9 PER Rotate By 18 00 deg mm OffsetX 0 OffsetY 30 L mm Accept Cancel Click here e f you want the shapes in a full circle double the Rotate By setting In this case you would enter 36 deg 2 x 18 If you then want to overlap the circles decre
191. lick on a segment it will turn green unless you happen to have the green mat color selected in which case the segment will turn blue Note that the following screenshots were made from an earlier version of MTC Starting with version 4 6 the end nodes on a selected segment appear as blue squares and a selected end node turns yellow For now these screenshots show the nodes as small black circles only 147 Hovering over a Selecting a segment Selecting a segment with a green segment turns it red turns it green mat turns the segment blue A selected segment can now be dragged in the following ways Drag on the segment with your mouse to change the curvature in different ways Y Drag a segment in any direction to transform into Upon releasing mouse button different shapes shape will be modified Drag on the B zier control points also called handles to also modify the shape of the segment Select the segment and then Drag point and shape Drag other point and shape place mouse over control point will change will change differently o A selected segment can be moved using the arrow keys on your keyboard Alternatively you can also move the segment by holding the Ctrl key and dragging the segment with your mouse K Select segment Use arrow keys on keyboard Shape is extended outwards to move segment If you right click on a selected path the following menu will open Explanations for each options are descr
192. line Mode then be in Online Mode Laser Mode Display Press the Origin button to turn the laser light on You will see a red light appear below blade carriage Also the cutter will change to Online mode To turn off the laser repeat Steps 2 and 3 and then press the Origin button again Step 3 In Offline Mode press the Menu button The Laser display will show and the laser can be activated Setting Display Us Traverse speed movement of carriage when head is up Br Baud rate USB 57600 Serial 9600 Step 4 In Online Mode press the Menu button Increases Decreases Traverse Velocity Up Speed Set to 200 if doing PNC applications k GG Gh Experiment with the and buttons for the Traverse Velocity Change the Baud Rate based on the connection you are using Increases Decreases Baud Rate USB 57600 Serial 9600 Set Per Display Xp Calibration of X scale Yp Calibration of Y scale Step 5 In Online Mode press the Menu button twice Do not change these values Instead it is recommended that calibration of the ACS 24UHF be done from within the software Refer to Section 2 10 Press again to turn off the Menu function Pause Display v cutting velocity mm sec f cutting force scaled from 1 to 160 As shown above use the and buttons to change the cutting velocity or cutting force and press Pause again to resume the cut OR
193. ll rested You don t want to start learning the PNC process when you are tired stressed or in a hurry Mastering a PNC comes when you have the time to repeat it about 4 times in a row At that point you will not only have repeated the process enough times to feel very comfortable with the order of the steps but you ll have your calibration perfected and then be ready to do future PNC s quickly and with ease IMPORTANT Do not use high speeds when performing very precise PNC s including the following calibration Set the Us speed to 200 refer to Section 1 05 Step 4 and also your cutting Speed to 200 e While it is possible to do PNC s in either portrait or landscape mode it is highly recommended that you select the same orientation you typically use for your other cutting in MTC If you prefer to work in portrait please skip to the Portrait Mode Option section following the Landscape Mode Option section 192 Landscape Mode Option e To begin create a new custom mat that s set for letter size or A4 or whatever size your printout will be Refer to Section 3 04 if you need instructions for creating a custom mat Uncheck the Margins box For letter size make the Width 11 and the Height 8 5 For A4 set the Width to 11 69 and the Height to 8 27 e Since you are reading the Landscape Mode Option section of the user manual set the Virtual Mat to Landscape and select your new custom mat e What s the best image to us
194. ller one Select the flower and the shadow and press S to Stack them together 187 Color Set the mat to Contrast on the Virtual Mat tab Make sure each shape is on its own layer then move the layers up or down so that the center of the flower is on top Change the colors of the two sets of petals and the center Flower Stem Select the Wavy shape and move it away from the other shapes Click on the Rotate 90 degrees icon e ti ig A Click on the shape until you see the red Scale mode icons then elongate the shape by dragging the red icons until it is the size and appearance of the stem you want t Leaf Select the Heart shape and bring it down to the stem Manipulate it until it is the shape and size you want for a leaf Do this by using the different red Scale icons in Scale mode You may also wish to try some of the red warping icons in Warp mode red Quad arrows Place the leaf near the stem Later you will use the Fat Path in the Pen Tool in Node Edit Mode to add a little stem to the main stalk Spiral Note that since this tutorial was written a Spiral tool has been added to MTC Thus refer to Section 8 03 as desired for a quicker method to create the spiral leaf added to the stem 188 The Basic Shape Swirl is an open path single line shape which needs to be converted into the spiral that will be cut out lt also has a few too many turns for the flower Use the Node Edit Tool to de
195. low The red arrows indicate the child shapes inside parent shapes for the letters uy B a and e EAS CAS To avoid this a procedure called stenciling can be used to connect the area outside of the letters to the child shapes essentially eliminating them While there are various ways to do this in MTC the easiest is probably using the Eraser tool In this method a straight line erase at a preset width results in the interior shape being connected to the outside of the letter f The Eraser Tool is the 8 icon on the Node Mode toolbar and can be activated by first opening the Node Edit toolbar a or pressing W and then clicking the icon or pressing F8 Zoom in close on the lettering so that you ll be able to see exactly where you need to erase When you activate the Eraser Tool the following settings will appear at the top of the screen sie 15 mm lt Enter the Size thickness of Leave unchecked gt Inverse Eraser eraser you want to use The Size you enter will normally relate to the height and style of the lettering you are stenciling In this example the word Batteries is typed at a height of 1 inch The eraser Size is set at 1 5 mm but it could be smaller or larger depending on your personal preference Hold down the Ctrl key and the left mouse button and drag the mouse in a straight line where you want to erase A red line is drawn Small horizontal lines u at the top an
196. material you are cutting 21 The 45 blade red cap should be used to cut vinyl paper smooth cardstock Dura lar Mylar iron on transfer vellum The 60 blade blue cap should be used to cut textured cardstock chipboard Grungeboard stiffened felt craft foam rhinestone rubber craft plastic self adhesive magnet styrene Magic Mesh and Shrinky Dink The fabric blade should be used to cut all fabrics and unstiffened felt Set the Blade Length Exposure Correctly Video Note This video applies to all KNK blade holders When setting the blade length exposure hold the blade holder up next to the material before pressing the material to the mat so that you can more accurately set the length to match the thickness of the material For really thin materials like vinyl and paper just the very tip of the blade will be protruding from the bottom of the blade holder In fact you should just barely be able to feel it with your finger and not be able to see it very well if at all A good way to test your blade length is to fold a piece of the material onto itself and then cut a line into the material by hand as shown in the video linked in this section If the blade cannot cut through the material you will need to extend the blade If the blade cuts through the material and cuts into the next layer you need to retract the blade If the blade cuts through the material but does not nor scratch the layer below you have the perfec
197. mple Image x1 0 Resample Image x0 75 Resample Image x0 5 Cat image is too Improved but the cat s All parts are much angular head is still angular smoother now e The Background Color setting becomes usable when there is a transparent or alpha channel in the image you are tracing Such as you will find in some PNG and GIF files The background color will define the semi transparent pixels by blending them with the background color you select Here is a photo of a white car that illustrates this feature e When imported into the Pixel Trace window with default settings in place note the parts of the image that are traced with the default white background selected 97 Visualization Settings Default values Background Color default is white e Next click on the Background Color box and a window will open Select a different color for example red Click on another color from palette TE TT TEO LOTT TITO AMM DTO TEE E a on mana e The parts of the image that will be traced changes Changing the Background Color to red is the only change made e This can be used to identify and trace different parts of an image However with the newer Alpha Palette and Color options available this feature may not ever be something you need 6 03 2 Alpha Trace Method Video Video e Use the Alpha Trace for PNG files with transparent backgrounds alpha channels T
198. mples of how the tools available in MTC can be used in creative ways Designing a Whale by Brigit Mann Begin with the following Basic Shapes OLA Select the Yin Yang resize to about 3 in height Apply the Break function Delete the lower circle and set the right side of the Yin Yang off to the side Make the circle slightly smaller this will be the whale s eye Apply a Join to the left side to recombine the circle to the Yin Yang ae Resize the crescent and rotate and put it partially on the whale body where the mouth would be Select both pieces and apply Boolean Join selecting B A Difference Unlock the Aspect Ratio and resize the tear to 2 5 W x 0 8 H Select and click on the Bezier Warp tool Under Size and Position slide the left and right to about 37 183 Rotate the tail to line up with and overlap the whale body Apply the Weld tool T Lock the Aspect Ratio and resize the triangle size to about 1 1 Insert nodes on each side as shown Then drag top node to the left Insert a node about Insert a node Dragtop _ 1 3 of the way from gt about 1 of the tie to the top of path way from top a of path Curve paths outwards to form fin Drag o curve Drag Fin is curve formed gt Rotate the fin overlap onto the whale s body and apply the Weld tool Resize the other Yin Yang section to a width of 1 Using the Knife tool slice in the middle and delete the top
199. mselves using this as a guide amp KNK ie ow TA AA X Axis 1018 545 DPI Default 1016 DPI Y Axis 1013 466 DPI Default 1016 DPI Resolution Calibration Increase X Axis slightly to make images cut a bit wider Decrease X Axis slightly to make images cut a bit narrower Increase Y Axis slightly to make images cut a bit taller Decrease Y Axis slightly to make images You may adjust the resolution of your cutter by simply altering the above values Y lop Seca cut a bit shorter If your machine s output is larger than you expect then adjust the values to a slightly smaller value If the output is smaller than you expect then adjust the values to a slighly larger value Click the wrench icon in the upper right for a handy Calibration Calculator Click on OK to accept these values or new values you manually enter 33 Settings Form for Cutting Materials Material Brand or Blade H 2009 2013 Sandy McCauley All Rights Reserved 34 Suggested Cut Settings for Various Materials on ACS 24UHF These settings should be used for the initial test cut Adjustments may be necessary based on the condition of the blade variations in the material humidity condition of the cutting mat etc ee T Source Passes E to Mat AFA Cardstock Bazzill 115 15 200 ma Joms E A E Craft Plastic Plastic Grafix 0 007 Blue 300 illo el el ii ralla Feer T PET G ree cad
200. n link to related collections and of course purchase this collection 4 08 Importing Raster Files JPG BMP PNG etc If the selected file format is a raster e g JPG BMP TIF PNG or GIF then the Pixel Trace option is used to import the graphic and vectorize selected portions or all of the shape Refer to Chapter 6 Tracing Raster images may also be copied and pasted into the Pixel Trace window directly from Windows Explorer If the raster file is only going to be used to fill a shape with the image also referred to as adding a Texture then refer to Section 3 14 4 09 Accessing the Export Options One can export a selected shape or group of shapes in any of the following ways o Go to File gt Export and select from one of the available export options o Right click on the screen and select Export Right click on the project tab on the Tab Bar and select Export from the menu This is the same as going to File gt Export o Use any one of three shortcut keys to bring up the available Export choices Refer to the following screenshot Exports selected shape to the yy Sel To Basic Shapes Ctrl Shift L Your Shapes category d Basic Sha es Sel as SVG To MTC Gallery Ctrl Shift W under pes Project To MTC Gallery gt Allows user to upload selected shape he online MT ller Export in one of Sel To SVG File Ctrl Shift S eG C Gallery the common vector Sel To Vector PDF File standard formats Sel To EPS AI File Sel To
201. n all of the shade of pink Trace setings M Resample Image x1 0 None 7 1 Despeck 2 Click once on each pink box to mark it If you inadvertently click on a color box you do not wish to include click again to deselect it Pixel Alpha Palette 9 Median Cut Octree o ul SEE E 101 you will see the shape of the tracing at the location of the Use Despeck to eliminate tiny unwanted paths and Resample Image to sharpen details or provide more curves to the image Also click on Apply Changes as you change settings so that you can see the effect of each change Now the parts selected to be traced will be outlined in blue and filled with green just as we saw with the Pixel method MOTELES Alpha 127 Zoom 188 Show Nodes In the main sereen e Resample as needed Trace setings Resample Image 4 Despeck 13 Use Despeck Color Color Scans if needed Pixel Alpha Palette 9 Median Cut Octree oe e All of the pinks have been marked Scale 100 A blue outline and green fill Texturize Path mark those parts that are DiBedout Path colored the same as the pinks File Pink Flower jpg Nodes 104 selected Se ae sateen n i Print Dimensions 1 94 x2 39 ODA Note that Despeck and Resample Image can be used respectively to remove tiny unwanted traced specks and to sharper or so
202. n and this step not needed Refer to the table at the end of Chapter 2 for cut settings and the table at the end of this chapter for scoring settings 224 Suggested ACS 24UHF Settings for Various Accessories Important Remember to turn Blade Offset back on after using accessory tools and before cutting with your blade again O Maed da Force ENE es eating Sece Sure Other Comments Ns ld tee ee id dl O Ed 36g AL Taped to mat REE idad Craft Tape craft foam to mat foam lisa A bia Badi Craft Tape craft foam to mat 100 foam Vellum Engraving 1 5 500 1 Craft Tape craft foam to mat foam Heavy na ae all Fa nn craft foam to mat Vellum Fa Thin Bad Craft hiaan craft foam to mat Smooth foam Cardstock Thin Embossing 140 Craft 2 contours 0 01 Smooth foam Cardstock CTMH Pesada Ml Craft 2 contours 0 01 Cardstock foam Paper nd ln Craft Used dash line 0 01 dash 0 25 foam space 2009 2013 Sandy McCauley All Rights Reserved 225 Settings Form for Accessory Tools Application Material Speed Other Comments 22 O Appendix A Key Board Shortcuts Shortcut Icon Description Menu Other Location Open a new file project File gt New or Tab bar Open an existing mtc file project File gt Open Print File gt Print ndo last action Redo last action Edit gt Undo Edit gt Redo Go to next window project Top left icon in Menu Bar Go to next project project Wind
203. n click on Begin a Setup Material ax Atleast 9 18 x 6 41 of materalis needed Please make sure the i Alignment Laser is placed on the upper righthand corner of your Rolled Material material refer to the blinking Fixed Length 11 00 in yellow dot e The laser or alignment pin should automatically move to within a very short distance of the first registration mark The following window will open 198 This dot will be flashing red Select step size for each arrow key movement Click on arrows to move the laser light or pin Or use the arrows on the keyboard Click on Center button or press Enter key on keyboard after you have moved the laser or pin to the corner on the reg mark e Make sure the laser has moved to within an inch or less of the registration mark indicated by the flashing red dot shown above Note this will be the upper right reg mark as you are facing the ACS 24UHF since your printed arrow should be pointing to the right as shown on the previous page If not you ll want to review the steps you ve used so far to make sure you have all of the same settings shown and you have your printout on the mat in the same orientation as shown previously e The next step is to move the laser dot so that it is precisely at the corner of the printed registration mark Use the arrow keys in the software or use the arrow keys on your keyboard You will notice that the intensity of the laser light
204. n o aNd te acca lene ea alas 59 WAIN ESE RN T A 60 314 GEHANGING COLOR TEXTURE AND LINE STYLE iniii anaran iii 60 A A E A a 60 CANON TOXO Zan RO 61 AMO EX ooo E E EE EEEE EEE EN 63 Changing LINES ME a O Ae erg et er eee eee re 63 SO OTHERGHAPE MANIPULATION Sranan teas oaks vst vga trnc sis eatteetve nc nctiezateu ative a naan do 63 A Sa lhl ana ls hota ae ceca a en et as decal hada Ds Sehr 63 Cener AUG IG cheat seater a 64 A oo y A ee 64 EQS AAN AN aia 65 A Oe TE Te Pe ee ete ne 66 KOE ialo Rlal 0 0 16 permeameter ere rey onrer ern mmr aerner rer ee meter renee meer ret Sr eer ence een anr Tetncthy oma ern mer Ct n ree Heat ne rer re Stren e 66 AINPORTING ANDEXPORTIN O nata 68 MAC CES SINCE IMPORT OPTIONS runnur hareetan ea A a AA rta 68 4 02 IMPORTING FROM THE ONLINE MTC GALERA arca alada ide ate 68 4 03 IMPORTING SVG SVGZ FROM YOUR COMPUTER c ccccecessescescecccceccecceceecsecsesaesaecaecaesecsecseseesaesarsaccacsecsessesaesaesaesaesatseteassutansaneaesareaees 69 OG AIMPOR TIN GUA Mh EPS PS PDE ana A nas Sacto detenna da nase eonSpa nS 70 4 OS IMPORTING SCUT SGUTZ AVEC GSD paraba 71 AS IMPORTING TTF EAN TES id 71 4 07 IMPORTING FROM LETTERING DEN Said 71 AOS IMPORTING RASTER FILES JPG BMP PNG Edd 73 MUO ACCESSING VRE EXPORT OPTION Sinica aca fo A OEP Oeil NG Oca NO 13 AMEX POR TNC TOMTO GALLER rara 14 Ao PORTING A N as needs catia nt ini 14 78 oa ey 4210 UL Ef cat al pity ORO oa 79 A ONE E O E E ECO O A A 15 4 15 USING WINDOWS
205. n on your paper Make sure you have plenty of room to draw the square Click on the Cut Project With icon or go to Cut Project With gt Klic N Kut Series File Edit Cut Project With View Window Help i Hal 1A A Aa QRO e MICProject2 iP E Defaut Page E New Page 3 hehehehe shisha ligase ua MTCProject 1 Cut Project With icon W Have the ACS 24HUF draw the square Then take a ruler and carefully measure the two sides Click on the Cut Project With icon again and click on a tiny wrench icon next to the Klic N Kut Model menu Click on small wrench icon here A EA Serial A COM USB Serial Port Baud Rate 57 600 A window will open Click on the Resolution tab and then click on another small wrench icon 32 Click on Resolution Calibration tab Click on small wrench icon here s DPI Default 1016 DPT 1016 DPI Default 1016 DPI You may adjust the resolution of your cutter by simply altering the above values If your machine s output is larger than you expect then adjust the values to a slightly smaller value If the output is smaller than you expect then adjust the values to a slighly larger value Click the wrench icon in the upper right for a handy Calibration Calculator This window now opens Enter the dimensions on the screen 200 and 200 and then enter the measured width and height Note the Width is the left to right dimension as you
206. n the Enter instructions your name copyright Terms of Use credits names of Notes tab fonts anything you want to remember or to share with those who will be using your file Enter the text here Click here to change evn ee ang setFont and Color 5 an olor the color size and style seront of the text If you choose your own font and then share the file with someone else the Notes will only show up in that font if the recipient has that same font installed on his her computer Otherwise the Notes will show up ina system default font such as Arial The Files tab can be used to attach files to your project file For example you might want to attach a photograph of your completed project or a PDF tutorial or another MTC file that is associated with this one Any file can be attached Click on the Files tab 2Sgojes Notes ld oman Notes Files i List of files which have EEE o amaaa az ize of each file which has i 8 Judy s Original Cupcake Wrapper Template mtc 1 96 KB been added to this project arto cierne pa a Deen added to this project E Judy s Cupcake Designing Tutorial pdf 160 14KB Click on the Add Files to browse your computer and select files to attach p If you have any information entered into your Notes window or a file attached then it will automatically open when the file is opened by you or someone else However as
207. name current page gt Rename Duplicate lt Duplicate current page see below Cut Options to Cut Copy and Paste pages to a different Copy location on the Page Bar Paste Merge Paste lt _ Paste all shapes from Cut page into Make shapes on current current page page Visible on other pages Visible Delete Delete current page e When you select the Duplicate option it will make a copy of the current page giving it the same name with an asterisk added The new duplicated page will be located to the immediate right of the original Duplicate page is inserted here and has an by name Right click and select Duplicate O BowPage La Status Bar e The Status Bar at the bottom of the screen provides different sets of information depending on where your mouse cursor is positioned o If you have your cursor on the main open part of the screen the Status Bar shows the location of the mouse cursor the location and size of the Caret and which Scroll Locks are currently activated Current location of Current Location Current Height This indicates Cap Lock Num Lock mouse cursor of Caret of Caret and Scroll Lock are all currently on Position 0 83 x12 26 Caret 7 88 x 10 20 Size 1 00 CAP NUM SCRL Left Side of Status Bar Right Side of Status Bar If you hover your mouse over one of the icons on a bar or toolbar or
208. nced gt Advanced Settings Under Undo Redo Buffer Size check the box next to Limit Undo Redo Size Undo Redo Buffer Size Check this box 7 Limit Undo Redo Size gt Upon checking this box the following window will open E h g Mmt Undo Size x nter the maximum number D Bit of Undo steps to be stored g E lt Click on Set Enter the number zero for unlimited undos or O for unlimited iit gt Enter the maximum number of steps to be saved You will then need to save any current files and close reopen them for the change to take effect gt If you wish to change this setting you will need to uncheck the Limit Undo Redo Size box and then check it again to bring up the settings window Redo e As with most Windows applications there is also a Redo function in case you Undo too many steps or simply change your mind You can use any of the following to execute the Redo function Click on the Redo icon on the File Toolbar 3 o Press Ctrl Y o Goto Edit gt Redo 3 12 Layer Bar Part 1 Video Part 2 Video Part 3 Video e The Layer Bar or Layer Properties Bar is used to assign or group shapes into separate layers to better organize your file more easily apply changes to a group of shapes select one shape or a layer of shapes on the screen and to control what is sent to the cutter or printer This bar can be turned on and off under View on the Menu Bar Most likely you will want to have this bar sh
209. nd Preview of shadow select units in cm or mm Generate Shadow Layer Shadow Width 1116 lin Corner Join Mitered 7 Select Corner Join type and Miter Limit if type is Mitered Miter Limit 5 0 Options Blacked Out V Auto Simplify Output Accept Optional Blackout and Auto Simplify settings Click on Accept when done e The Shadow Width can be entered as a fraction 1 4 Ya etc or as a number 1 0 2 0 03 etc Next to the input window is a drop down menu for the units of measurement with the option of selecting in cm or mm e Note that the shadows on the three stars will automatically weld together to form one single outline shadow and this shadow will be placed on its own layer on the Layer Bar This layer can then be re colored from black to another color as desired Blackout Option e The Blackout Option can be toggled on and off to either apply the shadow to interior paths or to black out the shadow and only have a single outset 160 Blackout not applied JR IB Blackout applied Corner Join Option The Corner Join controls the style or shape of the shadow at the corners There are three choices Observe how the shadow fits the serif of the letter Mitered Beveled Rounded e The Miter Limit affects how far the shadow layer extends at the corners TRA TS TRS TS TS Inset Shadow e AnInset Sh
210. nd cap options Here are a few examples nn Fete N a a bro a m J d a 7 12 Draw Bezier Curves and Straight Lines Pen Tool e The Draw B zier Curves and Straight Lines function Pen Tool is the 4 icon Eo on the Node Mode Toolbar and can be activated by clicking the icon or by pressing F4 Use this tool to draw new paths It can be a bit tricky to master but just like with many good things practice makes perfect Drawing Straight Lines e o draw a single straight line use your mouse to left click once where you want to start the line and then right click where you want to end the line Each click produces a node Y e Bonar ener ener nen enn nanan nnn Left click once Move cursor to where you want Right click to end drawing of the line to begin to finish the line e f you wish to continue drawing a connecting straight line path then instead of right clicking to end keep left clicking At any point you can right click to add the last node and end the drawing of straight lines TR A YN N gt gt Left click to start and left Move to 3 location and left Move to 4 location and left click again click at 2 location click again ON O Fa ae y einen eee Move to 5 location and left click again If you are finished drawing right click to end e On the other hand if you are creating a closed path then just as the mouse cursor approaches the starting node the shape will fil
211. nd fill with color assuming Fill is turned on A A Drawing Thick Lines A e To draw a line that is set to a particular thickness mark the Fat Path box and enter settings for thickness and Line Cap style Enter a Width Choose from seven Check Fat Path box thickness of the line styles of caps Smoothing 60 Fat Path Precision 36 Width 5 mm Dash Style Solid w Line Cap Flat Line Cap End Flat w Force Closed Super Smooth e When you freely draw with Fat Path selected the line will be the thickness you selected Note that when you cross the path the overlap will be automatically removed Also note the differences in the three Line Cap options Line is now Flat Round Triangle 5 mm thick gt 1 Gums C Arrow Anchor Square Anchor Round Anchor Diamond Anchor e Note that if a Fat Path crosses itself the overlap will be removed Overlaps automatically removed Drawing with Other Line Styles e The Freehand Drawing Tool offers other line styles besides solid lines including dashes circles and combinations of the two 144 Choose from Solid Dash Dot Dash Dot or Dash Dot Dot Smoothing 560 Fat Path Predsion 26 Width a mm Dash Style Solid Line Cap Flat Line Cap End Flat kd Force Closed Super Smooth e There are five Dash Style options to produce even more designing capability especially when then combined with the seven different start and e
212. nd removed from o After the hole is cut in the chipboard do not lift the pinch wheel levers This is important You can go offline and use the up down arrows to move the mat so that the cut circle can be removed Then the actual dog tag is placed inside the cut hole Tape is used to secure the tag o The blade holder is replaced with the engraving tool Then press the Online button so that the blade holder will return to the same origin that was used to cut the chipboard Blade Offset is turned off anda Force of 140 and 3 Multicut passes are set The letter is engraved in the same location on the tag as was designed on the Virtual Mat 10 10 Using the Punch Tool The Maxx drop in Punch Tool or Zing Punch Tool can be used for creating decorative designs such as pergamano and other parchment arts or for creating small holes for paper embroidery To protect the mat and the thin punch it is recommended that a thick soft material be used as a cushion between the paper cardstock and the cutting mat Suggested materials that will work well include non slip shelf liner craft foam and stiffened felt The same basic principles apply to punching as in embossing and scoring o You will probably need to use the WYSIWYG cut mode o You will need to turn off the Blade Offset setting o You will possibly need to use multiple passes to get the desired results Refer to the Suggested Settings table at the end of this chapter or force and speed setti
213. ndicates the Two dots indicate the gt file has only 1 page file has two pages ur Wide band along the sides Wide band at the top and eae ae eee al gt W Em bottom indicates the file firme indicates the file is in Bind Sa uo IS in Portrait mode Rhinestone_KissMeT mirish_SKM mtc Landscape mode Max and Jay mtc e For files with multiple pages you will be able to preview thumbnails of each page First locate and click on the Show the Preview Pane icon to open the rightmost pane in Windows Then use the Next Page and Previous Page buttons to navigate through the file 45 2 Pages Mat Size 12 001200 2 Pages Max amp Jay Default Page New Page Click on the these buttons to see other page Nert Page gt gt a thumbnails within the fie lt Previous Fage e Zipped files will not show thumbnails of the file contents Thus you will need to extract zipped files first in order to have these thumbnails e Hidden layers will not appear in the thumbnails So before saving your files you may wish to make all layers visible Refer to Section 3 12 3 07 Saving MTC Files e A file can be saved in MTC format by using any of the following Click on the Save icon on the File toolbar A o Right click on the project tab on the Tab bar and select Save or Save As from the menu o Press Ctrl S Go to File gt Save or File gt Save As e If you ve made changes and wish to save under a different file name
214. need In this example two hearts will be cut from a title First type the word MOM using the font of your choice Make sure to have No Splitting selected in the Add Text Group window By doing this the text will be a single shape Then import one of the hearts from the Basic Shapes library resize and duplicate to create the design you want to make Ye YO lt Arrange hearts as desired over the text 164 Make a third copy of the heart and set aside After arranging the first two hearts on top of the text select them both and apply a Join Ctrl J so that they will now be one shape Thus you now have just two shapes for the Boolean Join the text and the joined hearts Two bounding boxes The text forms one shape The two Y hd thus two shapes hearts are now the second shape Marquee select the two shapes and go to the Boolean Join menu Ctrl U Select the second option B A Difference Note that if the hearts had been behind the title positioned in a lower layer than the title then the A B Difference would have given the desired result MO Select the heart you set aside and decrease in size to fit inside the cut area of the title so that a little white border surrounds the heart Note that with some shapes you might need to use the Inset Shadow function presented in Section 8 05 Heart shapes are cut from text lt lt and the text changes to the color of the hearts Make a duplicate
215. ng etc of those shapes Also any shapes that are hidden will not be sent to your cutter or to your printer e Change the order of layers using the arrow icons Move Layer Down vy and Move Layer Up at Shapes assigned to a higher layer will appear to be on top of the shapes assigned to a lower layer This is a useful feature for displaying how a paper piecing project will look when completed e Lock and unlock layers by clicking on the lock icon Lock Layer a and Unlock Layer Lall A locked layer prevents the shapes in that layer from inadvertently being moved or resized It also allows the shape to be displayed without an outer bounding box e Change the Color Texture and or Line Style for all shapes assigned to a particular layer by clicking on the color palette icon Set Color for All Shapes e Delete a layer and all shapes assigned to that particular layer by clicking on the Delete Layer icon x 96 e Individual shapes are also assigned to their own layers within a layer Notice below how the words KNK and Zing are individual layers within the Default Layer which displays both words together Some of the same functions used for layers are available to be applied to the individual shapes within a layer Layers K Zig S Move Shape Down Change Shape Color also Texture and Line Style Cy BE RIENI Click on thumbnail to SeanSprout DNA select this shape x Move Shape Up Delete Sh
216. ng Edit Paths at Node Level Node Edit OI A A A A A aie Geeta ates 152 Using the Drag Freeland mes Penei Too cts o o tt o ad ll Past tear 153 Using the Draw Bezier Curves and Straight NS sausdsaileuslusibin tia ienee i cesaun hous leas deebusuceencaeuieuelen 153 DENIA do ed do 154 8 01 WHERE DO START WITH LEARNING TO DESIGN ccccccccccecsecssecssecssecsuecsuecsueceusceusceusceusceusesusceuscaussuscausesusesusesuseseseueveueseneseneseneses 154 8 02 ADD BASIC SHAPES BASIC SHAPES TOOL ccscssscssssssssssesesesescscsvesesssessssssscsvssasesesesessasssssssavasasesesessasasssssasasasaseseseneasacasseacaavasasees 154 8 03 CREATE SPIRALS SPIRAL TOOL i stustsdrtsrcaalssdscdanendsninsitbdasictiinseidicaces ts inanpcuettbcecdctllndadets idaaderguendedandadietidedendedsedeotet dedaeeiobdeacadiedendidtad 155 8 04 CREATE STARS AND POLYGONS STAR amp POLYGON TOOL ii 156 A i Sea ha ne eh ih lnc Dia ett Mladen cal nani eae te hahah authal naan sre aed abe icbisienined Gage ieee nace 157 ONC 0 emer recent er ere nner men tren AAA NE tn a EN NA 158 SD SPI WA VERS tdo 160 A erate nate ead olen sleln tdisaat eieciaA ety iad a sakeoe eae Morais otc Saati 160 Blackout ODOM os Irs ia Pa D8 a EE IED ESS N I al le Sag Aaa dae a tak a te ase Re oa 160 CONG ISON OD HON Faroese SESA 161 AS aL Lo ee O E An OA teeta ne ee ii ere ee A 161 DO WED TO atlas 162 DOS a B WOON knees clade panna ose ese ne ig dg ncn E I caacnd cues Gpcntenlevieats 162 Besima es BOGET
217. ng or drawing images or it could be printed onto the paper cardstock after the images are stamped or drawn or one could even use a rectangular object to hand draw the boundaries of the rectangle The important thing is for the corners to be precise right angles Once you have the rectangle on the page scan the image into MTC and Pixel Trace Then rotate the shapes as needed so that the lines of the rectangle are perfectly aligned with the grid on the Virtual Mat In other words make sure the horizontal lines of the rectangle are perfectly horizontal and the vertical lines of the rectangle are perfectly vertical Perform the PNC process as usual The corners of the rectangle serve as the registration marks 209 10 Applications 10 01 Cardstock and Paper Selecting Cardstock White core cardstock does not yield the same cutting quality as solid color core cardstocks You may wish to reserve those for embossing or other paper crafting needs Some cardstock brands or types simply do not cut well Use those for something else besides cutting intricate shapes Other cardstock such as Bazzill Smoothies Worldwin Cutmates Colormates and Michael s Recollections cut beautifully If a textured cardstock cuts poorly try flipping it over and placing the textured side face down Remember to mirror the shapes before cutting as needed e g text If your cardstock has been exposed to humidity then dry the cardstock for about 15 30 minutes
218. ng video shows the embossing tool being used to emboss a design onto metal Even though this video was made using the Zing the same method will apply Video 10 09 Engraving 220 There is a drop in Engraving Tip for the original silver blade holder or the ACS 24UHF blade holder or you can use the Zing Engraving tool in the ACS 24UHF The same basic guidelines apply to engraving as in embossing and scoring o You will probably need to use the WYSIWYG cut mode o You will need to turn off the Blade Offset setting for engraving o You will probably need to use multiple passes to get the desired results On softer metals you may not want the engraving tip too far above the metal as it can leave a pock mark when it drops to start engraving If possible test on scraps first Refer to the Suggested Settings table at the end of this chapter or force and speed settings on various materials Note that you can engrave on materials that cannot be cut on the ACS 24UHF such as jewelry charms dog tags and trophy plates The open path fonts available in MTC should work well for engraving They contain single path lines and curves versus outlines and are usually more desirable when engraving letters Refer to Section 5 11 Project Engraving a Dog Tag When engraving items that are already cut Such as the items listed previously it can sometimes be tricky getting the perfect alignment you need Here s a method that works well thank you to Mi
219. ngs on various materials To design a punch pattern use the Rhinestone function presented in Section 8 12 however select the smallest size available from the drop down menu This will create holes suitable in size for paper embroidery After clicking on Accept you may need to apply a Break in order to respace and tweak your overall design If the circle sizes from the Rhinestone function produce holes that are larger than what you desire then repeat the design process but first make your overall design twice as large as you plan to use In the Rhinestone function window again select the smallest size but double the spacing Then after clicking on Accept reduce the overall design by half Your holes will now cut at half the size of the first design you created As with the other tools testing is necessary to get the perfect settings for the particular material you are punching Don t forget to set the punch tip height higher just as you do with the blade holder in order to get more force invoked 222 10 11 Cake Decorating Video Video Here are some ways to use the ACS 24UHF in cake decorating thank you to Rebecca Stewart for providing most of the following info in this section Cupcake wrappers refer to Section 8 10 Icing sheets both regular and print and cut Stencils for airorushing cakes Fondant gum paste Sugar Veil cut shapes Oo gt gt gt o Templates from thin chipboard to use as patterns when cutting t
220. ning to the right lower corner where you set the origin you You may click OK once the tool carriage returns home and is no longer moving will need to download an earlier version of the KNK plugin Please refer to the Resources tab at www knkusa com 4 e Once you click on OK the data will be sent and the arrow will be cut out Adjusting the Laser Offset e After the print and cut is completed examine how the cut lines were made relative to the printed lines If the offset is large enough use a mm ruler to measure If the offset is very small then just estimating will be fine as you refine your calibration e Inthe following diagram the red lines represent the cut lines and the black lines represent the printed lines Use this diagram to determine whether your Offset values need to raised or lowered for your laser If the red cut line is If the red cut line is If the red cut line is left If the red cut line is right below the black print above the black print of the black print line of the black print line line then decrease the line then increase the then increase the then decrease the value value of X value of X value of Y Note Y is of Y Note Yis a a negative number negative number Red line is lower than Red line is higher than Red line is left of black line Red line is 1mm right of black line change X black line change X change Y from 28 0 to black line change Y from from 15 0 to 14 0 fr
221. noise caused by idling between 2 veins on the encoder but shouldn t be of concern to the user 233 Cutting Drawing Issues am getting large diagonal lines sliced through all of my cuts e Your Make The Cut software is still in trial mode You need to register your copy of MTC using the activation pin that came on the software CD Here is the link https www make the cut com Register aspx My shapes are drawing off the material What am doing wrong e lf you are using Knife Point make sure you are setting the origin based on the position of the test pen or blade holder not the laser light The laser light is used for WYSIWYG mode e Check whether your Virtual Mat is in Portrait or Landscape mode This will change whether your image appears the same way you see it on the screen or rotated 90 degrees relative to the screen e Details on these various settings are covered in Section 2 07 When drawing with the test pen have extra lines being drawn e Make sure you raise the pen in the blade holder seat on the ACS 24UHF before tightening the front screw The blade holder seat needs to be able to drop the pen down when it reaches the spot to draw the shape Otherwise the pen tip will be dragging across the paper from the origin to where the shape will begin to be drawn and then back to the origin at the end of the cut lm drawing with the test pen and there are bubbles at the corners e For perfect corners turn off Bl
222. ns Default Pixel ae a Q i Poe se Palette Trace settings of the shape el sia when image is can be Threshold 127 E first imported viewed Background Color L oo i Scale 100 en De Son es SA lai Texturize Path i i O gt TA y Ss Blackout Path This might be exactly what do e Nodes 3732 mensa ie Apply Changes you want for a vinyl cut e o AS Print Dimensions Saran Sea 0 24 0 29 Cancel e As indicated in the screenshot the tracing could be used for vinyl cutting since vinyl is applied using transfer tape However let s say this is going to be a print and cut application in which the leopard will be printed onto paper and then the outside border cut out What is needed is a single contour line around the leopard By experimenting with the Threshold it is found that a setting of 240 is needed to obtain a smooth outline around the image Additionally either a Despeck of 18 or marking Blackout Path was needed to remove tiny paths traced inside the animal 99 Resolution DPI Print Dimensions 5 21 x6 21 SUdiization mgs gt Alpha 127 Zoom 72 F Show Nodes Trace settings M Resample Image x1 0 None Despeck 2 l Pixel Threshold is O rra increased to 240 C By Average Threshold 240 bal Background Color i mport mgs i Scale 100 E Texturize Path Blackout Path is paa icant rah marked to
223. nsure firm and even adhesion Brayering again after the cut can aid in weeding the waste from the cut shapes Troubleshooting The following list presents the various causes of tearing o Too much blade is exposed If you see that the blade is cutting into your mat shorten the blade exposure You should only be cutting through the material itself and then maybe grazing the adhesive layer on the mat o The blade is chipped Try a different blade o The paper is not adhered well to the mat Make sure the mat is clean sticky and the paper is pressed smoothly and evenly on the surface o You may be using too much cutting force Try reducing it and doing test cuts o You may have too many nodes in the shape Refer to Section 7 02 o Ifthe cardstock has been exposed to humidity then the moisture in the material can make it difficult to cut cleanly Try drying the cardstock 210 o The material itself may be subject to tearing especially on intricate cuts Try a different cardstock If the cardstock has spots that didn t completely cut o Try increasing the blade tip height not exposure and or the cutting force and verify the cardstock is will adhered to the mat Also some cardstock brands require two passes so reduce the cutting force and set Multi Cut to 2 passes o To save the cut flip the entire sheet over and use sandpaper to sand the spots where the cuts didn t complete You should be able to sand down to where the b
224. nyl and the hard surface will make weeding much easier with less likelihood of small shapes coming loose To transfer vinyl to a wall or window or other surface apply transfer tape across the vinyl repeating rows of tape to completely cover the shapes At the top have one layer of tape with just the bottom half covering the vinyl so that the top half can be pressed to the wall and used as a hinge Once you have the vinyl aligned as desired flip up leaving that top piece of tape adhered hinged to the wall Remove the backing sheet from the vinyl Then carefully bring the vinyl back down and begin pressing to the wall smoothly and evenly Use an old credit card or plastic scraper to smooth out wrinkles and get better adhesion Gently peel away the transfer tape from the top and press again with the credit card or scraper 10 04 Fabric and Felt Move Injo Mone Ino It is highly recommend that the KNK Fabric Blade be used when cutting fabric and felt It is designed to give sharper cutting in tight corners and points When cutting with the fabric blade it is not necessary to apply a stabilizer to all fabrics While some thicker fabrics will cut much better with an iron on stabilizer such as Steam a Seam 2 or Thermo Web s Heat n Bond others will still yield good results when cut without it Some users also prefer to iron their fabrics to freezer paper before cutting With or without a stabilizer it is highly recommended that a clean and sti
225. o be easy and which ones are not Note that you shouldn t be discouraged from trying to trace anything But when you are learning the process working with easier images will make the learning stage go smoother So here are a few guidelines in selecting images o Black and white images are easier to vectorize than colored images o Colored images with flat colors are easier to trace than those with variegated colors o Large high resolution images are easier to trace than tiny low resolution images Images with tiny details will be more difficult to trace than simpler images with fewer details o Photographs are usually the most difficult to trace especially when some of the colors blend such as the brown dog on the brown carpet mentioned earlier e For your own personal use there are many images that can be found on the Internet Use Google Images to search and find images based on keywords Google Images also has filters at the top of the window under Search Tools to limit your search to black and white as well as to clipart or line drawings Use these filters 6 03 Pixel Trace Intro Video Tracing for a PNC Video Trace and Edit Example Video e To begin the Pixel Trace process it is recommended that you first double click near the top left part of the Virtual Mat This will plant the Caret at that location and as you play with the trace settings you ll be able to see the results of the current selected settings e The next step
226. o switch to the Alpha Trace method click on the tab named Alpha and following will appear 98 EE Resample Image and Resample Image x1 0 None Despeck will be used 7 Despeck 2 just as they were in Pixel Trace Click on the Alpha tab Alpha Threshold will be used just as it was in Pixel Trace but probably won t require as much change Alpha Threshold Es e Use the Alpha Threshold in the same way that the Threshold was applied in the Pixel Trace method You will most likely discover that less adjustment is required Both Despeck and Resample Image settings also apply in the same way e Inthis example we are importing a PNG image of a leopard Before importing make the following changes on the Virtual Mat tab of the Main Bar These two changes will allow the image you trace to appear in full color on the main screen after tracing gt Contrast Al Landscape A Fill Outline EJ Show Cirdes Show Margins e Before using the Alpha Trace feature note how the leopard appears when the default settings in the Pixel tab are applied Also note that if you first double click in the top left part of the screen you can plant the Caret in a location where you can see a clearer preview of shape that will be produced with those settings Caret placed here before going to Pixel Resample Image x1 0 None Despeck 2 Se Color Color Sca
227. oa rere rt nertarr ners Ter ree tcr rector ett Rr eenrr tert Ret arr eer SU eter ea tee c rrr nt Renrary ren nT eer ener erent rr ner reer ene renee ete 162 DESMANES ii AAA AAA AAA 163 TOF BOOFAN JOIN ando bass 164 Cuming ONG NA NONANO hes sec che Sot rea E cau eds een 164 S08 RAP OBJECTS TORA tii ni 165 6 087 Designing O asses aeialeeae na een 165 ANA A cece ceases 166 BOG OLIVE EOI WIMOOW iinan ER nat AAA AAA did 169 OO AUTO A PONT WAR ias 170 OU SGONIGAL WARP atra 173 TOTAN AAN E A ata tae 173 A r E A E EE A O E E austen tisk 174 A E A 174 0 12 RAINESTONE DESIGN iran A 175 A neo A In O 176 PIO SUOMI Medi On cast ath aa dat vast Na aleleda gia Ms fan tessastu tah ateaidneastn ate atatiiala quays nieaiac aati idan sastnanvatetinia assented canes 177 Adgitonal OSO Rhinestone Designing NA A A A AA AAA ads lesa AAN 177 8 Fo TE URE SNAPE aia cid 178 Creatim Gradient e 179 AMES WU aaa oa 180 ASIN TES MANDO A a 181 OE SIGN SONES TUTORIALS arca ao ccna Vciandina doa Sian 183 Designing a WAS OBAMA Ni AAA AAA AAA AAA AAA AAA AAA 183 DOS a FIOWSr py Lay paa oci N 185 PRINTING A A a a Ne Oa 191 COU WHAT IS ACPRINTAND CUT PING eeir A E AN 191 OZ VV IAT ASAIN GALI BRATION aa A E A 191 9 03 PNC PROCEDURE PART 1 SETTING UP AND PRINTING cc cccccscccsssssssesssessseessessseessesseesseessessseesseesnssnesanssanesanesanesanesenesenssenesensaes 192 Landscape Mode ODUOM A O O youl ences se accent tnett rena atnea tt uaa o tat cect enuses taeiale
228. of Version 4 2 0 you can turn off this feature by going to Help gt Advanced gt Advanced Settings and unchecking the box next to Enable Automatic Notes under Enable Notes View Uncheck to turn off automatic PSE eee display of Notes upon Opening AN prin n Enable Automatic Notes MTC with notes D P Enable Automatic Notes If you open an MTC project file from someone who has attached one or more files in the Notes window you can try double clicking the file name to automatically open that file With some file formats such as PDF you will need to save the file to your computer and open it outside of MTC To save an attached file click on the file name and then click on the Save File button to open a window where you can browse your computer to locate a folder for saving that file 182 wx Project Notes m Notes Files Name Size To save a file first a Judy s Original Cupcake Wrapper Template mtc 1 96 KB highlight the name by HA BirthdayCupcakeWrapper jpg 79 89 KB clicking once Then click on Save File to save the highlighted file to ez a location of your choice on Save File your computer 8 16 Design Contest Tutorials In October 2011 a contest was sponsored by KNK USA The challenge was to take existing designs or shapes and transform them into new shapes using various functions in MTC The following tutorials are from the two winning entries and are excellent exa
229. of around 60 70 o For computer paper and foil set the pressure setting to around 30 50 o For vellum and heavier paper like the more expensive patterned papers used in scrapbooking set the pressure setting to around 55 75 However heavier vellum may require more pressure o For lighter cardstocks try a pressure setting of around 60 85 o For heavier cardstocks like Bazzill and Club Scrap pressures can range from 75 120 Some Bazzill weaves may require multi pass to completely cut the cardstock This is not a function of pressure rather a function of the inconsistency in the cardstock itself Note that humidity can cause cardstock to absorb moisture and become difficult to cut o For the green rhinestone template material use a pressure setting of 75 and 2 passes o For very thin chipboard try a pressure setting of around 100 120 As with the heavier cardstocks humidity can play a factor and multi cut may be necessary o For thicker chipboard the pressure setting will need to be anywhere from 120 200 and multiple passes will be necessary to completely cut through the material More specific settings are available at the end of this chapter For detailed information on cutting various materials refer to Chapter 10 2 04 Speed The speed or velocity is how fast the blade is travelling while cutting On your ACS 24UHF it ranges from 50 mm sec to 600 mm sec With the cutter in Online mode press the top and bo
230. of the smaller heart and arrange inside the other cut area Recolor the original MOM text to pink refer to Section 3 14 8 08 Wrap Objects to Path Wrap Objects to Path can be used to align repeats of a shape along the path of another shape To open the Wrap Objects to Path window select the smaller shape hold the Ctrl key and drag this shape into the middle of the larger shape As soon as you see the mouse cursor change release the left mouse button before releasing the Ctrl key 8 08 1 Designing a Scalloped Oval Video Import a circle from Basic Shapes and resize to create an oval Then also import or open any design In this design we joined a larger circle with a smaller one to create an eyelet shape Select the design hold down the Ctrl key and drag the shape into the circle Once you see the cursor icon change release the mouse button and the Ctrl key Cursor starts as a double Cursor changes to an arc with little shapes headed arrow This indicates that you can now release the mouse button and Ctrl key Upon releasing the Wrap Objects to Path window will open Begin by marking the Repeat box set a negative Spacing according to the overlap you want and begin increasing the Repeat Count until the last image overlaps the first 165 Wrap Objects To Path x Y Repeat Warp Repeat Count 16 Stretch v Parameterize Y Flatten x1 Offset 0 00 Vert Align 44 Space 77 10 Spacing in
231. ols E3 File Edt CutProject With View Window Help x Register help tutorials Manipulating amp editing Turning on and off qe forum seme shapes and designing toolbars bars windows saving backup zoom default colors restore drivers user settings Sel Properties Bar e The Select Properties Bar displays the location and size of the current selected shape or shapes X Y mat locations of Width and Height of selected shape s 3 09 selected shapes s 3 13 Lock or unlock E Aspect Ratio 3 13 Close bar gt X 11875 Y 2 4375 W 2 8087 H 3 3363 E 39 Main Bar e The Main Bar has two tabs Virtual Mat and Text and Fonts The Virtual Mat tab allows you to set the size and visual appearance of the mat as well as orientation the appearance of shapes snapping to grid and Caret size Refer to Section 3 04 The Text and Fonts tab allows you to select a font open a new font and type text Refer to Section 5 02 Main Virtual Mat Text and Fonts Layer Bar e The Layer Bar is one of the most important functions to understand in MTC It is used to organize shapes into layers for visual display easier manipulation and selecting which shapes to print or cut All shapes on a layer may be re colored hidden from view locked deleted and moved up or down Refer to Section 3 12 for details on using the Layer Bar Layer Properties Tab Bar e In MTC opene
232. om 15 0 to 16 0 27 0 an increase toa 28 0 to 29 0 a decrease negative number to a negative number e Modify your X and Y Offset values in the window shown at the end of Section 9 02 Start with 1 mm adjustments like shown above e ts a good idea to keep track of prior values so that you ll know which direction to change for subsequent calibration tests Remember that you should expect to get perfect results so keep adjusting those X and Y 200 values until you get there After adjusting by 1 mm you will need to adjust by 0 5 mm and even smaller to get it perfect e You may find that one side is aligned but the other is not For example the cut line may be perfectly aligned with the print line on the lower side of the arrow but maybe 0 5 mm above the arrow along the upper side Adjust the calibration based on the side that is off e Once the PNC is perfect write down these X and Y values in case you buy a new computer or you have to reformat your hard drive IMPORTANT When you are ready to try this process on an actual raster image don t forget to turn off the Wireframe option under File gt Print Options 9 05 Print and Cut Tips e When pixel tracing imported images the trace lines will not necessarily be perfectly aligned with the image This can result in tiny bits of white appearing in certain spots suggesting the PNC wasn t accurate Zoom in close on the image so that you can see the trace line following the outl
233. omatically as needed The one time you might need it is when resizing a bounding box that extends beyond the boundaries of ashape The Flatten Paths feature will resize a bounding box to align with the true width and height of the image For example import the Heart 1 shape from the Generic folder in Basic Shapes 130 Observe the gaps between el 4 the bounding box borders ya i gaps seh due to and the heart itself the control points on the Bezier curves e These gaps do not pose a problem except in some circumstances such as Ifyou are trying to align the top left or right sides of this heart with another shape or shapes Because of the gaps you wouldn t be able to use the alignment functions from Section 3 15 with the exception of the bottom alignment o If you needed the heart to be a specific size for example exactly 1 in height The bounding box for this heart is 1 tall but clearly the heart is significantly shorter than that e To refit a bounding box select the shape and then the Flatten Paths function can be applied in any of the following ways Click on the Advance icon on the Magic Toolbar and select Flatten Paths Press Ctrl Shift F Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Flatten Paths from the menu Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Flatten Paths Oo gt gt o e The heart now appears with the bounding box aligned No more gaps _ gt e Because the Fl
234. ons Star e Once you are in this function you create a star by holding the left mouse button and freely dragging your mouse to create a star to the size you desire You are using the same method as described in Section 8 02 Two blue handles appear in an inner corner and at an outer point As you drag your mouse a star will be formed 4 e If you need to move the star hold the left mouse button down anywhere on the shape except on top of a handle and drag to another location If you inadvertently draw a new star while trying to adjust the current star press the Delete key to remove tt e There are several settings used to control the appearance of the star as well as a Reset button Examples of how these settings change a star are presented in detail below Note however that there are thousands of possibilities based on combinations of these settings Set Spoke Ratio makes a star thinner or thicker Toggle between Star and Polygon Psa A Reset to default values Type Star w Spoke Ratio 0 500373 O Corners 5 Rounded 0 Convert to an Outline T Outlined version of current design Set number of Corners points on a star sides on a polygon Set Rounded Rounds the points and curves the sides Corners The default is five However the range is 3 to many Here are a few examples AH KH Corners 3 Corners 6 Corners 10 Corners 25 Spoke Ratio The range for th
235. ons 1 The Actual Width of the image could be made slightly smaller 2 The Tile Width could be made slightly larger or 3 A combination of both 134 Actual Width Actual Height New Width 4 decrease slightly New Height 62 4757 Revised preview Tile Width Tile Width increase slightly Tile Height Offset X Offset Y Only 4 tiles now Click on Accept e The individual tiles are placed on new Pages on the Page Bar E etaut Page Original shape will still Four new pages are created to house the four tiles be on original page 7 06 Node Mode Toolbar e The Node Mode Toolbar offers tools to use for editing shapes drawing lines and curves importing from the Basic Shapes library and a number of other functions This toolbar can be activated in any of the following ways Click on the PE icon in the upper left region of the screen as shown in Section 4 01 O Press F1 or W Goto View gt Node Mode e The Node Mode Toolbar appears along the left side of the screen The following screenshot shows the function of each tool and section number detailing this tool Note that three of the functions are presented in Chapter 8 because they are related to designing rather than editing 135 Edit this project normally Select Tool 7 07 gt gt 4 Edit paths at node level Node Edit Tool 7 13 Draw freehand lines Pencil Tool 7 11 gt Draw B zier curves and straight lines Pen T
236. ontains a layer called Silver Chalice and another called Golden Brown Before separating the various layers you can also just try deleting the ones you feel you don t need If you don t lose anything visually then you know you don t need that layer Just watch carefully in case it happens to be something small EE 1196 E 198 x EJ 19 Eee ole iE x Traced image Traced image after deleting Silver Chalice and Golden Brown layers no difference 114 e Now move the White layer aside so that you can edit out everything but the bee s wings Use Break so that individual paths can be selected The only parts to keep are the four sections of the bee s wings and a small section between the steam and leaf of the flower N White layer e After breaking and deleting those five white parts can be rejoined and added back to the image Stack Scans e The Stacked Scans feature affects what parts of the image are traced and assigned to each layer In certain printing applications it would be advisable to have this function checked when doing a pixel trace in order to get a higher quality result for the printout On the other hand for most paper piecing applications you wouldn t want to use this because you might miss out on specific parts you want to cut out The easiest way to understand how this feature affects the tracing is to just look at what happens The following example in
237. ool 7 12 a L gt Add basic shapes Basic Shapes Tool 8 02 gt Create spirals Spiral Tool 8 03 911 Create stars and polygons Stars and Polygon Tool 8 04 mn Erase sections of paths Eraser Tool 7 10 Slice shapes and lines Knife Tool 7 09 gt Measure shapes lengths and angles E K Measure Tool 7 08 7 07 Edit this Project Normally Select Tool go e The Edit this Project Normally function Select Tool is the 1 icon on the Node Mode Toolbar and can be activated by clicking on the icon or pressing F1 It has one primary function which is to take you out any other function on this toolbar thus allowing you to use the other toolbars or functions in MTC 7 08 Measure Shape Lengths and Angles Measure Tool e The Measure Shape Lengths and Angles function Measure Tool is the last icon EN on the Node Mode Toolbar and can be activated by clicking the icon or by pressing F10 It is used to obtain properties and details about any shape including internal paths within that shape e In this example the Measure Tool is used to note differences between these two stars e Click on the Measure Tool icon and the mouse cursor becomes a ruler Hover the cursor along the side of one of the shapes The shape will fill with stripes and the top of the screen will show the properties of that shape which include Perimeter distance blade will travel Path Area Cut Direction n
238. or 14SS stones in the software This allows the stones to more easily fall into the holes during brushing Always size your shape first before converting into a rhinestone design Once the circles are created for the pattern the pattern cannot be resized without changing the size of those circles Cutting Rhinestone Template Material Video Rhinestone templates can be used hundreds of times There are several commonly used materials for making these templates The current most popular choices are The green rhinestone template material sold at KNK USA is the most popular because it is less expensive than the other options and has been around longer It is recommended over a similar thinner rubber sold by companies who market their material for the lower force cutters The disadvantages to using any rubber template material is that you need to apply a solid backing after the template is cut and also dust the template with a powder so that the powder will cover any of the permanent adhesive exposed in the holes The solid backing typically chosen is foam board or stencil board O The black Rock it flock also sold at KNK USA is more expensive than the rubber template materials but doesn t require a backing to be applied after cutting It also doesn t require dusting The Rock lt templates can be used to mix and match designs such as combining letters and images O Sticky Flock is a similar material to Rock it but is more expensive still
239. or cutting force it will depend on the fabric Refer to the table at the end of Chapter 2 for recommended settings 10 05 Iron On Transfer Video Moe Into Types of Iron On Transfer e There are a number of different kinds of vinyl available at KNK USA Regular Iron On Transfer T Shirt Vinyl o Iron On Flock Glitter Flex and Glitter Flex Ultra o And more Cutting Iron On e Iron on transfer vinyl and flock consists of three layers Heat resistant layer shiny side A A non vin a E Adhesive dull side e For cutting have the dull side up adhesive side up Blade only cuts through adhesive and vinyl and not through the thicker heat resistant layer e Because iron on transfer has the heat protection layer which will not be cut this can serve as the carrier mat during cutting The material will need to be at least 4 wide so that both sides will be gripped by the pinch wheels If you are cutting from from scraps then use a cutting mat to hold the material during the cut e The force required is 60 for regular iron on Other types may require higher settings Be sure to do a test cut first and then see if vinyl layer will peel away from backing e Remember to reverse your image before cutting Because you are cutting with the adhesive side up you ll be flipping the material over after weeding and before pressing To mirror your image select it and then apply the Mirror function e Cut around your ima
240. orel Draw Inkscape is used and the cut shape s is are defined in this program then export both the rectangle and the cut shape s MTC can import eps ai odf and other formats Refer to Chapter 4 for more info on importing and exporting Also when you import the file resize everything together so that the outside rectangle matches the exact size you used when creating it Ifa raster program e g Elements Word Paint is used then you will need to scan your printout and then use the Pixel Trace option in MTC to import the image so that the cut shape s can be added to the file In this case create an outside rectangle to match the scanned one in both size and location This is important because the scanner may have scanned at a slightly different size and the results will be more accurate when matching the rectangle dimensions with what the scanner read 208 9 07 2 PNC Applications with Existing Images Video With MTC it is even possible to do a print and cut with no printing involved at all Two such situations are 1 Cutting out shapes that have been drawn or stamped by hand and 2 Cutting out printed images from a magazine calendar newspaper etc Similar to the prior section on Printing from Another Program the only thing one needs is a rectangle that is printed or drawn onto the page that encompasses the images you want to cut out That rectangle could be pre printed onto sheets of paper or cardstock to use for stampi
241. orizontal Center press H aligns shapes horizontally and positioned to the average horizontal center of the group Stack press S aligns shapes to be horizontally and vertically centered with one another GP O PY O P Vertical Center V Horizontal Center H Stack S Outer Alignment e There are four different alignment functions used to align shapes to the outside edges Again with the shapes selected right click and go to Align and Space gt Align gt 0 0 0 0 Right press R aligns shapes along their right sides and positioned to the rightmost shape of the group Left press L aligns shapes along their left sides and positioned to the leftmost shape of the group Top press T aligns shapes along their top sides and positioned to the uppermost shape of the group Bottom press B aligns shapes along their bottom sides and positioned to the lowermost shape of the group 64 Left L aligns the OF shapes along left OF side of purple bow Right R aligns the lt 4 shapes along right O side of blue ring y y Top T aligns the shapes along top edge of purple bow zZ TY O TU Bottom B aligns the shapes along bottom edge of pink heart Edge Alignment There are four additional alignment functions used to align shapes in a slightly different way Again with the shapes selected right click and go to Align and Space gt Align gt 0 0 0 0 Edge Left aligns shapes along the left edg
242. orizontally flip the texture o Offset or move the texture within the shape Adjust the color and brightness of the texture O Resize the texture with or without resizing the shape 61 Option 1 Select a texture already present in your project Choose Texture From Project ee 199 9 DPI Option 2 Browse computer to A Choose Texture From File locate folder and file containing z texture you wish to use 4 Tile Texture F Flipped Horizontally 7 Flipped Vertically TEONA eas Settings for the texture include 0 0000 Top 0 0000 flipping rotating modifying the a color and offsetting the texture 0 Rotate 0 00 A a Scale scroll bar resize Texture H Rotate Associated Paths Y Scale Associated Paths Scale Paths mark options to rotate Rendered Texture Size 1 97 x1 97 tel pele shape while AS AM After clicking on OK your selected shape will fill with the texture chosen Here are two examples These are two examples where the shape was filled without scaling down the texture In this next example the text PENGUIN was created and then the texture imported is the following penguin image Choose Texture E Choose Texture From Project Choose Texture From File C 0 Denver Class 6 It s All About the Settings M e v Tile Texture Preview of gt F Flipped Horizontally 7 Flipped Vertically imported image Texture
243. orted using either Pixel Trace refer to Section 6 03 or as Texture filling a shape refer to Section 3 14 The former method will be presented here Click on the Pixel Trace icon and browse to locate the image you want to trace You can also scan in an image or paste an image that has been copied to the Windows Clipboard In this tutorial the dress image from this web site will be used http houseofstirfry com chia templates dress01 html Note that this dress could easily be pixel traced but because it provides a great example of how the Bezier curves can be drawn to fit a shape such as this it will be used for the manual tracing example Instead of making changes to settings in order to automatically trace the image set the Threshold to 255 on the Pixel tab and mark the Texture Path box Click on Apply Changes and the entire window will fill with green indicating a rectangle around the image will form the trace line Te ialzation setings By Average Set Threshold to the maximum of 255 Threshold 255 ackground Color Import Settings Q Y Texturize Path Mark Texturize Path box Blackout Path File Dress jpg PEE Chas Click on Apply Changes Click on Import Click on Import Answer No when asked if you wish to trace more layers The image will appear on the screen Be sure to change your mat color to Contrast on the Virtual Mat tab refer to Section 3 04 and also select either Fill or
244. ose the beginning and the end of the path as you draw Increase Smoothing for curves gt Smoothing 60 we Increase Precision for more detail Precision 42 Mark Force Closed to close the path force Cosed_ _ Super smooth lt q Turn on Super Smooth for maximum smoothing e For example if you are freehand drawing the letter A you would want to decrease Smoothing and Precision so that straight lines are drawn But if the same low settings were used to draw an S the letter would end up angular and not well formed e Fora curve such as an S you would want to increase Smoothing so that no straight lines are formed For the smoothest result check the Super Smooth option a O gt Y Smoothing 100 Super Smooth On e The Precision setting as mentioned before allows a more precise S to be drawn but many more nodes will result The following shows the difference when Precision is left at O versus 100 versus 50 HT ors gt Precision 0 Precision 100 Precision 50 If you need to draw a perfectly straight line hold the Ctrl key while drawing 143 e The Force Closed Path option can be marked so that as you draw an image the start and end will always be connected For example in this freehand drawing of a lightning bolt the end of the line is always connected back to the beginning Once the cursor returns to where it started the shape will close a
245. outline form Refer to Section 5 11 e The following video shows how to use the Zing pen holder and the blade holder for an aligned draw and cut This same method will work with the ACS and other KNK models Video e The following video shows how to use a glue pen and the blade holder for an aligned draw and cut This same method will work with the other KNK models Video Adjusting for the Difference in Diameters of Tools and Blade Holders Video The following method was first presented by Bryan Williams in an MTC Forum webinar Diane Hiscoe made the video above using Bryan s method and inspired me to create the following tutorial Thanks Diane e f you plan to use two tools with different diameters then you will face an alignment problem In the following example two glasses and an inner circle will be drawn with a silver gel pen and then the outside circle cut out e Because the gel pen is thin it sits further back in the blade holder seat than the blade holder With no adjustments made the resulting drawn image and cut circle are out of alignment e However there is a straight forward method one can use to compensate for tools with different diameters This method involves adding a rectangle within MTC around the shapes This rectangle will be drawn with the pen and then the corners will be used as registration marks for a print and cut process The red line is the cut line The other lines will be drawn wi
246. ow gt Next Window Close current project Top lefticon in Menu Bar Close all projects and MTC as well Standard Functions Ctrl N T Ctrl O Ctrl S Ctri Shift P Ctrl Z Ctrl Y Ctrl F6 Ctrl Tab Ctrl F4 Alt F4 AOS Viewing and Zooming Tools Zoom to Virtual Mat Zoom to All Shapes on Screen Moves display to selected shape s keeps current Wienezo m To Selected zoom level Zoom to 300 View gt Zoom To gt 300 0 0 0 0 0 e A O A View gt Zoom To gt 500 1000 Press or key on the numeric keypad icons on File Toolbar 5 6 7 8 9 0 Zoom in or Zoom out O 1 Display textures while other shapes are selected Roll mouse wheel Move workspace up and own Zoom in and out centered on location of mouse o Ctrl roll mouse wheel Spacebar drag left mouse button Ctrl Shift l Pan workspace E Toggle the showing of nodes for selected shapes e d i a Select all Edit gt Select All Select next shape Edit gt Previous Shape i Pons E ur pr O lt nm O Selecting Shapes Ctri A ShiftrEsc k Esc Select none Edit gt Select None Hold Shift and click on shapes to add to selection pe Shift Shift T ab A Select previous shape Edit gt Next Shape 22 Shortcut Icon Description Menu Other Location Duplicating Shapes Ctrl C Copy to clipboard Edit gt Copy Ctrl V Paste from clipboard Edit gt Paste Ctrl Shitt V Paste in Place from clipboard Edit gt Past
247. owing at all times e You do not have to worry about adding shapes to the Layer Bar They will be automatically assigned to the current layer or a new layer as you add them You will want to learn how to move shapes to new layers or combine shapes into the same layer depending on the circumstances e Here are a few examples of when you would want to have shapes on different layers o Paper piecing or shadowed shape projects where some shapes will be cut from one color and other shapes from another color or a number of other colors Fold up projects boxes envelopes popup cards etc where the fold lines will need to have different settings and or different tools used than your cut lines o Print and cut projects where you may need to send certain layers to be printed but other layers to be cut o Rhinestone template projects where you need to cut two different templates such as a fill that will be done in one color of rhinestones and an outline in another color e Other benefits of assigning shapes to layers include 55 o Ability to select with one click of the mouse all shapes assigned to a layer without selecting other shapes o Ability to hide or lock layers so that the shapes on that layer are not inadvertently selected moved resized etc Ability to change the color line style and or texture on all of the shapes assigned to a particular layer e The following screenshot will be used to show how the Layers bar f
248. owing key things o You won t break your new ACS 24UHF by cutting paper vinyl cardstock rhinestone rubber and other easy to cut materials The worst thing that might possibly happen is that you ll break a blade That s it And the likelinood of even that happening is low You need to start cutting so that you ll make a lot of mistakes We ALL do that It s in making these mistakes that you start to learn You realize that those mistakes didn t result in a broken cutter Plus you ll stop making the same mistakes as you remember more of the things you need to check before every cut o As you make fewer mistakes you begin to build confidence and you begin to have more cutting success From there you begin to experiment more and produce more Thus your best course of action is to just start cutting a lot after of course you have read the rest of this section The Most Common Mistakes Made by New Owners e We all make them and we all learn from them So please note the following most common mistakes and then finish reading this entire Section 2 01 as the details behind these listed mistakes will be explained o Too much blade is exposed on the blade holder The blade tip is too close to the material Too much force is being used for the material being cut Forget to set the Blade Offset before cutting Failure to do a test cut to make sure settings are optimal Not practicing enough with the test pen and paper to know where shapes will
249. p Point Order twice and Reverse Warp Point Order once we end up with the KNK in the correct orientation After deleting the quadrilaterals and recoloring our text we have the final result 172 EM Ke 8 10 Conical Warp Video e The Conical Warp feature can be used for shaping designs to fit around conical shapes which are tubular shapes in which the top is a different diameter than the bottom What makes this feature especially fun to use in designing is the incredible 3D simulation as you will see in the Tumbler Wrap example which follows below e The Conical Warp feature is accessed in the following ways Click on the Conical Warp icon on the Magic Toolbar dl o Press Ctrl Q Right click on the screen and select Shape Magic gt Conical Warp o Goto Edit gt Shape Magic gt Conical Warp Tumbler Wrap e Adesign has been created for the wrap The pumpkin is from the free Create A Card set in the Lettering Delights window A random font was chosen to create the lettering eses e Select the entire design and then click on the Conical Warp icon The follow window opens Select the desired View aa AS Settings may be saved for future use Unrolled View Rolled View a 31 4 in Enter Top and Bottom Diameters 27 16 in as well as the Height of the 51 2 in Tumbler along the actual surface The design GA Scroll to move the Position of the appears on ia Design or modify the Size the wrap S 100
250. p or even bump the blade onto any hard surface as they can chip easily When not in use retract the blade into the blade holder or remove and cover the sharp end with the soft plastic cap Transporting When transporting the cutter move the pinch wheel levers into the upward position Remove the accessories from the tool tray and place in a separate bag We also recommend retaining the original box with the Styrofoam inserts in case you ever need to ship your ACS 24UHF Additionally o DO NOT touch or jam the plotter s track while it is operating If the cutter is damaged it is the owner s responsibility o DO NOT shake the cutter while it is operating o DO NOT cut any materials that have staples or other embellishments attached o DO NOT touch the cutter with a magnet o DO NOT allow small items to fall into the cutter o TURN OFF the cutter when not in use 1 04 Parts Diagram Blade Carriage Blade Holder Seat Pinch Wheel Positioning Label Total of 5 Cutting Strip Grit Shaft beneath Pinch Wheels Total of 5 Bolt On F Tabl Pinch Wheel Front olt On Front Table Total of 4 A Control Panel built into top on some models USB Port Power Port RS232 Serial Port On Off Switch Left Side Riaht Side Pinch Wheel Lever Total of 4 Bolt On Back Table Back 1 05 Control Panel Video 9 Go through the 3 various modes on the following pages to experiment with the settings and understand each 5 mo
251. page Click here to Pixel Trace instead 70 There is also an Import Strokes and Fills menu with three options to Import Strokes Only Import Fills Only or Import Strokes and Fills Select the latter and then note if you have unwanted lines in your image If so then try one of the other choices such as Import Strokes Only 4 05 Importing SCUT SCUT2 WPC GSD Files created in Sure Cuts a Lot SCAL are saved in the format SCUT or SCUT2 depending on the version of SCAL used Files with the WPC file extension are created in programs developed by Sign Max which include WinPC Sign Funtime Pazzles Inspiration and Gazelle GSD files are created in RoboMaster RoboMaster Pro and Wishblade Advance These formats are all imported using the same methods as described for SVG There are no special settings Just locate the file on your computer select it and click on Open The GSD format does not have an available preview Also the Fuse N Weld option is available in the import window to connect the many individual segments making up paths in these files and it is recommended that the box remains checked The scroll bar next to this setting allows you to set the minimum distance between two nodes in order for them to be connected upon importing Open ROBO Master Project EJ Look in de Graduation v F e m Name gt Date modified Type Size a diecut_graduate boy_mijt gsd GSD 4 10 2006 6 49PM _ GSD File 49 KB oe girl_m
252. parents shapes are still joined to one another There are no individual bounding boxes around the child shapes only around the individual parent shapes You can see the grid lines of the Virtual Mat inside the child shapes indicating those are empty spaces Ifyou move one of the letters the child shape moves with the parent shape e The same is true when you open a file and discover that all of the parts are combined as one shape First apply the Split function to see if the file will then be broken into the combined shapes that make the most sense For example the following SVG file Cupcake Seashells by Judy Keating is imported into MTC One single a bounding box e The file imports as a single shape But once Split is applied there are 8 individual shapes which can then be individually moved resized re colored assigned to separate layers etc 124 Bounding boxes now indicate a total of 8 different shapes Break Joi The Break function is used to separate every path every curve and every line into its own individual shape After selecting a combined shape the Break function can be accessed in any of the following ways el Click on the Break icon on the Magic Toolbar Press Ctrl B Q 0 Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Break from the menu Q Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Break If the Break function is applied to the Bob example used in the earlier section on Split
253. peats in this case 1 Text is aligned along lt bottom so Offset will be adjusted to move text to the top Offset 0 00 Vert Align 100 Space 100 00 accent _ cence e This time leave the Repeat box unchecked Then begin adjusting the Offset so that the text moves to the top half of the circle It is a good idea to write down the Space and Vert Align settings so that similar values can be used when you do the second half of the text COZZE EPRORI exdody Text is now spaced lt and positioned along top half of circle Vert Align 122 Adjust settings and write down the Vert Align and Space settings cancel Click on Accept when done e After clicking on Accept the second half of the text is selected and again moved to the center of the circle while holding the Ctrl key Co eo Second half of text shows up with lt Correct orientation for the lower half of Vert Align 100 f Space 100 00 the circle accent cancel _ e Adjust the Vert Align and the Space settings to match what was used for the top half Then change the Offset to align second half of text along the bottom half of the circle 86 Second half of text is now Note the Vert Align aligned along bottom of and Space settings are ania circle identical to what was a ae ed used for the top half ren aa K A Click on Accept La Flori9 when done e Click on Acce
254. ped blade and start with barely any blade exposed Do the test cut and then gently lift the corner of the vinyl from the backing sheet Make sure the test cut is a clean cut and the blade did not penetrate the backing paper Vinyl can usually be cut at a speed of 200 300 unless very small intricate shapes are involved 212 If you store your vinyl in a warm location the adhesive can be affected and that can then affect the cutting Also note that some vinyl colors have a tendency to pull away from the backing sheet more easily than others If you notice the vinyl pulling up in corners and tight spots try slowing the cutting speed Applying Vinyl For easier removal of the waste from the backing add a rectangle around the perimeter of the shape s you are cutting Select everything and apply a Join This will then ensure that the interior shapes are cut first with the outside rectangle cut last When weeding you may need to cut away and remove smaller waste parts versus trying to lift the entire waste section at one time You do not want the waste vinyl inadvertently coming into contact with the shapes you want to keep Use a craft knife or paper piercer to gently lift away pieces of waste vinyl to discard If you are applying small lettering or doing an etching application do NOT weed the waste vinyl The entire piece should be applied to the project surface smoothed down firmly and evenly and then weeded The adhesion between the vi
255. pes in the Basic Shapes library as well refer to Section 4 10 8 09 Auto 4 Point Warp e This function is used to fill a four sided concave quadrilateral with a selected shape or shapes What exactly is a four sided quadrilateral There are three types as shown below however only one of these three will work Will work Will not work Will not work Concave quadrilateral Convex quadrilateral Complex quadrilateral Note the corner which Note the intersecting dips in sides e Asecond requirement for Auto 4 Point Warp is that the mode needs to be switched to Warp This is done by clicking on the quadrilateral to cycle through the three available modes refer to Section 3 13 170 e Resize mode will NOT Rotate Slant mode will work NOT work Warp mode WILL work e To activate the Auto 4 Point Warp function hold the Ctrl key and the left mouse button while dragging the shape or shapes onto the quadrilateral In this case the selected shape is text As soon as the cursor icon changes release the mouse This works just like Wrap Objects to Path but with a different icon refer to Section 8 08 Cursor icon begins as a double headed arrow As soon as the cursor icon changes release the Ctrl key and mouse button e The following window opens and the text fills the quadrilateral Note the settings available in this window Rotate Warp Point Order Choose Bilinear or Perspective Auto 4 Point Warp
256. piece join the two nodes together this is the flapper Select the whale and apply a Shadow Layer with blackout selected Then arrange the flapper on top Ada To add some splashes start with additional tear shapes resize to make thinner and apply Warping or other method of distorting the shape Rotate and arrange under the whale to complete the design o 666 2 Ge 184 Designing a Flower by Laury Vaden This colorful flower is made from just a few Basic Shapes Circle Swirl Heart2 Tear and Wavy 2 Set Snap Position to No Snapping Choose one of the non contrast mats such as the standard green mat Select the Circle and move it down and away from the other shapes Then select the Tear and move it down Click on the Tear until red icons change to the mode shown below This is the Scale mode Elongate the Tear and thin it as shown Holding the Ctrl key move the Tear over the Circle and release This will open the Wrap Objects to Path window Refer to Section 8 08 for details on activating this function Wrap Objects To Path heme Y Repeat Repeat Count 10 Spacing inches 3 l Offset 0 00 ry Vert Align 65 D space 60 80 accept cancel First check the Repeat box Then increase the Repeat Count Use a negative value for the Spacing so that the Tears overlap slightly Spacing is controlled by both the Spacing setting that you type in and the Space slider setting jus
257. pt when done Add other shapes as desired In this case the company named was added to the center Com gt le 4 2 e a Accugraphic Sales Inc Y e The Wrap Objects to Path can be used for other designing applications one of which is shown in Section 8 08 5 08 Fitting Text to Paths e A different function the Bezier Warp can also be used to fit text to a circle or to fit text to a custom designed path e As before type the letters you wish to fit to a circle using the method described in Section 5 03 The text created in Section 5 04 will again be used Note that the lettering can be welded or not And if not welded the letters can be Split by Glyphs or not ad and Glina e With the title selected open the Bezier Warp window using one of the following ways Click on the Bezier Warp icon on the Magic Toolbar Ye o Press Ctrl T Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Bezier Warp from the menu o Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Bezier Warp Closed Path in Bezier Warp e Inthe first example the text is fit to a circular shape and the Auto Size option is chosen Note that the Manual Size option could also have been used and will be selected in the example after this one 87 B zier Warp 2 mc General Settings Auto Simplify Text will initially be 3 Q wrapped around AMU 6 Vert Align entire circle But after Cos a adjusting Size amp xa Apo Position text will
258. r gt wS i s hin ias 7 Left click on top of 8 Left click at bottom of 9 Hold down left mouse 10 Right click while still last segment end and dress button and drag to fit holding left mouse button then left click at top of curve of dress to end the segment inner sleeve Start and end another curve segment to finish bottom curve of dress Then do another short straight segment along bottom followed by a long segment up center of dress y ae eo Nees P gt Y y 11 Left click on top of last 12 Hold down left mouse 13 Left click where last 14 Left click at top of segment end and then button and drag to fit segment ended and click dress hold down left mouse curve of dress Right click again to finish straight button where curve ends to end part of dress bottom 122 Finally hold down left mouse button at top where initial trace began Drag mouse to create the neckline curve While left mouse is still held down and extended out to form the curve right click to end the segment and then release mouse button The final right click will close the shape and the dress will fill with color AON y MN pa P W PP P Maanas d b 15 Move to top and hold 16 Drag mouse up to fit 17 While still holding left down left mouse button curve of dress neckline mouse button down right click over original starting to end the trace Dress fills point with color Flip Mirror and We
259. r a slicker more permanent surface Verify that none of the little circles are still attached to the back of the template and causing a bump in the pattern Again if your template was cut from rubber using an old toothbrush and brush some powder talc baking facial into the holes Tap upside down to remove excess powder and then wipe the top of the pattern clean The powder will stick to any adhesive inside the holes and prevent rhinestones from getting stuck in the holes Place your template into the bottom of a bead tray cake pan or other large flat container Those who use the flock materials will often cover the bottom of their container with a layer of the same flock Pour the rhinestones on top of the template Use a Shur Line Trim and Touch up Pad to brush the rhinestones in a circular motion Keep brushing and you will find that the stones that landed upside down will be brushed out and correct ones will replace them This pad type brush is essential to the ease and success of this important step When 95 of the pattern is correctly filled then use tweezers a toothpick or just your finger to position the last few rhinestones into the pattern Cut the rhinestone transfer tape to size and then press it down onto your stones Press firmly but do not push the stones deep into the holes If you have a problem with the stones jumping as you are dropping the transfer tape then try using a Bounce sheet or anti static spray on the
260. r feeding into the ACS 24UHF The origin is set using the laser light not the blade tip Go Offline press the Menu button and then press the Origin button Direct the red dot of the laser light to the bottom right corner of your material see below Note that if you need absolute precision for the location of your cuts it will be necessary to calibrate the Laser Offset which is covered in Chapter 9 gt WYSIWYG Portrait Mode Feed the mat this direction into the cutter FE A A A A A A A Indicates E Portrait Hee E mode AHH Me J Akk ay Origin set E here using a laser light E Location of shapes on the screen Where shapes are drawn or cut on material 29 o WYSIWYG Landscape Mode Feed the mat this direction into the cutter KLIC N KUT Indicates Landscape mode lp trl Peli tel AL el elt ti el elo eh El la Pett hii is HEP 3 Xan erpa Pii Kl E Origin set E E here using Zia laser light Location of shapes on the screen Where shapes are drawn or cut on material Print and Cut e This is the mode recommended when you want to print images on your printer and then have the ACS 24UHF cut them out e ltis similar to WYSIWYG because shapes will be cut where they are located on the Virtual Mat However in the Print and Cut process three printed registration marks are printed along with your images The laser light is then set at each mark and the ACS
261. r shape in either cm or mm please refer to Section 7 08 98 e Percentages can also be used in the dimension settings For example if you want to double the size of a shape you can enter 200 Starting Size Enter 200 to New dimensions show double the size shane is twice as larae w 4 0000 H 3 7435 G gt w 200 H 3 7435 Aj Co wi 8 0000 H 7 870 0 e Percentages can also be entered with an R added to calculate the reciprocal For example entering 200 kR will result in the size being halved Entering 300 R will make the resulting size 1 3 etc e Fractions may also be entered with a space between the number and the fraction For example 6 5 could be entered as 6 12 The H value remains at 1 0 Enter 6 don t A value of 6 5 is because the Aspect Ratio Starting Size forget the space then displayed was not locked A W 4 0000 H 1 0000 Al c gt w 6i 2 H 10000 5 c gt W 6 5000 H 1 0000 e Inversions of MTC prior to 4 5 2 resizing a textured shape requires holding the Shift key while dragging a corner This will resize the texture as well as the shape Rotating and Slanting Video e With the shape selected dragging any of the four corners will allow free rotation of the shape The shape will be temporarily locked at its center and will rotate around that center As you rotate the angle of rotation appears at the bottom of the screen Angle of Rotation Position 25 98 x 14 58
262. rds away from the center of the circle or decreased to move the text inwards towards the center Offset This will rotate the text around the outside if desired so that the text begins in a circle location along the outside of the circle On the settings you drag with your mouse button remember to also use the right and left arrow keys on the keyboard for smaller changes in the settings Click on Accept and then delete the circle Bir L L Ss g 5 o 3 E x lt o amp T py kop Wrapping Text Half way Around the Top and the Bottom of a Circle In this example the text needs to be split so that the first half wraps around the top half of a circle and the second half wraps the other way around the bottom Type the text again making sure that Split by Glyphs is selected In this example an address will be used 231 Semoran Commerce Place Apopka Florida 32703 Marquee select the second half of the address and apply both the Mirror and the Flip functions EOLSE sbrrolH sAqogA After applying Mirror Ctrl M on second half of text After applying Flip Ctrl F on the second word COZZE BPHOLY exdody lt 85 e Draw a circle and marquee select the first of the text Hold the Ctrl key while dragging the text into the circle letting go of the mouse button first The Wrap Objects to Path window will open COLTS PPHOLY eydody Do not check Repeat Wrap Objects To Path box as there will be no Repeat re
263. re USB001 Paper Orientation Portrait O Landscape Size Letter8 5x1lin y Source Automatically Select X e Next go to File gt Print Options and mark the following boxes Choose Landscape Click on OK when done 193 Print Options EN Y Show Paper On Mat v Print Shape Outlines Check these three options Do Not Offset Printer Margins V Print Registration Marks Y Show Reg Marks on Mat Make The Cut Reg Marks Y Set to 0 as this does not apply Check this option if you want i an outline only of the arrow pik yaa gt a to the ACS 24UHF printed to save on ink Ss Neoroccnoncnccncenencanannos color MW lt Option to change color of the image outline Click on OK when done gt Camel e After clicking on OK you should see the green borders on the Virtual Mat indicating how the printout will be placed on the mat and where the arrow will be printed If the arrow is outside the green borders move it so that it falls within the boundaries Information about your current printer settings are shown here 05 8 X 00 TT UITTAS 8 191197 E y z 2 3 E E v o 3 a 2 2 I e a gt gt S S S n 2 ES a Green dashed lines indicate the part of the screen that will be printed e Goto File gt Print Preview and you will be able to see the arrow plus the four registration marks whi
264. red line will be perfectly straight Na Petal extends too far Eraser Tool is used to Eraser Tool is used again Petal is smoother to the outside erase that part this time holding the Ctrl key to get a straight path e Once you have finished erasing all part of the petals click on the Select Tool so that you have access to the regular MTC functions Select the petals and apply the Auto Simplify Path Section 7 02 2 to smooth the edges where you erased and reduce the nodes At this point if you are finished using the Eraser Tool you can now reactivate Auto Simplify Paths Refer to Section 7 02 1 Inverse Erasing Adding to an Image Video Video e The other option in the Eraser Tool settings is the Inverse Eraser which allows you to add to or fill in empty areas of ashape Mark that option and again set a Size for using the Eraser Tool as a drawing tool Size 0 4 mm 4 Enter the Size thickness of drawing line Check the Inverse Eraser box gt Inverse Eraser g e Back to our prior example the gray path around that last yellow petal represents the black shadow layer that was hidden during the erasing process Notice how it becomes very thin in that area where the last petal was smoothed Shadow layer is very thin at this point e This is a perfect application for the Inverse Eraser If there were many areas around the image where the shadow layer needed correcting it would probably be faster to de
265. remove pening Apply Changes tiny interior paths Size 4 75 x5 68 Offset 0 23 x0 27 e However if you switch to the Alpha Trace tab the default of 127 immediately gives you in this case the outline you want Resolution 96x56 DPI Print Dimensions 5 21 x6 21 Vistalization settings rn HH Alpha 127 Q Zoom 72 E Show Nodes Resample Image x1 0 None v Despeck 2 Alpha Threshold default value of 127 gives smooth outline of shape Alpha Threshold 127 2 Import Settings Scale 100 E Texturize Path Y Blackout Path Layers 1 st pas Apply Changes Size 4 77 x5 69 Offset 0 22 x0 26 Import e Mark the Texture Path box click on Apply Changes and the image appears on the screen ready for the print and cut process refer to Chapter 9 ion 96x96 DPI Print Dimensions 5 21 x6 21 MITE PELOS 8 E Show Nodes Trace Settings m Resample Image x1 0 None v Despeck 2 Color Color Scans Pixels Abha palette Alpha Threshold 127 te Scale 100 Texturize Path z M Blackout Path rs Apply Changes Offset 0 22 x0 26 100 6 03 3 Palette Trace Video e The Palette Trace provides color tracing which is especially useful when designing paper piecing patterns In this example the following flower image was imported and will be vectorized e With the Pale
266. ressure to medium o Press garment first for a flat dry surface o Arrange pattern on shirt carefully centering Press for 10 12 seconds 0 Peel cold cover with Teflon sheet and re press another 10 12 seconds Alternatively flip the shirt inside out and press from the back for 10 12 seconds o Use a lower temperature if pressing on 50 50 cotton poly fabric Use a higher temperature on denim or tote bags Extra tips on Rhinestone Applications If you are combining iron on transfer with rhinestones do not press the rhinestones onto the iron on vinyl While it will appear to have worked well the stones will fall off once the garment is laundered When using both create a contour line around your iron on pattern for the stones Pressing rhinestones to cardstock also works very well If pressing onto the front of a greeting card unfold the card first After pressing and allowing to cool use your fingernail or an old credit card gift card to scrape the pattern to see if any stones come loose If so replace those stones with new ones and press again 10 07 Drawing with a Pen or Glue Pen With the ACS 24UHF you can draw with any pen pencil marker or glue pen that can be securely gripped by the blade holder seat and not be dragging across the material The optional Zing Pen Holder can also be used to hold thinner pens The advantage of the Pen Holder is that the center of the pen will be positioned the same as the blade on the ACS 24U
267. rl I il Open Add T ext Group window Icon on Text and Fonts tab Main Bar Ctrl Shift U Open Color window Right click gt Change Color T exture Line gt Color Open Choose T exture window Right click gt Change Color T exture Line gt T exture Ctrl Shift O Ctrl Shift X Open Shape View window Edit gt Shape Magic gt Advanced gt View Path Detail i Open Project Notes window View gt Notes Window Ctrl Shift Y I Open Choose Line Style window Right click gt Change Color T exture Line gt Line 228 Shortcut Icon Description Menu Other Location Layers Window Icons GIAR is unlocked locked Delete empty layers Bottom of Layers window Open Visible Toggle menu Bottom of Layers window Open Lock Toggle menu Bottom of Layers window Bold Italic On Textand Fonts tab of Main Bar Refresh installed fonts list On Text and Fonts tab of Main Bar I Open TTF OTF font file On Text and Fonts tab of Main Bar Open Add Text Group window On Text and Fonts tab of Main Bar 0 File gt Import gt T rue Open Type Font File or Icon on Text and Fonts tab Main Bar pC Ls Open GSD File or Open SCUT File import window Open Pixel Trace import window o l D Open Lettering Delights import window 229 Shortcut Icon Description Menu Other Location Exporting Ctrl Shift L Open Add Basic shape window File gt Export gt Sel To Basic Shapes Open Upload window to upload as SVG file to MT C Ctrl Shift W File gt E
268. s also a Lettering Delights window that can be opened from View on the Menu Bar When you first open MTC a popup may ask you if you want to open this window For details about the Lettering Delights function refer to the last part of Section 4 07 Not all of the functions in MTC appear as icons Thus check the subheadings within the Table of Contents to find more functions to use in designing your cutting files 3 02 Toolbars There are four toolbars in MTC File Import Magic and Node Mode In this section only the individual icons will be identified To learn more about using the functions refer to the user manual sections indicated under the labels File Toolbar The File Toolbar by default is located at the top left of the screen lt can be turned on and off under View on the Menu Bar __ Cutto Clipboard Copy Paste in Place Zoom In Open Notes Open File 3 10 3 10 3 10 3 05 Window 8 15 N J vere eH OO 0 aja Q Ea GH sere f fof XX Save File Paste Undo Redo Zoom Out Cut Project 3 07 3 10 3 11 3 11 3 05 2 02 Import Toolbar Use the Import Toolbar to import the following file types Lettering Delights Basic Shapes Font Files WPC Files 4 07 a 3 08 oe 5 11 4 05 Pixel Trace of JPG BMP HE EEE LA ts P T y G se SCUT SCUT Files TIF PNG GIF files gt sie E D Cb E E TTF E 4 05 4 08 6 02 ER MTC Gallery SVG SVGZ PDF Al EPS PS GSD Files 4 02 Files 4 03 Files
269. s and weld e Butthe objects to use as a base do not have to be so basic Look for objects that will tie into a theme Here are just a few examples Bill Vi Billy 5 07 Fitting Text to the Outside of a Shape Wrapping Text around A Circle e The Wrap Objects to Path function can be used to fit text to the outside of a shape In this example the words Happy Birthday will be wrapped around a circle three times e The first step is to type the text making sure the Split by Glyphs option is selected If you forget then use the Split function to break your text into individual letters e The next step is to create the circle You can import a circle from Basic Shapes and resize it to what seems close to fit the lettering if the letter were repeated three times Its not necessary to be exact as you will have some settings to tweak this Worst case you will be able to cancel the process and resize the circle larger or smaller as needed e There is currently only one way to activate the Wrap Objects to Path function Select what you want to wrap in this case the DI hold down the Ctrl key while you drag the text onto the shape When you gt see the cursor change to O 2 release the mouse button and the following window will open IH oy ria Mark the Repeat box x Pe a 2 RS Enter 2 for the desired ME x Note that the three of Repeats so that the FA ES y Happy Birthday s do
270. s as shown 4 Turn counterclockwise to 6 Turn clockwise until move towards the top locked in place 2 Gently insert non sharp end into holder An internal magnet will pull the blade inwards 1 Push in and hold so that a blade can be inserted OR removed 3 Turn counter clockwise to 5 Turn clockwise to set blade length retract the blade to match the thickness of the material being cut e In Step 5 hold the material you are cutting up next to the blade and turn the silver gridded part to adjust the amount of blade protruding You will want to only see enough blade as needed to cut through the thickness of the material to be cut This is less than you probably think So be on the conservative side first and you can always extend the blade as needed e Important Please read the first few sections of Chapter 3 before cutting 11 1 07 Mat Carrier Sheet Always use a mat to hold the material to be cut unless the material has its own protective backing For example vinyl and iron on transfer both come with a layer that you do not cut Thus this backing layer serves as the carrier for cutting Paper and cardstock do not have a backing thus they must be cut on the mat If your mat was sold with a can of Krylon Easy Tack carefully follow the directions on the can Shake the can well and place your mat on newspaper in a well ventilated area such as a patio or inside a garage Never spray near other objec
271. s lost its original shape It s all distorted now and didn t do that with the tool What happened e Before using the Erase tool you need to select your shape and then go do Edit gt Shape Magic gt Advanced and uncheck Auto Simplify Welds This will prevent the software from simplifying the shape after every use of the Erase tool Once you have completed your editing then select your shape and use either Auto Simplify Path or Smooth amp Simplify to reduce the number of nodes Is there a way to move all of the letters in my text closer together at one time e Yes When typing your text make sure you have Split by Glyphs selected If you forget then select your title and click on the Split icon on the Magic Toolbar Next make sure you are in Resizing mode where your selected text has the double headed arrows pointing outwards refer to Section 3 13 of the User Manual Then hold the Ctrl key while dragging the middle right arrow of the selected text This will allow you to separate the individual letters or make them closer together have carefully gone through the setup in Section 3 06 several times for showing Thumbnails of my MTC files in Windows Explorer however I still cannot get them to appear e In Windows Explorer Windows 8 click on the View tab then Options and select Change Folder and Search Options Click on the View tab and make sure the top option Always show icons never thumbnails is NOT checked If you own an earlier
272. s not connected to any other node o Auto Smoothing Same function as Auto Smoothing under Segment Edit It is listed again under the Node Edit for quick access Again if a sharp transition needs to be maintained between the segments involved leave unchecked Otherwise select this option to automatically smooth curves Applications for Node Edit e It s not always obvious when the Node Edit Tool for either or both segment and node editing might be needed Here are a few examples to keep in mind o Editing of pixel traced images Sometimes a pixel trace will appear to be perfect until for example you use it for a print and cut and discover that some of the paths are slightly outside the printed areas of the original image 151 Trace line doesn t follow shape here A node is added to break segment and segments are dragged inward Manual tracing One of the quickest ways to manually trace a raster image is to simply click click click around the image and then use node and segment editing to move paths and nodes to more closely align with the original image and to adjust segments for smoother cutting Improving a cut If you have problems with a particular location on a cut shape examine the nodes in that location You may find a cluster of nodes or a sharp cusp Edit the segment and then retest the cut Modifying poorly designed files Sometimes you will pick up free files that prove to not quite work the
273. s not install into Windows for use in other applications There are free ones to download here htto www iloveknk com Support Software Make The Cut Open Path Fonts You can purchase Open Path Fonts also called Thin Fonts from www letteringdelights com and from www onelinefonts com to use in MTC Note that these also come with the TTF equivalents which are not actual single lines and curves but are still thin 92 6 Tracing 6 01 Raster versus Vector e All graphics are either raster or vector and there is no third type While you can often tell by the file format even that isn t always a good way to know for certain For example a PDF file can be made from either raster images or vector images and some PDFs will contain both types e You may not be able to tell at first glance whether an image is a raster or a vector For example this screen shot shows the same image in both formats Raster Vector e Most everyone today has a digital camera and at the very least has heard the term mega pixel A pixel is a square that is black white or colored Photographs are made up of millions of these pixels to create the image you see If you zoom in close enough on any raster image you can see these tiny pixels But when you zoom in close on the same area in the vector version you will instead see lines and curves not squares pixels Raster Vector e A vector image isn t made up of pixels Instead a vector is like
274. s turned on and Join is applied 8 08 2 Warp Objects to Path Part 1 Video Par 2 Video Stretch Extend Video Filling a Frame VAGO e The Warp Objects to Path function forces the shape or shapes put onto a path to bend or distort in order to hug the shape of that path To apply Warp check the box in the Wrap Objects to Path window Here s 166 an example of the difference in what you would see if Warp is not applied versus applied with the same shape same repeat same path 8 iy d vfi b s lt Note how the keys bend warp to hug 4 iN the shape of the LA curve Fit a key to a curve Warp Off Warp On There are three settings within the Warp function Wrap Objects To Path MEM Stretches shape s to fill the length of the path Repeat Warp Stretch manes Prevents scrunching of shapes in tight curves SSIS Y Flatten x1 Offset 0 00 Vert Align 100 Reduces nodes to smooth shape s St Extend 0 20 OJO ret cea O Stretch The Stretch setting will extend the shape or shapes to fit along the entire length of the path In the following example a stretch hexagon from the Basic Shapes is use to create a curve with tapered points B q Fit a hexagon Stretch Off Stretch On to a curve Parameterize The Parameterize setting will keep individual shapes more evenly sized and spaced along a Bezier curve In the following example a Happy Birthday gree
275. s will eliminate any tiny shapes that are not wanted Of course it s important to also make sure you do not lose any fine detail you need e After clicking on Apply Changes Pixel Trace birthday cake 2 candles hi png Vetalzaton settings Increased Resample Image and Despeck _ Texturize Path Blackout Path Apply Changes Fewer shapes e The number of Shapes was reduced from 113 to 23 This still seems high However remember that every individual shape you see has a black outline shadow In most paper piecing projects you will probably prefer the black outline to be a single background shape This is where the Blackout Outlines option can be applied e Also note that the lighter yellow on the flame is still missing from the image If that detail is desired then increase the Count and possibly decrease Despeck until the yellow centers of the flame appear In this case a Count of 17 was required but the Despeck was left at 20 Yellow centers of flames are now showing Pixel Trace birthday cake 2 candles hi png race Vielalzation settings Increased Count to 17 Marked option for Blackout Outlines Import Settings _ Texturize Path _ Blackout Path 2 L 600x570 px Apply Changes Trace is improved sharper int Dimensions 133 x1 27 R import points on the flames and layers fit one another better Even fewer shapes 112 e When you click on
276. saved a file with a custom mat and then share the file with another MTC owner your mat will be added to his her drop down menu in MTC At the time of this writing there is no metric option for the Virtual Mat or rulers Here is a video link for a work around solution 3 05 Zooming and Panning Any of the following methods will allow you to zoom in and out in 10 increments from 20 to 1000 o Hold down the Ctrl key while rolling the mouse wheel The zoom will center on where the mouse cursor is currently located on the screen o Scroll the Zoom setting on the Virtual Mat tab on the Main Bar o Press the and buttons on the keyboard a Click on the Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons on the File Toolbar Another way to zoom in and out is to use one of 4 shortcut keys also available under View gt Zoom To 1 or press the middle button on the mouse Zoom to 100 2 Zoom to 20 3 Zoom to center of current selected shapes using current zoom level 4 Zoom to 300 5 0 Zoom to 500 600 etc to 1000 Ctrl 3 Zoom to Virtual Mat c ooo gt o Ctrl 4 Zoom to all shapes on screen To move the workspace up and down roll the mouse wheel To pan press the Spacebar while dragging the left mouse button 43 3 06 Opening MTC Files 3 06 1 Opening a New File Project When you launch MTC a new blank Virtual Mat will appear with a new blank project opened At any time another new project can be opened in a n
277. scape mode AAA el aa aa el eli a L Origin set here using blade tip pa feia Phoa ea a ea Pd eaa Maa d e Location of shapes on the screen Where shapes are drawn or cut on material e f you plan to use scraps of materials for cutting shapes you will want to use the Knife Point mode 28 o Place several scraps large enough for the shape on your screen on your mat in different locations as shown below o Insert the mat into the ACS 24UHF and then set the origin at the lower right corner of one of the scraps and cut the currently selected shape Move the pen to the bottom right corner of the next scrap and set the origin there and cut the same shape or another shape depending on what you have on your virtual mat Repeat for other scraps Note the red X s indicate where the origin would be set so as to not cut off the scrap PS ae Sa Ug ai Feed the mat this direction into the cutter ji ii Za WYSIWYG Video Video This is the mode recommended when you need to cut shapes in very specific locations on your material such as the center front of a greeting card Create a virtual mat that matches the material dimensions For example if you are cutting from an 8 5 x 11 sheet of cardstock then create a Virtual Mat with those same dimensions You can use either Portrait or Landscape mode just remember to place your material on the mat in the correct orientation fo
278. se small black arrows on the Rulers show the current location of the mouse cursor Thus if you want to know for example the center location of a shape place your mouse on the center icon of the shape Vertical and i X location of horizontal guides also ir l center of selected appear on a selected shape shape and can aid in AE aligning to other shapes Place mouse cursor in center of shape to determine center Y location of center of selected location of the shape shape along the Rulers Pi a A fh 48 Deleting e Todelete a selected shape use any of the following options o Press the Delete key Press Ctrl X Right click on the screen and choose Delete from the menu Go to Edit gt Delete Oo gt gt o Located the shape on the layer to which it is assigned and click on the Delete Shape icon X e To delete all of the shapes in the current project use any of the following options o Right click on the screen and choose Delete All from the menu o Press Shift Delete o Go to Edit gt Delete All e You can also delete a layer of shapes at one time from the Layer Bar Refer to Section 3 12 e To delete all of the tiny shapes not wanted in your project use any of the following to access the Delete by Area option Right click on the screen and choose Delete By Area from the menu o Press Ctrl Shift R o Go to Edit gt Delete by Area e The Delete by Area window allows you to select the size by area of objects you
279. section of two segments Note the length and direction of the two control points Control point for segment on the left side Control point for segment on the right side o Smooth Node The lines of the B zier control points on either side of that selected node will align in a Straight line resulting in a smoother transition Two control point lines are now straight line with one another 150 0 Symmetric Node The lines of the B zier control points on either side of the selected node will become equal in length resulting in a smoother transition Two control point lines are now the same length o Delete Node The node will be deleted and the two segments will become a single segment The B zier control points of the new segment will automatically adjust to try to recreate the previous path of the two segments o Break Node Breaks the node into two nodes so that the segments are no longer connected The shape is no longer a closed path thus it will not be filled with color The new broken nodes can be moved to different locations if desired and reconnected using the Pen Tool gt Node is broken and shape loses Broken nodes can be Broken nodes can be fill color dragged to new locations reconnected using several methods refer to Section 7 14 Note that you can also use node breaking to define the cutting start point of a path since on a broken path the blade will always start cutting where a node i
280. sieee ns yates a ustaahe 193 POMPale MOOG ODIO rr ii aetna eed shel tamed paar atea 195 9 04 PNC PROCEDURE PART 2 ALIGNING AND CALIBRATING cccccccccccccsscssecssecssecueceueceusceuscsuscsuscsusceuscsussusesusesusesusesusereseresereseressnsseneses 198 Aligning the Laser wth the Registration MaS 0 saa tata ince soa tdi daatbayea in Dena dandy macin anasto eamadaa ateaeeatucaanaaeens 198 Adusing RAE O AAA A e ie acters eee ied ected 200 OS Fei NTA EUT Posta uba nea eae EE 201 FOCPRINTAND CUT SCENARIO Santoro 201 9 06 1 Cutting Multiple PNC Images on the Same Page A a ic 201 9 06 2 PNC With a Contour Shape Larger Than the Printed IMaqe ssscsscssssssessssssssessssssssssessssssssesessassessessesasssesesssssssesessacseesessessessesessasaeeses 202 9 06 3 PNC With a Contour Shape Smaller Than the Printed Image sscccssssssesssssssessssssssssessssscssescsssssessesessasssssessasacsesessaseesessesaessesessasaseses 203 9 06 4 PNC With a Contour Shape Overlapping the Printed IMage scccscscssssesssssssscsssssssesescssessssssssssssssssssesssssessssscessssssesseeessssssasaseesssesessasensass 205 UNO E SAC AAA F P seas sa deal EEE S OE 206 9 07 PRINT AND GUT WITHOUT PRINTING FROM MT Gis ciiscsnve cies ctsautiuscvavecnteashieiccactadrteadtidicusdeceuecaubielidcsdicrdiauisiasatennsaeumncac Roadvauanincawed 208 O07 Pining LOND ANOUIGl ENO aN aise seco acceeties cscs A O Welton ce 208 9 07 2 PNG Applications Wilh Existing IMQOCS a cere elooud
281. sing wing detail Threshold 127 Threshold 250 Threshold 255 Wings missing Detail in claws missing Border only traced 96 e As shown in the above example the most detail was obtained with the lowest Threshold Typically this is not necessarily what you want in your tracing The point is to experiment freely over the entire range of Threshold settings to see the effects of changing this important setting At the same time test the other available settings e Choosing By Luminance versus By Average can give different results Start with By Luminance and switch if you are having problems getting a good trace Refer to Appendix B Terminology for definitions of these two terms e The Despeck setting will filter out small paths that you may not want to be traced Increase to remove these tiny paths from your tracing However if you see parts disappearing that you need then decrease You can also apply a Break to your tracing and then manually delete parts you do not want Despeck set to 0 Despeck set to 15 Tiny specks in owl s claws Tiny specks removed e The Resample Image setting can be used to increase or decrease how tightly an image is traced Lower it to decrease the number of nodes and loosen the fit of the tracing Increase it to increase the nodes and create a more precise fit This can also be used to soften angular tracings as shown in this trace of a cat Too Still too angular angular Smoother Smoother Resa
282. so be used to design everyday items from basic shapes Ll Circle heart triangle Overlap shapes Apply Weld Magic Toolbar Result Balloon Designing a Border Video e Another use of the Weld tool is in designing borders First create the shape to be repeated A circle with a smaller circle near the top is created Apply the Join Ctrl J function to make the two circles into a single shape Resize one and Select both and Basic Shapes place near the top of apply Ctrl J to Join the other e Select the shape and use Ctrl D to initiate the Duplicate function Duplicate Shapes Rows 1 Columns 12 Spacing inches 0 1 Enter 1 Row 12 or more Columns and a negative value for Spacing so the shapes will overlap Cancel Click on Apply when done e Add along rectangle to overlap the bottom and then apply the Weld tool to the selected shapes 162 Designing a Wreath Video De DE De DE DE DE DE Da Da Da De e In Section 3 10 6 it was shown how to arrange a shape into a circle pattern using the Rotated Duplicates function This feature opens up a world of designing possibilities In this tutorial we ll create a wreath using the following flourish found in the Wingdings font that comes with Windows oe e Select the shape and open the Duplicates window by right clicking and selecting Duplicate gt Rotated Duplicates Enter the number of flourishes you wan
283. ssnesseseessevses 130 O eee ee 130 A ng ne Treo er ne oP ee Oe rea ee re ee eer ne ere eee 131 FUSS dl ol 132 A gcse S lee aa ees is ail cai ciara cnet enantio alae ineon cunean a an ae oti 132 1205 SHAPE MAGIC ADVANCE PART4 TER dais 133 TOSNODEMODE A ed rn ee 135 COPED THIS PROJECT NORMAL SELECT TOOL ectia taa labia 136 7 08 MEASURE SHAPE LENGTHS AND ANGLES MEASURE TOOL ococococonococnnconnononanenenenrnonococoronnononenenenrnrco coco rnnnnnanenenrnrnr corno rannananenos 136 7209 SLICE SHAPES AND LINES KNIFE O eb ea elo o eL 138 TAOIERASE SECTIONS OF PATHS ERASE aio leal o el o aio 138 EVR SHINO NN AA AN A NA Da 138 Inverse Erasing Adding TO A isa 140 ESOO E AA 142 TAA DRAWER HAND EINES did aa 143 LR NO 143 Drawing TC EAS AS ASA AN luaieadaat nel bighinelednedsy 144 Drawing WI OU GOTT MES Aa 144 7 12 DRAW BEZIER CURVES AND STRAIGHT LINES PEN TOOL vio dle lcidea 145 o nasbiaseat binsetted tice dels mnatdad bieeboe N 145 Drawing IV OS 5 fas ER DO IS DDS Fe AL ech a ltd fe laa ces neta eA eee 146 Sola A ITOE NTE HPT TOE NRE eNOS EN Ferm CE eT EDIE Oe FIDO ee On Pere re meer ere er 146 Fat Falando uber IO OE Nees ete asta a a ES feta ais Pr aa tet asta ha staal casteaha feta raha adtdae tana tants 147 ISE PATHS A NODE LEVEL NODE EDIT TOOL errre ne cala aia 147 SA 147 NA eco teoria aerate 150 Appiicavons Tor Node E o is eo o ad o 151 1 14 RECONNECTING BROKEN SEGMENTS casi ias 152 USAS A o 0 o A Saanntesage aA aA 152 Usi
284. ssssssssssssssssscscsesssssscsssssssssssssssesscscsssssssesscassesssacssausesesasassesesacssaseesssasassueasacasasessesacasaseecssasaseeeecscaseeseacasans 24 AUS 2 2 0 sd DNS a E 24 DON Ger Frusirated Ger OD o actade 24 2 0 CUTAK ROC IN Un RA A A nea 24 ROT FOR E eee nee E Ree EN CTE ee er a ORE ee a a EEE a E eee ae ner eee ne 25 PAVAS S E E sit EE E E E E I SE A E A A EE EE E I E tothe E A E E E E E AE T 26 A 21 NOBLE Uta 21 A MA E E eR E em en ee eRe eae ee mene eee ceo ee en ene ee 21 A A An A 27 A A 29 Po as ceeasesa E E E ue N EEA 30 2 08 SERIAL PORT AND TEST CONNECTION asii conontaciisieordi ciedad siesta deta NANNAN ONENA ds 30 2 09 IMPORTANT CHECKLIST BEFORE YOU CUT lianas ara ars A a iia ic 31 2 10 CALIBRATING THE ACS 24UHF RESOLUTION cccccscccsccscsesssssssesssesssessessssesseuseneseeseesanesanasanasauusenssensseusseusseusseusssesseusseusseussenssenevans 31 SETTINGS FORM FOR CUTTING MATERIA tocaran dpi ic decana 34 SUGGESTED CUT SETTINGS FOR VARIOUS MATERIALS ON ACS 24UHF ooococccccocccccccccccccocccnccncconccnccnconcononn can car non ncrn cnc crnrannaoos 35 IO A ia 37 A A e a O OO NAIA AE 37 SOLTO AR irr E e e e PO PS O ceanaston an aanecemacoinasni uracens 38 A eta acne reese accutane ONEN E EAA sen sie ocawiaecesice EEN ONEN E AN EOE ne ncceseep eee 38 O TOO aea aE EA E AEE AAA EAA EA T AAE AA EE A A A A EE EA 38 ME TOOD a a PPP E A OE E RO E o o E O ECO CET Teer E E E eee 39 Alo Ao mo eee ee ee 39 U DAR re nasties
285. t Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Tiler The following window will open with a set of default settings Preview of shape broken into tiles for cutting Actual Width Actual Height New Width New Height Tile Width Tile Height Offset X Offset Y Scaled 100 0000 W and H of shape on screen Option to adjust W and H W and H of each tile Distance to offset horizontal of vertical tiles A lt Click on Preview to update with new settings Only the Tile Width must be set to something less than 15 since the cutter can handle 14 wide cutting For this example the Tile Width will be set to 13 5 Note that it is assume that the cutter can cut long sections of vinyl at one time so the Tile Height will be set slightly larger than the height of the shape Also there is no need to have an Offset yet so it is set to 0 Revised preview Actual Width Actual Height New Width New Height Tile Width Tile Height Offset X Offset Y Scaled Tile Width changed to 13 5 Tile Height changed to 66 0 0 0 0 Offset Y changed to 0 100 0000 Preview E 5 tile only has a tiny part of a leaf Cancel Everything looks fine except for the last tile in which there s only a fraction of a leaf This wouldn t be an economical use of the vinyl Thus the settings could be adjusted just a slight amount so that only four tiles will be cut instead of five There are several opti
286. t With icon on the File Toolbar A o Press Ctrl Shift C o Goto Cut Project With gt Klic N Kut Series e The following window will open Laser Offset Section 9 02 Resolution Section 2 10 Select KNK Cut withflic N Kut Series Cutter EA MOCE ANE SEL A Baud Rate KNK MAXX v COM6 USB Serial Port Serial Port and Test BaudRate 57 600 v aes Connection Section 2 08 57 T n Force Setting fa Set these on the Section 2 03 se aias Control Panel of 2 N Doe iia O la Setting Section a os el la o O A a a oe ee l art will initiate the l cutting of shapes sent to Blade Offset cut window Section 2 06 e The above diagram shows the relevant section numbers for each setting The Start button doesn t need its own section as it simply initiates the cut once you have decided upon the other options e Select KNK Maxx from the drop down menu under Klic N Kut Model Set the Baud Rate to match the baud rate selected in Section 1 05 Step 4 e The movement within the Klic N Kut logo can be toggled on and off by left clicking on the logo 2 03 Force e The cutting force also called pressure greatly affects the quality of the cut If the force is too low the material cannot be cut If the force is too high you will get bad cutting even incomplete cutting at times and tearing of the material Use recommended starting forces for the material you are cutt
287. t above the Accept button This might be a little confusing especially when you use negative numbers versus positive numbers Practice a bit to see how it works with both The Vertical Align slider controls how far into the circle the Tears will be located The Offset slider is not used because the tears are being aligned along a circle Select the Circle and all of the Tears Petals and apply the Weld function 185 Click on the flower and apply a Copy and Paste In Place to create a duplicate Double click on the duplicate until the shape is in the Rotate mode Then slowly rotate the copy by dragging the corner icon around until the copy lines up with the spaces of the original Flower Center Select one of the flowers and perform another Copy and Paste in Place Move the copy away from the other flowers and click on the Shadow Layer icon Shadow Width 0 1425 0 Corner Join Rounded y Apply Blackout Y Inset Shadow 7 Auto Simplify Output C ema The above popup menu will appear Check the Inset Shadow box Uncheck the Auto Simplify Output box It is recommended that Mitered be selected as the Corner Join instead of Rounded The shape for the flower center is only the center shape Use the Shadow Width slider to create the inset Click on Accept when you are done To delete the petals first select the inset shape and then apply the Break function Now delete each of the petal insets Aga
288. t as they were in Pixel 1 Despeck 2 Click on the Color tab Color Tolerance 5 e IE Since this is a PNG file Background Background Color C Color can be modified if needed Click on the white box to open a window for selecting the color to trace Increase or decrease Tolerance to add or subtract portions of the image to be included in the trace e The first step is to click on the little white box on the Color Trace tab A window will open showing the imported image and you can select the first color to be traced Let s start with the interior of the flower pot An eyedropper cursor will appear and it can be moved around the screen to pick up the color of any part of the image To select the color of the flower pot simply place the eyedropper anywhere over the flower pot 105 An eyedropper icon is moved around the image This box indicates the color of the current pixel under the eyedropper al E RGB 222 83 0 HTML de5300 When the desired color is selected left click once to select it click on Apply Changes and the trace will be immediately made using current settings Just like with the other trace methods other settings in this window can be adjusted In this particular case the Despeck setting will need to be used to eliminate tiny paths being added to the tracing Blue lines and green fill indicate portion of image traced Print Dim
289. t length Having the blade fully extended will never result in better cutting In fact it can cause skewing tearing of the material damage to the blade and damage to the mat When conducting the test cut be sure to check your mat for cut lines after the test You should be able to set the length to get clean cuts but with no visible markings on the mat If you do see cut lines in your mat retract the blade a bit and repeat your test cut Material Perfect Length Too Long Too Short Set the Blade Tip Height Above the Material Video The blade height is the distance from the tip of the blade to the top of the material you are about to cut When you insert the blade holder into the blade holder seat it does not necessarily have to be positioned with the outer rim touching the blade holder seat You have control over that height and can raise the blade holder up a little higher before locking it into place with the front screw on the blade holder seat Adjust the blade height so that o The blade tip will not be dragging across the material you are cutting when moving to the point to begin the cut o The dropping of the blade will invoke more downward force to a point Thinner easy to cut materials Such as paper and vinyl can have the blade tip fairly close to the material Denser materials such as cardstock chipboard and craft plastic need the blade tip a little higher but not too high 22 L n j s
290. t pen If you like change the origin to a different location say an inch away from the right side and from the bottom The arrow will now be drawn at that new origin e f anything goes wrong during the cut press the Pause button on the cutter to stop the cut This is your panic button Turn off the cutter and then turn back on again Take the necessary steps to begin your cut fresh If data is still being transmitted to the cutter allow it to continue until you see this window 18 KNKPlugin a s o Finished sending all data to your machine Tfyour machine isn t cutting please make sure it is ONLINE To draw again return to the cut window and choose a different origin Practice moving the origin to different locations This is how Knife Point mode works If you want the image to draw where you have it on the Virtual Mat then you need to switch to WYSIWYG mode and use the laser to set the origin versus the tip of the pen Refer to Section 2 07 for more details on controlling where images will cut IMPORTANT Please read Section 2 01 before cutting 19 20 2 Cutting 2 01 What You Need to Understand About Cutting IMPORTANT Please read all of 2 01 You Have To Make Mistakes e The key to becoming successful at cutting is to do a lot of it Those who shy away from using their ACS 24UHF never get to the stage of mastering it Its very normal for new owners to be intimidated by their cutter So remember the foll
291. t to around 50 If you find the pen isn t drawing then increase as needed The Velocity v also referred to as Speed can be set to whatever you like for drawing Try 200 In MTC you will set the Virtual Mat to Portrait and make several other settings for doing the tests 16 Indicates the direction the mat is fed into the cutter In Portrait mode arrow will point up on the screen In Landscape mode arrow will point to the left on the screen More on the Virtual Mat is covered in Section 4 04 Main Virtual Mat Text and Fonts Select 24 x 12 Large Mat to most closely Mat Configuration match the mat you received with your KNK Large Mat Select Light Blue 24 00 x 12 00 dl or other desired N4 0 Light Blue El Portrait color T Show Cirdes T Show Margins O Fill Outline v Select Portrait for Zoom 30 this test Later on L experiment with Set Zoom to 30 Caret Size Snap Position Landscape 1 00 No Snapping Use these settings on every new project Go to File gt Import gt From Basic Shapes and select the category called Arrows Double click on any of the arrow images to add that image to your screen An arrow will help you better compare where a shape gets drawn versus how you see it on the screen e un Basic Shapes Double click shape to add to project Double click any of the arrow images to add to your screen Chevron Circu
292. t to use in the wreath and click on the sigma icon Then double the Rotated By setting to arrange the duplicates in an equally space circular pattern Enter Dup Count and click on icon Enter double the mua ES Rotate By setting secar gt 3 y to arrange er Sis shapes in a circle OffsetX 0 Offset Y 60 Accept a C mm mm ancel e Experiment with Offset X and Offset Y to create a design that you like When satisfied click on Accept and then click on the Weld function to remove the overlap Dupe Count 7 E Offset Y 301 E mm cane Rotated Duplication ME Rotate By 45 deg OffsetX 20 mm LA Experiment with the Offsets Final design after welding e Tosee more examples of how the Rotated Duplicate function can be used for designing visit this link htto teamknk com rotated duplicate a reason to uparade to mtc 4 6 163 8 07 Boolean Join Video The Boolean Join menu contains five welding options but it can only be applied to two selected shapes at one time If you have more than two shapes then just apply the Boolean Join to any two at a time or in most cases you can either use the Weld Ctrl W function or the Join Ctrl J tool first to reduce your multiple shapes down to two and then use the Boolean Join function needed to complete your design For example if you have text that has been Split by Glyphs and there are 5 letters in your wor
293. tains numerous links to online videos Click on these green Video icons to open either a You Tube or Vimeo hosted video and learn the topic in that particular section of the manual Past experience has shown that watching videos can be extremely beneficial when learning software and cutting applications Where to Start e Thank you for choosing an ACS digital die cutter Before using a blade in your new cutter we suggest you read Chapters 1 and 2 and watch the videos provided via links in these two chapters e If you run into difficulties with the operation of your cutter turn off the power and look for a solution in this manual Appendix B is a list of Troubleshooting FAQ s If you continue to have technical questions or issues please contact your supplier as soon as possible e For additional cutter support please visit our Yahoo group at http groups yahoo com group Klic N Kut or our forum at http knkusa com forums 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Accugraphic Sales Inc All Rights Reserved Contents FEATURES OF THIS ONLINE INTERACTIVE USER MANUAL ccoo 1 WARRE TO I AE AP que lt P ee eee ee eee 1 INTRODUCTION TO THE AGS UDIP rr 7 o SS T 1 02 CONTENTS OF BOX cciconicninorcriir T 1 03 ITEMS TO NOTE a T POAR ART A Pa 8 e E EA AE A AAAA ena 9 1 06 BLADES AND ACCESSORIES c ccccccssscsssccsssccescceeceesseseeceesscseaccareceuacaassusuasasuaceuscceeeceussaeuacuseceuaceusseauaccassueuacantaseuasanuscusesanaseuseaneasaas
294. tape before pressing As you lift the tape start in a corner and keep one side pressed down and watch to make sure all stones are being lifted If a stone fails to lift press back down to pick it up Once the stones are lifted you can now place the transfer tape back onto its backing or go ahead and press the stones to your shirt other fabric or even cardstock Note that the transfer tape is reusable You should be able to get 4 or 5 pressings from one piece even though it becomes wrinkled from the pressing Keep using until it doesn t pick up and hold the stones Heat Pressing Rhinestones If using your home iron to press the stones to a shirt o Use a hot dry iron cotton setting or higher with steam option turned off Use a firm surface not a highly cushioned ironing board Insert a cloth between the layers of a shirt 0 0 o Press shirt first to create a smooth flat dry surface Arrange pattern on shirt carefully centering 0 Press firmly for 10 seconds Then move about Y in case steam holes were over areas of some stones and then press firmly for another 10 seconds gt Move to another area of stones and repeat Flip shirt inside out and press for another 10 seconds on side where stones are applied 216 o Allow to thoroughly cool before removing clear transfer tape If using a heat press to press the stones to a shirt o Set the temperature to 330 350 degrees F 165 175 degrees C and set the p
295. ter downloading and installing the file you will need to also clear your thumbnail cache in Windows To do this click on the Windows Start button and then go to All Programs gt Accessories gt System Tools gt Disk Cleanup In Windows 8 go to Control Panel gt Administrative Tools gt Disk Cleanup e The following window will appear if you have more than one drive on your computer and you ll want to make sure it shows your c drive Then click on OK Selectthe drive you wantto clean up Drives amp HP C v Cox e After several minutes a new window will open Scroll down in the menu of this window and make sure Thumbnails is checked and then click on OK at the bottom of the window Disk Cleanup gt You can use Disk Cleanup to free up to 2 13 GB of disk space on HP C Files to delete Setup Log Files 129KB 4 Verify Thumbnails Temporary files 1 40 GB gt Thumbnails 150MB IS checked Per user archived Windows Error Reporting 15 3MB 7 System archived Windows Error Reporting 182MB e You will be asked if you wish to permanently delete these files Click on Yes After this is completed you ll want to restart Windows e After Windows has resumed open Windows Explorer and go to a folder which has MTC files New thumbnails will now be created and it may take several minutes if you have hundreds of MTC files contained within that folder A few features to note about these thumbnails No dots i
296. terials blue capped blade Chipboard can easily come loose from the mat Try using masking tape or blue painter s tape around the outside edges of the chipboard to prevent the chipboard from slipping during cutting You can also apply a stabilizer such as freezer paper or Heat n Bond to greatly improve both the consistency of cutting as well as the intricacy of what can be cleanly cut Some thin soft chipboards such as cereal box may cut at a setting of 110 thus try this setting for your test cut Increase in increments of 10 as needed For denser thicker chipboards you will not only need to increase the pressure substantially but also use two or more passes To simulate multi pass during the test just repeat without moving the origin The test cut will be performed in the same spot Again it is imperative that you use the Test button to make sure a clean cut can be achieved before attempting to cut your shape A slow speed is recommended so that the blade can work its way through chipboard When cutting thicker materials the blade holder needs to be raised in the blade holder seat to enhance the downward force To do this try using a stack of 13 Post It notes as described in Section 2 01 211 Troubleshooting Some chipboard will produce a lot of crumbs during the cut and this can build up inside the blade holder as well as build up around the cut lines causing interference with the blade during the second pass For this
297. ternal cut line disappears leaving the original raster image now filling the Shadow Layer Contoured image with only a single outside cut line e The cutting process proceeds as described in Section 9 04 e Inthe other case with the tag shape around the original traced image the process is exactly the same Select the tag and the cow image and apply the Weld function from the Magic Toolbar 202 Image within the tag shape with only the tag as the cutline e The cutting process proceeds as described in Section 9 04 e In both cases regardless of the color of the outside shape the resulting shape is white and will not show up on the printout If it desired to have a colored outside shape then before applying the Weld function make a copy of the tag and recolor it as desired O e After welding place the cow image tag on top of the colored tag Use the Stack function to make sure the two images are perfectly aligned Note that the welded tag isn t white it s clear or invisible thus the pink color shows through When sent to the print preview window you see this L e After printing be sure to turn off either tag layer so that the outside shape will only be cut one time 9 06 3 PNC With a Contour Shape Smaller Than the Printed Image e Inthis situation a shape is going to be cut that is smaller than the outside boundaries of the imported graphic For example let s say a scalloped border is desir
298. th the gel pen These lines are the glasses inner circle and outer rectangle A rectangle is added which 7 completely surrounds the gt shapes in the project 3 This rectangle should be on its own layer 218 The layers to be drawn glasses inner circle and outer rectangle are showing on the Layers Bar and the layer with the cut line is turned off Layers x EB Shapes to be Drawn sal Y Y Hide the layer to be cut Set the origin using the laser and select WYSIWYG for the Cut Type Turn off Blade Offset and then set the appropriate Force and Speed Draw the shapes with the pen Turn off the layer with the glasses and the circle but leave the outer rectangle layer turned on Also now show the layer with the circle to be cut Layers x HE Shapes to be Dra me I yx Hide the layer with the E Show the layer with the circle and the glasses Shape to be Cut aC circle to be cut 4x l Leave the outer rectangle layer showing Again set the origin using the laser Turn on Blade Offset and set the appropriate Force and Speed Set the Cut Type to Print and Cut Execute the cut using the corners of the rectangle as the registration marks The resulting gel pen lines and cut will now be aligned 10 08 Embossing and Scoring The Zing Embossing Tool has two different sized embossing heads and can be used in the other KNK models The smaller one is recommended when scoring cards
299. the correct listing is selected in the Serial Port menu 2 Verify that the USB cable is securely plugged into your cutter and into the computer Nothing happened and no error message 1 Check the baud rate on the machine to make sure it matches what is selected in the window 2 Make sure your cutter is online Access is Denied The Latency Timer needs to be changed on the Com Port assignment To do this watch the video called Communication Fix at this link http www iloveknk com FreeVideos Support e fthe Test Connection still fails please contact your ACS Supplier for assistance or post at the Klic N Kut Yahoo group mentioned on the first page e lf the test succeeded then try drawing your shape First note the following in the Controller window Cut t with Klic N Kut E Series Cutter e KNK MAXX y COM7 USB Serial Port y A Baud Rate 57 600 Test Connection E FCE am pee Set Force and Speed Knife Point gt Force or Speed cannot be set here This is a feature that only works _____y on newer models of KNK s Set your F and V on the control panel instead Select Knife Point Click Start when you are ready to cut Start l Click on Start e After making the appropriate settings click on Start e The arrow will be drawn at the origin you set on the paper with the tes
300. the cutting A child shape which is joined to a parent shape will always be cut before the parent This provides stability to the cutting If you were to cut the other way around where the outside parent shape is cut first this shape would be more likely to come loose from the mat when followed by a child shape being cut Layer Video e The Layer function is in between Split and Break in terms of what it does But it can also perform a Join function at the same time Follow the examples carefully e After selecting a combined shape the Layer function can be accessed in any of the following ways fy Click on the Layer icon on the Magic Toolbar LF Press Ctrl L Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Layer from the menu Oo gt gt o Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Layer e For example let s use the Bob example above after we applied the Join which resulted in a single shape Applying the Layer function will initially seem to have performed the same function as Break Child paths fill with color after applying Layer th ab e However the big difference is this If you apply Break to Bob you end up with seven individual shapes one for each outer parent shape plus one for each inner child shape If you apply Layer to Bob you end up with only two shapes the three outer parent paths are joined as one shape and the four inner child shapes are joined as a second shape In this example on
301. the settings can be saved with a name you provide i Name HE Watermark w Shadow Please enter a Mo 4 15 Using Windows Copy Paste Adobe Illustrator In Adobe Illustrator select the shape or shapes and use Edit gt Copy or Ctrl C to copy the images to the Windows clipboard In MTC use Paste in Place Ctrl Shift V or the icon on the File Toolbar to import the shapes at the original size Note the fill and stroke colors assigned in Illustrator will not be brought into MTC On some shapes duplicates can result during the conversion from Al to MTC The quickest way to eliminate those duplicates is to apply the Fuse n Weld function It isn t necessary to know which shapes might be duplicated Just select all of the imported shapes and click on the Advanced icon on the Shape Magic Toolbar and select Fuse n Weld A small window will open It s not necessary to adjust any settings in this case Instead click on the Optimal button The window will close and any duplicate shapes will be fused into a single version Fuse n Weld mem Tolerance i 0 0265 in Click on Optimal gt L optimal appv cancel 76 If you have any problems using the Windows Copy Paste method try importing your saved Al files into MTC Refer to Section 4 04 Inkscape In Inkscape select the shape or shapes and use Edit gt Copy or Ctrl C to copy the images to the Windows i clipboard In MTC use Past
302. ths will begin to distort the shapes So as recommended in later sections of this chapter turn it off and then the following Auto Simplify Path can be applied once the editing is completed 7 02 2 Auto Simplify Path The Auto Simplify Path function can be applied when you have turned off Auto Simplify Paths Select the shape s and then apply Auto Simplify Path in any of the following ways Click on the Advance icon on the Magic Toolbar and select Auto Simplify Path Press Ctrl Shift Z Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Auto Simplify Path from the menu Oo gt gt o Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Auto Simplify Path The function will be automatically applied and a window will open indicating the results of the simplification Here is a sample window f Make The Cut p Ex Number of nodes in the selection before and after Auto Simplify is applied _ Auto Simplify Node Count Before Simplify After Simplify 62 Reduced By Click on OK to close the window Percent reduction in the number of nodes If not enough nodes are deleted then try temporarily decreasing the size of the shape Use the scaling method shown in Section 3 13 to reduce the size of the shape to say 25 Apply the Auto Simplify Path function Then resize using the reciprocal 25 r to return to the original size 7 02 3 Smooth amp Simplify The Smooth and Simplify function is a manual version
303. ting above but can be combined with the dragging of corners to create many different variations on the original shape Text begins to warp Try dragging additional corners too Drag a corner to begin warping tz oo a A F a 4 Holding the Shift key or the Ctrl Key while dragging a corner allows the warping to extend even further Sa 3 E e Note throughout this user manual screen shots of shapes will sometimes appear without the gridlines of the virtual mat in the background and without the bounding boxes around the shape s This was done to make the images appear clearer and less cluttered 3 14 Changing Color Texture and Line Style e There are three ways to access the functions for changing the Color Texture or Line Style of a selected shape Right click on the screen and select Change Color Texture Line o On the Layer Bar open the layer locate the shape and click on the Change Shape Color icon o Press Ctrl Shift U Color Ctrl Shift O Texture Ctrl Shift Y Line Style Changing Color e Inthe Color window you can click on any of the Basic colors or create a custom color 60 Color pamapa Option 2 Click in the m window and then scroll up and down to lighten Option 1 Select E O E a a oe j one of the Basic colors or one of oo tee pmi im the Custom l colors already o Option 3 Enter the created in the ES EEEE ae GE za RGB values directly or current pro
304. ting is placed on a curve The two versions illustrate the effect of having Parameterize turned on versus off co Z oe ow Way p 2 dirmaga Parameterize Off Parameterize On gy qe O Flatten The Flatten setting will smooth shapes add curvature by adding nodes There are five settings x1 x5 In the following example an arrow is fit to the curve 100 O Fit an arrow Flatten Off Flatten x1 Flatten x2 PR Flatten x5 to a curve Use the other settings from Wrap Objects to Path to control the starting point Offset position on the curve Vert Align and overlap of repeats Space just as presented at the beginning of this section There is a fourth setting St Extend which is similar to Space but used to create equal spacing between repeats 167 when the Stretch function is applied In the following example the border created in Section 8 06 will be stretched to fit around a circle DARAN After entering the Wrap Objects to Path window Repeat is checked and increased first Then Warp is turned on Turn on Turn on Repeat Warp a zn e de de Do gt e AA ra Wrap Objects To Path EA 4 g Wrap Objects To Ea E i IA gt 9 J Re Y Repeat Y Warp ee E 9 fess tad se ase ae Count 3 v Stretch A SONS Spacing n 0 E 5 aay Pa ss Offset 0 00 9 se Vert Align 100 eae N 9 3 Apt gon St Extend 0 00 A LF O Accept Cancel s p gt
305. tion is not used because of the two easier functions Auto Simplify Paths and Auto Simplify Path which were both added to MTC after this function was introduced e f Simplify Nodes doesn t reduce the nodes significantly then try reducing the size of the image as described at the end of the Auto Simplify Path section 7 03 Shape Magic Advance Part 2 Details View Path Detail e The View Path Detail function is used to provide information about the selected shape or shapes as well as indicating the order in which shapes will be cut It can be accessed in the following ways Click on the Advance icon on the Magic Toolbar and select View Path Detail Press Ctrl Shift X Q 0 o Right click on the screen and choose Shape Magic gt Advanced gt View Path Detail from the menu Q Go to Edit gt Shape Magic gt Advanced gt View Path Detail e Once selected the following window opens 129 7 04 Shape Magic Advance Part 3 The Path Functions e Numbers of Shapes Segments Points and Nodes Preview of image Nodes on Mat Shape View 141 Shapes 734 Segments 2027 Points 875 Nodes Line 1 3980 1 8879 B zier 1 3841 1 8879 B zier 1 3792 1 8874 lt B zier 1 3792 1 8858 gt Begin 1 7670 1 8790 B zier 1 7698 1 8559 B zier 1 7772 1 8278 B zier 1 7837 1 8156 B zier 1 7853 1 8125 B zier 1 7855 1 8125 B zier 1 7877 1 8164 B zier 1 7935 1 8269 B zier 1 8037 1 8687
306. tock for fold up projects such as pop up cards gift bags and small boxes Either head can be used for embossing shapes When the project involves both embossing scoring and cutting you will need to use WYSIWYG for the cut mode so that the shapes will be aligned When embossing it is recommend that a soft material be place beneath the paper or cardstock to allow a deeper impression to be made One excellent material to use is non slip shelf liner Even though the surface is somewhat uneven you will obtain very good results Other materials which can be used include rhinestone rubber craft foam and felt Make sure the material is well adhered to the mat tape it down if necessary Then tape your paper or cardstock to the top of this material When scoring the paper or cardstock can be applied directly to the mat just as you do for cutting This makes it much simpler when you need to score and then immediately cut Make sure you do some tests first to get the best settings for the scoring or embossing you need For scoring cardstock this typically involves a higher force 150 and two or three passes Refer to the Suggested Settings table at the end of this chapter If you have a soft material beneath your paper cardstock then a lower force can be used but you may still need several passes Also raise the tool in the blade holder seat the same way you do with the blade holder to get more force invoked 219 Remember to turn off the Bl
307. ts Spray the mat back and forth vertically and horizontally but only apply a light coat Then allow about 30 minutes to dry Press your hand to the middle of the mat and lift If you cannot lift the mat then apply a second coat If you can lift the mat and it drops right away then it s probably just right for cutting paper If you can lift the mat and it drops after a few seconds then that s about right for cardstock and rhinestone template materials If the mat stays stuck then that s best for cutting fabric If the newly sprayed mat is too sticky causing difficulty in removing cut items without tearing place an old but clean dish towel over the surface of the mat and press with a brayer or rolling pin Then pull up Test the stickiness and repeat until the mat is more appropriate for your material It should only take a few pressings to greatly reduce the stickiness While Krylon Easy Tack has proven to be an excellent mat adhesive for cutting paper and cardstock alternative adhesives may be used in place of the Krylon If you are cutting thicker materials such as oil board or styrene then you may want to experiment with stronger adhesives or use painter s tape to secure the material to the mat If you are cutting thin paper then you may want to experiment with lighter adhesives Use a plastic scraper an old credit card will suffice to scrape off any random material pieces remaining on the mat after a cut For finer particles of pap
308. tte Trace the most prevalent 16 colors in the image are identified and displayed To switch to the Palette Trace method click on the tab named Palette and the following will appear Resample Image vd Resample Image x1 0 None and Despeck will be used just as i cid Click on the they were in Pixel Palette tab Median Cut or Octree can be ee eer ai to 16 colors used to generate the colors will appear e You can then select which colors to merge together into one color to be traced Note that selecting Median Cut instead of Octree will use a different algorithm and produce a different set of 16 colors Color Scans Pixel Palette Median Cut Octree o 000 a G Median Cut is used to generate the colors A different set of colors is generated e Forthis example we will return to the choice of using Median Cut First turn off all of the colors by right clicking on the boxes A popup menu will appear which provides some options for which colors to have selected as well as how to sort them Begin by choosing Select None Invert Selection Select options Select None Click on Select None Select All Sort By Luminance Sort options Sort By Prevalence Sort By Color e With no colors selected you can then click on colors that are similar and would be merged together to simplify the trace For example for the flower in this example begin by clicking o
309. ttom or buttons to increase or decrease the cutting speed V respectively On newer ACS 24UHF models the speed can also be set within the Cut Project With window Check the box next to Set Force and Speed and scroll to the desired setting If necessary use the arrow keys on your keyboard to fine tune the setting For small and or intricate designs slower speeds are better For large or simple designs much faster speeds should work fine A slow speed is 50 or 100 A fast speed is around 300 A speed of 600 is extremely fast but useful when using a marker or pen or when engraving There is also an Up Speed US found by pressing the Menu button one time This is the speed when the blade is in the up position moving from one location to another to begin cutting Sometimes it makes sense to keep this speed at 200 mm sec such as during a print and cut PNC Refer to Section 1 05 for instructions on reducing the US from default to 200 26 2 05 Multi Cut Set the number of Multi cut passes to cut each path peor ea Settings from 1 to 10 SAMES corran e The Multi Cut setting causes each individual path to be cut the set number of passes before the blade moves to the next path to cut This is better than just repeating the entire cut as each repeated pass is cut with the blade held down throughout the repeated passes resulting in cleaner cutting e Multi Cut is recommended in the following situations o Cutting thicker denser
310. ture the Choose Line Style provides the option to create a new style or you can pick a Line Style already in use in your current project Choose Line Style axe Option 1 Select a line style lt 4 already present in your project O Create New Line Style l e Option 2 Create a new line style i ow 1 puorn lt Ulee y U A by setting desired Dash length Cancel and Space between dashes After clicking on OK your selected shape will appear with the line style you have chosen Here are two examples bn o 3 15 Other Shape Manipulations Alignment There are eleven functions used to align shapes with one another After selecting two or more shapes these functions can be accessed using any of the following Right click on the screen and select Align and Space gt Align gt Go to Edit gt Align and Space gt Align gt For some of the functions there are shortcut keys and these are indicated in the detailed subsections below The following three shapes in their current relative positions will be used to illustrate what happens when each alignment function is applied 63 I y Center Alignment e There are three different centering functions Again with the shapes selected right click and go to Align and Space gt Align gt 0 Vertical Center press V aligns shapes vertically and positioned to the average vertical center of the group H
311. u can click on Large Preview to open a window displaying a much larger view than the thumbnail preview Browse to locate folder containing the file Click on the file and it will appear under File name File name we Open SVG File S Test Square SL9 svg Test Square svg 3 treble_staff_with_notes 01 3 tulip svg 3 Up Arrow svg 3 vector design elements 10 3 Wedge Box svg SX FORM BUTTERFLY svg Texas svg Date modif 12 19 201 12 19 201 5 24 2010 9 17 2011 7 30 2012 6 22 2010 5 10 2009 6 9 2010 1 5 23 2012 Q6 Pp Type SVG Docu SVG Docu SVG Docu SVG Docu SVG Docu SVG Docu SVG Docu SVG Docu SVG Docu Fies of type Preview of the file to be imported Click here to open a window to display a large preview of the file shape s 69 Different programs use different DPI s when exporting as SVG While MTC will import the SVG at the DPI most commonly used it is possible that an imported size will be different from the original such as what happens with SVG s created in KNK Studio So always check the size to see if it is appropriate for your needs before cutting If you import an SVG which is a print and cut file and the cut lines are not appearing apply the Join function followed by the Layer function refer to Section 7 01 A new layer will be created with the cutlines around the raster The original lay
312. umber of Nodes and the bounding box dimensions of the shape W and H which should match those you see in the Sel Properties Bar when you are no longer in Node Mode 136 Small green arrow indicates direction of cutting Move cursor over outside line of shape to bring up properties a Units Perimeter 4 0755 in Nodes 10 Inches Path Area 0 35in2 Width 1 0823 in Clockwise Yes Height 1 0000 in n Option to show Properties of the size in inches highlighted part of PE the shape Likewise when you hover the cursor over an outer side of the other star the solid area of the star will fill with stripes and the properties of the outer star will be displayed If you hover the cursor over the inner star then the properties of that star will be displayed instead Units Perimeter 3 7267 in Nodes 10 Inches Path Area 0 46 in Width 1 0822 in Clockwise Yes Height 1 0000 in Properties of We outer star Units Perimeter 1 3951 in Nodes 10 Inches Path Area 0 06 in Width 0 4051in Clockwise Yes Height 0 3743 in Note that the Path Area of the outer star includes the area of the inner star It does not subtract out that part of the shape This makes sense with regards to cutting since the same amount of material would be needed to cut the outer star regardless of whether or not the inner star were cut If for any reason you needed the actual area of the larg
313. unctions can be applied Set Color for All Shapes in Layer i also Texture and Line Style Layer Name also Hide Layer or Show Layer shows number of shapes on layer Layer Properties Click on thumbnail to select all shapes on layer Move Layer Down Move Layer Up Lock Layer or Unlock Layer RE E Delete Layer 1 BeanSprout DNA 1 e E5 Layer Options Menu E Delete Empty Layers gt 1 BeanSprout DNA 4 Selection to New Layer Visible Toggle menu Create New Layer F El B 1i 4 Lock Toggle menu e On the right side of the Layer Bar each layer has a preview or thumbnail showing the shapes assigned to that layer Click on that thumbnail and all shapes on that layer will be selected e To the left of each Layer Name there is a small sign Click on it and the will turn to a and that layer will open to reveal each individual shape assigned to that layer e Double click a layer name and you can change the name of that layer Rest your mouse cursor over a layer name and the number of shapes in that layer will appear e Hide and unhide layers by clicking on the eye icons Hide Layer fr and Show Layer a A hidden layer will display the shapes in pale versions of their actual colors and will also prevent any movement or resizi
314. vely if you print your image a little bit larger than the overall design of the puzzle you can set your origin just inside the corner of your printed image and then cut the design using the Knife Point setting Refer to Section 2 02 Here is an example of an imported picture and the puzzle imported and sized to fit on top 4 Customizing l KLICNEKUT N9 Dad i Be C ry d Y The KNK Zing offers Laredo Care Nay st Nacommect siritahie pactar feta e Apeere hor reese ve an tu dewey gt Simply AmaZing Mabe Ihe Cis ioir an ery ape yet ment pog n No more carp ice Design heety and rauy to produce masa penonalred porci www knkusa com 8 15 Notes Window The Notes window in MTC can be used in a host of ways 1 providing instructions for cutting and assembling the project 2 adding your name copyright and Terms of Use 3 explaining the purpose of different pages or layers 4 crediting others for assistance with the design 5 citing sources for clipart or names of fonts used and 6 attaching files you want to provide with your project The Notes window can be opened using the following ways o Click the Toggle Notes Window icon on the File Toolbar Goto View gt Notes Window There are two tabs in the Notes window Notes and Files The Notes window is used for entering any text you wish to include with your project 181 a ax Project Notes Notes Files Click o
315. version of Windows then use this video to locate this same folder Video but then make sure you look at that same top option about icons and thumbnails 238 Acknowledgements Please send an email to sandy iloveknk com if any errors are found in this manual or if you have suggestions for additions or changes would like to thank the following people for proof reading this manual Without their assistance this manual would be riddled with typos also greatly appreciate their suggested changes to make things clearer more consistent and more accurate Ann Hunting Deb Manis Elisabeth Bier Laury Vaden Nelda Sturgill Ted Rauenbuehler Tom Maskus also would like to thank the following people for technical input and or videos Liz Ackerman Andy Heinlein http www make the cut com Diane Hiscoe http scrapitemh blogspot com Maggie Hen hitp knkzingreview com Michelle Hessler http www paperthreads com Brenda Josselet http www digitalcuttersplus com Judy Keating Lynn Keniston Fred Muraca http www skatkatz com au Joe Rotella http www createncraft com Rebecca Stewart Bryan Williams Chad Youngblut http knkusa com And a really big thank you to my family and friends for their patience and their support of my Klic N Kut passion Sandy McCauley 239
316. ween Ascending or Descending Search After entering search options click on Simply click the Search button to view all gallery items Search button Upon clicking on Search thumbnails of the images identified in the search will appear 68 Each thumbnail indicates the File Name Category Description User ID and Uploaded Date Tom Turkey Download Thanksgiving Turkey Download thanksgiving praying pilgrim Tom This corrects a broken piece Thanksgiving Turkey 6 files found Turkey Corrected Download Turkey Thanksgiving holiday Download fall animal ThanksGiving Pop UP Card Download Open the card is 5 5 x 11 Download CygnetRound Campanero a AA E MTC uploaded files appear with a Virtual Mat background SVG uploaded files appear without the Virtual Mat background e Click on the thumbnail image and a larger preview window will open Click on Download and the file will immediately import at the current location of the Caret You can then resize cut edit save etc as needed 4 03 Importing SVG SVGZ from Your Computer e lf the selected file format is SVG or SVGZ then importing the graphic will bring the shape into MTC to be resized edited cut etc Similar to opening files a window will pop open allowing you to browse your computer to locate a subfolder and select the file you wish to import With SVG yo
317. wer If you plan to engrave the wood first use the small end of the Embossing Tool Unlike the procedure when embossing or engraving other materials perform the cut first and then emboss engrave If you try embossing first the wood can be weakened and made more susceptible to splintering Craft Plastic Craft plastic PET G is sold at a variety of Internet sites including E Bay Dick Blick Clear Scraps and Scrapbook com Not only can it be cut on the ACS 24UHF but fold lines can be created using the engraving tip The advantage of PET G is that you can fold these score lines back and forth many times 223 without the plastic snapping If you prefer you can also create fold lines by cutting dashed lines These also are very strong and can be folded dozens of times before weakening PET G comes in 0 015 and 0 02 thicknesses with protective sheets on the front and back to protect it from scratches These protective sheets will make it appear to be colored but it is perfectly clear when the sheets are removed You can remove both before cutting but you might prefer to leave one of the sheets attached to protect the bottom side from any adhesive on the cutting mat This bottom sheet can also serve as a stabilizer during the cut PET G doesn t need to be cut totally clean So if there are parts that are not cleanly cut try tearing the shape away from the waste That should work just fine Ideally of course the cut will be clea
318. will change when it is on top of the printed black lines This can be very useful When the laser light is precisely on the printed dot click on the center target button on the screen or press the Enter key on your keyboard e The laser will move to the vicinity of the next registration mark and the flashing red light in the software moves to the same relative point This dot will now be flashing red Setup Print and Cut 3 pint Registration umm aser Frovemen A A I Move By Again click on these arrows or your keyboard arrows until laser dot is on the reg mark corner Once the light is centered on the _ li reg mark dot click on Next e Repeat the process with the final reg mark ba Click on Next after yoL99 have moved the laser to tha rarnar nn tha ran mark This dot will now be flashing red Setup Print and Cut 3 Point Registratiof aser Provemient Again click on these arrows or your keyboard arrows until laser is on the reg mark corner Once the light is centered on the reg mark dot click here or press Enter on your keyboard e After completing the third reg mark the following window will open and remind you to wait until the laser light has returned to the origin before pressing OK KNKPlugin Sr MS f IMPORTANT If the pin moves vertically O a down and is still aligned with the third reg Please wait until the tool carriage returns to its home postion mark instead of retur
319. wish to delete from the project As you scroll to increase the size you will see the shapes begin to disappear from the project When the desired shapes are removed click on Apply Delete By Shape Area Shape area is derived from width of a shape multiplied by its height If the area is less than or equal to this value Scroll to desired it will be removed from this project maximum size of objects r 0 053635 to be deleted Apply Cancel 3 10 Cutting Copying Pasting Duplicating 3 10 1 Cutting to the Clipboard e To cut shapes to the clipboard first select the shape or shapes and then use any of the following Click on the Cut to Clipboard icon located on the File Toolbar Right click on the screen and select Cut Press Ctrl X Go to Edit gt Cut Oo gt gt o 3 10 2 Copying Shapes and Copying to the Clipboard Video 49 A quick way to make a copy of any selected shape s is to hold both the Ctrl and the Shift keys and then drag the selected shape s with your mouse To copy shapes to the clipboard first select the shape or shapes and then use any of the following Click on the Copy to Clipboard icon located on the File Toolbar lg Right click on the screen and select Copy Press Ctrl C Go to Edit gt Copy c gt gt o To make multiple copies refer to the Duplicate function described later in this section 3 10 3 Pasting from the Clipboard The Paste from Clipboard function in MTC works a
320. xport gt Sel As SVG To MTC Gallery Ctrl Shift S MI Open Save SVG as window File gt Export gt Sel To SVG File Editing Tools Ctrl B E Breaka shape into al ofitsindiidual paths Edit gt Shape Magic gt Break Ctrl J Edit gt Shape Magic gt Join Ctrl P Edit gt Shape Magic gt Split Ctrl R BE Remove alinteriorpats tom selected shapes Edit gt Shape Magic gt Blackout Ctrl L Edit gt Shape Magic gt Layer Ctrl Shift F Apply Flatten Paths function Edit gt Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Flatten Paths WA Ctrl Shift J J Smootandsimpliyshapes Edit gt Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Smooth amp Simplify MEA frien RR A froenn AIN e Designing Tools Ctrl 1 A Apply Texture Snapshot Edit gt Shape Magic gt T exture Snapshot Ctrl E Open Lattice window Edit gt Shape Magic gt Lattice Ctrl H Moa Open Generate Shadow Layer window Edit gt Shape Magic gt Shadow Layer ooo Ctrl K Open Rhinestone window Edit gt Shape Magic gt Rhinestone Ctri Q Open Conical Warp window Edit gt Shape Magic gt Conical Warp Ctrl Shift K Loy Paths function to create a center line trace Edit gt Shape Magic gt Advanced gt T hin Paths Ctrl Shift N WIN Open Tiler window Edit gt Shape Magic gt Advanced gt Tiler Ctrl T CO Open B zier Warp window Edit gt Shape Magic gt Bezier Warp oc Ctrl U dl Open Boolean Join window Edit gt Shape Magic gt Boolean Join Ctrl W Erp Weld selected shapes to remove overlap Edit gt Shape Magic gt Weld Ctrl Drag one s
321. y 11 TOS FOUN AO T a E E eee ee ee E E O hess ea leven gs A EE OE E E EE 11 Blades Included With ACS 24UHF PUROS A A AA nnne 11 BAGES 2 12 110 eari a EE o ta 11 1 07 MAT CARRIER SHEET ccccscsssscssssssssssssscscsesesesescsssessescsasenesesssueseuesesesesasaneaeasasesesesesesesesaseneasacasesesesesesesasaneaeacaceseuesesesesasaseaeaeaeesees 12 1 08 ATTACHING THE ACS 24UHF BOLT ON TABLES ccccccccccccecssecssccssecsueceuecsueceusceuscsuscsuscsuscsussusesussussusesusesusesusesusesuserevereseresereseneas 12 1 09 INSTALLATION OF YOUR ACS CUTTER AND SOFTWARE cccccccssscsssesssesssesssesssesseesseesseesseesaeesnssaeusaeesanesanesanasanesnesanesanesenesenssenneeeaes 13 Registering Make The Cut cscsssesscsssssssessssssssessssssssssessssscssessssacsessessssscssssssassessessasacssessssacsesssssasacssessesasacsscssssacasessssacseasssssacasesessasseesessssasasesessavan 13 N ONS PO RA PP PEU POCO E E A E A A TARN A AA AA A 14 eel O I AAA NP E o gtd y e ro OE On 14 1 10 CONNECTING THE ACS TO YOUR COMPUTER UNDER WINDOWS oocooncnincnnicnnnnnininici nora nonanona nora nro nr rra 15 1 11 VERIFY COMMUNICATION AND TEST DRAW SHAPES ccccccccccccssccssecssecuecsuecsusceusceuscsusceuscsusceusesusesuseausesusesuseusesuseneseueveseseresereesueseneses 15 1 11 1 Setup for Communication Test and Drawing isvssrramna cd aiii AA padres 16 111 2 COMUNION LSS tcc cece eects ccs cad 18 Ee ed o e PA A m 21 2 01 WHAT YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND AB
322. y begin drawing another of the same shape This function also tracks your most recently used shapes and provides a list of them within the menu 154 O Recently Used E Circular 4 Callouts 3 Kite Polygons Your most recently used Basic Arrows b h r il Recently Used shapes g Callouts b O Rounded Rectangle 2 Generic S apes Ae gas y accessed appears at the top of all T categories instead of Generic i Your Shapes O Misc Polygons gt Ee Stars D Tags 8 03 Create Spirals Spiral Tool Video e The Create Spirals function Spirals Tool is the 6 icon on the Node Mode Toolbar and can be activated by first opening the Node Edit toolbar ES or pressing W and then clicking on the Spiral Tool icon or pressing F6 This tool allows you to create spirals with as many turns as you wish along with several other settings e Once you are in this function you create a spiral by holding the left mouse button and freely dragging your mouse to create a spiral to the size you desire You are using the same method as described in Section 8 02 As you drag your mouse a spiral is added to the screen Two blue handles appear at the start and at the end of the spiral e Dragging the handles clockwise or counterclockwise will change the locations of the start point and end point of the spiral Drag this handle to a ele Ed Drag this handle point of the spiral to change the end p point of the spiral e f
323. you hold the Shift key while dragging the ending point handle you can change the scale overall size of the spiral e If you inadvertently draw a new spiral while trying to adjust the current spiral press the Delete key to remove it If you need to move the spiral hold the left mouse button down anywhere on the spiral except on top of a handle and drag to another location e The left side settings for the Spiral Tool allow you to change the Turns same as dragging the ending point handle change the Inner Radius same as dragging the starting point handle and change the Divergence the distance between the turns There is also a Reset button to bring back default values Divergence changes distance between the Turns as the spiral progresses see below es Turns changes the end int of th ral z ape Divergence 1 O Click here to reset to oint of tne spira Turns 5 27453 O p p Inner Radius 0 262964 B mes Inner Radius changes the start point of the spiral 155 8 With a Divergence of 1 0 default the distance between the turns is the same If the Divergence is less than 1 0 the distance decreases as the number of turns increases With a Divergence larger than 1 0 the distance increases Divergence 1 0 Divergence 0 5 Divergence 3 0 Distance between all turns Distance decreases with Distance increases with the is the same the number of turns number of turns The right side settings
324. yy Settings Adjust All 0 00 Adjust Each Top 0 00 Bot 0 00 Left 0 00 Right 0 00 Reverse Warp Point Order Biliniar va a 6 4 Reset to default Adjustment settings Accept lt lt aneet Click on Accept The Bilinear Perspective setting changes how the shape is warped when done Bilinear Perspective The Rotate Warp Point Order rotates the shape by 90 degrees still fitting the text within the confines of me original EA je 171 The Reverse Warp Point Order mirrors the image The Adjust All and Adjust Each settings allow you to move the text from the original boundaries of the quadrilateral fe Adjust All 50 Top only 25 Bottom only 25 Left only 15 Right 15 Bottom 25 When you achieve the desired shape click on Accept Sometimes you may not get what you expect when first applying the Auto 4 Point Warp For example when we add KNK to a mirror image of the same quadrilateral as was used for TEAM this is what we get e Both the Rotate Warp Point Order and Reverse Warp Point Order need to be applied Click twice Click once Auto 4 Point wh Auto 4 Point vino Settings Settings Adjust All Adjust All 0 00 0 00 Adjust Each Adjust Each Top 0 00 Top 0 00 Bot 0 00 Bot 0 00 Left 0 00 Left 0 00 Right 0 00 Right 0 00 Accept Cancel Accept Cancel After applying Rotate War

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ACS/Eagle with Make The Cut – PDF Format