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Post by gloranphile on May 3, 2016 12:59:28 GMT -9
I'm wondering what steps oldschooldm and other experts in cutfile making take to create files. Right now, here's my steps, which I feel take too much time: - Convert PDF pages to images (usually png).
- Open pngs in Silhouette Studio.
- Manually add all cuts and perforations (this one is the longest step).
- Add reg marks.
- Remove png and save cutfiles.
I've tried to take the pngs and just outline cuts, but it's pretty tough to get the right settings and I end up moving all the points around anyway, so I revert back to step 3 above.
Am I missing something?
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Post by mproteau (Paper Realms) on May 3, 2016 14:34:52 GMT -9
It takes me roughly 20 minutes (that's a wild guess...) to make a page of cutfiles. I do this: 1) Open the PDF in GIMP. I have pre-designed layers that I use for how I prefer my reg marks, so I can know where the safe cutting area is. Move bits around if necessary... Export as PDF (I always export as a Letter sized image) 2) Create a new cutfile in Studio, setting up the regmarks to my preferred values. 3) I drag/drop the image from my Explorer window into Studio, then select it and use the MOVE tool to move it to 0, 0. 4) Using the Draw a Polygon tool, I draw the outline of the top half of the mini. I lay out straight lines pretty quickly. I start on the scoreline, go around the top, and finish on the scoreline. It's not a closed shape! If a shape has negative space to remove, I make those polygons for the top half of the mini. I combine all the polygon lines into a single compound path (select them, then Ctrl+E) I edit that combined path, select all of the points above the base and change them to curves. Fix any lines that don't look right. 5) If there are multiple figures in a row, I do all the top-halves first. 6) I lay down the center line, and set it to perforate. 7) I select all the top-half pieces AND the center line. Ctrl+Down Arrow creates a copy, but moved down. I flip that whole thing vertically, then zoom WAY IN on the center lines, nudging the copy up/down until the center lines overlap. Delete one of the center lines. 8) I select the top and bottom half of one mini. Ctrl+E to combine to a compound path. Edit that path. Combine the unconnected points on the center line to join the top and bottom together. Delete the point that's on the center line. You don't need it. 9) After a row of minis are done, I edit the center line and break it apart so you don't have extra scoring going on between the figures.
Repeat until done.
It sounds complicated, but I've gotten so used to it that it goes very quickly.
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Post by gloranphile on May 3, 2016 17:59:47 GMT -9
Thanks!
I assume there's some changes to the specific steps if creating cutfiles for things like buildings, correct?
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Post by mproteau (Paper Realms) on May 4, 2016 4:54:11 GMT -9
Yeah. For buildings, I find the hardest part is getting things to fit within a safe cutting area. I don't like setting the margins to their minimums - I find the machines can sometimes not read them well, especially when you're using homemade carrier sheets from a sheet of cardstock or something. For a building, I lay down rectangles that line up with the major edges, and often weld multiple rectangles together to get the basic shape done. Then I edit that shape, pulling the points around or deleting them to get what I need. I use polylines to make scorelines, and typically do those last. I personally like to lay down cutlines all at once, select them all and make them some odd color like purple or green. My default color seems to be red, so I like to separate the cut and score line colors so I can select them easily by color. After I lay the cutlines down and set their line settings, I go lay down the score lines. I select them all (again, by color, since the cutlines are now a different color) and adjust their cut settings to be perforations. I personally leave the scoreline line style to be a solid line (not changing it to a dashed line). The cutter will actually perforate along the dashed line, which I've seen do weird things with it's algorithm for "optimal" cutting paths. Whatever you choose though, it's not a big deal. I always finish by changing the scorelines to a medium blue and the cut lines to red. I zoom to fit the whole file on the screen, make sure nothing is selected, and save that. That was just me using a lot of words to say roughly what you said in your first post. If you're planning on sharing the cutfiles, then you have to remember that the time saved in USING the cutfiles is multiplied by the people who may download it, so yeah - there are some simple things that would be faster to just cut by hand instead of making nice cutfiles, but the idea there is that you'll be saving other people some work, too. So, that's part of the payoff - giving a little back to the community with your time spent.
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Post by gloranphile on May 4, 2016 5:29:38 GMT -9
Ah, great. I think there are a few things you mentioned that might help me out a bit, so thanks!
I hear you on helping others out - when I first got my Silhouette I thought it was going to all be a breeze. Maybe someday all the models out there will have great cutfiles on the boards! I am particularly indebted to those like yourself who took the time to create cutfiles, and now I'm trying to give back.
Thanks again!
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Post by spaceranger42 on Sept 28, 2016 10:11:06 GMT -9
Going through SStudio growing pains myself, this thread has been super helpful, thanks guys! Do you find that you prefer to go from PDF to PNG or PDF to TIFF? I would think that that using a TIFF would give you better quality print and preserve layer transparency, as PNG does.
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Post by mproteau (Paper Realms) on Sept 28, 2016 10:43:09 GMT -9
PNG preserves transparency, and it's all in how you export regarding quality. Once you've printed out, I don't think you'll notice any quality loss. I export to PNG exclusively.
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Post by spaceranger42 on Sept 28, 2016 11:15:38 GMT -9
Cool beans, I had tried both and you are right, no noticeable difference. Granted I was trying to figure out a printing issue at the time (fault was mechanical not file based, also don't buy generic ink carts for HP printers) I am glad that I bought extra cutting mats for my machine though, gauging the blade depth to cut through laminated card stock may have cut a little deeper than I had intended.
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