Cricut Design Studio Update 08/08 - Group your designs for resizing and copying ease!

I realized this morning that with the new update to the design studio software we have new options for creating our designs and some can be created in "groups" that can be copied and resized easily.

I made this tutorial to explain this in more detail - I am trying to be complete in my directions but I have not yet had enough time to experiment with all the possibilities and to discover all of the potential flaws. I did spend most of the afternoon trying to get this tutorial prepared so you can enjoy the increased flexibility we have with the newest update of the software. Please add comments and contact me with your problems or solutions as we figure this out - I am very excited by the projects that will be possible now but still have a few "wish list" items.

I am putting this up before I test cut the design I am showing and, as always, will not post the file until I have tested it - so check back later if you would like it. I did test cut the Sugar & Spice and Camp Fun designs that I posted in screen shots last night and will get them up soon - I woke up with the idea about grouping and it has consumed me all day!

So let's get started.

To begin, open a new project and choose the cartridge you would like to use to start your design. With school starting around the country, I chose the phrase "School Days' for use with all of those first days of school photos.

Type the phrase on the mat either by clicking on the virtual keypad or typing on your computer keyboard (be aware that you can't use "shift" on your keyboard).

I used Plantin Schoolbook (for obvious reasons!)

The word will look like this

You will use the "nudge" arrows in the control panel to manipulate these letters. The big improvement with this version of the software is the addition of the up and down arrows for vertical nudging (we have been able to do horizontal nudging since the program was released). Be sure to check the "weld" box.

The first letter or object in any grouping is not "nudgeable" - you move it by using the blue handle in the upper left corner of the light gray outline that surrounds the word (the selection box). Click on the second letter "c" to make it "active" - it is "active" when the outline turns to a dotted line as you can see below

You could just start nudging from the original positions of the letters after entering the letters, but, to make the process quicker, it is easier to using the "Kerning" feature. I usually try -.01 as a value and see how that works out - here is the box where I have entered that value.



Once you click the "apply" button next to the kerning box the letters will look like this



This brings them closer together for you to start "nudging' them around. With the new buttons you can vary the positions up and down and get a more graceful looking weld (some letters don't weld well next to each other and can become difficult to read).

I decided to move the "c" up a bit like this



I continued to use the "nudge" arrows to get the other letters in a pleasing arrangement and then I previewed the welds by click on the "eyeball" in the left column next to the mat - this is how it looked at this point



Now it is time to work on the second word,"Days," which I wanted to place below the word "School." With the previous version of the software, I would need to start another group in a new box but by using the up and down keys, you can keep all of the elements together.

I started by selecting the "D" and nudging it to the left. You can hold down the nudge key instead of repeatedly clicking, but be careful with this. I am not sure if it is the software or my computer, but twice I had the problem of the nudge key "sticking" and I lost control of the design and had to start over!

Here is the "D" nudged into position



As you can see, the other letters "followed" the "D" to the left - they don't seem to follow up and down - just left and right (but I am still figuring things out!). After more nudging the letters are all in position and I checked the welds again



With this method you can create word images similar to the ones on the new Graphically Speaking cartridge, but I have not yet found a way to alter the angle of the letters within the group (and I am not sure if there is one...yet).

Now I was ready to have a bit more fun - so I went to the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge for the schoolbus image (yes - you can mix cartridges and image sizes - that one of the exciting aspects of this program!).

I guessed on the size - two inches was too big so I used the "backspace" key on the keypad to remove it and tried a few other sizes - eventually settling on the one inch bus. As far as I can tell, sizes on images are determined by the height of the item but if you guess wrong and want to change the image use the "backspace" key NOT the delete button on the left which will delete the entire group!




Here you can see the bus when it was first added



and this is how it looks after nudging it down and over a bit and previewing the welds



So far, so good. I decided to add some sort of frame around this image (another improvement - in the earlier version welds inside frames would not work properly and you had to "build" a frame from other elements to get an image welded in a frame). I went to Fabulous Finds and found a label holder (not sure if that is the technical name!) and decided to try it - I thought it might look cute on a cover page for a school album.

Once again, remember to keep the original design selected as you try various additional items and remove them ONLY by using the backspace key on the virtual keypad.

Here is how the mat looked after I selected the frame - at this point you want to be sure that your original design is over to the left side of your mat to allow room to add the frame - if you are having trouble getting it to add in the same box you should change your mat size to 12 x 24 on the pull down view menu to give yourself a bigger working area.




I moved the frame over and to the left and then discovered that it was a bit too large



So I backspaced and changed the size on the slider bar and added a new frame to the mat - this one was more appropriate and, interestingly, it appeared in a position similar to where I had nudged the one I removed and not far off to the right side as the first one did



With some more nudging I got it into position and checked the welds



I now have a completed design - all in one selection box! This means I can use the handles to manipulate everything at once - below you can see the preview preserved on the screen while I pulled the handle to enlarge the design (by the way - if you want to quickly remove the preview use "control L")



I can also copy and paste the design and slide the new one into a different position as you see below



and even resize and rotate this new image!



I hope that this information will help you to create lots of fabulous designs. Please contact me by emailing or commenting if you have any questions. I will continue to work on figuring out ways to use these new features (and I will get those files posted soon!).

This is not the ultimate solution - what I really hope for is the ability to "select all" and "group" the elements - but, all things considered, it is a great improvement!

Eureka!

I just realized that we actually can group and resize our designs now that we have the up and down nudge buttons! This is HUGE!!!

I quickly did these two tests in the software - first I thought (with the Olympics going on) we should be able to do a file of the rings - and that was simple now that we can weld silhouetted shapes and not lose the centers. Here is a screen shot of the rings in three sizes - done once and then resized with the lower right "handle"


This is a super simple example (and it took less than three minutes!) so I decided to try doing the same thing to the "Sugar and Spice" design I posted a screen shot of yesterday. I will write up a full tutorial as soon as I can but the basic method is to keep all of the design components in the same "box."

By doing this you will be able to use the four nudge buttons to put the pieces in the correct positions and keep the entire "unit" together just as we have been able to do all along with the titles in a straight line. You don't have to click on the arrow button repeatedly - just hold down the button until the object is in the desired position.

Here is my Sugar and Spice design screen shot - done once, copied and pasted as a unit and then resized.



You need to be sure to select the correct size for each piece as you go along. Drawbacks I see so far are that you can't select items at a default of less than one inch and not being able to resize the elements without using the slider bar. To adapt an older design start a new mat using the preview of the original design as your template (that is how I did the Sugar "& Spice scalable version).

I hope you get the idea from this brief explanation and I promise to give more elaborate instructions once I can get a tutorial together!

This is going to be so much fun!

Design Studio Updates!

Provocraft has issued an update to the Design Studio software and there are some great improvements! One of my favorites is that we now have the ability to add own own welded words or shapes to the inside of of the wonderful frames that exist on many of the cartridges! This opens up so many new possibilities.

As an example, this is a card I made using the new Storybook cartridge. I used the frame with an owl on a branch in a scalloped border and added the words "Wise Old Owl" using two of the fonts on the cartridge. I sized it to fit a 5 x 7 card front by altering the size a bit with the side handles. Here is photo of the cut still on the mat.


I also used a rectangle cut to produce an offcut "bonus" piece with an inner scallop that can also be used on a card.


To adhere this design (with the delicate swirls) to a card I again recommend so type of glue pen (I use the Creative Memories Precision Point adhesive - simply dot it all over the back and let it dry to clear then center the design on the card front).



This is just one example - I have tons of ideas and will try to get some posted in the next days. Here are screen shots of a few designs I haven't test cut yet - I'll post files once I test these (I never post unless I have cut the file to be sure it works correctly).





An important thing to remember is that you need to work from the center out as you create this type of design. Get all your elements welded and then add the frame on top - check your welds and then cut! You can put the frame you want to use on another mat and check "Keep preview as mat background" and use that to help in the design process so that your new elements will fit perfectly. Just be sure the add the frame last.

Other improvements I have noticed so far are the up and down nudge buttons - these make it possible to set up a word vertically in one box so that you can easily resize and move or angle it, and the ability to overlap letters with spaces (like "P" and "g") and not lose the holes. Also the mat does not jump to the top all the time when you are working in the lower area on the 100 or 200 view. These are all great improvements and there may be more that I haven't discovered yet - I'll keep posting as I find things and create some new designs taking advantage of these upgrades.

In the meanwhile, here is the file for this card front if you would like to try it. I hope you have fun with all the new things you will be able to do now with the software!

Wise Old Owl Card