There's got to be an easier way!

Tips, Tricks and Tutorials for using Sure Cuts A Lot
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kirk6400
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Mar 18, 2015 8:42 am

There's got to be an easier way!

Post by kirk6400 »

I'm a newbie to the cutting machine as well as to the SCAL software. I feel like I'm taking one step forward and two steps back and there's got to be an easier way. Let me explain what I'm trying to do.

I'm a quilter and I'm making a wall hanging for my church that measures 22w x 48h. I'm appliqueing words on the wall hanging in various sized words and in various fonts. I've attached a .jpg of the example I'm following to help you visualize. I've made one wall hanging by using WordArt in MS Publisher and I print the word in the size I want and if necessary paste pages together to make a small banner. Then I iron the adhesive medium to the fabric, and I then have to trace the word. Then I cut out the word so I can iron it to the wall hanging. A very labor intensive process.

Then a friend I saw recently talked about the Brother Scan N Cut machine and said how easy and much faster it be because it cuts on fabric. I've been eyeing it anyway for months but was hesitant because I wasn't sure what I could use it for as I'm not really a paper crafter. But I decided to go ahead and buy it and I figured I could find other uses in my quilting craft. I have now spent a good 4 days since I've purchased it trying to figure out how to get this thing to cut all of the various words I need and I'm about at a point where my old method is starting to look pretty easy compared to what I've been having to do to get the cutting file ready and preparing the fabric so it would stick to the cutting mat.

I first tried the Inkscape web app and was getting frustrated as it wasn't really intuitive, but I watched some training videos so I could do what I felt I needed. I ultimately decided I didn't like it and after searching the internet found SCAL. I bought it because it was way easier than Inkscape and I loved the quality of the training videos. The problem I'm having is that I can use the Text tool and write out a word, however, since I may have series of letters that when appliqued together on the wall hanging may measure up to 20" wide, which obviously exceeds the size of the 12x12 mat, so I have to split my letters up on multiple lines. Seems relatively simple. However, what I'm finding is that when I do this and group some letters together, the size ratio of the letters are not the same. Imagine words that have letters like r, m, i, k, etc. The width of an m compared to an i is different. So, when I try to size my small groups of letters in SCAL, one group of letters might total 4" wide while another group of letters might total 6" wide. My thinking was that when I cut the words and put them together, my word would measure about 10". But like I said, the problem is that in the 4" wide grouping the letters are not the same "point size" as the 6" grouping. I now am spending more time trying to group the same letters together to build the file and trying to figure out the measurements so that after I cut the letters they'll combine to the total width I want.

There's got to be an easier way. So I had a light bulb moment. Since SCAL will trace a .jpg, I thought, why couldn't I type the word in MS Publisher, in the font and point size I want, then save it as a .jpg and trace it into SCAL that way. Then export it as an .fcm file. I thought "omg, this will be a breeze now". I actually got it to work once. But now, when I bring in the .jpg file it shows my tracing outline in white and I can hardly see it. The image of the word is in black text so why is it brining it into SCAL in white? I can see it when I try to move the handles around the image on the screen but as soon as I quit dragging it around, the image goes white. Why is this whole process so difficult? THERE MUST BE AN EASIER WAY. If someone could help me I sure would appreciate it and if you have any thoughts on how to type the letters of the words and split them so they are all the same size and fit on the mat, I sure would appreciate it.
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Wall Hanging Example
Wall Hanging Example
Wall Hanging.JPG (33.23 KiB) Viewed 3309 times
jrichards
Posts: 866
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 9:37 am
Location: Akron, Ohio SCAL 2

Re: There's got to be an easier way!

Post by jrichards »

Once you type a word you can split the letters by going back to the selection tool (the arrow at the top left) then with the word selected got to "Object" and Ungroup. You can then move each letter separately. If you are unable to see a letter go to the color pallet on the right, click on it and then change the color of the stroke (outline) and/or fill (inside). Once you get used to the text tools it is very easy to use. Hope this answers your questions.
Jan

Just reread your post and you do not mention what machine you are using. Most of the machines allow for larger mats, for instance, my Silver Bullet can go up to 24" long. Check with the manufacturer of your machine.
kirk6400
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Mar 18, 2015 8:42 am

Re: There's got to be an easier way!

Post by kirk6400 »

Jan, thank you for your reply. I'm ok working with how to group and ungroup letters and moving each letter separately. The text tool itself is pretty easy to use, but as I said in my post, I have to type the letters across more than one line. When I regroup the letters then the proportional sizing does not match between the groups. For example, if I have 4 letters in one group and 3 letters in another group and 5 letters in another group and then try to size them so that the combination of all the letters gives me the total size I need, the proportional size of the letters don't match between the groups. The proportion of the letters are only the same proportion if they are all in the same group. One thing I haven't tried is grouping the same number of letters in each group, or keeping all the same letters in one group. Maybe if I did that it would keep the proportion more even.

I did mention in my post that I have the Brother Scan n Cut although I forgot to mention the model, CM550DX. It does have a 12 x 24 mat, which until you mentioned it, I never even gave that option a thought. I'll definitely buy me one tomorrow, as having the longer mat may be the way to solve my issue. I could then just type my words in one long group and rotate it, which would also solve the proportional sizing issue. It's only good for cutting though, so I couldn't scan the longer mat, but with some careful measuring, I should be able to place my fabric on the mat so that the design file cuts in the right place. So thanks for mentioning that too.

I am still perplexed as to why when I bring in a .jpg image into SCAL it makes the words in the image white. If the words in an image file are black, I don't understand why they wouldn't be black when I bring the image into SCAL. If you have any thoughts on that I would love to know what you think. Thanks....Joyce
jrichards
Posts: 866
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 9:37 am
Location: Akron, Ohio SCAL 2

Re: There's got to be an easier way!

Post by jrichards »

If I were you I would contact CE support with additional questions. The Scan and Cut is new enough that there will probably not be a lot of people on the forum with that machine. They are very responsive and will help you work through your problems.
Jan
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