Print and then Cut

[dimahi]

You may want to look at http://underacherrytree.blogspot.com she has a tutorial for cupcake wrappers. I also have a tutorial for print and cut but mine is more of a replacement for cardstock, for example, when you can't find flesh colored cardstock, you can make your own and cut your image using rgb codes for Stampin UP or Close to my Heart codes...email me if you'd like the tutorial that I made at dimahi@hotmail.com
Good luck.
Diane

[littlejedi]

I know I'm late here, but for future reference I'll go ahead and share. I ran into this same problem of needing to print and cut a large quantity of the same image. In my case it was a paper model to be assembled as a group project. The method I came up with was this.
Open the image in Inkscape as it would be when you print it.
Trace the outlines to be cut over the image and remove the image when done leaving the outline you just made.
Save the file as svg without making any positional or dimensional changes.
Import to SCAL and position on mat as close as you can to where the image would be on the printed paper when on the mat.
Place a piece of blank paper on the mat and cut the outlines.
Lay the newly cut blank page (minus the cutouts) over the original print and note the differences on the x and y axis.
You will need a ruler for this and the finer the scale the better. I used dial calipers to speed the process.
Go back to SCAL and adjust the x,y of the image to the differences you noted and cut another blank.
Lay that one over the original print and note differences.
Repeat until the difference between the cut and the print are within your standards or undetectable.
For this to work you must align the paper to the same corner on the mat each time you adjust and recut, and you must
position each page as close to the same place as possible. I used the very corner of the mat grid and the upper corner of
the page as the positioning guides. You could use a couple of pieces of tape on the x and y to serve as edge guides and
make positioning a snap.
Print your page, load it on the mat and press cut. Repeat to your hearts content.


This is a complicated and time consuming process until you get the hang of it. Setting up this particular cut took me a little over an hour of positioning and repositioning to get it right. Once it was done though, I was able to cut 35 complex models (with 16 cut pieces per printed sheet) in less than an hour. Also, since I still have the files, I could print and cut 35 more without any additional work. I saw most of the other posted suggestions and they all seem like good solutions with each one having a pro and con. The pro and con to this one is, it takes a lot of time and patience to set up but once set, the cutting is fast and easy. As other posters mentioned, the repeat accuracy of the cricut is sketchy so expect some flaws no matter how careful you are. Out of the 35 good models I had three that were unusable. I hope this helps.

[firstcut]

lj,
You had to adjust the offset for each of the 16 images separately, right? This is what I have done to make myself avery templates in the past. Time consuming, but as you mention, great for making lots of copies at the same time or in the future.

[littlejedi]

No, fortunately I didn't. Since the original image was a PDF that was formatted to standard paper size, when I transported the the svg over to SCAL the dimensions and placements stayed consistent. The offset was universal over the whole page so I was able to adjust all the cut sections as one instead of individually.

[firstcut]

Sounds like I need to try this again in the latest version of SCAL. Last time I tried it the "creep" meant I had to adjust each row separately. Heather said that Todd had improved on the creep issue, but I hadn't re-tried it yet. Thanks for letting me know.