Silhouette UK: replicate

Showing posts with label replicate. Show all posts

Thursday, 1 June 2017

Quick and easy thank you cards using replicate function

Hello Silhouette fans! Maria here with you today again with a very quick set of thank you cards. When I make greeting cards, I always make them individual and unique, but for this ocassion I needed to make a batch of them and fast! So I thought that the Silhouette would be my best friend for this ocassion, and it was! The replicate function was heaven sent!

What you will need:

- Silhouette Cameo or Portrait
- Cardstock and Patterned Paper
- Glue
- Card bases and envelopes

Instructions

Open your Silhouette Studio and start a new project. I already have an idea in my head of what I want to create, so that always helps! The card bases that I am going to be using are 4x4 inches, so my first step is to make a square approximately 3.5 inches square. I have got the grid lines showing in my mat so I use them as a guide.

So my next step is to put the other bits that will be part of the card together to get the dimensions right and to make sure that it will all look ok. I bring up two labels from my library and resize them to fit within my card.

And I add some text in a thin font that will work well with the sketch pen.

So I go ahead and move the labels and text for now to the grey area, as I am going to replicate the squares and cut them. I need 16 cards in total, and as it happens, I am able to fit 9 squares in my 12x12 mat!

I select my square and open the Replicate window, and Fill Page.

I go ahead and cut these squares. I am using textured cardstock, so I make sure my settings are correct.

Once I've cut the squares, I either move them out of my mat, or just delete them. I now bring the labels and follow the same procedure of replicating filling the whole page (until I get the number I need!)

These shapes I am cutting in patterned paper, so I make sure that I change my settings before cutting. I have only managed to fit 9 in one page, so I need to cut twice, the same as with the squares.

Once I have finished cutting, I delete or move these shapes out of my mat and bring the smaller label and the word "Thanks" that I am going to sketch into the card. I repeat the process of replicating the shape to fill the page, but I only need 16 so I delete the remainder.

Before I send to cut I make sure that I have the correct settings: the letters need to be selected for sketch pen and the label for cardstock (or whatever material you are cutting). Now, I have no idea if you are supposed to sketch first and cut later or the other way around. I went with cut first and sketch second :)

And in theory my card is ready! However, when I put it together it felt a bit plain, so I decided to make some more of the pirate tags that I made recently to add to the card. You can find how I made them in this blog post.

And now my cards are ready! I just need to get the kids to scribble on them and put them in the post before it's too late!

Thanks for reading and see you very soon!

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Saturday, 29 April 2017

Using Studio for Desktop Publishing

Hello everyone! Marie-Clare here with a simple design project using Silhouette Studio as a simple desktop publishing tool. Did you know that this free software is as powerful as some bought packages? It's great!

My little boy is starting to recognise letters, so I wanted to make him some sight word cards.

These can be cut using your Silhouette Cameo or Portrait using Print and Cut, but they can also be designed in Studio and cut with a paper trimmer.

You will need:

Silhouette Studio

Step One

Open a new document and use the Design Page Settings button to set up your page size. I am using a standard A4 page. You can deselect the "Show Cut Border" check box because you are not going to be cutting this sheet. (At this stage, if you are cutting your cards with your Silhouette machine, set up registration marks)

Step Two

Use the shape tools on the left hand side of the drawing space to draw a rectangle for your card. I then used the rounded rectangle tool to add a border inside this.

Select both of these shapes and open the Align tool (top right toolbar), then click "Align Center" and "Align Middle".

Step 3

Use the line colour and line style buttons on the top right hand toolbar to change the colour of the rounded rectangle and adjust the weight of the line. I went for a grey colour and a 6pt line.

Step 4

Add some embellishments if you wish. I used the polygon tool (left hand toolbar) to draw a very simple star, then copied and pasted it into two corners. I used the fill tool to change their colours.

Step 5

Use the text tool (top right toolbar) to select a font, and write your first sight word. Resize it to fit inside your card shape.

I used the system font Comic Sans because it uses similar letter shapes and forms to early readers and writers.

Now, select the designed part of your card (rounded rectangle and two stars) and right click to group them together.

Step 6

Now comes the clever part. Select your entire card, and go to the top right toolbar. Find the Replicate tool (it looks like a little flower!)

Scroll down until you see the "Row of three" and "Column of four" option. You can select "Fill Page", but I find I can squeeze more in just by doing it myself.

Click "Row of three".

Then, with all three shapes selected, click "Column of four" and repeat until your page is filled.

Step 7

Because you didn't group the text to the design, simply double click each "the" and replace it with a different sight word for each card.

Then, select the entire first column and use the Align tools to align "center". Repeat for the second and third columns.

Step 8

Send your file to print, and use a paper trimmer or scissors to chop up your new simple sight word cards!

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