Lettering Delights

The native file format for Silhouette Studio is .studio.  It cannot import .svg unless you have upgraded and bought the Designer Edition.  If you do not wish to pay for the upgrade, we suggest using .dxf files.  The disadvantage to .dxf files is that they do not come in layered like a .svg file.  It can also be difficult to see what they are as there are not thumbnail images of them until they are imported into your Silhouette Studio Library.  

You can choose to open a .dxf file by clicking "Open" and changing Files of type filed to "All Files" or "DXF".  Navigate to the folder where your LD .dxf files are stored, choose a file and click "open".

One of the lesser known features available in MTC is the ability to change colors and textures of imagery.  This comes in handy when you need imagery to match a specific project you are doing.  The following video explains the process:

The only Cricut machine that is capable of using .svg files is the Cricut Explore.  To import .svg files, you must use Cricut Design Space.

Cricut Design Space is online software.  You don't need to download software on to your computer.  That is a great pro unless you don't have internet connection.  

To import .svg files to Cricut Design Space do the following:ottom right-hand corner.  The cutting process will begin.  

Most people who use MTC and cutting files are very aware of how wonderful vector files are.  They are completely re-sizeable without any loss of quality.  Sometimes, however a crafter, especially one who blogs needs a raster file.  A raster file is not re-sizeable.  They are typically the files you see on the web.  They are .jpg, .png, and .gif formats  for the most part.  As a crafter, you may have created something that you do not want people to easily copy and reproduce.  MTC has the perfect solution.

To create a raster image from MTC do the following:

1. Once you have created a file the way you want it to look in MTC, select all layers
   
2. Right mouse click and choose Export> Selection to Raster File
   
3. A dialog window opens that allows you to choose file type (.jpg doesn't support transparency and while .png does support transparency you can choose to have a background behind your image if you prefer in your dialog box)
   
4. Dialog box allows you to choose drop shadow and other elements (for example you can add a watermark to help brand your image
   

Cricut Design Space has made life easier for people who want to keep the cutting process simple.  Unfortunately in doing so, you may find your score lines jump off your project and land on a mat by themselves.  There is an easy fix for it.  

1. After your file is opened in Cricut Design Space, make sure you have only the elements you want grouped together on your mat.
2. Click on Select All
3. In the Layers Palette click "Attach"
   

You will often need to edit and move around your locked .jpeg layer.  To do this you need to know how to make it a workable layer.

Go to Pixlr Online.  Follow these easy steps:

1.  Click on OPEN IMAGE FROM COMPUTER 

oved around and easily edited.

There are a lot of fun fonts out there with ligatures, but not every program has the capacity to use them. This is an easy tutorial that shows how to insert those ligatures into pretty much any Windows program.  Launch the Windows Character Map. If you are using and earlier version of Windows you can just find it from the start menu. If you are using Windows 8 just type in Character Map in the windows search field. We are using one of LD's smart fonts,  ZP Mother Interlock.