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Klic-N-Kut User Manual
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1. gt Double click on path to add this node S 16 Drag the last node over to overlap the end node on the right side 17 Marquis select these two overlapping nodes and right click Select the top middle icon to join the two nodes into one 18 Repeat the process with the stem first adding a node right before the last node and then dragging the last node to the other side p ly 19 Marquis select these two overlapping nodes and right click Select the top middle icon to join the two nodes into one Click on Apply 20 At this point each piece can be edited if the curves need smoothing or the shapes need altering according to what you might prefer 40 21 Finally select each separate piece and click on a different colour from the Shop Palette so that when you are ready to cut you can change your cardstock or paper for each cutting Y 5 3 Manual Tracing and Design With the terrific auto tracing capabilities in DesignMaster you may never need to manually trace a design But if your imported image has very poor resolution or is too dark or too light to produce a decent tracing you can use the Graphics Edit Tools to trace manually You may also wish to learn these tools to design images from scratch It s fairly easy and can be done quickly The important things to remember are e Zoom in close so you can more precisely trace the actual outline e Don t try to be so exact the first time around the image
2. Prewinw Image Prensas kai image Acted tere ioctl Width 230 ai ar DA Lal mie piach w e pea nihe KEN h 2 i i rat i i 120 Eb L ot 200 D 7 Cobos busco m areal Le ste Zeie s e pi Sebd bie Image vell be automaticaly cornered to mevvhyome Ge Coren Saree eee ars ss Lise le bp ho Geht We white trues bended Uite thee gidar to ae ARAD nen reqhotd Note that in this example if we trace the clear image we will get a double tracing due to the black outlines around the image In the solid image we will get a single trace line If you elect to have the double lines note that it is easy to remove them later Click on Next to continue In the Trace Settings window the first option is in the Current Settings window Click on the down arrow to view built in settings to use as a starting point based on the nature of your image 32 8 In this example we will pick LOGO Complex with Detail as it seems the best description amongst the choices Normally just leave the settings for the other tolerances alone You can change them later as needed in Step 8 Click on Next Then click on Apply A tracing will appear in the main document window Note that you may need to use Alt S to go into outline mode to see the flower as a tracing Examine the tracing closely and make sure you are satisfied with the results If not in the upper left corner of the screen you will see a small window has opened where you can click o
3. Remember that nodes can be added deleted and moved as necessary Importing the Image to Trace 1 Select File gt Import and browse to locate the graphic file 2 Select the file name and click on Import 3 nu pu OA Increase the size of your image by dragging a corner In this tutorial we will be tracing two different items to illustrate the two types of tracing straight line and curved Straight Line Tracing 1 Zoom in on the image in order to clearly see the lines Don t worry about only seeing a portion as you can scroll while tracing without interrupting the process 2 Manual tracing is performed using the Graphics Edit Tools on the Tools toolbar the tool with the pencil icon Since you will be accessing it over and over you can drag the popup menu to a handier location on your screen by holding your mouse over the two pale vertical lines on the left side of the three icons This will remain in place until you click on the Graphics Edit tool again 3 With the Graphics Edit popup menu in place pick the first tool on the left called Node Edit 4 Select a colour from the Shop Palette which is different from the colours in your image In this example red has been chosen 5 Click on any corner of the image to plant the first node Then go to the next corner and click again Continue around the outside of the image again scrolling to other parts of the image as 41 necessary In the diagram below the
4. There are small tiles in the job do you want to continue cutting The image you are cutting or the Sign Blank size is larger than the machine limits which have been set Check the machine limits under Cut gt Plotting Defaults click on Setup No objects to cut A There is no vectorized object in the Sign Blank to cut Imported raster images must be traced before cutting B No image has been selected to cut under Cut gt Plotting Defaults if Selected is checked then an object must be selected before entering the Cut window Error locating security device DesignMaster is not locating the user s license files Possible error with password 1 DesignMaster is not locating the user s license files Invisible objects are present Do you wish to cut them Sometimes images are imported as invisible even though you can see the trace lines on the screen Turn on the Job Palette and note if it contains any white or invisible lines that you may miss seeing before cutting Select the items and change to another colour from the Shop Palette Software Issues The image moves after entering the Cut window Under Cut gt Plotting Defaults check the box next to Sign Blank Page will then be unchecked Click on Save Default before clicking on OK Also not that the Sign Blank rotates 90 degrees in the cut window but the actual images have not moved unless Page is checked In this case the images are moved to the Origin for cutting When I cut pounc
5. a new blank document will appear You may or may not wish to work with that particular size so there s a document setting window you can set up to open every time the program is launched or every time you go to File gt New e Go to Layout gt Blank Size A new window will open Click on Advanced at the bottom to expand this window e If needed you may want to add the most common sizes you use to the menu under Current Selection Click on Create and Add New Blank Size in the upper right portion of this window That portion of the window will change and provide you a field to name your document and then specify the dimensions When finished click on the Add New Blank button Your new choice will be available for selection under Current Selection Below the Add New Blank Size portion you will see a checkbox for Display at Startup Checking this box will always open this particular window upon going to File gt New or launching the software Note two other parameters in this window e In the upper left you may wish to set the 0 0 origin of your Sign Blank to be in the lower left corner Note that this has nothing to do with setting the origin on the cutter This simply sets the relative location of objects in your Sign Blank region Select the Orientation setting of Landscape or Portrait for the Sign Blank This is also ONLY an orientation for your screen and does NOT then invoke landscape cutting You must check the Axis Swap box un
6. A CPP o O 5 A 28 EERSTEN AAA Ada 29 A INCORPORATING Rtg Metten E dede 30 AOS WV EIN GUY TOF RAMES cian 30 5 TRACING AND EDITING IMAGES occ namuna m aua nunua nanu nan aaa n ananunua nakama nuna nnmnnn nnmnnn nnmnnn nnmnnn nnana nnana nnna 32 Dr AU TOA RACING GA PH ai SAA AAA A ai 32 Memnod AS Can ana Prace WA ME 32 Memod B Normal AAA 33 DZ EDITING WEST IMAGES anirien decia dede 35 NO 35 A ANO 35 PEUN A 36 Usma Segment Edito moon UV CO S acu arado dad 36 MINIMO UN adi 38 EKA Mbio Vectonzed Marui 38 MANTA RAGING AND De e eo e era a do end Doo e 41 MAIN SAG Out Oe Taal o coi 41 IM rias 41 IIe Bet Mie Ih o EE 42 on ee Pe no A 43 Drawing an Adriana eras 44 G SPECIAL TOPI S ias 45 EIP RINTANDC UT WITH REGIS TRA GON MARS ee a Nate eee ae 45 0 USING THE POUNCE FEATURE TO CUT DASHED LINES vi aaa ada 47 6 3 USING BANNER FILL FOR EMBOSSING OR DRAWING IN COLOUR erger 48 GA CONTROLLING THE ORDERAND DIRECTION OF Hee E 50 SLOL E E E lastest A a tae S SS 50 SOTE A A A A iS 50 De AS EA EAE E AWA E NYA E E ELE VAN UKA NAA CAPE E EE MUA E E EE CAR MYA ETE 50 OS CONTOUR ETA UE 50 6 6 TWELVE COOL FEATURES TO ADAN DESIGN raryan aia 50 A e Maras cee WATA EE E 51 MO AI 51 MINO ON 51 MOMIAS ia ala ata iia 51 Diels lala EE 51 A AA A A A canto 52 re DE 52 A IS 52 A Ee 53 ELLO nO eel OP I mere AA O ee eee eee 53 A A 53 Decorative Borde aaa 53 OJEE CONVERSIONS data 53 EECH 53 EE 54 CONVERTING Tom Ale EK UCS dio KNK OGR aaa atada 55
7. Click on OK Three registration marks will appear in the Sign Blank area 4 You may wish to add black outlines to your image The advantage is to add a little room for error during the print and cut To do this e Click on your image and then click on the Stroke and Fill Tools icon on the Tools toolbar e Click on the Line Style icon On the Smart Bar select the Thick Line icon 3 from left enter a Thickness value and select a colour from the Color Picker on the far right side of the Smart Bar e When done click on the Arrow icon on the Tools toolbar If your image doesn t show the outlines go to View gt Show Line Style 5 To print the image e Click on the Print icon on the Operations toolbar or go to File gt Print e Select your printer from the list and click on Setup Verify your printer is set to print in Portrait mode e Check the box next to Preview and then click on OK e Inthe Preview window centre the image on the page by indenting the middle box of the blue and gray orientation diagram and set the scaling percentage to 100 If the orientation diagram doesn t appear click once on the Fit to Page icon the one with four black arrows third from left 45 Indent Verify this center is 100 i Graphtec De ignMaster Print and Cut Sample GRA File Edit LayoutY Arrange Cut Transform Image View Options Help S ip x 11 81 179 58 Scale by P rcentage y Rows 1 Print etup iL aia vlase EZ
8. Deleting too many nodes can distort the image If the image is a polyarc then the overall number of nodes can be reduced by going to Arrange gt Reduce Nodes A window will open with a setting for Allowable Error The smaller the number entered the more nodes that will be removed Thus the quality of the tracing will be compromised with smaller settings Try 0 01 and check the results Use Edit gt Undo if necessary and enter a different setting larger or smaller until you are satisfied Yet another method of reducing nodes involves using Segment Edit Refer to the next section Using Segment Edit to Smooth Curved Sections Segment Edit can be used to make uneven curves smoother and more natural In this example we have a font that produces uneven letters but we want to smooth the edges 36 1 Use Ctrl J to break the paths of the traced image Convert the image to curved nodes only by going to Arrange gt Convert to gt Polyarc Then double click this particular part of the flower V E kb 2 Click on the third icon to the right at the top Segment Edit bo 3 Click once at the beginning of the segment you wish to edit and then again at the end of the segment The segment will turn red T Segment turns red between two points selected 4 Right click anywhere along the red segment and a popup window of icons similar to the node edit menu will appear Select the top right icon which is the Arc Segment option f
9. Diameter is the size of the mark made on the surface of the material For an engraving tool set this number to 5mm or 0 02 for vellum and thin papers 1 25mm or 0 05 for thicker cardstocks For markers and gel pens simply 48 estimate the size relative to the engraving tool It s not critical that the number be all that accurate since the other settings in this window will be tweaked to give you the results you need o Fill Style Change from None to Line Sweep or S Sweep The latter appears to work more efficiently but may not give you the look you want o Fill Overlap Adjust either the amount or the percentage These two values are linked and modifying one will alter the other o Fill Angle This is the angle of the sweep relative to the horizontal axis Try 45 degrees but any angle will be fine Again select based on the look you want e Inthe diagram below are the settings used with a gel pen on paper These settings provide a guideline for initial testing Fill Control Cancel Fill overlap 0 6750 E G zs Fill angle 45 E e When you click on OK you will observe that your images in the cut window had filled or partially filled with black indicating how much fill you can expect With pens you will want the image to be almost entirely black The exception would be when you would like to only do stripes in your lettering Here s an example of both View in Cut window Overlap at 90 Results when draw
10. Font Height Font Angle Spell Check and more 6 When done either click outside the text area or click on the Select icon on the Tools toolbar 26 If you wish to edit your text after leaving text mode double click the title If you wish to use your entire Sign Blank as the text window then select the Frame Text Compose icon after clicking on the Text Tools icon in the Tools toolbar The Text Justification choices and the Vertical Alignment choices on the Smart Bar may now be of interest depending on your project Also available under the Text Tools icon on the Tools toolbar are Text Kerning Spell Check and Text Underlining 4 3 Copying Text Style from One Title To Another If you have several different text titles with differing formats it s possible to copy various characteristics of one title and apply them to another 1 2 3 Select the title with the format you wish to copy right click and select Settings Check which format settings you wish to copy Click on OK Right click again on this same title and select Copy Style Select the title s to change right click and select Paste Style 4 4 Connected Letter Title With a Mat 1 Using the instructions from Section 4 2 Text Basics type the letters of your title In this example Lucida Calligraphy has been selected Winter To overlap your letters click on the On Screen Kerning button icon with the letters AB towards the bottom right o
11. In this example the upper case S is placed in mee ate SD zaps 2 While still in text mode use the left arrow key to back up to the letter S and drag the mouse to highlight that letter 3 From the font menu on the Smart Bar locate Wingdings and double click that font name The letter S will change to the corresponding raindrop image At this time you can also click on the Font Height next to the Font Menu to make the character larger as necessary Bain O Drops 4 Continue with the welding steps outlined in Section 4 4 Connected Letter Title with a Mat 5 Note that dingbat fonts are not the only images one can weld to letters Once a title has been converted to a graphic the letters can be arranged around any other vector image and welded 4 8 Welding Text to Frames Creating a frame for welding single letters monograms or a title is very easy For a very quick circular monogram go to Modifying a Fan in Section 6 6 Twelve Cool Features to Aid In Design Welding to the inside of any other frame shape requires a few more steps In the following example a rectangular frame is created 1 Turn off Fill by unchecking the option under View gt Show Fill Go to the Shapes Tools Tools toolbar and select the Rectangle shape Drag to draw a rectangle If you need a specific size for a project then go ahead and set the dimensions Make the rectangle any colour you wish 2 Select the rectangle and go t
12. Shadow Choose shadow style on Smart Bar along with other settings Shadow is a separate path that can be cut separately Shadow Decorative Border JOL Layout gt Decorative Border Select from available styles and experiment with Settings 6 7 File Conversions Converting from GSD to GRA First check to see if the gsd file will import into DesignMaster Some do and some do not If the gsd appears to successfully import be sure to zoom in close to make sure there are no gaps in the paths This does happen While these gaps may be correctable using vector 53 editing you may also find that it would simply be faster to use one of two other methods to convert your images These are presented below Method 1 Using Microsoft Paint and Accuscan 1 2 Install Screen Hunter King Kong Capture or any other free screen capturing program that allows you to marquis select a portion of your window for copying to the Windows clipboard In this example King Kong Capture has been used In the gsd program e g RoboMaster open the file you wish to convert Under View uncheck all the choices so that no margins other than the document area appear on the screen Select the image and drag a corner to make as large as possible to fill the screen Note that if there are multiple objects in the file you may wish to convert them one at a time to get the best results With the image still selected click on the pencil icon at th
13. Type the letters you wish to fit to a curve using the method described in Section 4 2 Text Basics In this example Arial Narrow is the select font and the text will be fit to a circle SUMME 2 With the title selected go to Transform gt Fit Text to Arc The title will immediately be placed at the top of a circle and the Smart Bar will show a series of settings to use to customize the look Specifically changing the Arc Angle or Radius will adjust the amount of the curve 28 3 Clicking on a different icon in the Smart Bar the word can be fit to the arc at the bottom which will curve the word in the other direction When the desired look is achieved click on the Arrow icon on the Tools toolbar to complete the process The arc will disappear leaving the curved word To put a welded title on a curve select the image and go to Transform gt Transformations Note the various transformation options that now appear on the Smart Bar Use the last set on the right to curve your welded title Adjust the little handles on the ring to customize the look 4 6 Other Text Transformations Shaping a title into variations formations is also available by going to Transform gt Transformation Twenty icons appear on the Smart Bar providing a vast assortment of shapes for the text Additionally a different look will be achieved depending on which of the nodes surrounding the title is selected to drag Further holding down the Ctrl key
14. You can now move the image to another location on the screen 15 You can also move an object in small increments by pressing the arrow keys on the keyboard Further if you hold down the Shift key while pressing these arrows keys the object will move in larger increments with each keystroke Also while an object is selected the Smart Bar at the top allows you to specify an exact location for your image under x and y Deg Image Box sl Change We Corresponding SZeby Ange Color to Location ex 296 Aen m 3 pm Ze lt ooo 28 e An At 293 4 1000 4 2 D Star KI 2 075 6 1 40 Ke Image Proportional Mouse Anchor Location Size Scaling Location Nub Locked Unlocked Note the tiny array of boxes to the left of the Image Location settings The red box indicates which particular location of your image corresponds to the x and y settings You can click on another box of your choice to use in positioning Copying With the image selected you can copy in any of these possible ways Go to Edit gt Duplicate or press Ctrl D to make a duplicate copy slightly offset to the top right of the original The amount of offset for a duplicate image can be changed under Options gt CraftROBO Setup gt General Preferences Use Edit gt Copy and Edit gt Paste from the top menu A small rectangular cursor appears Go to any area inside or outside of your document boundaries and drag the mouse to draw a rectangle The image will appear
15. another front to back order horizontal or vertical Cut gt Plotting Defaults or Cut Toolbox window Sort and Cut All Invoking Sort and Cut All Colors brings up a list of all colours used in the objects selected to cut The Colors user can uncheck any colours not needed for that cut Cut Toolbox window The Stencil tool is used to apply a clipping style to one or more selected shapes The resulting stencil bands will be like windows through which the underlying shapes may be viewed Tools Toolbar gt Shapes Tools Stencil A Tangent Node is used to provide a smooth transition from a straight line to a curved line In node Tangent Node edit mode it appears as a small triangle A Template operation is used to convert a text object into a date time graphic or text input variable which is then saved with the workspace When the file is again opened the text object will be converted into the type designated by the Template operation Layout gt Templates Template Text to Graphics will convert a text object into a path This is important when creating a non welded title to share with others who may not have that particular font installed on their computer Arrange gt Text to Graphics Text To Graphics Transformations are used to apply special effects and distortions to selected objects Transform gt Transformations DI LI mln O 3 DI O gt i Wa 63 Ungroup Ungroup
16. feature the before and after results or several examples are shown with instructions for the menu location Note that in every case there are many more variations that could have been created Use these samples to help you learn the feature but then soar with it 50 Basic Weld Deeg ASS Po i Fi f l y A fy N F Circle pentagon heart Overlap shapes Use Basic Weld Tools toolbar Result Balloon Modifying a Rectangle O Draw a Rectangle Drag one of the corner handles Result Rounded Rectangle D Modifying a Polygon From the Shapes Tools draw a Polygon in this example 8 points were selected and then drag the semicircle handle along the side of the polygon Also experiment with settings in the Smart Bar Add a circle in the final image to create a flower Note third and fourth images should be drawn not cut based on design Modifying a Star AN ai d 1 i L A J A d f 7 Y 1 i WW aa o d ss EN Ba k A zi A 7 7 4 d f i i wv el L d ae From the Shapes Tools draw a Star in this example 6 points were selected and then drag one of the semicircle handles along one side of the star Then drag the other semicircle handle if desired Experiment with settings in the Smart Bar Add a circle in the final image to create a flower 2004 51 Modifying a Fan From Shape Tools draw a Fan Drag one of the end handles to form a circle frame Drag the handle
17. q objects are cut Layout gt Sequence SA The Shadow option creates shadow effects of varying styles depths and angles for objects Transform gt Shadow Shop Palette The basic colour palette is the Shop Palette which lists the colours that are available for use on the H workspace View gt Palettes gt Show Shop Palette The Sign Blank is a visual representation of the area that is available for printing and or cutting thus it Sign Blank is recommended that the sign blank size be the same dimensions as the material placed on the mat Layout gt Blank Size and View gt Show Sign Blank Sign Blank from Checking Sign Blank will place images in the cut window in same location as in the Sign Blank Plotting E Cut gt Plotting Defaults Sian Blank Obiect When selected a new object with the exact dimensions of the current Sign Blank is created 9 Layout gt Sign Blank Object The Smart Bar is a changing toolbar which appears at the top of the screen and provides settings according to the type of operation that is currently selected Proportional Scaling Smart Bar Smoothing refers to the number of vectors or arcs used to represent the actual curves when cutting A Smoothing higher setting will increase the number that creates the curve producing a smoother cut Cut gt Plotting Defaults The Sort option controls the order in which objects will be cut It can be set based on proximity of the Sort from Plotting a objects to one
18. segments of a circle With this tool selected click once As you move to a second location you will notice a line being drawn At this point hold down the left mouse button and begin moving in any direction away from the point An arc will suddenly appear The direction you move will control the size of the arc This long handle will not be a part of your final arc it is only there to help control the shape The further away you drag this handle the more control you will have When the desired look is achieved press the spacebar to end the construction and the arc will be complete 44 6 Special Topics 6 1 Print and Cut with Registration Marks e The following is a tutorial for performing a Print and Cut in DesignMaster in Portrait mode 1 Create your design in a Portrait mode Sign Blank If you are importing coloured clipart such as a jpg or omp image it must be traced first using one of the methods presented in Chapter 5 In this tutorial a coloured flower is used and it has been traced 2 Under Cut gt Plotting Defaults change the tool to Knife with reg marks or Pen with reg marks if using a pen instead of a blade Make sure Sign Blank is checked Click on Save Default and then click on OK 3 With your image on the screen add registration marks by clicking on the Registration Marks icon on the Operations toolbar Select 3 marks check on Use Registration Marks and then accept the other defaults
19. that Reg Marks Poll Plotter and Enable Jogging functions will not be of interest to those using a CraftROBO 3 5 Filling a Page with the Same Image Method A Array Use this method if you wish to fill the Sign Blank area 1 Select your image and move it to the lower left corner of the Sign Blank area Go to Layout gt Array In the top left corner of the Smart Bar you can click on a drop down menu to select the layout you wish to use In general if you plan to fill the entire page you would select the default grid Below this setting you can choose either Object to Object or Between Object For this application choose the latter Under Total X and Total Y begin clicking on the tiny arrows to add images in rows and columns Adjust those numbers to fit as many copies into the document area as possible Adjust the spacing values to economize the use of your available material Repeat Step 4 to add more images if desired You can further try the various spin icons to help oddly shaped items fit closer together Method B Repeats Use this method after you have selected your image and you go into the cutting window Note This method is for use with the Page mode only versus the Sign Blank mode 1 2 3 In the cutting window zoom out so you can see your image relative to the document size Make sure you have the correct media size entered on the Smart Bar Click on the Repeats Setup button under Repeats
20. the last object created 2 Based on the Sign Blank or 3 Based on whichever object is furthest already in the direction you choose If you go to Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Alignment the Smart Bar will provide all of the above options along with alignment to grid These settings will be saved and when you then select other objects and go to Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align or use Ctrl K these same settings will be applied Grouping Grouping is used to link objects together so they are treated as one Select all objects to be grouped and go to Arrange gt Group Now when you click on any one of the objects all will be selected and most any function or operation chosen will be applied to all such as resizing re colouring stretching flipping deleting etc To ungroup go to Arrange gt Ungroup Undo As with most Windows applications Ctrl Z Edit gt Undo will undo the last action invoked and Ctrl Y Edit gt Redo will reverse the last Undo In DesignMaster you can continue selecting the Undo action to back up many steps The number is based on how much memory is allocated This setting can be changed in Options gt CraftROBO Setup gt Undo Setup 18 3 Cutting From DesignMaster 3 1 Quick Testing Tutorial New owners tend to be VERY eager to try out their software In the following mini tutorial a simple shape will be drawn on the screen and then drawn on your CraftROBO Start with a pen or pencil in your penh
21. the pdf file and open accepting defaults Select the image and go to Arrange gt Make Path Then Arrange gt Convert to gt Polyarc Then Arrange gt Reduce Nodes and try 0 005 Double click the image to reveal the nodes lf there are may broken paths then use Arrange gt Connect Path with a fairly large Allowable Error 0 5 or higher to force the nodes to connect to their nearest neighbor and complete the paths With image still selected click on the Stroke and Fill Tools icon on the Tools Toolbar On the Smart Bar click on the hairline icon second from left The image should now be ready to cut Converting from GRA to GSD 1 Install Screen Hunter King Kong Capture or any other free screen capturing program that allows you to marquis select a portion of your window In the following steps King Kong Capture is used 54 2 In DesignMaster resize your image to fill the screen Turn off the Sign Blank as needed Use black for the trace lines and use Show gt Fill to make the image solid black 3 Execute the screen capture in King Kong Capture one uses Ctrl K and then save the file as a omp or jpg 4 Inthe gsd program e g RoboMaster start a new document 5 Go to Edit gt Get Outline and a new window will open Select File gt Load Image and browse to locate and then import the saved screen capture Click on Convert to Outline Then click on Paste then Exit The image is ready to be saved as a gsd Conve
22. three corners outside the image Cut Toolbox window or Cut gt Plotting Defaults On Screen Kerning is used to make manual adjustments to text using kerning nubs This is the process for merging letters to make welded titles Tools Toolbar gt Text Tools or AB icon in Smart Bar during Text Compose The Lock Object command is used to prevent the given object from being resized scaled rotated or slanted However a locked object can still be moved or deleted Arrange gt Lock Object Use the Machine Limits to set the maximum length and width for the cutter Cut gt Plotting Defaults gt Setup Make Path will combine a selection of multiple objects or paths into a single path Arrange gt Make Path The Mirror feature can create a vertical or horizontal mirror image of the selected object Cut Toolbox window Use the Image gt Mode command to change the type of data that a raster image is composed of thereby determining the maximum number of colours that can be represented i e its colour depth Image gt Mode Certain materials such as chipboard may require multiple passes of the cutting blade The Multi Cut field is used to set the number of passes that should be performed Cut gt Plotting Defaults When Multiple Instance is checked more than one copy of DesignMaster can be open at once Options gt Multiple Instance Node Edit allows individual and group node editing such as adding removing joining moving changing n
23. Check the box by Stack Repeats if it is okay to have more than one row of the image Then enter the number of images you wish to cut and the spacing if any between the images Click on the up arrow next to Stack Size Note that it will only allow you to enter the maximum number of rows which will actually fit based on the media size you entered above Enter any spacing between the images next to X Space and Y Space Note that you can save your settings if you wish by clicking on the diskette icon entering name for this setting and clicking on Save Defaults Click on OK to return to the cutting window At this point you can add or remove copies by clicking on the arrows under Repeats 24 6 Before cutting you may need to nudge the objects away from the boundaries so that complete objects are cut on your mat 3 6 Cutting by Colour If you have images of varying colours and wish to cut some of the colours at once but not all then you can select which ones to allow and which ones to ignore There are several methods to achieve this Method A Sort and Cut All Colours 1 Select your images in the main document window and then click on the Cut Tools icon to open the cutting window 2 In the Cut Toolbox window click on the second icon from the right This will open the Sort Cut Order by Color window You can check off which colours to cut or uncheck the colours to ignore Then click on Cut to proceed with the cut 3 Note that y
24. Convera MOM IIIS Cape SV CGI csc soda 55 Convert rome WIP Et Ata adi 55 0 0 FEATURES OR e let E 55 AAA 55 IAA E 56 Notepad Calculator TIMES LEE 56 A ANA 57 APPENDIXA KEY BOARD SHORTCUTS sssanssannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnmnnn nnmnnn nnmnnn nnnm nnmnnn nnmnnn nnmnnn nannan nnan 58 ES ISTO MMIZIMG HOKE Saa 60 APPENDIX B TERMNOLOGY as 6l APPENDIX C SETTINGS FOR AUTO TRACING ssssnsnannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnmnnn nannan nnmnnn nannan nannaa 64 APPENDIX DTROUBLESHOCIDNG A enc 65 A Fs ii tn ccs ca ipa ect ems noe an ana nme agua a icra ana mm und ante TA mead Rm MP 67 1 Installation and Setup 1 1 Installation of the DesignMaster Software e Please follow these instructions very carefully otherwise your software may not install correctly This software is supplied on 2 CD s lt is critical that you install the BLUE CD first Important DesignMaster shares the CraftRobo controller with the original RoboMaster It is important that you leave RoboMaster installed on your PC before commencing this installation If you do not have your original copies of RoboMaster you can download the controller from http www graphteccorp com craftrobo support index html Step One Insert blue CD into CD drive Open My Computer and double click on the CD drive Double click on the file Setup exe A window will open that says Welcome to DesignMaster license file se
25. Cut gt Plotting Defaults OR within the Cut window itself by clicking on the Display Sort Dialog icon 9 icon from the right in the Cut Toolbox window There are four options for the order Nearest objects closest on one another will be cut first Database based on front to back arrangement Horizontal and Vertical In the Cut window when the Sort Dialog Box is opened one also has the option of checking a box which will then number the objects on the screen showing the cut order Object Start Point e Inthe Cut gt Plotting Defaults window the Object Start Point can be modified to change the location within each object for the cut to begin Note that Current refers to the arrow locations shown when you enter the Node Edit mode for any object 6 5 Contour Cutting e Goto either Cut gt Contour Cut or Transform gt Contour Object to create a contour cut line around either a vector or bitmap image In the Smart Bar will be settings for the colour of the contour line the offset of the contour line shape pointed rounded or mitered as well as additional settings for tracing bitmap images Note that Contour Cutting is very similar to creating an outline from Transform gt Outline but the contour will be shown as a dashed line Otherwise the cutting will be the same you can choose to turn on off the contour cut colour in the Cut window 6 6 Twelve Cool Features to Aid In Design The following features are briefly presented With each
26. DesignMaster User Manual GRAPHTEC Thank you for choosing Design Master Additional tutorials are available at http Awww cratty club co uk and you will find member support in the CraftROBO Forum of the following message board http www ukscrappers co uk boards Table of Contents L INSTALLATION ANO SETUP A A e i io 4 TAINS TALEATIONSORATHE DESIGNIVASTER SOFTWAR E e d 4 EZ DEFAUT SETTINGS IN DESON MAS TER ee Eege 11 2 DESIGNMVASTER BASICS EE 12 Zi MAIN DESIGN WASTER SCREEN dad dada 12 2 2 TOOLS TOOLBAR WHERE THE GOOD STUFRRESIDES li id 13 2 3 MANIPULATING IMAGES IN ENTREE 14 Opening a New Document Sign Bl aa A a 14 CAN an EX UTG E EES 14 Moros 15 A e E E CER YA KAMUA CENA 15 eu EG 15 WS El EE 15 da on AAA TON 15 COD 010 NOOO E EE NO 16 Ba Lo COn OP noO Oe 16 ROAI eegene 17 DIr el 17 A E 17 SANN as 17 Ka ATA AN 17 Me ett let EE 17 MANA ra ed AAA 18 Cada 18 UNA GEET 18 3 CUTTING FROMDESIGNIVAST R oc ccccccoccccoccccconcccconcccoonco cc 19 SOIC MHS NU TE o iodo donas 19 LIE Rs EE UT taaan lan A ol in teca 19 O FLING AIM EE 22 BGT WO te Bu GE 23 30 FINCA PAGE WIN THE SAME MA En aa 24 MEMO E 24 Menoa BA IA O O PO po O A 24 SE MEHN EC EE 25 pi A O te Ril cal el i hl 25 OB ER TEV C O 25 Mena Gs Fieri eG O1OUTS IM Ne SnB Ae 25 4A WORKING WTH odia 26 ANS TANCAT ge he 26 A AA IA 26 4 3 COPYING TEXT STYLE FROM ONE TITLE TO ANOTHER wai WA ada 27 AA CONNECTED LEITER e MAT iaa iia a E 27 A FW GIN Ge ME CULO
27. E 429 milimeters 1000 Columns 1 Cancel e The image should appear as e Click on Print and your image should be printed 6 Place the printout on the mat and load into the CraftROBO in the direction indicated on the printout 7 If you created thick outlines in Step 4 turn them off now by going back into the same Line Style window and clicking on the No Line icon first icon on the left in the Smart Bar 8 Select your image and click on the Cut icon on the Tools toolbar You will enter the Cut window and your image will appear like this 9 Click on the Cut icon in the Cut Toolbox window and the CraftROBO Controller window will open and you can proceed with your print and cut as usual To create a Print and Cut in landscape mode is slightly different than the way it works in regular cutting It is not necessary to rotate the image Here are the basic steps 1 Repeat Steps 1 4 except use a Landscape orientation for your Sign Blank Your image on screen will look something like this 46 2 In Step 5 be sure to change your printer s setup from Portrait to Landscape When you then enter the Print Preview window your image should appear like this 4 Unlike with regular cutting do NOT rotate the image Go ahead and click on the Cut icon in the Cut Toolbox window The CraftROBO Controller window will open and you can proceed with your print and cut as usual The mat will not slide back to the
28. Refer to Proportional Scaling Checking the Axis Swap box changes the orientation of the cut by 90 degrees Cut gt Plotting Defaults The Banner Fill feature is used with pens or the engraving tool to fill a shape or title Cut Toolbox window or Cut gt Plotting Defaults The Basic Weld tool is used to merge selected objects into one combined object such as when creating welded letter titles or welding images to words Tools Toolbar gt Weld Tools Bitmap Images aka Raster Images are made up of pixels arranged in a grid pattern in which each dot includes information about its colour and its position Common bitmap file formats are jpg omp tif Use Break Path to revert a combined path of objects into individual paths for each object This is required in order to delete paths and edit nodes in a traced design Arrange gt Break Path When an object is selected nine small boxes appear The middle box is the Center Nub Holding the left mouse over this nub and dragging it will move the object Close Graphics is used to join the first and last nodes of a contiguous path with a curve or straight line Arrange gt Close Graphics Use Connect Path to connect nodes in a broken path the two nodes will merge into one Arrange gt Connect Path The Contour Cut feature creates a hairline trace around an object or graphic Cut gt Contour Cut Contour Object is used to create a single shape that matches the contours of an image It
29. Smart Bar for revisions To make a mat after welding your title select the image and go to Transform gt Oultline Check the box next to Outline and uncheck the box next to Inline if necessary 9 Just to the right of the Outline checkbox you can specify how large to make the mat 0 Further to the right click on the coloured rectangular box and select a colour for your mat Note that it will appear that the entire mat is filled with colour That s okay Winter 11 Immediately below the colour choice select a style for the mat Click on each one of the three choices to note the differences and pick the one you wish to use 12 To the far right of the Smart Bar verify that the two upper choices are indented These are Create Original and Create Mask If you are simply using the Outline feature to thicken a font then you can deselect Create Original 13 Click on the Close button and the mat will become a single outline of the colour you chose Note you can deselect the title then click on the mat line and drag the mat away from the original 14 If you wish to custom arrange the individual letters rather than having them in a straight line then after typing the title click on the Select icon on the Tools toolbar Then go to Arrange gt Text to Graphics Now each letter can be individually selected and arranged as desired Then continue from Step 5 above 4 5 Fitting Text to Curves 1
30. a grouped set of objects so that the objects can then be individually selected and modified Refer to Group Layout gt Ungroup Vector Images use mathematical equations vectors to define an image s shape colour position and Vector Images size Manually or auto tracing a bitmap image in DesignMaster creates a vector image which can then be cut A Weed Border is an additional rectangular cut around the outside of the object being cut Cut Toolbox window or Cut gt Plotting Defaults A Welded Title consists of merging the individual letters and then welding to remove the overlap so that the title will cut as one piece Appendix C Settings for Auto Tracing AccuScan Trace Settings Line Fit Tolerance indicates the precision with which edges are traced o For a detailed bitmap use a setting of 7 or greater More nodes will be produced o Ifthe bitmap is of poor quality or has long smooth edges then use a setting of 3 or less A loose Tolerance will avoid imperfections in the bitmap though fine details may also be lost Line Cornering modifies corner recognition and is used to help distinguish parts of the bitmap that represent a corner versus parts that represent a tight curve O For angular bitmaps that are composed mostly of sharp corners use a setting or 7 or greater O For bitmaps that are composed mostly of curves use a setting of 3 or less O For bitmaps that have a mixture of curves and sharp corners use a setti
31. and Distribute gt Align to Sign Blank gt Centers Horizontally Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align to Sign Blank gt Centers Vertically Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align to Sign Blank gt Equal Spacing 59 Keystroke Function Editing Vectorized Images Ctrl E Ctrl T Ctrl H Ctrl J Alt B JO D DG se Cour FY A Miscellaneous F1 F2 Ctrl F7 Ctrl F8 Alt P SpaceBar F10 Outside Node Edit Mode Edit path Edit path Make path Break path Convert text to graphics Inside Node Edit Mode Add node at current location Change node cycle through types Remove selected node Reset origin at selected node Resize grid dimensions based on node Snap to intersection Snap to nearest horizontal grid line Snap to nearest vertical grid line Join to selected nodes with a line Break contour at the select node Deselect nodes Create perfect circle from oval contour Toggle start point Select node under the mouse curson Link to Crafty Club Disable all shop colours except current Text compose Frame text compose Open the cutting window Return to select mode Select the menu bar Customizing Hot Keys Menu or Screen Location Edit gt Edit Path Edit gt Edit Path Arrange gt Make Path Arrange gt Break Path Arrange gt Text to Graphics Help gt Index On left Tools toolbar select Text Tools then select 1st icon from left On left Tools toolbar select Text Tools then select 2nd icon from left Cut gt Plot al
32. ar or go to File gt Save 2 Ifyou ve made changes and wish to save under a different file name choose File gt Save As Name the file choose a location and click on Save Zooming e The quickest way to zoom in and out on an image is to move the scroll wheel on your mouse e If you click on your middle mouse button it will toggle on the Hand cursor which then allows you to move your image around on the screen also referred to as panning e here is also a Zoom Tools icon on the Tools toolbar The options under this toolbar will allow you to perform various zoom functions such as marquis zoom zoom to Sign Blank zoom on selected object etc Experiment with each e Note that when you are not in the zoom mode you can use the function keys F5 F8 to perform these same functions Refer to Zoom Shortcuts in Appendix A Selecting e The top icon on the Tools toolbar is the Select Tool Clicking this icon will always close other tool windows and place the 9 small bounding boxes on the current object In most other modes one exception being the text mode pressing the spacebar will also invoke the select mode e To select an object click on any of the trace lines Hold down the Shift key to select additional objects Alternatively drag the left mouse button to marquis select one or more objects If you wish to select all the objects on the screen use Ctrl A o When an object is selected each press of the Tab key will move to anot
33. arks AE 45 Repeat dado 24 A DEE 16 Rotate 90 degrees 20 Riet ue EE 17 ROUNO GOMER oonan 52 Rounded Hectangle 51 A O 13 Saving and Exporting ui aida 15 Scan and Trace Ward 32 Segment Edilicia dd 36 ls EEN 15 Ss A A 23 Selec st id 15 Ia 50 SAW AI A 53 SAA GE 12 25 SNOW E EE 11 14 A 11 12 23 E et Te EE 17 Small Shape Accuracy oocccccncccccconcnccnnnnonononanncnnnnnos 64 MatBal tidad 12 13 SITIOO UNINC aa 23 Snap Line Degree ocoimncioconiocicacoconincioicnadariciness 64 A eege 22 50 Sort and Cut All COlOrS wwww mmmmamwmamea 25 Speckle Filter Fact ainia 64 e DEE 27 o A A aeons 52 Straight Line Tracing ccccccccoccoccnnncccconnnonccnnnnnnnos 41 Stroke and Fill TOOIS lt 45 Tangent Node ees 35 Templates coccoonnnnccccnnncccnnoncconnonnonannncononcnnnnanonnss 55 TOXECGOMPOSS AI 26 Texto rap sita 31 35 Text Undead 27 MS Midas 56 Kee A O 11 ele Ve US onora aa 11 12 MOONS ici 23 TOOS OMA AA 13 Trace SOUINGS sra 32 Trace Aa nica AAA AAA AA 33 Transform gt Outline eeseeneeeseeneneserrrrrrserrrrrrrsen 28 Transformation asian 29 UNdO NAVIO Ai poslsiia iia 18 WA EE 11 Weed Bord arerin aa 22 Welding Text to Frames 30 OS AC Le 11 eg ele 13 ZOOMING Santa A 15 68
34. bject is composed entirely of curve nodes A Polygon object is composed of a combination of corner curve and tangent nodes 62 Same as dashed or perforated lines Pounce can be used to make cuts of a specified length and Pounce spacing useful for fold up projects or adding detail to a die cut image Cut gt Plotting Defaults or Cut Toolbox window When the Proportional Scaling icon is locked the aspect ratio is held constant if the length or width of an object is changed When unlocked the user can independently change the length or the width without altering the other On the Smart Bar after clicking Select on the Tools toolbar Raster Images Refer to Bitmap Images ato Mea Registration Marks are special marks placed in three corners surrounding an image to be printed and 9 then cut out Tools Toolbar gt Shapes Tools Render to Bitmap Render to Bitmap will create a bitmap from any selected vector image Transform gt Render to Bitmap The Reduce Nodes function will eliminate excessive nodes from a polyarc image Arrange gt Reduce Reduce Nodes Nodes Use the Round Corner feature to round either the inner or outer corners of objects Transform gt Round Round Corner Corners Seament Edit The Segment Edit tool is used to reshape a section of the contour to fit a straight line a corner or a 9 curve third icon in Arc Edit Smart Bar eee The Sequence feature has two uses Arrange objects on screen and arrange the order in which
35. blue outline doesn t show up yet because the tracing process is still underway but the notes being planted in each corner do appear Click in each of these spots to place the corner nodes kam and here Sa Ca 6 Finish tracing the perimeter ending at the first node Note that because you ended at the first node you do have the option of begin another trace at another location 7 Press the spacebar or click on Apply at the top to select the tracing Double click in the middle of the selected image to bring up the nodes To move a node drag it with the left mouse button 8 To trace the internal folding lines again select the Node Edit tool 9 Select a different colour for the folding lines in this case blue has been picked Again click around the exterior ending at the starting point Press the spacebar to end and return to the Select mode Double click the image if you need to move or edit any of the nodes Refer to Section 5 2 Editing Vectorized Images for instruction 10 Note that during a tracing once you reach the starting point this completes a closed path and you can begin tracing at a different location If you need to stop a trace before a path is closed and restart elsewhere you will need to click on Apply at the top or press the spacebar and then reenter the Node Edit window again 11 To cut images such as this where you may wish to pounce the folding lines i e cut dashed lines ref
36. can be set to retain or ignore the inner contours of the original shape Transform gt Contour Object A Corner Node is used to construct straight lines thus two corner nodes on a path will be joined by a straight line In node edit mode it appears as a A Curve Node is used to construct a curved contour thus two curve nodes on a path will be joined by a curve In node edit mode it appears as a small circle Checking the Cut by Color option will evoke the Filter by Color feature in the cut window This will result in only one colour at a time being sent to the cutter allowing the user to change materials or tools between cuts Cut gt Plot gt Cut Toolbox or Cut gt Plotting Defaults Refer to Sort from Plotting Defaults The End Point is the final resting position of the tool after drawing or cutting an image normally set to match the origin or set at end of the document area Cut gt Plotting Defaults gt Setup gt Plotter Options Similar to Round Corner Fillet Round Corner can be applied to individual corners of an object Transform gt Fillet Round Corner Invoking the Filter by Color or Cut by Color brings up a window in which the desired colour can be selected to cut After the cut is complete another colour will appear and the user may choose it yet another colour or cancel the cutting process Cut gt Plotting Defaults or Cut Toolbox window Flip is similar to the Mirror command except that the line of re
37. d to move the nodes cannot move them Check to make sure Snap to Grid isn t turned on Options gt Grid gt Snap to Grid cannot weld together two images A The images must be the same colour B The images must both have closed paths To close select the open path image and go to Arrange gt Close Graphics or go into node editing and repair Turn on View gt Show Fill to verify as unclosed paths will be dotted lines imported an eps file from PSE and tried to cut get a no object to cut message then exported the file as an Illustrator file and I m still unable to import and cut How can get it to work Images from Photoshop Elements are raster graphics and not vector thus there are no trace lines to cut You must either use one of the auto tracing techniques or manual tracing to convert the image Refer to Chapter 5 imported and traced a drawing When I cut it however it cuts on both sides of the line This happens whenever images are hollow and the vector lines are then created for both sides of an outline Use Arrange gt Break Path to separate the two paths and then click on one of the outlines to delete I m using a CAD program to draw an object and then convert to a DXF file When the DXF file Is imported into DesignMaster the dimensions of my object are always larger than what was drawn All dxf files tend to change from their original size during exporting and importing If this is a problem check to see if eps is a
38. der Cut gt Plotting Defaults to switch to landscape cutting At any time you can open a new document by going to File gt New or by clicking on the little blue icon first one on the left on the System toolbar Opening an Existing GRA File 1 Go to File gt Open or click on the second icon from the left Open on the System toolbar and browse your hard drive to locate subfolders where gra files are stored Upon locating the file select the file name and click on Open Note that Alt S will turn on and off the fill for vector objects on the screen This can also be accessed by clicking on the Show Fill icon on the Workspace toolbar Outline mode will show all the lines that will be cut In fill mode the image appears as your final product To view thumbnail images of common graphical file formats such as jpg bmp ai wmf go to Layout gt Clip Art Viewer and browse to find the subfolder of your choosing Double click to import that file Also you can label specific subfolders under Layout gt Clip Art Categories Setup and then directly open those subfolders under Layout gt Clip Art Go To Note that other vector formats such as at eps wmf pdf can also be opened using File gt Open Change the Files of Type to All Files and browse to the location of the vector file When opening eps files select the pdf import filter when asked 14 Saving 1 To save a file click on the third icon from the left on the System toolb
39. e 11 Selt MU a Wakaweka 35 Editing Nodes AAA 35 Editing Vectorized Images 35 EMDOSSIN O EEN 22 48 AU AA 51 File CONVENIO Spatial 53 FANI lito 49 SlRe D IPP stacked AA AWA 49 US WE usado ripio 49 Fillet ROUNA COMES recocido tease idee 53 A BY GOON KAA AAA Gees 25 FIONA RE 53 SIE e e 28 Fitting Text tO Cumes a 28 ie 91 09 EE 17 POS a idas 26 Frame Text COMPOS Onenna a 27 Freehand DrawIing dida ala dde 43 GeO SNS ioe ti ad 48 Graphics e E 41 GHG o E E EE E EEE 11 NIG OZE ui 11 EIER 18 38 ELE e 13 A EE 60 Insert New CObiect kaa 56 Install New FONS ci 26 SANA WA 4 ODP ios 12 25 VI lola oil leidas 22 Kerning ENNEN 27 Key Board Ghortcuts 58 Ai 64 Line Fit Tolerance ccooncccoccncccccncccnnnocononocanonononess 64 A e eee eee een 45 LOMO ara 17 LOGO Long Lines amp CGunes 33 Machine LIMIS iii 11 Making Patis ta aa 38 Manual TRACING ii e 41 MINO EE 22 A WA Aa 17 MONO AM dial 52 MOVE Sutton nadas 23 MOVING ii 15 Mun Cut 23 Multiple Instance EEN 11 Multiple Page Option oocccccccccccccconcnncccncnnnnos 13 57 New DOCUMENT ai 12 14 Normal Vector zaton naannnannoennnnnnnonnnnnnnnennnnne 33 o Le 56 Pe o 56 Object Start AA UU UU UU 23 50 On Screen Na 27 Orena lo enon 11 14 E A e SE E 28 FAO EN 23 PAGE GONIW EE 13 57 Pallet ida 12 PCW ete AI 23 PEN Diamele cee ee rs 48 OMG AA 51 Bel ele 23 47 gll E 45 Pt and GU cobrara la 45 Re COlOMIAG BE 17 Reducida Bt Tele 36 Registration M
40. e bottom of the screen and change the Line Width to 8mm or 0 03 Use Ctrl K to launch KingKongCapture and marquis select the image Go to the King Kong Capture window and select Edit gt Copy to copy the image to the Windows clipboard Click on the Windows Start button and then Run Type in mspaint and then click on OK Microsoft Paint will open Use Edit gt Paste to insert the image in Paint Click on the Fill With Color icon select black from the colour palette at the bottom and click in the image to fill Click on the Select icon and then marquis select the image Go to Edit gt Copy Open DesignMaster and you can then auto trace with the Accuscan function as described in Method B in Section 5 1 Auto Tracing Graphical Images Method 2 Print the GSD Image to PDF 1 6 The method presented below requires using Adobe Acrobat Pro Other pdf creating programs may provide equivalent results so you can also try the trial version of PDF Factory and the free program Cute PDF Writer After installation open the gsd program e g RoboMaster and open the gsd file to convert Click on the Output Settings icon and select the Print Settings tab Under Printer select the Adobe PDF Check the box next to Print Cut Lines Then click on Output to Printer and then OK A pdf version of the image will be created and you will be prompted to save Open DesignMaster and go to File gt Open Change Files of Type from knk to All Files Locate
41. e image cut the same Filter by Color window will open and the next colour will be shown If you click on the down arrow and go into the colour menu the first colour will be marked out so that one can track which colours have already been cut Method C Filtering Colours in the Sign Blank While still in the main Sign Blank screen hold down the Alt key and click on the colour you wish to cut from the Shop Palette or Job Palette All objects NOT in this colour will change to dashed lines and no longer be selectable Thus when you click on the Cut Tools icon only your objects in your selected colour will be sent to the Cut window 23 4 Working with Text 4 1 Installing New Fonts Unlike most other Windows applications new fonts must be installed separately into DesignMaster 1 Install new fonts into Windows using your usual method Note that you can simply copy fonts into the C Windows Fonts folder to automatically install For temporary installation you can locate a font using My Computer or Explorer double click the file name to open a preview window and that font will be installed until you close it But once closed it will no longer be installed in DesignMaster either 2 In DesignMaster go to File gt Install gt Fonts 3 Click on the Search Now button to list all fonts currently installed in Windows 4 You can click on Install All and the entire list of fonts will be made available in DesignMaster 5 Alternatively yo
42. e nodes Note that the nodes with sharp pointed turns were changed to corner nodes Also note that the stem was separately traced and the top extended by a small amount This gives you the option of cutting the two paths separately for a paper piecing the flower bulb in one colour and the stem in another Alternatively the stem and bulb can be selected and then welded to remove the overlap by selecting the Weld Tools icon and clicking on Basic Weld icon Before Welding After Welding Finally the individual pieces are re coloured so that they can be cut from different coloured pieces of paper or cardstock Freehand Drawing Freehand drawing like manual tracing is performed using the Graphics Edit tools on the Tools toolbar Select the middle tool called Free Edit You can now use the mouse to freely draw on the screen Unlike Node Edit mode in Free Edit mode you can release the mouse button to stop your drawing at any point and begin again at another point on the screen If you wish to draw a straight line at any point hold down the Shift key or Ctrl key and continue drawing It will appear that you are no longer drawing but upon releasing the key a straight line will appear At any time you can click on the spacebar and close the Free Edit mode Double clicking any of your paths will bring up the nodes for editing 43 Drawing an Arc The third tool in the Graphic Edit tools menu is the Arc Edit This can be use to construct
43. easier to keep using the same colours rather than having to remember which particular shades you previously chose Throughout this manual the terms image and object are used interchangeably to refer to vector images 12 e Any of the toolbars or palettes can be dragged to a different location On the horizontal ones hold down the left mouse button on the two vertical gray bars on the left side and drag On the vertical ones drag the two gray bars at the top e Tocreate your own custom tool bar go to View gt Toolbars gt Customize and click on New In this window you can also select to have large sized icons on the screen e To further customize the screen check out the following items o Options gt Guides gt Edit Guides or right click on the screen adds guidelines to the screen This feature will especially be important if trying to fit images close to the boundaries of the Sign Blank Unlike in RoboMaster where there are red guidelines automatically shown to indicate where the cutting boundaries are located in DesignMaster the user must determine where those boundaries exist For more information refer to Section 3 2 Where Will Images Cut o Options gt Workspace Colors changes the colours of the grid guides background or Sign Blank o Options gt Ruler Positions moves the rulers to the opposite sides o The Page Control function allows for multiple pages within a single file Refer to Section 6 8 Features for Prof
44. ed lines they are offset from the solid cut lines Under Cut gt Plotting Defaults check the box next to Sign Blank Page will then be unchecked Click on Save Default before clicking on OK Why isn t the bottom left corner of my Sign Blank set to 0 0 Go to Layout gt Sign Blank and check the bottom left corner of the diagram at the top When I try to move an object with my mouse it suddenly jumps up outside of the Sign Blank area A built in function called Smart Move in some mouse brands can cause this Go to File gt Control Panel gt Mouse and locate the Smart Move option Uncheck the box and click on apply My title appears on the screen as an outline rather than with coloured letters The fill has been turned off Use Alt S to toggle the fill on and off or click on the Show Fill icon The letters inside a circle disappear and will not draw after being welded The letters are visible on the edges of the inner circle but the centre of the letter is not there Letters must be welded to a frame rather than a single shape Refer to Section 4 8 If you want a single circle then after welding break apart the image and delete the outer circle Can fonts be edited using nodes or vectorized Can one drag the bottom right portion of the letter R to underline the rest of a title word Select the word and go to Arrange gt Text to Graphics The letters are now individual paths with editable 65 nodes Typing a title from an open or hollow fo
45. en registration form Enter your details on this screen and click send Finish off that cup of tea and go and check your emails IMPORTANT e Pay particular attention to your email address as this is where your license files will be emailed e You need these files for your software to run If you enter incorrectly or mispell your email address you will not receive these important files Nearly Done Now Inbox 1017 messages 21 unread c E Ai CEE WES CY CI amp CH Smaller Bigger Unread Read Delete Junk Reply Reply All Forward New Get Mal flag Print Search P e From Subject Date Received v CADlink Technology Corp LCF FILES Today 18 43 UKScrap H x 09 Club Ee UKScrappers Reply to thread Craft Club Magazine Today 18 27 lt Miniatureaddict aol com gt lt Mini file problems Today 18 10 Graham amp Hazel Paul Design Master Today 17 53 Heather Rutter Re FC7000 draft Today 17 12 UKScrappers Reply to thread Craft Club Magazine Today 16 59 Vikki Roberts R Today 16 52 NP Mail Delivery Subsvstem Returned mail could nat connect and send the mail to Tadav 16 52 1 Check your email and you will find an email from CADLink Technology Corp titled LCF Files CADLink is the developer of DesignMaster If you do not receive this email check your Spam folders and make sure that your Spam filters are set to accept emails from CADLink Technology Corp 2 This email contains a zipped zipped means
46. enter O for both values e Show Fill Go to View gt Show Fill turn on off the fill With Show Fill turned on closed images will be filled with the colour you select from the Shop Palette on the bottom of the screen Open images will appear with dashed lines There is also an icon for this on the Workspace toolbar or you can use Alt S e End Point Go to Cut gt Plotting Defaults click on Setup Then click on the Plotter Options tab In the lower of the two diagrams on the left the End Point diagram click to indent the lower left hand corner so that it matches the same indented corner as in the upper Origin diagram This will ensure that the blade returns to the same point it begins This is very important if you are using the Pounce function dashed line cutting or changing tools between cuts 11 2 DesignMaster Basics 2 1 Main DesignMaster Screen e Below is a screen shot of the main screen in DesignMaster with the major parts identified Note the specific names of the items shown below as they will be referenced throughout this user manual Smart Bar Contains gma ime Jiu Go A8 E settings for current NIEVA a SR aa a 9 lt System Toolbar tool m use Operation Toolbar 7 El geg Y lt Workspace Toolbar O be i Config Toolbar A g Al Es d Rulers a ya Job Palette udi g 5 Zz R Ke E A e Tools Toolbar Sign Blank Page Control Shop Palette ho Current also referred to Pane Numbe
47. er to Section 6 2 Using the Pounce Feature to Cut Dashed Lines a Curved Line Tracing 1 The flower image in this example is made up of curves The tracing method is very similar As with the envelope template choose the Graphic Edit Tools and then the first Node Edit icon Since you may need to reenter the menu over and over follow the instructions from step 2 in the previous section to keep the submenu of tools readily available 2 Select a colour from the Shop Palette for the tracing line 3 Click once to place your first node Then right click and select the upper right circle icon Curve Node From this point forward curved lines will be drawn as you trace around the outside of the flower In general you will need more nodes when tracing around tight curves and far fewer nodes when tracing along gentle curves As you practice this technique you will see that a node only needs to be placed when the trace curve begins to deviate from the original curve of the imported graphic 42 4 Once you return to the first node press the spacebar to end Note that you don t have to end at the first node At any point you can simply stop by pressing the spacebar and then re enter the Node Edit mode and start tracing at a different location If you do end at the first node then you can begin tracing at a different location without leaving and re entering the Node Edit mode Below is part of the tracing showing th
48. essionals for instructions on using this 2 2 Tools Toolbar where the good stuff resides e The Tools toolbar contains the most common tools for image creation editing and cutting Below is a screen shot with a description of the functions of each tool lt Drag here to move tool bar lt Select Tool highlight images Cut Tool enter the cutting window lt Text Tools compose text kerning underline spell check Zoom Tools zooming and panning images lt Weld Tool merge images and remove overlap lt Shapes Tools basic shapes decorative border and stencil lt Graphics Edit Tools freehand drawing arc and node editing ER BOOP N e Scan Tool converting raster images to vector tracings lt Stroke and Fill Tool line style selection E e For those tools with a tiny black arrow in the lower right corner a pop out menu will appear when the tool is selected e Each tool will have a different Smart Bar appear at the top of the screen The Smart Bar will contain individual settings used for that tool e The tools with pop out menus can be moved into the main screen area by holding the mouse over the two pale vertical lines on the left side of the pop out menu To close a pop out menu that has been moved click on the Tools toolbar icon again 13 2 3 Manipulating Images in DesignMaster Opening a New Document Sign Blank Setup 1 4 When you launch the DesignMaster software
49. f a selected contour O Curve Node Change the currently selected node into a Curve node or Tool specify that new nodes must be Curve type Toggle Toggle the direction of the selected contour between Rotation Tool Clockwise and Counter Clockwise 7 Set Start Set the start point at which routing or engraving this Point Tool contour will begin fit Trash Can Delete the selected nodes Tool Yi Break Tool Break the contour at the selected node A Tangent Node Change the currently selected node into a Tangent node Tool or specify that new nodes must be Tangent type A series of hot keys can also come in handy while editing nodes For example simply moving the mouse over any node and pressing the R key on the keyboard will delete that node Or pressing the A key at any time will add a node at that location Refer to the complete list of shortcut keys under Editing Vectorized Images in Appendix A Reducing Nodes 1 2 3 4 5 6 With the nodes showing drag the left mouse button to marquis select any group of nodes To select ALL the nodes in a given path use Ctrl A on the keyboard You can also hold the Shift key and repeat in a different area to select more nodes at the same time Press the U key on the keyboard and every other node will be selected in red Press the Delete key and those selected nodes along those paths will be deleted thus instantly eliminating half Repeat the process if desired but use with care
50. f the Smart Bar Now you can shift the letters to overlap by dragging any of the boxes in between the letters All letters to the right of that box will move together OR click ONCE on any of the boxes below a letter and then use the left right arrow keys on the keyboard to move the letters in smaller increments which is recommended when trying to be precise If you inadvertently exit the Text window after typing your title you can also access the Kerning function under Text Tools on the Tools Toolbar 3 icon When you are satisfied with the overlap click on the Select Tools icon on the Tools toolbar to select the entire title You may also wish to press Alt S to go to outline mode to see the actual overlap of the letters d it r ieee Ste CH O WA Fa d feed ot Ile O if vf d Ko aan d A JI rb TI III Gee Fr d VW Id d Le po i Fi J F J II el uf 1 i q ul Lk d La L H o Now click on the Weld Tools icon 6 from top on Tools toolbar and select the first icon on the left Basic Weld The overlap will vanish 27 4 KA IP V III II Pry If d i i L ap P L A Usel RA L ki LI d E a Lar DM De L 6 You have now converted the title to a vector image If you wish to modify the overlap the font the spelling etc then you must repeatedly use the Edit gt Undo function or Ctrl Z to back up to the text mode Then double clicking a title that is still in a text format will bring up the Text
51. flection can be adjusted Layout gt Size Move gt Flip Choosing Frame Text Compose will automatically set the text frame equal in size to the sign blank Tools Toolbar gt Text Tools 6l E S 2322 23 oO 5 a O O Y ol amp de o o H H Mm D o CH Tim y O E O Q Machine Limits Mode lt lt E A w oO D O A 5 U Q KE o Le 5 3 gt lt Cc I O C Lamm Multiple Instance Nodes O O O O Z lt Cc 5 CH O 5 uu o O 7 5 gt D Cc U m ad Q 9 from Plotting J OD mt pe Wa U U U U o o a lt lt S i 3 2 O O 5 3 O O o The Free Edit tool is used to create vector paths by free movement of the mouse on the screen Tools Toolbar gt Graphics Edit Tools Use Group to combine two or more objects so they are treated as one when resizing re colouring moving etc Layout gt Group Guides are reference lines used for placing objects These may be placed at any location and at any angle Options gt Guides gt Edit Guides or right click on the workspace Refer to Outlines The Job Palette shows the colours that are being used on the workspace This palette is also used to perform global colour substitutions such as instantly replacing all shapes of a given colour with another colour View gt Show Palettes gt Show Job Palette Use the Jog feature when an image is printed first and then cut out based on setting registration marks in
52. g lines of an image first make sure the Shop Palette is visible at the bottom of the screen If not then go to View gt Palettes gt Show Shop Palette e Click any of the colours on the Shop Palette Note that the first two colours on the left of the Shop Palette allow you to make an image clear or make an image invisible e If you have the Job Palette turned on only the specific colours you ve used for your images will appear in that palette When creating additional images of the same colour it is often easier to pick the same colours from this palette rather than from the Shop Palette o A quick way to change all images of a particular colour to another drag and drop a new colour from the Shop Palette onto the colour to be replaced on the Job Palette e To create a custom colour click on the Context Menu icon looks like 3 little dots on the Shop Palette Select Custom Color Creator and enter the precise colour parameters you wish to use e Goto View gt Show Line Style and check this item With this option turned on objects will have a black or other colour outline IF they have either Hair Line or Thick Line set To make these settings click on the Stroke and Fill icon on the Tools toolbar and select the Line Style icon In the Smart Bar click on either the Hair Line or Thick Line icon Note the first icon is No Line 17 Arranging Under Layout gt Arrange and Distribute you have several options for aligning objects 1 Based on
53. g object Delete Layout ShortCuts Ctrl G Alt G Ctrl K Alt K 4 D rm CO D Alt 1 Alt 2 Alt 3 Alt 4 Alt 5 Alt 6 Alt 7 Alt 8 Alt 9 Alt Delete Alt Insert Alt Page Down Alt Page Up Alt End Alt Home Ctrl Q Select all objects Select all objects Unselect all objects Inverse select objects Duplicate object Send object to back Send object to front Send backward Send forward Reverse positions of objects Force move vertically or horizontally A copy of the object is moved Delete clear object Group objects selected Ungroup objects selected Align Alignment Align to Last Object Align to last object Align to last object Align to last object Align to last object Align to last object Align to last object Align to Selected bottom centre vertically centre horizontally left right top Arrange objects to left side Arrange objects vertically Arrange objects to right side Arrange objects to top Arrange objects horizontally Arrange objects to bottom Make selected objects concentric Menu or Screen Location Edit gt Select None Edit gt Inverse Select Edit gt Duplicate Arrange gt Order gt To Back Arrange gt Order gt To Front Arrange gt Order gt Backward Arrange gt Order gt Forward Arrange gt Order gt Reverse Edit gt Clear Layout gt Group Layout gt Ungroup Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Alignment Layout gt Arran
54. ge and Distribute gt Align to Last Object Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align to Last Object Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align to Last Object Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align to Last Object Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align to Last Object Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align to Last Object Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align to Selected gt Left Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align to Selected gt Centers Horizontally Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align to Selected gt Right Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align to Selected gt Top Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align to Selected gt Centers Vertically Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align to Selected gt Bottom Arrange gt 2 objects with equal V spacing Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align to Selected gt Equal Vertical Spacing Arrange gt 2 objects with equal H spacing Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align to Selected gt Equal Horizontal Spacing Align to Sign Blank Align objects to the left Align objects to the top Align objects to the right Align objects to the bottom Centre Horizontally Centre Vertically Arrange objects with equal spacing Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align to Sign Blank gt Left Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align to Sign Blank gt Top Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align to Sign Blank gt Right Layout gt Arrange and Distribute gt Align to Sign Blank gt Bottom Layout gt Arrange
55. her object cycling through all objects on the screen e lf more than one colour has been used for the objects on the screen one can hold down the Ctrl key and then click on one of the colours from the Shop Palette or Job Palette All objects of that colour will immediately change to a dotted line indicating they are hidden and no longer selectable Repeating this step will return objects of that colour to a normal state Alternatively holding down the Alt key while selecting a colour will make all objects NOT that colour hidden Again this is a toggle process e One can also select objects based on size Go to Edit gt Select By Size and the Smart Bar provides a number of options such as the biggest smallest bigger than an object you select or smaller than an object you select Note that if you pre select an object before going to this window the Smart Bar will show the dimensions of the selected object in the top left corner Deleting e To delete an image select it and press the Delete key or go to Edit gt Clear One can also use Ctrl X or Edit gt Cut to Clipboard which will make the deleted item available for pasting elsewhere Moving e Click on the Select Tools icon top icon on the Tools toolbar e If your image is not already selected click once on any of the image s trace lines and nine small squares will appear e Hold down your left mouse button on the centre square A new cursor with double headed arrows will appear
56. i F A j Right click on red segment to bring up menu Two straight red lines will appear 5 Then click on Apply and the segment is replaced with a smoother arc Repeat along other parts of the image as needed 6 The other icons in the Segment Edit popup menu also allow straight lines corners and even guide lines to be created 37 Corner Arc Segment in Segment Trash 8 S Ine Guide Segment Line Making Paths or Grouping e When you have completed the editing of an image select the entire image by using Ctrl A or dragging a large box around the image to select all parts Select Arrange gt Make Path or Ctrl H This will now re colour the entire image to one colour and the image will be treated as a single object If you have used individual colours within the image and wish to retain those colours then instead of using Make Path just group the image using Layout gt Group or Ctrl G Example of Editing a Vectorized Image e Using the information from the prior sections the following image will be edited The purpose of this editing will be to make the image a paper piecing i e break the image into the apple the leaf and the stem But first we will make the image simpler and more curved 1 This is the apple we wish to edit 2 Turn off the fill by pressing Alt S 3 Select the image and use Ctrl J to break the paths in the image In this example the interior parts are going to be deleted Click away fro
57. icate the boundary for that image Note Only the restricted width of the Craft ROBO has been set Since a CraftROBO can actually cut up to 1000 cm or 39 37 the placement of an image in the other direction will be restricted by the Sign Blank itself Portrait Mode Guideline Landscape Mode Guideline 21 o When entering the Cut window the guidelines will remain set even if you click on the Rotate 90 degrees icon for Landscape cutting It is assumed that the image has been properly placed while in the Sign Blank window and it is not necessary to use the guidelines any further in the Cut window o For those cutting from 8 5 x 11 cardstock take note that the default A4 setting in Layout gt Sign Blank has an equivalent length of 11 694 thus will cut further than the 11 length of your cardstock You may want to add a separate guideline at 279mm or 11 3 3 Cutting Defaults Just as you set preferences for your printer DesignMaster has a window of default parameters for cutting Go to Cut gt Plotting Defaults and check any settings that you wish to be your defaults Be sure to click on the Save Defaults button at the bottom of the screen to lock in your choices before clicking on OK Note that you do not necessarily have to change these parameters with every cut These are the default settings When you open the cutting control window you can select or override most of these settings for any particular cut The fol
58. in with black 11 Repeat to delete other interior lines Your final image should be the outline of the original coloured graphic 34 5 2 Editing Vectorized Images Breaking Paths in the Image Select the entire image and select Arrange gt Break Path or Ctrl J This will break the image into individual paths and allow you to delete separate paths or edit them Click once on any line and only the connected path of that line will be selected Press the Delete key if you wish to delete that path Double click on any line and the vector points will appear along the path and be available for editing Editing Nodes Depending on what kind of object you ve created you may need to break path or convert to curves first o Welded Title double click any line o Unwelded Title select title and select Arrange gt Text to Graphics Then double click any letter to edit o Imported Vector File such as wmf double click any line It may be necessary to first select the entire image and perform a Ctrl J to break the path o Shape created within DesignMaster e g a star Select image and go to Arrange gt Convert to Curves Change Allowable Error to 0 Click on OK and then double click the image o GRA File double click any line o Auto traced image in DesignMaster Select the entire image and perform a Ctrl J to break the path Then double click on any line Besides double clicking a line you can also use Edit gt Edit Path or C
59. ional important settings in Chapter 3 Note that you must click on Save Default to lock in a change in this window Then you can click on OK e Tool Go to Cut gt Plotting Defaults there are 4 tools available Unless you are doing a Print and Cut select Pen or Knife from the drop down menu As above click on Save Default e Machine Limits Go to Cut gt Plotting Defaults click on Setup These are the maximum and minimum length and width for cutting and will seem reversed based on the length being shorter than the width But it is simply the orientation of the software with respect to a CraftROBO If you need to cut something longer such as an envelope template or a vinyl sign then you can adjust the width accordingly Special note for anyone using inches instead of millimeters Reset the Length to 8 271 instead of 8 269 Otherwise a warning message about tiling will occur when you enter the cut window e Multiple Instance Go to Options gt Multiple Instance allows more than one file to be opened at a time e Show Grid Go to View gt Show Grid turn on off the grid There is also an icon for this on the Workspace toolbar e Grid Size Go to Options gt CraftROBO Setup gt Preferences sets distance between grid lines e Duplicates Go to Options gt CraftROBO Setup gt Preferences When you use Edit gt Duplicate to copy an image this is the offset from the original If you want the duplicate to be directly on top of the original
60. it is compressed file This file is called licencefiles zip 3 Drag this file to your desktop The icon will look like a folder with a zip going through Customers with operating systems other than Windows XP or Vista may need a zip utility like Winzip to unzip these files 4 Double click to open this folder and inside you will find a file called ProductS Icf This file needs to be copied to the folder C Designmaster Web folder 5 You can find this by going to My Computer then double clicking Local Disk C Local Disk C File Edt View Favorites Tools Help ER Hide the contents of this drive 24 Add or remove programs y Search for ties or folders oO Make a new folder Y Publish this Folder to the Web ES Share this folder Other Places Y My Computer My Documents Shared Documents EJ My Network Places 6 Here you will find the folder DesignMaster Web E Hide the contents of this drive Bd Add or remove programs d Search for ties or folders file and Folder Tasks Oo Make a new folder Y Publish this Folder to the web gt Shared Documents K fy Network Places file and Folder Tasks Make a new folder Y Publish this folder to the Web pees Share this Folder Would you like to replace the existing file Other Places d My Computer My Documents Hered Documents E My Netwo
61. lowing settings are under Options O O Mirror Image is flipped both horizontally and vertically before cutting Sort Checking this box allows you to pick from four ways to order the objects on the screen to cut For more information refer to Section 6 4 Controlling The Order and Direction of Cuts Axis Swap Checking this box will change the orientation of your cut With the box unchecked the cutting will be portrait With the box checked the cutting will be landscape There is an exception in landscape Print and Cuts leave the box unchecked Weed Border A rectangular border will be cut around the image This is useful for those cutting vinyl to remove the waste around a cut image Note that if Sign Blank versus Page is checked then the size of the border will be the entire Sign Blank So use this feature in Page mode A default size can be set up under Options gt CraftROBO Setup gt General Preferences Or one can RIGHT click on the Weed icon in the Cut Toolbox window to specify a particular weed offset for the current cut Cut by Color Checking this box will cause only images that match the colour you specify later to be brought into the cutting window For example if you select 3 objects that are red yellow and green and then click on the Cut Tool icon a query window will immediately appear You then select which colour to cut and that particular image then appears on the screen After cutting that colour the same query wind
62. m the image and then click on each interior part and press the Delete key unwanted interior paths selected i after deletion 4 Double click the image to reveal the nodes 38 5 The apple is not smooth and curved because the nodes are corner nodes Select all the nodes Press the C key several times until the nodes turn into circles Click on Apply 6 To separate the leaf and stem from the apple double click on the outline and the nodes will appear 7 Zoom in close Then right click on the node at the base of the leaf and select the middle bottom icon 8 Repeat on the other side where the stem meets the apple 9 Click on Apply and then with the image still selected go to Arrange gt Break Path 10 Click away from the image to deselect it Then click once on the leaf stem path and then move the leaf and stem away from the apple 11 To close the paths on the apple double click again and drag the left node to overlap the node on the other side 12 Marquis select the two overlapping nodes and right click In the popup window select the top centre icon to join those two nodes into one 39 13 On the leaf and stem section right click on the node joining the two items and select the bottom centre icon to break the node into two parts a 14 Repeat step 9 and the drag the leaf away from the stem 15 Double click on the leaf and drag the left node to overlap the right side Repeat with the stem
63. n images in either a line sweep or an S sweep movement This allows the user to emboss using an engraving tool or to draw coloured images using coloured markers gel pens etc o Banner Fill can be selected inside Cut gt Plotting Defaults but it can also be turned on in the Cut Toolbox window as well This latter choice is probably the better for most users unless it s needed frequently Note that if you have it turned on when using the blade it will most likely chop up the paper cardstock on your mat o Several settings are involved in getting the Banner Fill to produce the results you want Thus it is recommended that you experiment before using it on your nicer paper cardstock or vellum o Speed Because you are using either pens or the engraving tool AND the fill in typically takes much longer than a simple cut you may wish to increase the speed to the maximum level o Pressure For pens use the same lighter pressure you use with the pen tool For embossing you will need to experiment For example with vellum both lighter pressures and heavier pressures can be used and both will work A lighter pressure produces a fainter white look on the vellum which can be just as beautiful as the brighter white produced with a heavier pressure o Pen Diameter In the Cut Toolbox window right click on the third icon from the right called Banner Fill A new window of settings will be displayed see screenshot below The Pen
64. n Retrace and return to the window with the settings Changing the Trace Settings can greatly improve the accuracy of your tracing Refer to Appendix D Settings for Auto Tracing to understand the function of each setting and to get recommended values to use Once satisfied with the tracing click on Finish and the tracing is ready to cut Method B Normal Vectorization 1 Import the image using File gt Import and locate the graphic file To preview thumbnail images of common graphical file formats go to Layout gt Clip Art Viewer and browse to find the subfolder of your choosing Also you can label specific subfolders under Layout gt Clip Art Categories Setup and then directly open those subfolders under Layout gt Clip Art Go To We will again trace the same flower in this second method Die With the image selected as shown double click anywhere inside the image boundaries or click on the Scan Tools icon on the Tools toolbar and select the first icon Accuscan A new window will open From the drop down menu select LOGO Complex with Detail Click on OK Monochrome Filter Ser mote to Black D DE Cancel Under Trace Setup see diagram below for location you can adjust the trace settings Changing these values can greatly improve the accuracy of your tracing Refer to Appendix C Settings for Auto Tracing to understand the function of each setting and to get recommended values to use New parameter settings will ap
65. n available export option in your CAD program Why do I have trouble importing some png and jpg files You cannot import some jog images into DesignMaster Save these images as bmp in another program such as Microsoft Paint and the image will then be importable My Sign Blank is no longer white Help Drag the colour White from the Shop Palette onto the Sign Blank It will be come white again 66 ER nee aS ee nS ene ee 54 BEE 55 RE 55 WEG tee ee 55 PAC CUS CA ett ooo 64 Allowable e EE 36 ATEO ia 44 52 ATC SS COIN CM Disp 37 A A ert mere ior try Mater 18 AE 16 24 AU DEE 32 54 AMS OWAD dae 11 22 Banner Ala lic 22 48 Basie VV Cl Cisse ia 51 A A 14 Eise e E 35 E A aes 56 CIPAR IO WGN tata N 14 Connected Letter Title 27 Context Men io 17 Contour Cutting 50 Convert to CUIVOS cooocococcconoccnccoocnnonocnncnnonnnonnnnnos 35 OOD E 16 CODY SU lina 27 COD WING al 16 Corner NOGE stent tito 35 CuUive Node aida as 35 Curved Line Tracing oooccccnccccccnonnnccnnnccnnononanonns 42 GUSIOMIZE aoa a 13 Customizing Hot keys 60 UN IA lia 22 Cut TOODOX EE 23 PIO EE 19 Cutting lee EE 25 Cutting DefaullS escort 22 Dashed lut 47 Decorative Border nneannnensennnneonenneosennnnsennenee 53 Default SettingS ia aa a 11 WIN E 15 Dingbat Images ooccccooccnccccncncononcnnccnannconanononnanenoos 30 Display Sort Dualog 50 Drag da VE 23 Drawing AMAT aaa 44 Klee 16 Biflei W
66. n on CraftROBO View in Cut window Overlap at 10 Results when drawn on CraftROBO e You will observe that Banner Fill automatically produces a double outline of the image To change this colour your image to anything but black Then when ready to use Banner Fill go to the cut window and click on the Sort and Cut All Colors icon and uncheck the colour you chose leaving only black A single outline and the fill will be performed 49 6 4 Controlling The Order and Direction of Cuts Sequence e The order in which individual paths will be cut can be rearranged by going to Layout gt Sequence gt Start Sequence by List This window shows all the paths in the cut order where the bottom item will cut first and the top item will cut last The buttons to the right of the list can be used to move individual paths up or down in cut order e Alternatively and this is especially important if all the objects are the same basic shape use Layout gt Sequence gt Start Sequence by Vector In this case select the first object BEFORE invoking this command A blue line will appear extending from the centre of your selected first object Click anywhere in the middle of the next object you wish to cut and then the third and the fourth and so forth After the last object is selected click anywhere outside of the objects These objects will now cut in the order you clicked Sort e The order in which objects are cut can also be set either by going to
67. ng of 4 to 6 Speckle Filter Factor Bitmaps that are generated using a scanner often contain speckles which are usually caused by a scratched or dirty scanner bed To ignore these imperfections the Speckle Filter may be applied as part of the trace However be cautious of using a high setting since small details could be mistaken for speckles Set the speckle filter factor as a percentage of the overall bitmap size Snap Line Degree When using a scanner to create a bitmap the original document may not be perfectly aligned As a result lines that were intended to be precisely horizontal or vertical will be slightly incorrect Set the value to the number of degrees that need to be corrected For example a setting of 5 degrees will correct lines that are off by that amount If the Degrees cannot be set high enough then the document should be scanned again or the bitmap can be rotated on the workspace Small Shape Accuracy assess the ratio between the largest bitmap objects versus the smallest o When the ratio appears large set the accuracy to high 7 10 o When objects are similar in size set the accuracy to low Off 3 64 Appendix D Troubleshooting Error Messages Objects with thick line attributes have been found in this graphic Click on the Stroke and Fill Tools icon on the Tools toolbar and select the Line Style icon On the Smart Bar click on either the No Line icon 1 from left or the Thin Line icon 2nd from left
68. nt results in double lines Use Arrange gt Text to Graphics to convert your title for editing Then go to Arrange gt Break Path Select one of the paths to delete Some fonts result in very jagged edges Also some of my tracings too Use Segment Edit to smooth jagged edges as needed Refer to Section 5 2 With some fonts the letters are almost on top of each other After typing the title use the On Screen Kerning function to space letters as desired See Section 4 4 Also the Kern Percent variable on the Smart Bar can also be adjusted before typing the letters When I type a title in text mode nothing happens see the hourglass appear but no text appears Make sure the font height on the Smart Bar is set to at least 5mm or 0 25 inches At the minimum value the text is too small to be visible on the screen noticed the outline of my page is not showing have the rulers set on the top and side but cannot see the black line around the workspace only see it when in cut mode Go to View gt Show Sign Blank to turn on the Sign Blank When trying to resize an image by using the boxes at the corner of the image am having a problem controlling the sizing Make sure Snap to Grid Options gt Grid gt Snap to Grid is not turned on Also the size of an image can be manually entered on the Smart Bar How can edit the edges of a graphic to make it smooth Refer to Segment Edit in Section 5 2 When double click on an image and procee
69. o Transform gt Outline Make sure Inline is NOT checked and Outline IS checked Just to the right of the Outline checkbox you can specify how thick you 30 want to make your frame In this example we have chosen 10 Further to the right click on the coloured rectangular box and select a different colour for your mat Note that it will appear that the entire mat is filled with colour Click on Close The image on the screen will now be this Use Ctrl A or marquis select both images and go to Arrange gt Make Path The lines will be the same colour now and if you switch to Fill Mode you will see that a frame has been created Fill turned on using Alt S Using the steps in Section 4 2 Text Basics create the title using the font of your choice Note that when welding more than one letter you may wish to use all upper case characters so that the letters are the same height In this example we are using a font called Brush Script Italic Select the title and go to Arrange gt Text to Graphics The purpose of this step is to break apart the individual letters so they can be arranged as desired to overlap the frame edges AND overlap one another Drag each letter into the frame and place Note that with some fonts the height of the letters may not be consistent and slight resizing may be necessary to get the desired overlap If you do not need your frame to be a particular width then you may wish to change it in order to better fit the let
70. ode type etc Tools Toolbar gt Graphics Edit Tools A vector image tracing is made up of individual Nodes connecting straight or curved lines Open Path in an object means the path is not complete These objects cannot be shown with a fill and will appear with a dotted line instead On a CraftROBO the top right corner closest to the cutter is the Origin When entering the cut window the bottom left corner corresponds to this position Outlines and Inlines are objects that are drawn to follow the contour of another object An Outline such as a mat on a title will typically be outside the base object and an Inline will be inside the object Transform gt Quitline Overcut is the amount the blade will go past the start point in order to complete the cut This is necessary for angled cut blades Cut gt Tool Options Checking Page will automatically move images to the top right corner relative to the cutter when sent to the cut window Cut gt Plotting Defaults The Page Control icon in the bottom right corner allows the user to set up multiple pages within a single file Identical images can be present on every page or not A Parametric object is created using the shapes tools When selected these objects have specialized editing handles that are used to adjust the object properties To edit the nodes these objects need to be converted using Arrange gt Convert to Curves Tools Toolbar gt Shapes Tools A Polyarc o
71. older and draw on ordinary paper 1 Set a page size to match your paper or cardstock Go to Layout gt Blank Size and from Current Selection pick A4 Letter or if working in inches and 8 1 2 x 11 paper then choose that or enter whatever size matches the paper you plan to place on the mat Make sure Portrait is selected under Orientation Click on OK Also go to View gt Show Sign Blank and make sure it is checked Go to Cut gt Plotting Defaults Under Tool select the Pen tool Under Cut check the boxes next to Sign Blank and next to Selected Make sure Axis Swap is unchecked Click on Save Default BEFORE clicking on OK to lock in the defaults On the Tools toolbar select the Shape Tools icon which is about halfway down Resting your mouse cursor on any icon will pop up a title for that icon Click once on any one of the icons that appears under Shape Tools such as a star or arrow Your Smart Bar will change to indicate you are in that tool s mode In the Sign Blank area hold down your left mouse button and drag the mouse to draw your shape Press the spacebar to select it or click on the top left arrow icon on the Tools toolbar Go to Cut gt Plot from the top menu or click on the Cut Tool scissors icon second from top on the Tools toolbar to enter the cutting window Verify that the Pen tool is showing in the top left of the screen When you are ready to draw click on the scissors icon far right in the long thin C
72. on the inner circle to make the frame thinner Type a letter and resize to overlap Use Basic Weld to create a Monogram Stencil Tool The purpose of the Stencil Tool is to apply one of five possible effects to an image The choices are Horizontal Vertical Square Circular and Conical and samples of each of the five are shown After selecting an effect slowly drag the various handles on the image until desired effect is achieved Note these five examples were all done with View gt Show Fill turned on Arc Edit Refer to Drawing an Arc in Section 5 3 Manual Tracing and Design S Turn on Options gt Grid gt Snap to Grid Click at blue and then red but continue to hold down mouse button and drag to bottom of heart click to plant node and then up to fourth node and click Q Q Return to first node and again hold down mouse button and drag down and to the left forming symmetrical heart Then press spacebar to complete image US Transform gt Round Corner Setting of 0 2 N L3 Round Corner 52 Fillet Round Corner AA Transform gt Fillet Round Corner Setting of 0 07 middle image no miter right image miter checked click on which part you wish to fillet Fit Object to Path LA O E K We GE E e Transform gt Fit Object to Path Start with a small Circle and large Oval After Object to Path middle image is created settings Number 25 Then apply Basic Weld to create scallop SSSS Transform gt
73. or the Shift key will also change how the text is transformed whether the bottom moves in the opposite direction or with the top Si Drag centre top Si Ctrl drag centre top ja Shift 4 drag centre top When the desired look is achieved click outside the text area to close the Smart Bar for the transformation mode For more text transformations options Microsoft Word contains a Word Art function to create another large variety of interesting looks A Word Art title can be copied in Microsoft Word pasted into DesignMaster Then with the word selected go to the Stroke and Fill Tool on the Tools Toolbar and select the only icon On the Smart Bar click on either the first or second choice No Line or Hairline Then click on the Select Tools icon to return to the Select mode The image should now be ready to cut 29 4 7 Incorporating Dingbat Images in a Title A quick way to create a welded letter title with an image attached it to use any of thousands of dingbat fonts available from the Internet for free In this example Brush Script font is being used for the letters and Wingdings will be used for the image In advance you will want to use a font browser like The Font Thing or Windows Character Map to determine which letter keystroke corresponds to the image you wish to include 1 Using the steps in Section 4 2 Text Basics create the title in the Brush Script font adding in the letter which will be converted to the dingbat font
74. origin at the end but you if you need to repeat your cut then the a repeat of the registration mark search can be done 6 2 Using the Pounce Feature to Cut Dashed Lines e In this example the following policy envelope will be used as the example The exterior red lines will be cut and the interior blue lines will be pounced cut as dashed lines 47 e Select the entire image for cutting and click on the Scissors icon on the Tools toolbar e In the Cut Toolbox window click on the sixth icon from the right blue box with black dashed lines to indent the box and Enable Pounce Right click on this icon and the settings window will appear Try a value of 2mm or 0 07 for Dash and a value of 4mm or 0 15 for Space Click on OK Now click on the second icon from the right which is Sort and Cut All Colors In this example you would uncheck the Red colour and leave the Blue checked and then click on Cut The Blue fold lines will be pounced e When it is completed click on the Enable Pounce icon again to un indent and turn off pounce Then click on Sort and Cut All Colors again uncheck Blue check Red and then click on Cut to cut the exterior red lines e In general it is recommended that pounced lines always be cut first and then the solid lines cut This prevents slippage of already cut images during pouncing 6 3 Using Banner Fill for Embossing or Drawing in Colour e The Banner Fill option in DesignMaster will fill i
75. ou can drag and drop the colours in the list to change the order in which they will cut 4 If you have used many colours or if you wish to link a colour to the name of the object being cut go back to Sign Blank Select your first object and double click on the colour box on the Smart Bar Enter whatever you wish under Color Name For example if you had an apple design with a red apple brown stem and green leaf you could double click on the red outline and name it Apple Then similarly name the green Leaf and the brown Stem Click on Change in each window to save the name Then when you enter the Sort and Cut All Colors window these names will appear next to the colours and may help you better identify which parts you wish to cut Note that these name changes are specific to this file only which makes this feature all the more useful Method B Filter By Colour 1 Select your images in the main document window and then click on the Cut Tools icon to open the cutting window 2 In the Cut Toolbox window click on the fifth icon from the right This will open the Filter by Color window One of the colours will appear in a small rectangle Either click on Select and then Cut to cut the images of that colour OR click on the down arrow to open the menu of colours to select a different one OR click on Select All to go ahead and cut all the images of all colours at once 3 Note that after the first colour is selected and th
76. ow appears and you pick another colour or cancel Another alternative is to have all the images appear in the cutting window and then select which colours to cut and which ones to ignore Refer to Section 3 6 Cutting by Colour Banner Fill Banner Fill is used with a pen or engraving tool to provide filled colouring or embossing Refer to Section 6 3 Using Banner Fill for Embossing or Drawing in Colour Jog Checking this box indicates that you have registration marks set in your document for a manual print and cut When you click on the scissors to make your cut a small window will open where you can set the position of each registration mark Because the CraftROBO has an optic eye this feature will probably not be of interest to most users 22 e Under Tools there are four choices The Pen is used for drawing with pens pencils markers etc or with the embossing tip The Knife is used for cutting with a blade The Pen with reg marks is used for Print and Cuts where a pen is used in place of a blade and the Knife with reg marks is used for Print and Cuts with the blade e Beneath the tool menu are several options o Multi Cut Checking this box opens a second box where the number of repeat passes can be set Currently this only works with the Pen tool o Pounce This is the same as cutting a dashed line Checking this box opens two additional boxes where you can enter the length of the dashed cut and the spacing between the cuts Sugges
77. pear in the Smart Bar Select the second icon from the right which is the Vectorization tool Note there are other choices from that dropdown menu which may better describe the image you are tracing The LOGO Complex with Detail is in general the best selection for the clipart typically chosen by paper crafters 33 wectorization Trace Setup Co Rp e y Palette ll Ea EM 0 00 e Close 7 Click on the Close button far right and your image will look something like this Ae YZ 8 With the image selected use your left mouse button to drag away the top image from the tracing This is your original and you may delete it if it s no longer needed On the other hand if you need to adjust your trace settings simply delete the tracing and double click on the bitmap to return to the Vectorization window in Step 5 Note with a Print and Cut after achieving the best tracing you will want to re import your original image to have the colour restored Q p 2 AV or 9 Now select the tracing and go to Arrange gt Break Path You should end up with your traced image as shown 10 Note that you see double lines due to the black outlines on the original image To remove click OUTSIDE the image and then click on any of the interior lines The complete path of this interior line will be selected Click on the Delete key Note that you may need to use Alt S to go into outline mode if parts of the flower begin to fill
78. r as the Color Palette 9 A M YO OR eana Ara GEI AA Aa a AA e The Smart Bar will always appear on the screen and shows all the parameters and settings for any given mode In the figure above the select mode is shown If you go into the text mode then the Smart Bar will show a different set of parameters and settings such as the currently selected font font height and direction of font e The Sign Blank is the basic document area and can be turned on by going to View gt Show Sign Blank To edit the dimensions of the Sign Blank go to Layout gt Sign Blank For more information refer to Opening a New Document Sign Blank Setup under Section 2 3 Manipulating Images in DesignMaster e There are five Toolbars which can be turned on and off by going to View gt Toolbars and checking or unchecking the toolbar from the menu You can also right click on any toolbar and check uncheck any of the toolbars from the menu By resting your mouse over any of the toolbar icons a popup will appear indicating that icon s name function More information about the Tools toolbar is presented in Section 2 2 Tools Toolbar e Similarly there are three palettes which can be turned on and off by going to View gt Palettes Only the Shop Palette and Job Palette are shown as they are the most useful to paper crafters Use the Shop Palette to select colours for the objects in the Sign Blank Use the Job Palette to track which colours have been used This makes it
79. rash But in Sign Blank mode any images outside the Sign Blank area will be ignored just as in RoboMaster e Smoothing refers to the number of vectors used during the cutting The Medium setting is recommended for most work Setting the smoothing to Low will speed up the cut but may result in a poorer drawing resolution Setting the smoothing to High will slow down the cut but the cutting will be more accurate e Move allows for an automatic offset of the image from where it would normally cut After using however note that your origin has been reset by this same offset Use with caution e Object Start Point allows the user to specify what part of the image to begin cutting 3 4 Cut Toolbox e The Cut Toolbox window provides additional options such as rotating and mirroring the image cutting only certain colours or dashed lines pounce banner fill using a pen to colour in the image or engraving tool to emboss weeding cutting a rectangular border around your image etc Below is a screen shot of the Cut Toolbox window and an indication of each function 23 Rotation Enable Filter Gonner Tools Tile Weed Jogging by Color cu Sort Cut GES G FQQHMAQAHE gt iB td a Mirror Reg 400M Poll Pounce Pagevs all Colors Tools Marks JOS Plotter Sign Blank With the Weed Enable Pounce and Banner Fill functions you need to right click to open a window of settings Left clicking these functions will toggle them on or off Note
80. reen Then click on the Page Control icon near the bottom right corner of the screen and enter the maximum number of pages you plan to use and uncheck the box next to Use On All Pages unless you want that Then under Use on Page enter that last page number If you choose a different page then the maximum number of pages will be reset to the page you chose Use the arrow keys next to the Page Control window OR click on the page number to move to a different page To copy or move selected objects to another page use the typical copy paste or cut paste commands Note that anything now placed on Page 0 ends up on all pages and can t be deleted from those pages Thus you might prefer to use Page 0 for a title only and Page 1 for project instructions 57 Zoom Shortcuts F5 and then marquis area Right click while in F5 F6 Shift F6 F7 F8 F9 F11 Basic Functions Ctrl C Ctrl Insert Ctrl N Ctrl O Ctrl P Ctrl S Ctrl X Shift Delete Ctrl V Shift Insert Ctrl V Ctrl Z Alt Backspace Ctrl Backspace Ctrl R Screen Functions Alt M Alt N Alt R Alt S Alt W F4 Alt D Ctrl W Right Click Screen Appendix A_ Key Board Shortcuts Zoom in on marquis area Zoom out Zoom out Zoom in Zoom to selected object Fit viewing area to sign blank Previous zoom toggle Pan screen based on mouse position Copy to Windows Clipboard Copy to Windows Clipboard Open a new sign blank Open an existing gra file Print Save
81. rk Places 8 If you are asked to overwrite the existing file say yes That s It this installation please email us at support graphtecgb com Hok Ep This folder already contains a file named Products kt KS 2 32 KB modified Today October 19 2007 5 14 56 PM KC Fokes 33 zip If you are having difficulty with 10 1 2 Default Settings in Design Master There are dozens of settings in DesignMaster which are either critical to getting the cutting results you want or are useful for customizing the software to meet your needs The following are some of the very basic settings you ll want to check right away To fully understand how certain settings affect cutting to a CraftROBO please refer to Chapter 3 e Units Go to Options gt CraftROBO Setup gt Preferences and choose inches or mm e Toolbars Go to View gt Toolbars there are five in total and it s useful to have them showing until you determine which features you find most useful You can then create a custom toolbar with just those you need most often View gt Toolbars gt Customize e Show Sign Blank Go to View gt Show Sign Blank makes document boundaries visible e Orientation Go to Layout gt Blank Size and choose Portrait or Landscape BUT note that this doesn t set the direction for cutting Refer to Axis Swap below e Axis Swap Go to Cut gt Plotting Defaults and uncheck for Portrait or check for Landscape but note addit
82. rting from Klic N Kut Studio KNK to GRA In Klic N Kut Studio export the file as ai In DesignMaster import the file and select Layout gt Ungroup Converting from Inkscape SVG to GRA From within Inkscape save the file as eps When asked check the boxes next to Make bounding box around full page and Convert Text to Paths When importing into DesignMaster select Use PDF Import Filter In some cases the file may need to have the path broken Arrange gt Break Path to remove a bounding box Converting from WPC to GRA In WinPC Sign or Funtime Scrapbooking use Ctrl A to select all images Go to File gt Export and select ai from the drop down menu Name the file and save In DesignMaster go to File gt Open Change Files of Type from gra to All Files Locate the ai file and open 6 8 Features for Professionals Templates e Templates are used for starting a new design and can be set up to bring in any of four different parameters the current date the current time a graphic file such as a logo and or any specific text you wish to enter e To create a template start with a Sign Blank of a desired size and create four text objects with any text in the font and font size you wish to see Move these objects to any location inside or outside the Sign Blank area e Select one of the objects and go to Layout gt Templates gt Set Template gt and pick any of the four choices With the File option you will have the choice to ei
83. se button and drag that arrow either clockwise or counterclockwise to rotate the image manually e Alternatively you can specify the number of degrees of rotation in the Smart Bar and then press the Enter key on your keyboard Mirroring e Select the image and go to Layout gt Size Move gt Mirror Or you can right click on any of the little squares surrounding the image and select Mirror from the list Then select either Vertical or Horizontal to flip the image accordingly The vertical mirror function is also an icon on the Operations toolbar Flippin e To flip an object go to Layout gt Size Move gt Flip and choose to flip the object either horizontally or vertically Note that a guideline will appear which can be moved to set the location of the flipped object There is also an option to keep the original image Note that this is the same as Mirroring but with a little more functionality Slanting e Toslant an object go to Layout gt Size Move gt Slant and either drag one of the two handles which will appear on the selected object or change the setting on the Smart Bar Note that either a horizontal or a vertical slant can be chosen Slant is also an icon on the Operations toolbar Locking e Select one or more objects and go to Arrange gt Lock Object This will lock in the size rotation and colouring To unlock objects select and go to Arrange gt Unlock Object Re Colouring e To re colour the interior fill and exterior tracin
84. select from the menu of choices Check either the box next to Create New to open a new file or check the box next to Create From File to open a browse window for an existing file created with the application you wish to use The Smart Bar will change to that of the other application For example if you create a new Excel spreadsheet or open an existing xls file the toolbar at the top will now have the Excel icons and functions To return to DesignMaster click anywhere on the workspace outside of the Excel document and the Excel file will simply become another object on your workspace and the DesignMaster toolbars and menu will be visible again To return to Excel marquis select the document then double click on any of the nine bounding boxes Notepad Calculator Time Sign Under Help you will find a link to open Windows Notepad and Windows Calculator Additionally a menu item called Time Sign works as a stopwatch for tracking the amount of time spent on any project 56 Page Control The Page Control function allows for multiple pages within a single file This is very useful when you have images that will not be cut from the same materials but should be included in the same file for example a custom sized greeting card and it s matching envelope This can also be useful if you would like to make the first page of your file a title with instructions for cutting and assembling your project To use Select an existing object on the sc
85. so 2nd icon from top on Tools toolbar The following keystrokes are available to use in creating your own hot keys A D S F thru K M thru Q U thru Z O thru 9 To do this Ctrl 0 thru Ctrl 9 Home End Page Up Page Down 1 Select Options gt Customize Shortcuts 2 Select menu item from left side 3 Under Press New Shortcut Key enter keystroke you wish to use 4 Click on Assign and then Apply 60 Close Graphics Contour Object Display Sort Dialog Fillet Round Corner m O O O oro o o SS o w gt lrl gt gt gt 5 Cc Cc O O O CH D D Q x IIe 5 Q o 5 5 5 3 N 5 n O O O o lt gt 5 e 5 m F U lt O O D D KE Di D l lo O CO O Cc P O O o Sn la 8 y s SIS S O Ce 8 E gt O gt o ies lee 5 gt O Mm Filter by Color Flip Frame Text Compose Appendix B_Terminology The AccuScan feature contains the tools required to convert a bitmap into a line traced drawing format which can then be cut Tools Toolbar gt Scan Tools The Anchor Nub is a small anchor icon appearing in the Smart Bar during select mode Position the anchor over the image and the coordinates will appear Or type new X and Y coordinates in the SmartBar and the anchor and image will be moved to the new coordinates The Arc Edit tool is used for creating and editing polyarcs Tools Toolbar gt Graphic Edit Tools The Aspect Ratio is the width of an image relative to its length
86. t that RoboMaster moves the origin on the CraftROBO when going into Landscape mode from the right side to the left side 1 Create your title or image in your Sign Blank area Landscape RM Simulation 2 Select your image and click on the Scissors icon on the Tools toolbar The cut window will appear like this Landscape RM Simulation 3 In the Cut Toolbox window click on the second icon from the left Rotate 90 degrees This will rotate the image and place it in the RoboMaster location 20 RM Simulation f Landscape 4 Click on the Scissors icon far right in Cut Toolbox window to cut and the result should be 5 Note that the mat may not be returned to the original position after cutting In RoboMaster there are red guidelines automatically added in the document area to indicate where images must be located In DesignMaster one can manually add guidelines if needed to use in placing images O Under Layout gt Blank Size indent the lower left corner of the Origin Selection diagram Select either Portrait or Landscape mode Click on OK RIGHT click anywhere in the Sign Blank area and the Edit Guides window will open In Portrait mode select the middle vertical guideline icon and type in for X 200 mm or 7 87 in In Landscape mode select the top left horizontal guideline icon and type in for Y 10 mm or 394 in A guideline will appear in the Sign Blank area and will ind
87. ted starting values are 2mm and 4mm or 07 and 15 respectively Refer to Section 6 2 Using the Pounce Feature to Cut Dashed Lines e The settings under Cut are o Page the selected images will be moved to the origin for cutting regardless of their location on the Sign Blank You can however use your mouse or arrows keys on the keyboard to move the image away from the origin as needed Also the overall size of your image Is shown to the right of the location information in the Smart Bar You can modify the size by dragging one of the corners of the image or typing in a specified size in the length or width field When you make this change it only applies to the version you are about to cut When you close this window and return to your regular document area the original size will still be in tact o Sign Blank the images will be cut in the exact location as shown in the main Sign Blank area The images cannot be moved nor resized If you wish to make changes click on the Select Mode icon fourth from right in the Cut Toolbox window The top choice is Page The bottom choice is Sign Blank Switch to the Page mode if desired o Selected when checked you must then select images to send to the cut window When unchecked all images will be sent Warning if you are using Page mode then you must keep the images within the Sign Blank area as the program will still try to cut those that are outside the boundaries and the software can c
88. ters Once all letters are in place use Ctrl A to select the frame and all letters Click on the Weld tools Tools toolbar and choose the Basic Weld tool The overlapping lines will vanish and your welded title frame is ready to cut 31 5 Tracing and Editing Images 5 1 Auto Tracing Graphical Images Note There are two methods presented here for auto tracing They are both called Accuscan but one is a manual version while the other uses a Wizard approach to walk you through the process step by step Because the Wizard is more user friendly it s presented first Method A Scan and Trace Wizard note this also works for existing images it is not necessary to scan 1 2 5 6 Select File gt Acquire Image gt Scan and Trace Wizard Click on Next and then check one of the following choices to use your scanner open an existing image or paste in an image you ve copied to the Windows clipboard from another application Click on Next In the following steps we have elected to open an existing file The coloured image will appear and show the size of the image file size and the resolution Below the image is a scroll bar Move that bar to the left or right to alter how the image will be handled during the tracing For example if you want internal details to be traced then move it slightly to the right or if you want just an overall outline then move it towards the left just until the image turns solid black
89. the file Cut to Windows clipboard Cut to Windows clipboard Paste from Windows clipboard Paste from Windows clipboard Redo last action Undo last action Undo last action Redo last action Repeat last action performed Toggle showing bitmap outlines Toggle showing line style Toggle the ruler guides Toggle the fill Use guides Refresh the workspace redraw Refresh the workspace redraw Snap to the grid Open edit guides window Edit gt Copy Edit gt Copy File gt New also 1st icon from left on System toolbar File gt Open also 2nd icon from left on System toolbar File gt Print File gt Save also 3rd icon from left on System toolbar Edit gt Cut Edit gt Cut Edit gt Paste Edit gt Paste Edit gt Redo also 2nd icon from right on System toolbar Edit gt Undo also 3rd icon from right on System toolbar Edit gt Undo also 3rd icon from right on System toolbar Edit gt Repeat View gt Show Bitmap Outlines View gt Show Line Style also 1st icon from right on Workspace toolbar View gt Show Rulers View gt Show Fill also 2nd icon from right on Workspace toolbar Options gt Guides gt Use Guides Edit gt Redraw Edit gt Redraw Options gt Grid gt Snap to Grid also 3rd icon from left on Workspace toolbar Options gt Guides gt Edit Guides 58 Keystroke Function Manipulating Images Ctrl A FS Shift F3 Alt F3 Ctrl D Ctrl B Ctrl F Ctrl L Ctrl U Ctrl M Hold Ctrl while moving object Hold Alt while movin
90. ther select a file from your hard drive or wait to be prompted when the original template is opened 55 After setting each of the four items there will be no change to the screen Save the file and then reopen it You will be prompted if you have chosen to set the Text Enter any text you desire The sample being used now appears like this Note that when you save this file under a new name these settings are now saved as shown To start with a new date time set for example you must reopen the template file Labels and Instructions File designers often wish to label parts of their files or add instructions To do this 1 Use the Text function to type up your labels and or instructions 2 Make sure that View gt Show Fill is checked 3 Select the text object and go to Transform gt Render To Bitmap and select a Color Depth from the drop down menu Also select a Resolution at least 200 is recommended for clarity of the text Note the resulting file size is shown and the settings may need to be adjusted if you are trying to keep the file under a certain limit Click on Apply when you are ready to convert to a bitmap image S This same process can be used on any other vector images that are not meant to be cut for example an arrow a Insert New Object DesignMaster has the capability of inserting other popular Windows applications as needed into the workspace area for reference Go to Edit gt Insert New Object and
91. trl E to show the individual nodes Note that the image may be a polyarc all nodes are curved nodes or polygon mixture of three kinds of nodes To convert from one format to the other go to Arrange gt Convert To To edit more than one path at a time double click the first path then hold down the Shift key and click once on a second path Nodes on both paths will appear There are three kinds of nodes Corner Curve and Tangent o A Corner Node appears as a cross and indicates that the two lines leaving that node are straight o A Curve Node appears as a circle and indicates that the two lines leaving that node are curved o A Tangent Node appears as a triangle and indicates that one line leaving that node is straight and the other is curved Once in the editing node mode the cursor on the screen will turn into a pencil Double click anywhere along a path to add a node As you move the pencil cursor towards a node it will turn into cross You can now hold down the left mouse button to drag that point as needed Right click on the path or a node and a menu of icons will pop up Each of those little icons performs a different function While this menu is showing simply drag the mouse towards any icon and the action will be executed 35 00 D Y ES Corner Node Change the currently selected node into a Corner node Tool or specify that new nodes must be Corner type a Join Tool Join two selected nodes or join the endpoints o
92. tup wizard bt e Ke Thar val rot Deurpraacie kee ie Dap po compe Ba gef W Eer Ma wn ru Ch Weu belo iS Click Nest la pondra Cornel lo ea e 5 Click next o Zet e nd he Deiana kKeeze We Oi hae Leese te Eric Ta real kr a ore do bch Er aed re are dae 6 Click Next again 7 Click install Completing tha Dozsgnmasiag license to Sama Waua Setup A azi kwama ble 1 Zem pi DEA Cid Fria Wa dl Leg 8 Click Finish then eject your CD Step Two SAAPHA TEL A E MASTER 1 Insert Red CD Era i en E ral abla kuma 2 A window will open asking you in what language you wish to install Choose your required language and then click OK cE Die ke re fe Lee Dech tee CD ECH lev e seve Ve parent pe bien and rene I ia conten Parr AO 5 Accept license agreement then click Next e Mn Set G raphtec DesignMaster Web Setup 6 Click Next again 7 Click Full install then click Next 8 Click Next again 9 Go and make a cup of tea while it finishes the installation 10 After it has completed installation restart your computer Step Three de da her ed bei E Sie Gnmlpigir Ken 2 When you launch the software the first screen will ask you to register your software You must be connected to the Internet for this step Click OK 3 The registration button will take you to an on scre
93. u can pick and choose individual fonts by clicking on the names in the list Note that holding down the Ctrl key will allow you to select unselect more fonts from the list Click on the Install button when you are ready to make those highlighted available in DesignMaster 4 2 Text Basics 1 On the Tools toolbar click on the Text Tools icon and then select the first icon on the left Text Compose 2 Click once inside the Sign Blank area to enter text mode or hold down the left mouse button and drag a marquee to create a text frame 3 Inthe upper left portion of the Smart Bar a new drop down menu of your available fonts will appear If needed click on the next to All Fonts to open the complete list Locate and double click on the font of your choice Fort Fort ae ee Kern Line Line Detective indon Percentage Spacing Compression i Graphtec DesignMaster Text Compose Untitled1 GRA File Edit Layout Arrange Cut Transform Image view Options Help VE Amazone BT q4 pss 4 loo 4 foo fisss4 000 3 E lll SEE wd AB 0 000 Horizontal Tex vertical Fort Fort Spell Tet Character versus Justicaton aliqrnent Height Angle Check Kerning Width vertical Text in Text Frame made 4 At any time you can begin typing the letters of your text title Pressing the Enter key will do a line break and allow you to continue typing a second line of text 5 Note that on the Smart Bar are the options for Vertical Text
94. ut Toolbox window Or you can click on Cut Preview and then Cut Now at the top of the screen to the right The CraftROBO Controller window will open and you can proceed with making your usual settings for drawing The location of the image you drew should be consistent with what you get with RoboMaster Before experimenting with a landscape cut however please read the next section 3 2 Where Will Images Cut It s important to continue experimenting using a pen or pencil so that you will know where images on the screen will cut relative to the material on your mat Note that the images in your Sign Blank will NOT necessarily end up in the same positions on the mat as you are using to having with RoboMaster Thus you MUST learn which settings will give you the result you want A thorough explanation of these settings is presented in Section 3 3 Cutting Defaults It can also be deceiving when sending an image to the Cut window In certain cases it will appear that the image has moved even though you are in Sign Blank mode But note that the Sign Blank may have simply been rotated In portrait mode cutting following the steps presented above in the Quick Testing Tutorial The following photographs indicate the results you should see in each step 19 Portrait Axis Swap Off Portrait Axis Swap Off Sign Blank Cut Window CraftROBO e If you wish to do a landscape mode cut then an extra step will be required This is due to the fac
95. when you release the mouse button Note that the size of the image will depend on the size of the rectangle rather than duplicating the original If you DO want the exact same size then instead of dragging the mouse just click once on the screen and the same size copy will appear Select your image then hold down the Alt key and begin dragging the centre of the selected image as if moving it A copy of the image will move leaving the original in place Go to Layout gt Array A new menu of choices will appear at the top of the screen Under Total X and Total Y you can choose the number of duplicate images to appear in any row or column relative to the original On the left side you can select how the images will be arranged as well as the spacing between the images Resizing With the image selected use your mouse to drag any corner of the image to resize proportionately Dragging a square not in a corner will allow you to resize either vertically or horizontally while leaving the other dimension constant You can also resize the image from the Smart Bar Enter any number into the boxes to the right of the arrows Note that if you do not want to hold the aspect ratio click the lock box icon to unlock You can also resize percentage wise scaling using the two boxes just to the left of the lock icon 16 Rotating e With the image selected you will notice a curved arrow in the upper right region of the image Hold down your left mou
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