Getting to Know the Main Box and the Objects Property Box

Transcription

1 Getting to Know the Main Box and the Objects Property Box Moving the Main Box and the Objects Properties Box: When you first install your software you may want to customize how this area looks. Some things may be hidden from view. In order to view these items you will need to move your mouse just between the bottom of the Main box and the Object Properties heading, where the position of the red arrow is in the above illustration. It will turn into a double arrow. Just left click there and drag the Object Properties box down some to reveal the other informationn under Visual Mat (zoom, caret size & theme, etc). You can click the top part of the bar on either box and drag it (holding the left mouse button down) over to the right side of the screen if they are overlapping tooo much. 1

2 The Main Box (which has three tabs associated with it): Visual Mat Your settings to customize how your mat display will look. Size Click on the drop-down arrow, you can select your mat size from a 12x6 mat, 12x12 mat or 24x12 mat. You want this to be the mat you will use in your Cricut machine. Zoom Moving the slider left or right with your mouse, you can increase/decrease the zoom of your mat for a closer look or for a full mat view. Caret Size Clicking on the up/down arrows you can change your caret size. When importing an image into MTC, it will be placed on your mat at whatever size your caret (cursor) is set for. If you have it set for 3 everything will come in at 3. Theme Click on the drop-down arrow, this allows you to change your mat to any of the five colors presented. **Use these settings on every new project Once you have made your selections under this tab, check this box if you want these settings to be saved and used each time you open the software. If you do not check this box it will revert back to the default settings. Text and Fonts Installed Fonts Click on the drop-down arrow to view the various types of True Type Fonts that can be used with MTC. Once you click on your preference you can view the different fonts in the open window. Add a Group of Characters Button There are two options in using your fonts. One, you can double click on the image/font and it will be placed on your mat automatically. If you have multiple letters/words/images you will want to use the second option. Click on the button above the font window 2

3 display that has a pencil on it. This will bring up an add text group box. Type in the letter or word you want to place on the mat. Click on the add button or hit your enter key on the keyboard to place it on the mat. Bold/Italics Buttons If you want your letters in bold or italicized, then click on these buttons prior to typing your letters. Add Font from TTF File Button Click on this button to search your PC for other fonts you may have on your PC or have downloaded from the internet. When downloading TTF files (fonts/dingbats, etc) it is a good idea to save them in a folder you have created in your My Documents labeled True Type Fonts (or the name of your choice) so that they can be easily found. Once you have browsed and found the font you want to work with, click on the open button and it will add it temporarily to the fonts group. By adding the font temporarily this will prevent having to many fonts loaded which would eventually bog down your system. The slider bar at the bottom of the box Moving the slider to the left or right will increase/decrease how you can view the fonts in the display window. Custom Shapes Import This selection of buttons will let you import various images onto your mat. SVG Button Opens a box to search for your SVG files to import. This box also has Preview check box so that you can preview the image before uploading. Also if you click on the Use Actual box the image will be imported at its actual size you have saved. 3

4 Silhouette Button Opens a box to search for your images to import. The type of files that can be imported is shown in the first picture below. These images will be brought into a Trace Image Box, see second picture, where you will modify the image using the threshold (discussed in a later tutorial). Make The Cut! Button Click on this button to import images from the Make the Cut! website gallery. Heart Button Click on this button to open a basic shapes box. It has three tabs included in it with lots of images to import. The tabs are Geometry (basic shapes), Stars and Misc. Once you choose an image, double click on it to add it to your project. 4

5 Your Library Once you have favorite images/shapes that you may use over again, such as a template, you can save them to your library. To save an image you created to your library, click on Edit, Export, to Library. The Objects Property Box: Location and Size Once you open an image, this will display the size/placement of your image. You can alter this by typing in a different number of your preference. 5

6 The X shows you where the image is placed on your mat from the left of the mat. For example, typing in 2.0, would move the image to the 2 mark on the mat from the left side. The Y shows you where the image is placed on your mat from the top of the mat. For example, typing in 2.5 will place the image on the 2 1/2 mark from the top. Width/Height Change the number manually. This will change the actual width and height of the image to the size you want. Lock Aspect You can Lock part of an image so that it won t get in the way when you are moving other shapes around that are on top of it. For example the shadow or background of an image can be locked in place so that you can move the layered pieces only. Transformations Scale Width/Scale Height Allows you to type the exact proportion you want the image to be. Shear Width/Shear Height Allows you to put the image on an angle (slanted). Tracking Allows you to set the amount of space, in inches, in between two different images placed beside of each other. 6

7 Rotate Allows you to manually type in the degrees to rotate the image. (Ex 45.0, 90.0, 180.0, 360.0, or increments in between.) Visualization Color Allows you to change the color(s) of your image when layering or breaking the image. You can color each section of a design to designate what color of paper you need. Then place all like colors together when cutting out the image. 7

8 Visible Yes checked, shows the image on the mat and it will cut the image. No checked, makes the image invisible so that it won t cut. To make sure the image is invisible there will be a small red dot in the center of the image. See picture above. Locked Click on an image or a part of an image. Once clicked, check yes to lock the image or no to unlock the image. When yes is chosen the selection will be locked and can not be moved from the location it was locked to. (It allows no movement of the selection). I hope this tutorial will help you begin to explore the Main and Objects Property box to get more familiar with customizing your images. For more information on how to use these items, please visit the Make The Cut! Forum website: 8