{"id":488,"date":"2019-12-02T04:30:42","date_gmt":"2019-12-02T04:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/russiannotes.com\/mashaholl\/?p=488"},"modified":"2019-12-02T04:30:42","modified_gmt":"2019-12-02T04:30:42","slug":"of-png-svg-and-cutting-machines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ottercreations.org\/MH\/of-png-svg-and-cutting-machines\/","title":{"rendered":"Of .png, .svg, and cutting machines…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Or really, just MY <\/em><\/strong>cutting machine, he one I can’t stop feeding paper seasoned with cut files, and watching mesmerized as it zips through intricate designs the mere sight of which makes my hands hurt. And my patience, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a Cricut Maker, in case you wanted to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before I bought it, I borrowed my generous neighbor’s Cricut Air 2 and played with it for a while. I wanted to know what I could do with it, but especially what I could learn to do with it. I didn’t doubt that I could master the software for the machine itself, but I also knew that I would want to go beyond. Especially if making the things I could imagine making would push the limits of the package.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I played with the borrowed Cricut for a while, taking scanned images from Photoshop into Design Space (that’s the software that makes the Cricut machines run).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I turned some simple designs into layers and I cut some shapes. I made some cards. I watched a lot of YouTube videos. The latter could become a problem… Oh, and I had to reorganize my craft storage to accommodate all the card bits and cut pieces.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What does all that have to do with file types? with pngs and svgs and stuff?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PNG files are just fine to import into Design Space. They can have a transparent background, they have simple lines and they can have clear separation of colors (unlike JPG\/JPEG files which don’t give you transparency, among other things, but they have their place).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mysterious file types that Design Space uses can’t be exported (as of today — and don’t try to explain what exactly those file types are, I have an inkling, and it doesn’t matter if I can’t get them and import them into something besides Design Space).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make the birds in the image above, I had to become acquainted with a type of graphic file I’d been ignoring until recently: SVG files. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me digress. If you haven’t realized it yet, I like digressions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why do we need all these different types of files and why don’t all programs read them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m sure I’ll annoy real computer scientists and probably quite a few computer engineers and ordinary computer geeks, but rather than try and explain (so I’ll admit I don’t know this one off the top of my head), I’ll draw a comparison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why would you need a pen and <\/em>a pencil, much less, several colors of pens, a pencil, and <\/em>a highlighter? And why can’t you just switch out the pen cartridge when the highlighter dries out?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s the issue of the ink type, and the pen shape, and the point\/nib shape, and of course the pencil is something entirely different. And you know those 10-color ball point pens? Not as good as they sound, are they?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for software. It’s just too cumbersome to have one-program-fits-all, assuming there’s a computer that could run that AND surf the web AND play music AND…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doesn’t mean I don’t wish I didn’t have to switch from Photoshop <\/a>to Inkspace <\/a>to Design Space<\/a> to whatever else I decide I need to use today… and back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Note: I have no interest in Photoshop <\/strong>or Design Space<\/strong> except that I use them, and Inkspace <\/strong>is free to use, similar to Adobe Illustrator — but not identical. The links are for convenience and not affiliate links),<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I learned to use Inkspace <\/a>just enough to make a mess and now I’m making cut files for my Cricut. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it that easy? Weeellll… It’s easier. More precise.Less fussy cleanup (or if there is, I can do it faster before I get to Design Space). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The secret geek in me is also enjoying a bit too much the opportunity to play with yet another program. Especially one that’s fancy and free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I’m sharing a few of those SVG files<\/a> if you’re interested — no instructions, no tutorials, just the files and maybe a rambling commentary on this blog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Or really, just MY cutting machine, he one I can’t stop feeding paper seasoned with cut files, and watching mesmerized as it zips through intricate designs the mere sight of which makes my hands hurt. And my patience, too. It’s a Cricut Maker, in case you wanted to know. Before I bought it, I borrowed… Read More »Of .png, .svg, and cutting machines…<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10],"tags":[15,16,17,13],"class_list":["post-488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-and-crafts","tag-craft","tag-cricut","tag-design","tag-papercraft"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ottercreations.org\/MH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ottercreations.org\/MH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ottercreations.org\/MH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ottercreations.org\/MH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ottercreations.org\/MH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ottercreations.org\/MH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ottercreations.org\/MH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ottercreations.org\/MH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ottercreations.org\/MH\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}