Print and Cut with Pazzles

Christy Uncategorized 12 Comments

This is the card I made for the Card Cupids shape cards challenge. Super Tobie needed to be on a superman background, I thought. 

Recipe:
Paper: Bazzill
Image: Some Odd Girl
Copics: E000, 00, 01, 35, 37, 59; R11, 22, 24, 27, 29; B21, 24, 41, 45; Y13, 15, 35; C1, 3, 5, 7, 9; Colorless Blender
Other: 3D Dots

I have to say it. I’m a rubber stamp person. I use digis when I really really love the image (like this one from Some Odd Girl, or anything from The Stamping Boutique), but there’s just something a little extra magical about coloring in an image from a real stamp.

There is, however, one thing about digis that I love: I can cut them out with my Pazzles. No more aching hands from super fine detail cutting.

Do you know how painful this would have been?

If you have a Pazzles (or, I presume, a Cricut with Make the Cut or Sure Cuts A Lot software), this method will save you from the arthritis that was otherwise inevitable. The tutorial is long, so I’m putting in a jump for those who are just here for craft porn. If you’d like to see how I did this, click on.

I’m (obviously) using screenshots from the Pazzles software. If you use a Cricut the software will be different, but the steps should be essentially the same.

First, open a new file and import your digi onto the page. You can cut and paste, or go to file–>import–>image.

Once your image is on the page, size and position it the way you want. I usually position my images in the top right corner, just because that’s where the cutting starts, but do what you like to do. The only thing you have to make sure of is to stay at least a half inch to an inch away from the margins. You don’t want your image outside the printable area.

Now, you have to create your cut line. Using the “Segment from Path” tool (located on the left toolbar), click around the image until you’ve created a loose outline.

This is not like a pen tool. You can’t click and drag around the image. Instead, you’re making a series of clicks around the picture. The points will connect each time. Continue all the way around the image.
It doesn’t have to be perfect, or even particularly neat, because it gets refined next. . Select the “Move Point Tool” (second from the top in the left toolbar).

With this tool, if you click on the point where two segments meet, you can move the point.

If you click on the segment, you can convert it to a curve.

You can also use the “Replace by a Segment” (located on top toolbar when Move Point is selected, or always located on left toolbar) and the “Add Midle Point” (located on top toolbar when Move Point is selected) tools to add more manipulation points to your cut line.

When you’re done, your cut line should look something like this.

Now zoom out, and draw a rectangle around the whole thing.

Using the Color toolbar, make sure the rectangle and the image outline are different colors (it doesn’t matter which, as long as they’re different. 
Now we’re ready to print. You want to print the digi and the rectangle, but not the cut line. So first, click on the cut line to select it, and then click the line with the red X on the color toolbar.

Now print directly from the Pazzles software, and then manually cut out the rectangle with the image inside. 
Once that’s done, go back and click the solid black line under Pen Style to restore your outline cut. 
Now, place a sheet of scrap paper on your cutting mat, and cut just the rectangle.
Note that when you select “Cut File,” you’ll get the following error message. It’s just telling you that all of those lines that make up the digi stamp aren’t cut lines, but you know that already (that’s why you drew your own cut line around the image). Click “Continue.”
To cut the rectangle only, select just the rectangle’s in the Cut Control Panel window (in this case, red). You will see only the rectangle in the cut preview window. Make sure your blade and pressure settings match the scrap paper you’re using.
Once the rectangle is cut, DO NOT REMOVE THE CUTTING MAT FROM THE MACHINE. Carefully remove just the rectangle from the mat, and leave the rest of the scrap paper there. 
Now take the rectangle that your image is printed on and carefully place it inside the cut out rectangle on the cutting mat. This positions your image in exactly the same place that it would have been if you had continued to cut on the scrap paper. 
If you remove the cutting mat or turn off the machine at this point, you have to make a new template. As you can imagine, even the tiniest variance in spacing will cause your cut to be way off. 
It’s finally time to cut out your image. Select the color of your image cut line on the cut control panel, make sure you see only the image cut line in the preview window, and double check that your pressure and blade settings are correct for the cardstock your image is printed on. 
And cut! 
I have to say, when I first heard about this technique, I didn’t believe it. I just didn’t think it could possibly be so accurate or so easy. But it is! I have proof: