Creating your own punches!
Ok, I'm about as un-computer-savvy as they come, but I follow directions well! We just got back from a trip to St. John and I've always loved Leah's Nova Scotia page with the pictures in the title. Problem is, I don't like to "piece together" the letters around the pictures like she did. I wanted this look for a title page for my vacation album and was really excited about the new letter punches this week. Then I started playing and realized I NEEDED capital and "fatter" letters. Long story short, I did a google search to see if I could change a stamp (png file) into a punch (svg file)... and we can! I used the Letters stamp set in MDS and copied a file of each letter I needed to my desktop. Then I followed the awesome directions on this blog: http://thefrugalcrafter.wordpress.com/2008/10/27/convert-a-png-to-a...
At the end, instead of importing anything into the program she talks about, I just made a new folder in my MDS punches section and dragged the new svg files into that folder. The result is this:-) and the really cool thing is this will work with any solid stamp! A whole new world just opened up to me:-)!!!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Peg Strange on -
This is an excellent idea! I just love your scrapbook page and I want to learn how to do that too. Thanks.
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Permalink Reply by Nicole Derendorf on -
I followed the links to try and download it, and it kept taking me to something called "Sweet IM" instead. I'm on a Mac, but I don't think this is the correct download is it? I even tried to google it and got to the same place. Can you give us the link to the direct download page?
Thanks
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Permalink Reply by Tami Shadler on -
Nicole it's inkscape.org but here's the link. I'm on a Mac too and it worked fine for me.
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Permalink Reply by Marsha Ragan on -
This is so cool! Love it. thanks for sharing. I would love to know the name of the font you used.
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Permalink Reply by Tami Shadler on
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I used the "Letters" stamp set in MDS. I just copied each letter file individually to my desktop and then followed the instructions on the website listed above. These are perfect for photos because they're wide as well as big.
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Permalink Reply by Donette West on -
Do you think Inkscape would work on a macbook running 10.4 OS or does it have to be 10.5 (leopard) ?????
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Permalink Reply by Susan M Erickson on -
Inkscape gives directions for problem solving in the FAQ section for MAC OS X so I am sure 10.4 OS will work just fine.
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Permalink Reply by Tami Standen on -
I love the creative thinker you are. I want to use this technique, I have converted my selected .png image to the .svg and now I need help with using it as you did. I am a new user to MDS and I dont know how you got the pic image to show up only in the punch. You help is greatly appreciated.
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Permalink Reply by Susan M Erickson on
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Tami,
You have to save your photos you want to use in MDS in the backgrounds file folder and the punch you just created in the punches folder. On the Mac here is the patyway. Finder>go>applications>My Digital Studio>components>and then either backgrounds or punches. On the Mac, you can just draig your photos from your desktop into the background folder or the .svg file into the punches folder. On a PC you still need to follow the same pathway but I can't remember how to get started. As I recall, when you click on MDS, it loads up the program instead. Then when you have put your punch onto a page in MDS, use the background fill option in the design center on the right hand side of your screen. HTH
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Permalink Reply by Joselyn Neufeld on -
I found out that you can fill a punch with a photo another way, without saving photos as backgrounds. When the punch is placed in your project where you want it, just fill it with any random Designer paper. That done, open in the side bar the photo selection you want to use. Then double click on the punch filled with paper, and at the bottom left corner there is a box that says "Replace Image". Click that and your photos will pop up. Look for the name of the photo you want from your sidebar, and double click it. Your punch will now be filled with a portion of the photo you have chosen. To change the selection, double click on the punched image one more time, and use your mouse to drag the punch over the part you want to show. Tada!
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Permalink Reply by Karen Wempe on -
Oh. My. Gosh. Joselyn. I am so glad I saw your post. This is so much handier than actually having to go into the Components folder and add stuff. I have used Photshop Elements for quite a few years to do digital scrapbooking and have a ton of digital supplies. This allows me to use them! Instead of using a photo in a punch, I can point it to one of the digital papers I have and get it to assume the shape of a punch (otherwise known as clipping in PSE). I also can use my PSE brushes and have it look like it is stamped only on the punch. I have to duplicate the punch first and then "replace image" using the PNG file of one of the images in the brush set on the top (duplicated) punch. Since the brush has a transparent background, I see the bottom punch with whatever paper or color I have in it and the brush stamped on top of it, taking on the same shape as the punch! Not as flexible as PSE, but it certainly opens up all kinds of possiblities to use my current supplies with MDS. Thanks so much for your input!!!
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Permalink Reply by Trina Caraway on -
I've been wanting to do this for forever! Thanks for the tip. Here's the page I've been wanting to create. It's cased off of the CM site.
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