3 Ways to Use Digital Kits with the Silhouette

As promised, here is my second post on projects I have done with the Silhouette using digital kits. From what I have learned, there are basically THREE WAYS to create boxes using your Silhouette.

1. The first is the one I gave a full tutorial on in my last post. Using a pattern (either one of mine or one from the Silhouette online library) use a screen capture to pull it into Photoshop. Then create an exact design with the capture as your guide. Pull the finished design as a jpg into your Silhouette software and use Reg Markings to have the Silhouette track your exact pattern. It will cut it out exactly. This is the method I used in my previous tutorial. It's the most time consuming, and the most likely to come out perfect. Also, remember that if you are creating your own pattern, in Silhouette go to File, Save to Library. This way you can use it over and over again!
2. The second method is similar--only its not so exact. I used this method when creating a box for a bridal shower party favor. I did not make this pattern. In the Silhouette, there is a pretty awesome online library. I bought this pattern by Samantha Walker for $.99. I still did a screen capture and pulled it into Photoshop, but I didn't make a template. I just placed the paper and designs roughly where I wanted them, using the screen capture as a guide. It's much quicker and easier than actually creating an exact template, but the problem is, it's a lot harder to ensure that everything will match up perfectly. The words might be off, or the design might not come together exactly as it's supposed to.Still, it also gives you all the Photoshop options like accind shadows and text, etc, that you can't do in the Silhouette.  It takes some trial an error, and if you don't want to have to keep printing copies and wasting paper to practice it, it might be better to take the time to create an exact template and cut it out with registration marks. Still, it turned out very cute. I made little mini soaps and put them inside. It went well--until one of the guests thought it was a chocolate and took a bite...

3. The third method is the simplest and has the least amount of control. You basically don't use Photoshop at all! I was in charge of a baby shower a few weeks ago, and this was what we had for the party favor. Only I had ribbon in the lace holes and candy in it! (wish I'd taken a picture of the finished ones--I had forty of them and they were all different and so cute!)

Again, this is not my pattern--I got this online for $.99 by Loni Harris. But what a cute pattern! I did find it much easier to use a glue gun for this one, though. Anyway, for this one I just opened up the Silhouette software and pulled in the papers I wanted to use. Then I used the edit points button to adjust the paper where I wanted it. I used a kit by Lindsay Jane for this one. This is the easiest method, but you no longer have Photoshop abilities like adding shadows, recoloring or adding text. This screenshot is not of the above pattern, since I don't own it, but of one of my own patterns. This is what it looked like in the Silhouette software.

This is what it looked like printed and folded.


For the type, I just copied and pasted it from Word. You don't want to use the text editor in the Silhouette because then it will be cut out. It worked out just great! This one was hard though because it didn't always line up exactly as I planned--sometimes you place the paper a little higher or a little to the side, and it throws off the pattern. Again--the only way to get it to cut EXACTLY where you want is to use Registration Marks. But they also limit the size of the paper you can use, adding larger margins.

I also wanted to throw in one last box I also made--this was for another wedding shower I was a part of in May for a dear friend fo mine. This was a design by Jennifer Wambach. She did the dress and the tuxedo. For this one I did method #2, but on a much smaller scale.  Here are some pictures of the boxes, filled with kisses, from the shower!

I also wanted to add that I found a really awesome tutorial on this same subject aht, if you are still confused, might be helpful to you. She goes into much more detail about using the actual Silhouette software.

Scrapping Boxes with the Silhouette - Pentagon Badge Box Freebie included!

Today I want to talk about incorporating a Silhouette with Photoshop. Not an easy feat, I can tell you. The two programs are not really meant to work together, so you have to be a little sneaky. Still, I love using my Silhouette, and combining it with my Photoshop skills was a natural progression.

First of all, What is a Silhouette? Well, if you know what a Cricut is, it's like that. If you still don't know what a Silhouette is, it's basically a cutting system. You enter in a design and it cuts it for you. You can cut out paper, fabric, vinyl, use a pen instead of a blade--the possiblities are endless. They cost about $300.00, and you can find them on the Silhouette website if you want to learn more. The rest of this tutorial will be aimed at those of you who have or Silhouette and have a basic knowledge of how to use it.

Now, this baby is a real dream for paper scrappers. I got one at work, and at first I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. I mean, I'm a digital girl. I don't use ACTUAL PAPER. Why would I need it? And of course, for my actual digital scrapbook pages, I don't need it. But there are so many other projects that I do in Photoshop that do require cutting, and this has been awesome.

The main thing I have used it for so far is cutting out boxes. I have taken a few of the box patterns that I have created and turned them into Silhouette files. Here's a quick tutorial on how I do this, and I will also include the Silhouette and photoshop files needed to create this box. It's my Pentagon box, modified to be shorter. I use this for a badge box.

NOTE: If you do NOT have a Silhouette but still want this pattern, you can still download the file at the end of this tutorial. You will not need the Silhouette file, but you can still juse the Photoshop pattern that is like the others I have created on my site.
Here is the written instructions for this tutorial. I also have a two-part video at the bottom of this post if you prefer to watch!
Step 1: First, I create the pattern I want using the Silhouette software. This in itself is an artform that I am not going to explore with you. It will also work to use an existing pattern from someone else, but keep in mind that patterns are copyrighted--if you use this process, don't give out the pattern or sell it or anything like that. Use it only for personal use!

Step 2:  Do a screen capture of it. Open Photoshop and create a 8 1/2 x 11 page. Paste in your screen capture and resize to the full size. From there, I create a template. I added a little to the edges--it gives me a little more wiggle room when it's cut out. Here's the template below. The red lines are on a different layer and can be made invisible when I'm ready to print.


Step 3: Create your design on the template using the kit of your choice, as explained in my earlier box tutorials.  Here's one I made using a kit by Lindsay Jane. Make sure to make the "Overlay" layer invisible before you save it--those lines are only a guide when designing your box. You don't want to actually print them.

Step 4: Now I go to my Silhouette software. Open up the original pattern. Go to file open. Make sure you pull down the file type menu and choose ALL so that you can see more than the Silhouette files in your folder.
Open up your scrapped design and paste it on top of the pattern. Resize the design so they are the same size. You will need to right click on your design and send it to back.



Step 5: Now you are ready to cut! Make sure the Reg marks are showing. Click on the Send to Silhouette button. Choose Click Here to Print. After it's printed, put it on your cutting mat and put it in the machine. Click on Detect automatically. The Silhouette will work for a moment until it identifies all your marks. Once you have the message that it was successful, press cut.
Step 6: You should now have a perfect, scrapped box! Carefully lift your box off the cuttong mat. Fold it on the now perfectly perforated lines, and glue or tape together!



The finished box measures about 3 inches across--the perfect size for an average size badge!
Here are the files so that you can do the above project. It includes the Silhouette pattern of the badge box, as well as the Photoshop file of the badge box template. It also includes a freebie design show below, using JennCK's kit Low Tide. If you need directions on how to design your box in Photoshop, read my pentagon tutorial. There is also a video attached to that tutorial.



Video Tutorial - Part 1


Part 2


I will be creating another post shortly showing some of the other box projects I have made with my Silhouette, using other, more simple techniques.