Hello Thursday cartridges

Eight new cartridges this month. They are:

• Birthday Cakes
• Create A Critter
• Elegant Cakes
• Independence Day
• Nursery Rhymes
• Summer Vacation
• Summer in Paris
• Robotz

Design Studio has been updated to include the new carts. (PC are getting super speedy at that now).

Download the updated Font Pack from here: March Font Pack

Two more carts are being discontinued. They are Tags, Bags, Boxes & more and Stamped.

Get 'em while they last!

I'm a Bug Guide

Last week I was honoured to be given the title of Bug Guide at the Cricut.com messageboard.

Look at the little cricut icon they gave me. Isn't he cute!!!

Making a letter shaped card

There was a post on the cricut.com messageboard asking for help making a letter shaped card.

Here's how you do it using Design Studio.

This tutorial is brought to you by the upper case letter A and the cartridge Blackletter!

First decide how tall you want your card. I'm going to make mine 5" tall. That way it can be created on the 6 x 12 cricuts if you don't have the Expression.

If I set the default size slider to 5" my card will actually only be 4.194" tall. That's because it's cutting the A in proportion to the Y which is the 'Key Height Character' in Blackletter. All letters on the cart will cut proportionally to the letter Y. (Different carts have different Key Height Characters. The cartridge manual shows which character is the Key Height Character. Look for the page on Real Dial Size in the front of the manual.)

 The right hand picture here has Real Size selected.

 

To ensure that the A is in fact 5" high you need to select the Real Size Option.

So, to get started:

• Select Real Size
• Move the Default Size slider to 5"
• Press the Shift Lock button on the DS keypad
• Move your cursor so it is to the left size of the mat
• Type the letter A so it appears on your mat
• Click the Welding box

• Press Enter to deselect the A
• Type another A
• Click the Welding box 

• Select the first A
• Select the Flip Objects box

Now it should look like this:

• Select the right A and using the horizontal move selection handle (that's the middle left handle) move it to the left till it is just slightly overlapping the left A. (Using the horizontal move handle means it won't move up or down).
• Use Ctrl + left arrow on keyboard to move the object in small increments if needed.

Now it should look like this:

Now all you need to do is cut it out!

Use this method to create any type of shaped card.

Four cartridges being retired

Cricut.com have advised that the following carts are being retired:

Blackletter
Christmas (some of you may know this one as Christmas Noel)
Sans Serif
Street Sign

So if you've been putting off buying these time is running out. No final date has been released.

Pagoda cartridge problems

There have been a few posts at the cricut.com message board about problems with the Pagoda cart.

When pressing Cut in Design Studio those having problems are getting a message box prompting them to insert the Pagoda cart - even though it is already in the machine or jukebox.

If you're having trouble cutting with your Pagoda cartridge contact Provocraft as it may be defective.

UPDATE - 12 June 2010

PC have released a new Font Pack today which finally fixes this problem. They have added "Pagoda Passion" to the Font Pack. Download it from here: http://www.cricut.com/CDS/Update.aspx

This update also contains 23 of the 24 new Cricut Lite carts.

Four new Cricut Cartridges

Four new carts have been added to Design Studio.

To download them go to: http://www.cricut.com/CDS/Update.aspx

SAVE the download file to your computer and run it from there. Running the install file directly from the above link has caused problems for many DS users.

The four carts released are:

Just Because Cards
Preserves
Give a Hoot
Straight from the Nest. (Apparently exclusive to HSN).

Release date is Mid March.

I have also read that Serenade is being released to the public in April.

Here's some screen shots of the new carts:

Just Because Cards

Preserves

Give A Hoot

Straight from the Nest

Can't find a cart?

There a quite a few cartridges that are hard to find in the DS cartridge libraries, because of how they are titled.

Here's a list of the title that appears on the cartridge box and where you will find it in the DS cart library.

Fonts:

Hannah Montana	Disney - Hannah Montana
Mickey Font	Disney - Mickey Font
Pooh Font	Disney - Pooh Font Set
Hello Kitty Font	Sanrio - Hello Kitty Font

Images:

Batman	DC Comics - Batman - The Brave and the Bold
Cars	Disney/Pixar - Cars
Dreams Come True	Disney - Princesses Dreams Come True
Elmo's Party	Sesame Street - Elmo's Party
Everyday Paper Dolls	Paper Dolls for Everyday
Happily Every After	Disney - Princesses Happily Ever After
Hello Kitty Greetings	Sanrio - Hello Kitty
Mickey and Friends	Disney - Mickey and Friends
Pooh and Friends	Disney - Pooh and Friends
Spongebob SquarePants	Nickelodeon - Spongebob SquarePants
Tinker Bell & Friends	Disney - Tinker Bell & Friends

There are a couple of other cartridges that sometimes cause confusion.

Stand and Salute / United We Stand

The Stand and Salute cartridge has "United We Stand" on the front. United we Stand is just an example of one of the titles in the cartridge. It's not the name of the cartridge.

Christmas Noel

Noel is French for Christmas and like all other Cricut cartridges Provocraft put the title in both English and French on the cover. The cart is simply called Christmas.

DS Update - October 09

Provocraft has released an update to DS.

The update page now has no Font Pack download option so I'm guessing all the new carts have been loaded into the regular DS update.

Changes are:

• Converts *.cut files to *.gypsy files.
• Can open and save *.gypsy files.
• Improved reliability of Cricut DesignStudio.

Here's the link: Design Studio update Oct 09

Ashlyn's Alphabet is now on DS

Download the new font pack from here: DS Update

The Update page still has the latest update as August 14, however the new file is dated August 25.

To avoid errors it's best to download the file to your computer - e.g. your desktop - (I created a download folder on my computer that contains all the DS updates) and run it from there.

Another new font update

Check out the update page http://www.cricut.com/cds/Update.aspx for new fonts. Some of these fonts haven't even been released for sale yet. Kudos to PC for letting us play with them before they're available.

Fonts in this update are:

A Childs Year
Everyday Paper Dolls
From My Kitchen
Picturesque
Serenade
Sweethearts
Winter Woodland
Hannah Montana
Jubilee
Life Is a Beach
Lyrical Letters
Simply Sweet
Spongebob Squarepants
Stand & Salute
Daisy Chain

My son REALLY wants me to get the Spongebob cart. He's already created a scene using DS and wants to cover his school books in these pics. (He's 10 and he TOTALLY know how to use DS. The mind boggles how they pick these things up so quickly).

DS Update - new carts have been added

Finally!!!

To download the new fonts for DS go to the Update page: http://www.cricut.com/cds/Update.aspx and download and install the 2nd option.

You only need to download the first option if you're not already running the Dec08 version of DS.

When will DS be updated to include the new cartridges?

Man, if I had a US dollar for every time that question has been asked at Cricut.com I could single-handedly fix the Australian recession.

The answer is.... no-one knows! Well, maybe Provocraft knows, but they're not telling....

Rumours have been flying since March that it's coming soon, but there's still no sign of it.

As soon as it's released I'll post here to let you know!

Quick Tip #2

Missing selection handles

Sometimes, even though you are clicking on the edge of your object you just can’t get the selection handles to appear around your object. Many people will tell you to close DS and reopen it and they’ll reappear. Well, yes they will... but there’s an easier (and quicker) way.....

Press the ALT key! Just like you use the ALT key to make the handles disappear, it will also make them reappear.

I don’t know why they go missing occasionally, but at least now you know how to get them back!

Quick tip #1

What cartridges can you cut with the Design Studio Trial version?

Depending on where you purchased your Cricut it may have come with different cartridges to what came with someone elses Cricut that they purchased elsewhere.

However, regardless of what cartridges came with YOUR cricut, there seems to be a "standard" cricut package and the carts that came with that package are the only ones that can be used with the DS trial version. They are:

Cricut Personal - George & Basic Shapes (that's one cart - not two).
Cricut Create - Don Juan
Cricut Expressions - Plantin Schoolbook AND Accent Essentials.

Updated info here: Cutting with the trial version

Quick tips

I thought I'd start a Design Studio Quick Tips series to get me back into posting on the blog. I'll focus on the questions that seem to come up most in the different forums I belong to.

Quick tip #1 will be posted SOON!

Narelle

Wow! Over 100,000 hits to my blog!

In honour of that achievement I thought I should stop being so lazy and post some more tutorials. Question is: WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW???

If you have any burning questions that you'd like a tutorial on please leave me a comment and I'll do my best to help you out!

Thanks to all of you for reading my little blog so far!

Date errors in DS files

This tutorial has been moved to my new blog - here:

http://thenon-craftycrafter.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/cricut-design-studio-fixing-date-errors.html

Please follow me over there!

Narelle ♥

Resetting the Cricut

Here's the info from Cricut.com on how to reset your Cricut:

TECH SUPPORT NOOK - Reset Process
If your machine freezes, experiences power problems, cutting issues, or anything out of the realm of normal Cricut behavior, this reset procedure is a good place to start the troubleshooting process. Nine times out of ten, this will resolve the issue:

- First, turn your machine on with no cartridge loaded. Then you are going to roll all your gray dials (the two on the left and the one on the right) down to their lowest setting.

- Then you will want to grasp the green/gold cylinder blade assembly and use it to pull the entire gray carriage car unit (the one with the Cricut bug on it) along its track to the other side of the machine. Back in the cave where the gray carriage car usually sits there is a red button. Press that button and hold it down for about three seconds. Let go and then move the gray carriage car back into place.

- This next step will sound a bit odd, but many times it can fix your little "bug". You're going to roll all your dials all the way up and all the way down three times--three times for each dial.

- Then you are going to hit the "Cut" button and turn the machine off. Let the machine sit for a few minutes (15-20), load a cartridge, turn it on, and try a practice cut.

If this does not solve your problem, give us a call toll free at 1-877-727-4288 7am to 6pm MST Mon-Fri (make sure you are by your machine) and someone here will walk you through some troubleshooting tips and determine if a replacement machine is needed.

Forgot to back up!

So I was sick of how my blogged looked and decided to pick a new template. Did I make a backup of the blog? No, of course I didn't. (What could possibly go wrong???)

So, I change the template, save and lo and behold - all my gadgets were gone. All the links to other sites and blogs. My page counter, my followers.... everything!

I've managed to get most of it back, but still need to add the sites/blogs. Some of them I have no idea of the addresses.

And to make matters worse - I still hate the look of the blog!

Vertical Welding

There are two ways to create vertical welding.

• Placing all your letters/pictures all in one object box. Using this option allows you to move/resize etc the whole word at once.
  
• Making each letter/picture its own object. Each letter must be moved/resized individually
  

Here is how you do it the first way:

• Select a cartridge. This example uses the Base Camp cartridge.
  
• Type the word you want to weld. I have used the word BASE
  
  
  
  
• Using your mouse select the A. The outline will turn red.
  
  
  
  
• Using the Nudge buttons in the Properties box move the A down and to the left until it is under the B.
  
  Make sure the top of the A is just slightly overlapping the bottom edge of the B.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Select the S and again using the Nudge buttons move it down and to the left so that it is under the A and the top is overlapping the bottom of the A.
  
  
  
  
• Select the E and Nudge it down and to the left so it's under the S and its top is overlapping the bottom of the S
  
  
  
  
• Tick Welding in the Properties box
  
  
  
  
• At this point you can increase/decrease the size of your word by using the bottom right sizing handle.
  
  
• To check that the word has welded correctly open a new page in your design by clicking the New Page button.
  
  
  
  
• Click the Preview button.
  
  
  
  
• You should see something like this:
  
  
  

And now to the second way of welding vertically.

• Type the word BASE. After typing each letter press the Enter key. That way each letter will become its own object.
  Notice how there is an object box around each individual letter.
  
  
  
  
• Select the B
  
  
• Select Welding from the Properties box
  
  
  
  
• Select the A. Using the Free move handle (top left) move the A underneath the B. Make sure it is slightly overlapping the bottom of the B
  
  (Hold down the ALT key to make the handles disappear. This makes placing your object much easier.)
  
  
  
  
• Click Welding in the Properties box
  
  
• Select the S and move it underneath the A. Check that it is overlapping the bottom of the A
  
  
• Click Welding
  
  
• Select the E and move it underneath the S. Check that it is overlapping the bottom of the S
  
  
• Click Welding
  
  
• Open a new page in your design to check the welding by clicking the New Page button
  
  
  
  
• Click the Preview button
  
  
  
  
• If any of the letters are a solid colour, it means that Welding has not been selected.
  
  
• If you need to adjust the overlapping of any letters, go back to the page with the design on it and adjust as necessary.
  

Here is the word BASE done both ways. They look pretty much the same. The difference is that the first one is easier to resize/move.