How to Make Die Cuts to Match Stamps

I'm so excited that we have a Sub in the classroom today!  I'm cutting right to the chase and handing over the reigns to two lovely ladies - a mom and daughter team....

Hi there! We're Becky and Glenna from My Paper Craze and we're honored to share a Silhouette tutorial with you today! We started off as paper crafters before we discovered the all-powerful Silhouette electronic cutting machines. While we tinkered with a little of everything, we {LOVED} making handmade cards. We amassed large stamp collections and ooo'd and ahh'd over all the beautiful stamps we could collect and use. Our favorites were the stamps with matching die cuts, so that we could add that special "pop" on our cards or layouts.

With that little intro said, our whole world of stamping opened up when we discovered this neat trick using our Silhouette machines... Making Your Own Die Cuts to match your stamps! Gone are the days of creating your layout around your stamps, but rather altering your stamps to match your layout! The rule of thumb is that if you can trace your image then you can cut your image.  I'll show you how I created the die cut file for the flower on this card.

The first step is scanning the acetate sheet that came with my stamp set. This is usually a thin plastic or printed paper that demonstrates what the stamps will look like, tucked in with the stamps when you purchase them. If you keep all your stamps organized in the packages, this should be a piece of cake. If you are like me and have a "Box-O-Stamps", you may not always have the acetate sheet available. {DON'T DESPAIR!} You can simply stamp your image onto a sheet of paper (using dark ink) and scan (be sure to let it dry!).

Scanned? Check. Now, you can "pull" or import this image into the Silhouette Studio. Not sure how to do this? I love the copy and paste method. The Silhouette School also offers a great tutorial on importing and cutting files {How to Cut a JPEG with Silhouette Studio (for Free!)}. It'll also cover the next few steps for tracing an image, so feel free to use which ever is easier for you, just make sure you come back and check out and finish the rest of your die cut with us!

Imported? Check. Now, we'll use the Trace tool to create the cut lines for our stamp. Find the Trace button on your toolbar and left-click to open the Trace options menu.

Click Select Trace Area. On your imported image, left-click your mouse and moved the cursor to form a box around the image you want to trace. After releasing the mouse, this is what my trace window looked like. If your box is not exactly where you need it, you can reposition the borders to fit around your image.

If you'll glance over to your Trace Options menu, the default settings have the "High Pass Filter"
checked.

I unchecked the High Pass Filter to give me this trace.

Trace area selected? Check. Trace filters modified, if necessary? Check. Now you are ready to trace the outline of your image by clicking "Trace Outer Edge".

I moved my stamp image off the mat and it exposed the cut file that was underneath.

My stamping isn't always accurate, so I like to enlarge my cut file just a little to give me a little room to center my stamp. If you are familiar with the Offset tool, you can also use this to give you a little wiggle room. Nothing worse than accidentally stamping off the edge. This step is just personal preference, though. You can see on my card that I have a small border around my stamped flower. To finish up I cut my shape, stamped my image onto it and added it to my card.

Once you're satisfied with the cut file you created, be sure to save it for future use! I like to save my files with the name of the stamp set I've created them for, it makes them easier to match up! I hope all you stampers will try this! It's just one more example of how your Silhouette can make your crafting easier! Crafting in a hurry? {We never do this, right? LOL} Think about doing a Print and Cut! The only downside is that (unless you are a computer imaging pro) the scanned images will be the color of the image you scanned (or the color of the ink you used). {BUT} still a nifty tool to have when stamping isn't convenient! Check out the Silhouette School's {Silhouette Print and Cut Tutorial for Beginners} if you haven't already!

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Thanks for coming to class today at Silhouette School.  If you like what you see, I'd love for you to pin it!