Tuesday Tutorial with Diane

Hi everyone, today I want to share with you how you can convert your handwriting or brush script into a cut file to use on your layouts.

Using either your favourite pen or a brush and ink, write your sentiment onto a blank piece of scrap paper. You might need to practice a few times to get it to look how you want it to. If you a using a pen, try something a bit thicker like a Sharpie so you can get a thicker title for your Silhouette to cut. You can use any colour but Black will make it much easier to get a good result.

Once dry, either scan or photograph your writing. I then import the scan into Photoshop. Adjust the levels (or contrast) until the white of the paper is as white as it can be and the black of your writing is as black as it can be. Don’t forget to save your new image as either a PNG or JPG file. If you don't have Photoshop, you can get similar results using a photo editor on your smartphone.

Then in your Silhouette Studio software, open the file you saved. Use the trace tool to select the area you want to cut. Don’t forget to uncheck “High Pass Filter” and then click “Trace”. Repeat this process with as many of your written words as you like. You can then select the background image and delete it. You are left with the cut files of your chosen words. You can adjust the size to suit, or even weld separate words into one. Don’t forget to save this file so you can use it when ever you like!

You can also download the cut files I created over on the Citrus Twist Kits Fan page.

On this layout, I used black adhesive-backed card to create my title. I can't get enough of all the wee dog elements in the August kits!