Tree: Photoshop to Inkscape to SCAL: A Pictorial

This TUT applies to Inkscape .46.  I don't have but two carts for the Cricut, the ones that came with the machine.  I needed/wanted my own bare tree so decided I could do a tree  I could freely share.  The photo we took and the bare tree results are shown here.  I'm not doing step by step so you will need to be facile in both Photoshop (or similar program) as well as Inkscape to do your own.

Take a picture of a tree you like.  Keep the background as blank as you can, mine was a little busy and required more work to clean up in Photoshop.

I extracted the tree from the background using a couple of methods.  The background blue came out easily with the "magic wand" tool, as did the house, fence etc.  The biggest problem was the leafy tree as the colors were so mixed the magic wand was only picking up bits.  So a combination of the eraser and magic wand finally did it. After about half an hour I had this.

I saved the file as .png although a jpg would work.

IMPORT TO INKSCAPE

You need to "trace bitmap".  I found that using "edge detection" did the best job of tracing.

This is the view of what I got.

REMOVE NODES and RESHAPE

The trick now is to remove and reshape.  Click on the image, select the "node tool".  The one with the arrow pointing to a small square just below the select tool. You will see all of the individual nodes in the graphic.  Unless you get some of them out you won't be able to "cut" the tree in SCAL and have smooth edges.

Here is what mine looked like with all the nodes.

Use the Path  Simplify command to decrease the number of nodes.   I did it 3 times, you might have to do less or more.  If you do too much Edit Undo is your best friend.

I SAVED fairly frequently so if I really messed it up I could always reload and try again.  The goal is to remove all of the nodes that are clogging up the interior and will cause cutting problems in SCAL.  I sculpted some of the branches by pulling nodes around to make branches split, or  widen.  It's fun and the results surprising.  But remember UNDO and SAVE.  I also go to SCAL and import the file and click preview to see how I'm doing and where I need to widen or delete some nodes.  I'm not pleased with skinny little things as they tend not to cut well.  Now that I look back I probably could have/should have stopped deleting and sculpting earlier and had more branches.

TEST IN SCAL

I took the file to SCAL to see how I was doing by looking in preview mode and which red lines were intersecting each other, then I cam back to Inkscape and carried on.

OUTSET

I wasn't happy still with the width of the branches so I used the path outset command to beef it up a little.  All this is a matter of choice and your eye and will all depend on the tree you started with in the first place.

That's about it, it cut just fine and I have several future projects where I can make use of it.  You will find the file on the SCAL forum "I made my own bare tree". http://forums.surecutsalot.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2728

Thanks for taking the time to be here, I appreciate it.

MORE HELP

• Susan BLUEROBOT has a nice tutorial for how to deal with nodes.  If you need a brush up see here lesson here:  http://susanbluerobot.blogspot.com/2008/06/help-from-start-to-finish.html 

• My lesson on tracing bitmap and breaking apart can be found in the pictorial section of this blog
  

Bare Tree Holiday Card

BARE TREE HOLIDAY CARD

I get stuck alot on a theme and the trees that Dan99 did came in very handy today when I saw a contest on BBTB website.

These are my entries.

I used:

• George and Jots carts
  
• Deer  is a free image download
• Tree is an .svg file from http://dan99.blogspot.com/2008/11/monday-freebie-madness-3.html (THANK YOU AGAIN!)
  
• Cricut, of course
  
• SureCutsAlot
  

It's hard to see in the first picture but the large Star has silver glitter and the whole card is much sparklier than shown and the snow on the ground is much more white.  I tore the edges of white cardstock  The background is black, the tree and star are silver.

In the second picture I added the polar bear and the deer, why,  I don't know but I like it! I also used Silver metallic card stock for all the figures and text.  Michaels' had a pack on sale, so why not?

The very best thing about the card is you can make it very quickly.  So if you have a loooong card list, get over to Dan99.blogspot.com and get the tree.  He only leaves them up for a short time!

Holiday Time is Here, better get busy.

Butterfly Tree Birthday

Happiness is a butterfly,

which when pursued,

is always just beyond your grasp,

but which, if you will sit down quietly,

may alight upon you.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

I'm the very first one to admit that my design skills are limited.  I don't profess to rank with the designers out there.  My designs are for me to use for my friends and family...who to tell the truth would probably be happy if I went to the store and bought a card.  Tough, they get my hobby results.

My rationale for sharing them is more in the what I learned, or how I made it.  Tricks and tools so that those with design skills who are new to using electronic tools might spend more time designing and less time scratching their heads about how to get that great idea out onto bitsy scraps of paper.

This design came about because my favorite cousin is crazy for butterflies.  So it began.  Two days of playing and I had something that pleased me. Fortunately as it turned out I had not glued anything down yet.  I guess I knew it wasn't a keeper unless of course the last day to mail it came, then it would have been a keeper you know.

While I was procrastinating with the glueing I was reading the SureCutsaLot forum and one of the great Inkscape designers posted  a tree, sort of filigree and I fell in love.

Starting over!

Tree file is a download from dan99.blogspot.com.  He only leaves designs up for a short while so "get em while their hot".  He also is promoting a project see it at: http://dan99.blogspot.com/2008/11/butterfly-project-freebie.html.

The rest:

• Tree cut with SCAL from Dan's beautiful svg file
  
• Scalloped edge done in SCAL and cut on my Baby Bug (my design)
  
• Large butterfly is my creation in Inkscape cut with Cricut in SCAL
  
• Text created with George cart from ProvoCraft (Cricut)
  
• Small butterflies from a hand punch as are the cutouts on the edge
  
• I love the 5" hand held XYRON and used it for the large pieces
  
• Teeny butterflies were glued using a fat glue stick which I stand upright and put the teeny piece on top and press it into the stick using tweezers.  I can then move from the glue stick to the paper with no muss or fuss.

Well that's it for today.  As always I appreciate the time you take to read my ramblings.  Comments are always welcome.

Beer Birthday Card

A NOT SO Touchy-Feely but FUN

Sometimes you just need something a little different. I tried to think of what some folks want for a birthday party and lots of times it includes Beer. Hence this card.

I started out doing the Beer glass in Inkscape and got all the pieces separated and colored and imported into SCAL. I looked at all the pieces that would have to be cut in different colors and then glued and "self I said, you don't want to get into that". It was a day when no piece of paper would stick to the mat! I'd tried the lettering and after three tries just gave up. Then tried to cut the frame, same result and beside messed up the size, twice. Been there?

So I ended up not using SCAL at all for the finished product.

I just printed the beer mug out on card stock, cut the balloons with a hole punch, did all the lettering in Elements. But I thought I'd share anyway. Since it is a good idea and could be done with Inkscape and SCAL if you are a masochist. 

Here's the link to the mug in case you want to try it.

http://www.clker.com/clipart-7131.html



The font is called "no mystery" and is free.  Find it here:  http://www.abstractfonts.com/font/11087