Art Journal Every Day: September Straight to November
Balzer Designs + Art Foamies

The Weekend Five: Helping Laurie With Her ScanNCut

from the Balzer Designs Blog: The Weekend Five/Helping Laurie With Her #ScanNCut
from the Balzer Designs Blog: The Weekend Five/Helping Laurie With Her #ScanNCut
My Mom's friend Laurie recently bought a ScanNCut 2 from HSN.  So Mom volunteered me to go over to Laurie's house and give her some tips and pointers to help make her into a ScanNCut expert! I was happy to oblige and I figured I'd pass the tips I shared on to you too!

Tip One: Learning happens best when surrounded by yummy food!

from the Balzer Designs Blog: The Weekend Five/Helping Laurie With Her #ScanNCut

Laurie made homemade pizzas and a fabulous bean dip that we munched on all night.  Definitely helped our concentration!

Tip Two: Learn the difference between "Scan to Cut Data" and "Direct Cut."

from the Balzer Designs Blog: The Weekend Five/Helping Laurie With Her #ScanNCut

In the photo above you can see that we're scanning a snowflake die cut into the machine.  This is "Scan to Cut Data" -- we're creating a cut file from that snowflake which we want to manipulate (i.e. resize, etc.).

from the Balzer Designs Blog: The Weekend Five/Helping Laurie With Her #ScanNCut

In the photo above I'm holding up a stamped image that we "Direct Cut."  Direct Cut cuts out exactly what you see.  It creates a cut file that you can't manipulate or save.  It is whatever the scanner sees.

Tip Three: Get online with ScanNCut Canvas.  It's free and it opens up the possibilities for what you can do with your ScanNCut.  Plus it's free unlimited cloud storage for your cutting files!

from the Balzer Designs Blog: The Weekend Five/Helping Laurie With Her #ScanNCut

It's a little difficult to tell in the photo above, but Laurie is on her PC and I'm helping her register for a free ScanNCut Canvas account and set up the wireless activation for her ScanNCut.  We are using a computer, but you can also use a mobile device with ScanNCut Canvas.  I use my iPad most of the time.

Tip Four: Use the right mat for the job.  Mats are expensive, so I know it's tempting to just use one mat for everything.  But the mats matter.

from the Balzer Designs Blog: The Weekend Five/Helping Laurie With Her #ScanNCut

In the photo above you can see Laurie working to get the snowflakes off of the Standard Mat that came with her machine.  The adhesive was a bit too strong for the thin cardstock we were using and so it was tough to pull things off.  Here's your quick guide to mats:

  • Black/Scanning Mat: For scanning only.
  • Blue/Low Tack Mat: For scanning or cutting super delicate papers like tissue paper.
  • Pink/Medium Tack Mat: For cutting paper.
  • Purple/Standard Tack Mat: For cutting heavier materials such as stencil plastic or stamp material.
  • High Tack Fabric Support Sheet (applied onto your mat): For cutting fabric.

It was fun to help Laurie explore her ScanNCut.  She kept saying, "It can do that?!"  It excited me about the machine all over again.  That excitement is one of the best gifts that teaching gives to the teacher.

Thanks for stopping by!

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