Guest Kay

How to properly use the knife tool

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Guest Kay

I’m trying to make cuts with the knife tool and I can’t seem to get it to work properly

could someone please explain step by step how to use the knife tool? Is there a tutorial or website I can find info on this as well?

thanks in advance

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There are tutorials out there on youtube, just search for Vinylmaster tutorials. The knife tool I am pretty sure you click and drag. Whatever you cut in this way will then have to be joined back together so there is a complete path. I am not super duper with the VM so you may find I'm wrong but I think that's correct. Most of us use a second object laid on top and the minus front type action which will both cut the object and connect it all back up for you. It's just a different way of thinking about getting from point A to B. What are you specifically trying to do and maybe we can give you better help.

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Guest Kay

Thank you

i am trying to cut through O’s, a’s, e’s so that when I cut the stencil the middle of these letters stay connected! I hope this makes sense

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In that case just draw a slim rectangle and lay it across the spot you want to create a bridge and weld it together and it will do what you want much more efficiently. You will have to rotate the rectangle and position it so it builds the little connections. 

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Here is a similar post that we discussed the theory in. The forum is searchable if you put in your search terms it will help you find things you are looking for.

 

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Guest Kay

That is a great example 

BUT for some reason I can not get it to weld properly....I must be absolutely illiterate I can not get this to work, I have watched tutorials and everything 

I did it exactly like you show in that illustration and it DOES NOT WORK FOR ME

 

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If you're trying to cut out sections of the O so that the center doesn't fall out, you shouldn't be welding, you'd be cutting.

What exactly is it that you did and that didn't work?

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Guest Kay

I have tried to use the knife and also to weld 

I am trying to make stencils and I need the middle of the letters to stay intact 

I am using Vinylmaster Pro program

 

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I have rarely found the knife tool useful for most tasks. Drawing a box and punching it through the object typically gives the results I'm after in a faster and cleaner way. That's what you're wanting to do here.

Draw a box through your letter then use the "Punch Out" tool. You can access it either from the "Shaping & Welding Tools" on the left of the screen, or from the "Object->Shaping" menu at the top of the screen.

 

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6 hours ago, darcshadow said:

If you're trying to cut out sections of the O so that the center doesn't fall out, you shouldn't be welding, you'd be cutting.

What exactly is it that you did and that didn't work?

My mistake on the nomenclature, in VM it's Punch Out if you are working on just a string of text or weld if you have already punched the letters out of a background. I work in AI and it's ALL different over there so pardon the slip.

Kay,  Double check that you have BOTH objects selected. I am at my workstation where I have VM Pro and just did a quick test run to be sure. Worked perfectly for me. 

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