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Printing
in Reverse:
Handcut Lettering Made Easy |
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Click on any image to enlarge.
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Creating
great scrapbook pages with hand-cut letters is an attractive
alternative to using template lettering, preprinted titles, etc. It
is very simple to use Microsoft Word to create easy-to-cut titles,
which will allow you to cut them out using an Exacto knife. You can
then glue the letters to your pages!
First, open a new document in Word. After opening the document, at
the bottom of the screen you will see a blue "A". Click
the "A", as shown in the photo:
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This will bring up a text box, in which you will
type the text that you wish to print and cut. Type the desired text in
the box, and choose the font and text size. Click "OK", as
shown:
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Next,
you will see your title on the screen, as shown in the photo below.
You will then need to "flip" your text. To do this, choose
"Draw" located on the bottom left-hand side of the
program, then choose "Rotate or Flip", then choose
"Flip horizontal". This will make the text print
backwards, so you can cut it out without any black lines showing.
Finally, your text is ready to print! Choose the "Print"
option at the top of the program screen, and print. Please see
picture below:
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Now you are ready to cut out your letters. I use a
new X-acto knife blade and a glass mat for best results. Lay out the
printed paper on the glass mat as shown, then proceed to cut along the
lines of the letters using fluid strokes. I find that by turning the
paper instead of the knife, your letters won't have such a
"jagged" appearance, and will be smoother as an end result.
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Don't worry if your letters are
not as pleasing at first - this does take practice. These tips will
ensure that you have the best results possible, and with a bit of
practice, you will soon become a pro! The look of hand-cut letters
using fancy fonts is a beautiful addition to those special layouts.
It is worth the time and effort!
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Some good fonts to try are Scriptina, Girls are
Weird, Mary Helen, Scrap Cursive, Sarah Caps, and Park Avenue. Just
experiment and try different fonts.
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Here are several layouts
I have created using hand-cut lettering:
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-- Jlyne Hanback
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