Debossing: Using Debossed CutArt

The folders in the CutArt library marked DB are debossed items.

Debossed CutArt items have all the properties of other CutArt items.

Add them to the design in the same way you would add any other CutArt item.

They insert into the mat at the suggested minimum size.

You can change their size, mirror them, and rotate them.

You can copy and paste to duplicate them or to transfer an item from one design to another.

The Alignment tools work exactly the same way for centering and spacing as they do for other elements.

The guide lines work with debossed items exactly like they do for any other item: midpoints and outsides snap to the guide lines.

Remember that the guide lines themselves also snap to these points. As you are dragging the guide line around the edit screen, drag the cursor through the debossed item and the guide line snaps to the outside and the midpoint of the debossed item.

You can also specify the tool width you would like to use for any debossed item.

Design the mat and click the Add CutArt Opening button under the Openings tab.

There are two folders of debossed CutArt. Double click on either the DB Bottom Elements or the
DB Victorian folder to open it.

Select the one you want then click the OK button under the CutArt illustration.

The CutArt will appear in the center of the edit screen.

Change its size if you want and move it to its approximate position.

Use the arrow keys on the keyboard to move it.
When you click on it and try to drag it you will see the white boxes at the snap points, but the opening will move instead.

Openings take precedence over V-Groove or debossed items, so the program selects the opening to move, not the debossed item.

Once you have moved it out from under the opening with the arrow keys, you can click on it and drag it into place without moving the opening.

Copy and paste the debossed element to make an identical one for the other side.

This is much easier than returning to the CutArt library to get another one.

All the changes you’ve made will copy along with it.

Click the Mirror the CutArt button so that it flips horizontally.

Click the Alignment tab at the top.

Select the opening and both of the debossed elements.

Decide how much space you want between the debossed elements and the opening. Enter that distance into the field to the left of the Space Horizontally button.

When you click the button, the debossed elements will instantly be spaced at the specified distance from the opening.

Click the upper left button in the Aligning section.

The opening has probably moved out of the center of the mat. This button will re-center the selected items horizontally in the mat.

Now click the lower left button in the Aligning section at the left.

This button lines up the bottoms of all the selected items.

We want the debossed elements to be a little higher.

Select only the two debossed elements.
Use the up arrow on the keyboard to move them up.

The arrow keys are a good idea in situations like this because the items move only in the direction of the arrow key.

You are also more certain of exactly how far the items have been moved. Each click moves the selected object a sixteenth of an inch. (One millimeter per click in metric)

Some of these debossed elements are quite simple.

They are designed to be used with a debossed line around the opening.

Remember that debossed lines begin as V-Grooves.

They can be any template shape, you can adjust the parameters to refine the details of the shape, and they can be set to deboss using any tool width.

Your designs are not limited to the two folders of debossed elements. Any CutArt can be set to deboss.

Any CutArt opening in the CutArt library can be set to deboss.

Because there is no cutting, the items can be made far smaller. Because there is less contrast with the matboard, the designs can be more involved, too.

Click the Add CutArt Opening button under the Openings tab and add any CutArt design you want.

Debossed elements can be far smaller than cut elements. Note that the size of this dinosaur has been changed. It is more than an inch smaller than the minimum size for cutting.

To set it to deboss, click the drop down arrow under the Cut As field and select the debossing tool width you want to use.

Remember that all of the alterations possible with ordinary CutArt remain possible even though they are set to deboss.

You can rotate them, mirror them, and resize them – with or without the Keep Aspect Ratio box checked. You can create custom designs in PathTrace.

You can also merge them.

Select the debossed dinosaur and the intersecting debossed line.

Click the Advanced tab at the top then click the Group Selection button under Other Options at the left.

In order for their paths to merge, they must be the same bevel type.

Make sure the debossed line and the CutArt are both set to use the same tool width.

Otherwise the program sees them as different bevel types.

They will be grouped, but their paths will not merge.

As you are working with a complicated design, remember that you can zoom in by holding the Control key and pressing the + key on the keyboard. Zoom out with Control and the – key.

As you refine sizes, hold the Alt key on the keyboard and click the + and – buttons next to the Height or Width. The size will change 0.01 inch with each click or 0.2mm in metric.