Document Slot

These instructions will show you how to make Document Slots through which you can slide in the corners of a document/business card to be held in place in the matboard.

Since you usually will be creating this onto a finished design, we’re going to make an example design where we want to place a business card into the bottom border.

Click New Mat Design on the FrameShop Main Page.

Click Cancel on the New Openings Screen.

Click on the Properties Tab and change the Outside Dimension to 36x24.

Make sure Dynamic Outsides are turned Off.

On the Openings Tab, bring the template #101: Rectangle template onto the Editor.

Click on the Properties Tab to edit it.

Enter the desired size for the #101: Rectangle opening; we used 29x15.

Center it Horizontally and line it up to the top Border Lines.

Now to make the Document that the Slot will hold in place.

• This Document is merely a placeholder to help size and align the Slots, and will be deleted.

On the Openings Tab, bring over another template #101: Rectangle template onto the Editor.

Click on the Properties Tab to edit it.

Make it 1 Layer.

Enter the desired size for the #101: Rectangle Document opening; we used 3.25x2.125.

Move it to the desired position on the mat.

• For this example, we moved it close to the Right Border Line and snapped it to the Bottom Border Line.

Now you need to decide how far into the Document the Document Slots will be overlapped.

• For this example, we will place them .25 into the document corners.

  • The Document Slots will be placed at an angle, so keep that in mind.

Right-Click on the Document and select New Guide From Other.

The Add Other Guide screen opens.

Because we want the Document Slots to overlap by .25, enter -.25 for each entry and Click OK.

The Guides are placed.

Now to make the Document Slot.

On the Openings Tab, bring over another template #101: Rectangle template onto the Editor.

Click on the Properties Tab to edit it.

Make it 1 Layer.

Enter the desired size for the #101: Rectangle Document Slot opening.

• The thinnest side of this Slot will be .125”.

  • You could also use a Slot size of .0625” if it is very thin paper.

• This will allow it to cut a very thin opening, much like a V-Groove, but without prompting for the V-Groove Blade Depth.

Drag the Slot opening down close to the Document.

Zoom In on this area.

Now we can clearly see the area we are working on.

With the Slot still selected, Rotate it 45°.

Move the Slot so that the Center of the Slot Snaps to the two lower Guide Lines.

Copy (Ctrl+C) and Paste (Ctrl+V) our Document Slot to make a second copy.

Move the Slot so that the Center of the Slot Snaps to the two upper Guide Lines.

Once you have the Document Slots into their desired positions, Delete the Document.

• If you are having difficulty selecting the Document, Zoom back to full screen first.

Our Document Slots are now in place and can be cut with the design.

Tuck the Document into the mat after cutting.