Using Debossed Mat Designs: MatDesigner

These debossed lines around openings are a tradition that go back a century.

Because these designs are pressed into the matboard instead of being cut, debossed elements can be designed with very small shapes, very close spacing and very tight curves.

All of these designs are initially constructed as V-Grooves. They are set to cut as debossed lines then attached to the opening.

To use them, open the file and change the opening size to suit your picture. The debossed lines will re-size along with the opening, maintaining their spacing. Then cut the mat.

Click Load Saved Mat on the MatDesigner™ opening screen.

Double click on the folder titled Debossed Mats to open it.

Select the one you want and click Edit under the picture of the mat.

The debossed lines in all of these designs are attached to the openings. This means that you can change the opening size and the debossed lines will re-size along with the opening, maintaining their spacing with each other and with the opening.

You can change the opening shape by clicking the Properties tab and clicking the Change Template button at the upper left, just as you would for any other opening.

You can change the border widths and the size of the outside without disturbing the placement or the details of the opening or the debossed lines.

The lines are attached to the bottom layer of the opening, so if you change the size of the reveal or add another layer, you will need to change the spacing of the lines.

See in the illustration how the new wider reveal now covers the inner line.

Click on the outer mat to select the outside.

Under the Properties tab there is an Additional Info box where there are reminders about how to use each design.

At the bottom there is information about changing the spacing of the lines.

It also tells you how far apart the two lines are.

Some of these numbers (this one, for example) do not seem correct, but that is because the parameters are set to some unusual values and the size is measured from a spot that has moved as a result of these new values.

Select the inner line.

After you change the inner layers, it may be hidden under the opening so selecting it may be difficult.

The best way to select this hidden line is to select something easy, then use the Page Up or Page Down keys on the keyboard to shuffle through the items until the desired one is selected.

Click the + button in the Distance field five times.

The distance was 0.35, now it is 0.6625 inch.
The line is five-sixteenths of an inch further from the opening.

Now select the outer line.

Click the + button in its Distance field five times, too.

The distance was 0.43, it is now 0.7425 inch.
It, too, is five-sixteenths of an inch further from the opening.

You can also enter whatever values you like in these fields.

If you want finer control over the changes, hold the Alt key on the keyboard while you click the + or – buttons. The values will change 0.01 inch with every click (0.2mm in metric).

You can change the parameters of the debossed lines just like you would change the parameters of a decorative V-Groove.

The details of these debossed lines are often quite small. It is helpful to zoom in and get a closer look.

Click on Tools on the top toolbar. Select Zoom, then select whichever zoom level you’d like.

You can also hold the Control key on the keyboard, then hit the + key as many times as you like to zoom in.

Scroll bars appear on the right and on the bottom so that you can roam around the entire design while you are zoomed in.

Hold the Control key and hit the – button to zoom out, too.

As you change the parameters on these small lines, it is helpful to hold the Alt key while you click the + and – buttons beside the fields.

Again, this changes the value by 0.01 inch with every click.

You may find it necessary to change the line’s Distance field, too, in order to get the design you want.

There are three different sizes of deboss cartridges. The blue one is wide, the red one is medium, and the white one is thin.

Any debossed element can be set to cut as any of these widths. If there are multiple debossed elements in a design, each one can be set to a different width.

Select the line you wish to change.

Click the drop down arrow under Options on the left.

Select the width you want for that particular line.

The line in the illustration will now cut as a wide debossed line instead of a thin one.

These designs are protected from changes.

To save the altered mat design, click Save Mat As, under File at the top and give it a new name.

When you save this mat, this width change will be saved along with all the size, spacing, and detail changes.