I think you have probably seen them at craft shows. People sell picture frames with cutouts in them that spell out words like GRANDKIDS or BASEBALL or HAWAII. People buy them and then put their photos is the mat holes. I decided it would be easy to make them on the Cricut, and played around with it yesterday. I couldn't find a font that would work(leaving enough of the picture showing) so I created one. I started with Yesterday BRK, but ended up having to change every letter and number.They needed to be wider and have the indentions decreased.
The font is in the file:
alphabet_for_letter_frames.svg
http://www.mediafire.com/?mmmwmm4mddn
The font has been made into a TTF font by Kay at Cleversomeday:
alpha.ttf
What you need to do is open the file in inkscape, and layout your word. Use the object***align command to even out your spacing and make sure they are aligned at the top or bottom.
This shows you a closeup of the double matting we are going for.
Draw a 11.5x 23.5(whatever is largest piece of paper that will fit on cricut 12x24 mat) square around you word, and size it so that no letters are being cut in half by the 12x12 paper boundaries. If you have 12x12 mat, make two 11.5x11.5 squares on your inkscape display. If you are lucky enough to have 12x24 art paper, then you don't have to worry about this.(MAYBE YOU COULD USE POSTER BOARD, I THINK IT IS OFTEN THE SAME THICKNESS AS CARD STOCK!) Remember your photos are probably only 4x6 so don't make the letters taller than 5.75 inches or wider than 3.75 inches.
Now you need to inset the word one time. (Path***inset) Name this file NAME_photo_cropping_and_background_color.svg and save it. When you cut this file you will get the inside smaller mat(the dark pink in my picture). You will also use it to crop your photos, but more about that in a minute.
In the second file, you need to select your word and OUTSET it TWO TIMES. Do not move the word around on your mat after this, it needs to line up with your other file.
Now select everything and copy it to a new file. Save it with NAME_foreground_mat.svg.
Pshew..we got the files ready. Now it is time to cut.
Lay out your inside mat color paper on the mat. Import your NAME_photo_cropping_and_background_color.svg into scal, setting library/font size to 11.5 first.
To make sure your other file overlays this one correctly, move cursor back to upper left corner of display. Import NAME_foreground_mat.svg. The letters should overlay the first letter outlines, leaving a small border around each one that is the same size. Like this:
If it looks okay, continue on. Delete the second file you just imported(undo is probably easiest). If not, go back to inkscape and fix the problem.
Cut your background color.
Now only remove the INsides OF THE LETTERS, being careful to leave the paper on the mat. You are going to carefully place your PHOTOS in the cutouts of the letters. So it lookes like this:
We are going to let the cricut CROP our photos.
Now remove the paper outline leaving just the photos.
Cut your file again. Now you just have the outline of the letters cut in your photos.
You are done with that file. Import your second file, NAME_foreground_mat.svg. This will cut the FOREGROUND color or one on top, and outline the letter.
Place two 12x12 pieces of paper on mat(use a contrasting color)Black and White look good too. Now cut second file.
To assemble: Take NAME_photo_cropping_and_background_color mat and glue to a piece of paper. Glue in photos, they will just fit.(we also thought you could make photos 3 d by using foam squares, but we didn't try it). Glue your foregroud_mat on top, making sure to align your letters so the border is uniform around the edges.
Viola! Now you have a perfectly cropped photo display spelling your child's name or Grandma or POP POP"S, whatever you want. I haven't found the frames yet, but I expect you can get them where they sell those name mats online. I'll check at local craft stores to see if they sell any in the right dimensions.(Long and narrow!!!) You can also add animals, lacrosse sticks, or whatever is appropriate to your mat too, at the time you are making your name portion.
Frame ideas:
Walmart online
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10404221
Two 8x16 frames for 17.56
Would work for Short names like AMY
HONEYMOON WORD MAT(Use the frame)26.72 6 1/2 x 26 21/2
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=3875568
8x20 frames 19.00 includes shipping.(up to six letters)
These are what you probably need
http://www.photomats4u.com/catalog/item/3048958/2577785.htm
8x26" frame 24.00 includes shipping
8x30(11-12 letter photomat) 28.00
http://www.photomats4u.com/catalog/item/2429819/2568332.htm
Amazon 8x20 11.99 12x30 17.199 8x24 14.99
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HJ3KSS/ref=asc_df_B000HJ3KSS715268?smid=A2H2AYTJFCST9E&tag=pricegrabber2-kitchen-20&linkCode=asn
Oh this looks good: 10x24 for 9.35 at Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/TOPFLIGHT-2800002-PF-1024-PANORAMIC-FRAME/dp/B001P6IJ1A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1234645686&sr=1-1
Personally I'd look at Ross,etc and hope to find a frame I could take what they have in, out of and use.
Post Title
→How to Make Name Mats for Photos
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→https://aciksexygirls.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-make-name-mats-for-photos.html
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