Video Tutorial: How to Print-and-Cut the LD Superhero Centerpiece SVG (Method #1)

The first thing that I wanted to cut when I saw the new LD Superhero collection was the centerpiece from the party set.

I mean, just take a look at this finished piece that Rani of LD made. Is that cool or what?!

image from LD here.

When I opened the SVG file in Silhouette Studio (DE) and saw how many cuts were in that file and how many negative pieces that I had to weed from the mat, I decided that I would use print-and-cut instead. Sure it may not look as cool as the one made from a layered cutout but it will take a fraction of the time to cut and put together. It will also still be super fun to make.

It wasn't long before I realized that printing-and-cutting this piece out was not as straightforward as I thought. I had assumed that I could easily turn off the cutting paths of the inside (windows) cuts by setting the Cut Style to cutting the edge of the layer only. When I tried to set the cut lines to Cut Edge, the software still indicated that the windows will be cut out. I had to think of a way to make it so that only the external lines will cut. In other words, I needed to make this happen:

I spent a little time on Wednesday morning trying to figure out how to print-and-cut this centerpiece and eventually ended up discovering two methods of doing so. I will show you Method 1 today. In the video tutorial below, you will find that I used the Make Compound Path command many times. I will discuss more about compound paths another time but for now, think of making a compound path as "punching" the inside shape out with a puncher.
 

Here's the video tutorial:
http://youtu.be/QT0oXYjHcDA




This first method of printing-and-cutting the Superhero Centerpiece SVG may seem like a lot of work but once you get the hang of it, you will find that it is really all about releasing the cutting paths of the internal cuts (the windows of the building) from the base layer (the building itself). Tomorrow I will post Method 2 which will show a faster and easier way of printing-and-cutting the centerpiece. However, the  finished piece from Method 2 will have a slightly different look than the one from today's tutorial.

File used:

Superhero Party Cut It Project