[guide.chat] art die cutting materials fonts glossary
- From: vanessa <qwerty1234567a@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "GUIDE CHAT" <guide.chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 4 Jun 2012 19:22:40 +0100
Digital Die Cutting Machine Glossary: Paper Types, Embellishments & Fonts
Paper Stocks
While the most traditional use of digital die cutting machines is to die cut
cardstock for scrapbooking, cards and more, there are a number of other sheet
materials you can cut for a variety of applications. From thin foils and films
to thicker paperboards and even thin metal ? with the right blade, pressure and
speed (and the right die cutting machine), you can cut just about any sheet
materials up to 1mm thick. Some die cutting units are even capable of cutting
thin balsa wood or foam by cutting the same lines multiple times.
This glossary of paperstock types will give you a basic guide to some of the
more popular sheet materials often used with digital die cutting machines.
Acetate
Craft acetate sheets are more of a transparent film, used in various
thicknesses to create clear tags, layers or a window look.
Cardstock
Cardstock is the heavier, thicker paper used for a number of crafts. Also known
as scrapbook paper, cover stock or pasteboard, cardstock is more durable than
traditional printing paper, and it's the most common paper stock used in
digital die cutters. Think of business cards, playing cards or postcards.
Cardstock comes in all sorts of colors as well as a huge variety of printed
patterns.
Chipboard
Chipboard is a type of paperboard that is made from pressing multiple sheets of
recycled paper together. The ply is the number of layers in a sheet. Many die
cutting systems can handle thick cardstock.
Foil
Metal sheets like aluminum foil come in a variety of thicknesses but are
typically pretty thin and so need to be cut more delicately with lower speeds
to avoid tearing. Metallic foil paper can come in traditional hues (silver,
gold, copper) but can also be colored. Some foils come preprinted or patterned.
Paper Thickness
Measured in points that give the thickness of the sheet in thousandths of an
inch, paper thickness (not to be confused with paper weight) measures the
physical thickness of a single sheet. So a cardstock that is 9pt is actually
.09 inches thick.
Paper Weight
Measured in pounds and usually represented with the # sign, paper weight is
measured by weighing a ream (500 sheets) of paper. Unfortunately, this is based
on a specific size of paper that isn?t always what you?d think it would be ?
not to mention it isn?t consistent across paper types.
Styrene
Think of the material that makes up Styrofoam coffee cups. Styrene is a
lightweight foam material that is somewhat flexible and actually composed of
mostly air.
Vellum
While true vellum is actually dried and stretched animal skin, the paper vellum
of today is a synthetic. Vellum is typically light colored and translucent, and
often used as an overlay for wedding invitations.
Vinyl
This vinyl used by crafters is a thin plastic sheet material that is often
adhesive-backed and commonly used for home décor, window clings, signs or other
decals.
Embellishments
And how about some of the embellishments you can add to paper and other sheet
materials? More than just cutting, the best digital die cutting machines also
have attachments available for drawing, embossing, engraving and more. The
following glossary of embellishments will help you learn about the various
methods and applications for paper embellishments.
Distress
Distressing is used to make something look older. For paper products,
distressing usually involves rubbing the paper with an abrasive tip.
Draw
Drawing is of course similar to printing, but in the world of die cutting it
involves replacing the blade of your die cutting unit with a pen. The die
cutting machine will sketch any pattern it could cut.
Emboss
The end result of embossing is a design that is raised above the paper. To do
this you use a special tip to press down on the paper on the reverse side, thus
raising the finished design from the paper.
Engrave
Opposite from embossing, engraving cuts (or presses) into the paper layer
during the die cutting process. The recessed design is actually pressed into
the paper.
Perforate
Perforation involves creating tiny holes. After you perforate a material it
maintains its original form and shape, but makes it easy to tear along a line.
Think of a roll of stamps or a tear-off coupon.
Pierce
Similar to perforating, piercing is simply punching a hole (or more likely a
series of holes) into the material during the die cutting process. Piercing is
often used in die cutting to add decorative elements, embellishments or to
create the holes for stitching.
Score
If you want a crisp, clean fold then you score the line to be folded. The most
common way to score is to cut partway into the paper. While it?s very effective
for preparing paper to be folded, it also requires precision to get the right
balance where it folds, but doesn?t break.
Fonts
To finish up, we?ll share a few tidbits of information on fonts. While not the
only thing you can cut with electronic die cutting machines, they?re one of the
most popular. To help you better understand fonts and some of the commonly used
terms, here is a brief glossary of fonts.
Dingbat
Dingbats are characters, or picture-based fonts used for decoration. Typically
each letter of the alphabet is associated with a different symbol or shape,
with variations available on lowercase and uppercase letters.
Serif
Serif fonts have small details at the ends of the strokes that make up a
letter. While some contend that serif fonts are easier to read (particularly in
longer texts), for craft purposes they are often seen as a very decorative
element that follow a certain style.
Sans-serif
Fonts without the additional structural typeface details are called sans-serif
(without serif).
TrueType Font
TrueType fonts are standardized computer fonts that are vector-based, outline
fonts. They are the standard font format used on both Mac and Windows operating
systems. Electronic die cutting machines that allow the use of TrueType fonts
let you use any TrueType font you have on your computer, and there are several
fonts available for free. Learn more about fonts with our reviews of online
font services.
OpenType Font
OpenType fonts are computer fonts similar to TrueType, but have more advanced
features and details at the most intricate level. The OpenType format is from
Adobe and Microsoft, but isn?t as popular as TrueType yet.
Weld
One way to think of welding is it turns any font into cursive. Welding letters
together is a popular effect used for die-cut letters, partly because it is
classy, but most importantly because it is easier ? keeping a word together as
opposed to cutting each individual letter. For most electronic die cutting
units you have to use software to weld letters together.
Wingdings
Wingdings is a popular TrueType dingbat font from Microsoft that includes basic
shapes, arrows and symbols. Some people mistakenly use the term "wingding" to
refer to any dingbat font.
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