Designing a Montage Layout SVG Cut File
A very popular type of paper craft is a collage or montage, usually containing photographs. I decided to try creating an SVG cut file for the SilhouetteR Cameo containing a group of cut lines for a rectangular montage.
The crafter may use this SVG cut file for creating a montage from one large photograph or a group of photographs. Of course, this design can be used for projects other than photo montage. As in the example we will be discussing, designer scrapbook papers were cut and used to create the design. In the tray example, I am using the Christmas Collection designer paper from The Robin’s Nest.
The first step was to decide on the overall size of the finished project. I was using a wooden tray from Walnut Hollow, with 11.5 x 9.125 inches inside dimensions. The next decision is the width of the borders around the individual rectangles or photos of the montage. In the tray example, I decided to have a .25 inch border. The third decision is the color of the border. Because most of the papers I received for my Design Team project were dark reds and greens, I decided to use a cream color for the border around the individual rectangles and green for the sides of the tray.
The final decision is the layout for the montage. First, I decided I wanted the design to be wide horizontally. That meant that the width of the design would be the width of the tray which is 11.5 inches and the height of the design would be 9.125 inches. Next I decided to have four rows of rectangles with different heights and widths. To obtain the sizes of the individual rectangles, I needed to consider the space taken by the border as well as the total layout area.
After a little experimenting with scrap paper, here is the final layout.
As you can see, each rectangle is a different size but maintaining the four horizontal rows. However, the overall project area can be adjusted as needed for a different sized tray or other project base. The crafter selects all the rectangles on the screen and resizes the overall rectangle of the layout. This makes the SVG cut file much more flexible.
To create the SVG cut file was as easy as drawing the eleven rectangles that make up the layout in IllustratorR and saving the file in the .svg format. The Silhouette America guidelines for SVG cut files with multiple shapes is to position the shapes in the order that the crafter would assemble them to complete the project. In this case, I positioned each rectangle cut line in its location within the overall project area.
https://www.walnuthollow.com/store/rectangular-tray-10x12/
https://www.shop.robinsnest-scrap.net/Christmas-Collection_c38.htm
Silhouette, Silhouette Studio, Silhouette Connect, PixScan, Silhouette CAMEOR and Silhouette Portrait are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Silhouette America, Inc. Product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Silhouette America, Inc.
Copyright 2018 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Adobe Systems Incorporated. Adobe, Photoshop, Photoshop Album, Photoshop Elements, Illustrator, InDesign, GoLive, Acrobat, Cue, Premiere Pro, Premiere Elements, Bridge, After Effects, InCopy, Dreamweaver, Flash, ActionScript, Fireworks, Contribute, Captivate, Flash Catalyst and Flash Paper is/are either [a] registered trademark[s] or a trademark[s] of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
The crafter may use this SVG cut file for creating a montage from one large photograph or a group of photographs. Of course, this design can be used for projects other than photo montage. As in the example we will be discussing, designer scrapbook papers were cut and used to create the design. In the tray example, I am using the Christmas Collection designer paper from The Robin’s Nest.
The first step was to decide on the overall size of the finished project. I was using a wooden tray from Walnut Hollow, with 11.5 x 9.125 inches inside dimensions. The next decision is the width of the borders around the individual rectangles or photos of the montage. In the tray example, I decided to have a .25 inch border. The third decision is the color of the border. Because most of the papers I received for my Design Team project were dark reds and greens, I decided to use a cream color for the border around the individual rectangles and green for the sides of the tray.
The final decision is the layout for the montage. First, I decided I wanted the design to be wide horizontally. That meant that the width of the design would be the width of the tray which is 11.5 inches and the height of the design would be 9.125 inches. Next I decided to have four rows of rectangles with different heights and widths. To obtain the sizes of the individual rectangles, I needed to consider the space taken by the border as well as the total layout area.
After a little experimenting with scrap paper, here is the final layout.
As you can see, each rectangle is a different size but maintaining the four horizontal rows. However, the overall project area can be adjusted as needed for a different sized tray or other project base. The crafter selects all the rectangles on the screen and resizes the overall rectangle of the layout. This makes the SVG cut file much more flexible.
To create the SVG cut file was as easy as drawing the eleven rectangles that make up the layout in IllustratorR and saving the file in the .svg format. The Silhouette America guidelines for SVG cut files with multiple shapes is to position the shapes in the order that the crafter would assemble them to complete the project. In this case, I positioned each rectangle cut line in its location within the overall project area.
https://www.walnuthollow.com/store/rectangular-tray-10x12/
https://www.shop.robinsnest-scrap.net/Christmas-Collection_c38.htm
Silhouette, Silhouette Studio, Silhouette Connect, PixScan, Silhouette CAMEOR and Silhouette Portrait are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Silhouette America, Inc. Product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Silhouette America, Inc.
Copyright 2018 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Adobe Systems Incorporated. Adobe, Photoshop, Photoshop Album, Photoshop Elements, Illustrator, InDesign, GoLive, Acrobat, Cue, Premiere Pro, Premiere Elements, Bridge, After Effects, InCopy, Dreamweaver, Flash, ActionScript, Fireworks, Contribute, Captivate, Flash Catalyst and Flash Paper is/are either [a] registered trademark[s] or a trademark[s] of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
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