To Remember

Sunday Scrolling: May 28, 2017

  • To kick off the unofficial start of summer at SuzerSpace, we bought a new grill. So our weekend menu is set. Need a few ideas? These looked good.
  • If you are reading this on Sunday, it’s the biggest race weekend of the year. My favorite is the Formula 1 race at Monte Carlo. Because of the time difference, you can watch it while drinking coffee in bed. And pretend that someday you will have enough money to see it in person.
  • Normal people spend Memorial Day at picnics, parades and baseball games. Us? We will be having a Stanley Cup Final party, cheering on our new favorite team.

None of the links in this post are affiliate; they are all just things that caught my interest this week.

Big Scheduling News – Starting in June, “Sunday Scrolling” is moving to “Web Wednesday” – look for it starting June 7.

Teeny Tiny Tip: Better Buns

Low-carb life has it’s challenges.

Take hamburger buns. They aren’t very good for you – white flour is pretty much persona non grata in a Type-2 Diabetes household.

The special low-carb versions? Not very much taste, super expensive and when you read the label, not really impressively better for you.

We swapped to Whole Wheat English Muffins. Technically, because we like the Trader Joe’s brand (not a paid endorsement – just our favorite), they are called “British Muffins”.

The nutrition* is better where it counts.

Whole Wheat English muffins have better nutrition than standard hamburger buns.

Nutrition info from Myfitnesspal.com

And they are more flexible – if you have a surplus of hamburger buns in the house, your choices are pretty much hamburgers. If you have a surplus of British Muffins, you can always use them for as a base for quick pizzas, sandwiches or, I suppose, breakfast.

 

*I’m not a doctor or a nutritionist. You should never take advice from a paper crafter without consulting an actual professional.

Sunday Scrolling: May 21, 2017

  • The peonies in my garden are always late bloomers, but I love them anyway. If I had more discipline, I’d take better care of them and they’d probably fare better.
  • Mom and Dad are downsizing and I was gifted a fabulous sewing machine. You know what that means? New obsession!
  • I’ve filled my Instagram feed with crafts and design only (no politics, religion or Kardashians!). I’ve been following this designer for a while, and Mashable just did a nice write up.

None of the links in this post are affiliate; they are all just things that caught my eye this week.

Nerd Tip: Exporting A DXF File

This week’s tip isn’t tiny (it has a lot of photos) and I’m classifying it as a nerd edition in that it will only appeal to a small segment of the world – crafters who use Adobe Illustrator and Silhouette Studio software. 

The basic version of Silhouette Studio cannot open or import a native file from Adobe Illustrator (those files that end in “.ai”). Or an EPS file. Or a SVG file, or a PDF file.

You’d need to upgrade to one of the paid versions to be able to do that. And there is nothing wrong with that – the upgrade versions also come with other features.

BUT…

If you already have Illustrator, you can export your files as a DXF file and you can open those in the basic Silhouette Studio version.

And it’s easy. I’m on a Mac, so your screens may look different if you are not.

In Silhouette Studio

First off, there is a change you need to make in Silhouette Studio to make this work as expected.

Under Silhouette Studio (the very left corner of the screen) choose Preferences.

Export files from Adobe Illustrator as DXF to bring into the basic version of Silhouette Studio

And on the far right side of the screen the Preferences choices will appear – choose Import Options

Export files from Adobe Illustrator as DXF to bring into the basic version of Silhouette Studio

When the panel expands down, make sure “As Is” is selected. If “Fit to Page” is selected, then the artwork will always scale when imported. Nobody has time for that.

Export files from Adobe Illustrator as DXF to bring into the basic version of Silhouette Studio

You only need to do this once.

In Adobe Illustrator

Open or create your file in Illustrator. Save your file as an Illustrator file so you have it to go back to later. Convert all your type to outlines, and flatten all your layers. And then, under File, choose Export > Export As…  and a dialog window will show up.

Export files from Adobe Illustrator as DXF to bring into the basic version of Silhouette Studio

In the Format box at the bottom, choose AutoCad Interchange File (dxf)

The next box that pops up I just click OK. I don’t really know what these items mean, but I’ve never changed anything and it always works. One day, one of my files won’t open and then I’ll learn what these options are and I’ll create a new post.

Export files from Adobe Illustrator as DXF to bring into the basic version of Silhouette Studio

I don’t change any settings here – I don’t know what they do

And you are set!

These files can be opened or imported in the basic version of Silhouette Studio.

 

Sunday Scrolling: May 14, 2017

  • You might want to bookmark this for those days when everything is going wrong and you are feeling puny
  • I love documentaries. And computers. And I’m old enough to remember actual paste-up rooms for newspaper production. So this 30-minute piece  on the last day of hot lead type at the New York Times was riveting. (via InDesignSecrets)
  • While bike riding through the neighborhood over the past couple of weeks, Mr. SuzerSpace and I kept seeing these signs, and wondered what it was all about.
None of the links in this post are affiliate; they are all just items that caught my eye this week.