Cassel

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When you center the text, it will be based on where you ANCHORED (meaning where you clicked) so if you clicked more on the left or the right of the middle, it can happen. Often, there is a node on top that is kind of in the way. One way to fix that is to move your text. Check this article with the illustration If you change for the Text tool, it will think that you want to add text. Stay with the Ellipse tool to convert to a path.

I doubt the team has time to bother reading a forum from a "scrapbooking" site! ? The best is that they hear me when I complain! ?

@Anita Wyatt Let me send you a message.

Yes, but you would have to re-export it though.

I don't see how the blacked-out video would have anything to do with the number of downloads. That is strange.

Did you keep the Anti-Alias? If not, you can reopen the shape, and check the dialog popup and find the checkbox for Anti-Alias. I was working on an imported vector shape that had "lost" the anti-alias, which made all the lines jaggied. By resetting it, everything looks better.

@Marie-ClaireIt was a challenge to make that leaf? The result is good! @MicheleGlad that you pushed through. You are doing great. Now that you know more about those node types, you will get more precise paths. @Cristina I also wish that the control arms were a bit thicker so they would be easier to see. @Marvin Fojtasek Did you manage to make a cutout in the end? @Linda J WalkerYou CAN have a preset shape with different colors, however, when you will use it as a preset shape to draw an image, if you uncheck the Retain Style, then ALL the objects will take on the Stroke and Fill colors from the Materials palette. But, you should still be able to make and export a preset shape with different colors. Sometimes, using different colors can even be a way to see better if you were to use a complex design. @sharon thompson Yes, working with vectors can be quite tedious, but luckily, once exported, you can reuse them over and over again! And then, tweak them further! And deleting a node instead of merging is such an "intuitive" thing to do, but as you see, it is the wrong one to do! @fiona cook Of course you are encouraged to follow along and if needed, use the same shapes as in the tutorial. Nobody would complain about that!!! @Anja Pelzer I am glad you enjoy the lessons. You are doing great too! @Natalie Spooner Yes, vectors can be a bit challenging. You will see that it will get easier with practice. @bina greene Did you manage to get the correct dialog window by double-clicking the OBJECT instead of the vector LAYER? @Theresa Di CesareOnce you do the PASTE command, the nodes SHOULD be all selected by default with a bounding box and from there, you would grab the center "node" to move all the shape. Unfortunately, if you miss the mark and click a little be off, that bounding box disappears and that can be frustrating if the cutout shape is hard to select again, in one rectangle. @Bobby YeaterDid you include the diamonds in the shape or are they just added afterward? I think you are doing great despite the challenges you had. @Susan EwartPractice, practice, and more practice. You are doing well so far. Maybe I should make a frame for the CRAC-Paste mnemonic! (or maybe a t-Shirt?) @Donna Come to the lessons when you can. And then, post as you progress. @Sheila Hogg Believe it or not, I still have to go back to my mnemonic when I want to do cutouts. Even though it LOOKS like it is easy for me in the videos, I still need my notes close by! @Donna Sillia "Getting easier" is the whole purpose of those practices. Keep it up. @Connie CollierWith or without the zip file, you definitely found another way to practice. @Deana Davis That gradient looks great on your shape! @Gerry LandrethIt is great to see such dedicated students! That is motivating me to keep going. @Dorothy DonnThat is a great start! @Leslie Gifford CookWill we see some projects from you? @rjay segura I am happy to read that you are learning something new from those lessons. I know that Lesson 4 is a bit more challenging than the previous lessons, but don't despair. If you are stuck, you can either go back to the start and follow one step at a time, but if it is still not working, just take a break. If you are still stuck, just post the question in the forum. Don't be shy. Half of the participants will have experienced the same issue! You will just be in good company. See you tomorrow. It should be easier this time! ?

Let me forward you a copy.

First, make sure that you are still in the Edit mode. Sometimes, it changes if you happened to click and "miss" a node or something. Otherwise, at which step does it differ from the video?

Yes, you should have the Edit mode set as soon as you are finished drawing. I find that occasionally if I miss clicking on a node, it seems like PSP thinks that I want to draw some more, and the mode changes to the Drawing line. If you want to delete a file, yes, you can just go and delete the .pspshape file. However, be careful if one shape that you want to delete is part of a multi-shape file. In that case, there is no way to delete just the shape without deleting the others in the same file. Good question. The answer is no. In fact, if you ever need to edit one shape that you created, you will want to open the .pspshape file, which will behave just like a .pspimage, and then, you will re-export it. And to everyone: keep those questions coming. For ONE person who posts a question, FIFTY more wondered the same thing (but didn't dare ask) and they all thank you for asking in the first place.

What do you mean that you missed the zip file? Did you have issues downloading it?

If the cutout is made following the instructions, it will be transparent by default. If it is not, it is because one step might have been skipped. You are definitely doing a great job with the nodes. Now, let's add the cutout part.

It will be on July 29. The banner is already done. but yeah, I had seen various fun alphabets, yet we didn't use any "dino-font", but just a regular font for it.

@Susan Ewart The lessons are not meant to be complicated, so even if you just work on simple shape, it is the process you get to practice. Complicated designs will only come later (after the workshop), so continue to do "simple" assignments and it is perfectly ok. Great result on your leaf! You are getting there. @Royanne Hewko Great to see your results. Simple is still better than complicated and not finished! Isn't it fun to customize the shape once it is drawn? @James Brady That is kind of funny to see those line styles, but since you can always change them, it can become your signature design! @Cristina Yes, it is your mention of the French version that reminded me of the script. You did great with your maple leaf. @Jannette Nieuwboer Great start for this lesson 1. @Harmony BirchGood to see you join! You seemed to have had fun with that first lesson! Those wooden shapes look like trays with that bevel. Great work also on the leaves! You didn't pick the easiest one either! @Jnet Allard No problem in starting just today. And yes, it is quite a busy thread. I guess it means that a lot of people feel the need to learn more about vectors. @Anne Burgess Glad to see you post your projects. That is a great start. Don't make anything complicated; concentrate on practicing on simple assignments. @MicheleIt is a good thing that those nodes are not heavy or everyone would die of exhaustion! Practicing seems to work for you, seeing all the shapes you made. @Theresa Di Cesare That is a great leaf. Once you remove the black and keep only the vector shape, nobody would know how some tiny sections were different. In fact, you can take liberties if you want! I am glad you are enjoying it and learning at the same time. That is the whole goal. @Bonnie Ballentine Are we going to see those shapes in future projects? No rush for this week, but since you are saving them, you will be able to use them later. @Jackie SavukinasMost of the issues people have in this workshop come from either a little detail that is skipped or steps in the wrong order. Only a handful MIGHT be experiencing a bug but that is not widespread. Keep asking questions as needed. We are all here to help you succeed too. And yes, a large node might be easier to SEE, but won't help with clicking because you still have to be in the very center of it. @Anja PelzerThose are really cool shapes you created! That is a lot of practice! @fiona cook Even if your shape is not "perfect", remember that when you use it, you can always tweak it. For example, you can start with the exact same leaf 10 times, but tweak them a little and you would end up with 10 different leaves! @Sheila Hogg Great leaves! You are probably one of the rare participants who LOVE vectors! Most people tend to be very intimidated. Hopefully, everyone will become a little more comfortable. @Cindy LawrenceThose are really fun shapes. I can definitely see them used in cards! @Jannette Nieuwboer You will see the Text on path coming in a future lesson! @Bobby Yeater You are right: practice, practice, practice. That is the whole point of this particular workshop. You are doing great so far! @James Brady Yes, working with vectors can be tedious when you consider all those nodes, one by one! Even if it seems "easy" for me, it is still very tedious if I need to create new shapes, like some freebies on the blog. @rjay segura Glad to see those results. That maple leaf looks great. @Art Kuiper Yes, the length of the control arms will have an impact on the curve of the path. So many details can be used to create a custom design. @Leslie Gifford Cook I have to admit that other than the maple leaf, I am totally ignorant of the type of leaves the other designs are. @Corrie Kinkel I am glad to hear that things are getting a little easier now. @Marvin Fojtasek What seems to be harder using the tablet? That is what I use all the time (including in the video although you can't tell the difference) @Donna Sillia Although it is ok to want to add those lines on the leaves, don't sweat too much on that. I would consider that extra work. Don't make it frustrating though! @Alice DanielWhen clicking on a node to edit it, we tend to be a little too quick. Take your time. Once you click on a node and it is ready to be moved, it will be black (instead of white). Once you practice enough, the nodes will realize who is the boss! ? @Mary Solaas Just as an additional mention, the curved arrow was actually a tutorial in TheLab 11-08 @SuzyJust a note on the guidebooks: you can always create an add-on in Word for the additional tips you gather everywhere. @Linda J Walker I am glad that you are feeling a bit more confident. That is what I hope for everyone. @Anita WyattThe rounded corners are due to the Radius setting not being set to 0. It seems to be a default setting that I didn't think of mentioning because I have already set mine to 0 as I rarely want a rounded corner. If you are not able to convert to path is it because you already did it? To answer everyone's question about the written instructions, they are perks available to our DIAMOND members only. Now take a deep breath because lesson 4 will be a little more advanced, but keep taking things one step at a time. You made it this far, and now, those nodes know you mean business! Keep it up!

If you get all the options greyed out, it could be because you didn't click directly on the node. I don't know if you are using a larger node size, but one thing I found is that although the nodes are larger, you still have to "select" them right in the middle, as if you had only a small node. And if you accidentally click too far from those control arms, it might deselect the object in the layers palette and then, nothing is left selected, which explains that red icon. It is mostly a matter of practice.

Yes. That is to prevent posting other formats that are big file sizes. We only need a jpg version anyways.

What is the icon you have just above the Pen tool? Maybe it is the Preset shape and if so, you need to pull the others by clicking the little arrow:

I have a blog article about how I do customize my workspace, so if you want something similar to what I have, you can check this One thing with vectors is that you will have some LAYERS, some OBJECTS and you have to make sure they are active. Then, you have the Pen tool that has different settings than the Rectangle/Ellipse/Preset/Symmetric tools. Go slow. One step at a time. Sometimes, it is the wrong layer/object being active, sometimes, it is the wrong tool. Don't give up. You can do it.

When you need to edit the Node type, you can right-click directly. If you need to MOVE the node, then click until it is active (black) then, you can grab it with the left-click. When you see the 4 arrows on the cursor, it means PSP is ready to move the node you are hovering over. Remember that the 4 arrows is the icon for the MOVE tool ? When you hover, you get the option to move. If you RIGHT-click, then you get a popup window. if you LEFT-click, you just grab the node. If you have selected several nodes at once, as long as you are inside the bounding box, you can right-click and get the options for the Node type, and more.

You might not have an object active in the Layers palette. The + means it is ready to draw a shape or a path, so right-clicking won't be doing what you are expecting. Check what layer/object is active.

Cusp seems to always be greyed out by default. You have to FIRST choose Symmetric or Asymmetric and THEN do it again and select Cusp. Make sure there is a layer active in the Layers palette. When you happen to delete a vector object, sometimes, you can end up with nothing selected in the Layers palette. Then, you can't do anything. Click on any layer and it should help.

Tell us where you are confused. Are you seeing something different in your PSP than in the video? What was the previous version you worked with? Maybe you just need to adjust your workspace?

You can make them all symmetric, but sometimes, you will want to keep a sharp area. When you make everything symmetric, you will get a swollen shape! It is a matter of preference since it also means you will HAVE to tweak all the nodes instead of just SOME. Unfortunately, Ctrl-Y does not apply to editing nodes. It would have been a good idea, but that "command" is not recorded in a way to be used with the Repeat.

The round corners are because you likely have a value for the radius. Keep it at 0. For the nodes on all sides, let me send you a message about it.