Practicing the Pen Tool with Stickers!

Print Media is a little different from digital media. Our new docuent settings reflect this.

This is a picture I drew in Photoshop. Image tracing isn't strictly necessary, but it might make your printed sticker look better if your source picture is grainy and pixelated.

The PEN TOOL. This is why we're doing this project. The Pen Tool is the bread and butter of Illustrator. Basically, draw a line all around your picture, following the contours of your drawing. This line is what the laser engraver will cut.

Tips: short click makes "hard" points. Click+drag makes curved points.

You're not "drawing," instead you're playing connect the dots with a computer. You're laying the dots, and the computer will generate the path that connects the dots depending on the rules you set with short and long clicks.

Whew, done. This is what it should look like after you're done.

We're going to save your project as a *.EPS file. Why? so we can import it successfully into CorelDraw for printing and laser cutting.

Open up your file in CorelDRAW. Hit OK if it prompts you about importing text as curves or whatever.

Arrange your graphic so it lies at least 0.25" from all edges. Otherwise your graphic won't print properly.

Select your outline and turn it into a RED Hairline. This tells the laser engraver to cut along the line you just made.

I recommend saving two versions. One for the printer (without the red hairline) and one for the laser engraver (with everything moved over 0.25" and the red hairline). Give the *.CDR file to your trainer for printing.

On the laser engraver, print just the vectors (red hairlines). It would be wise to test and check the alignment of your printed sticker sheet to where the laser will be cutting.

Bleed is a way to make printer marks, marks that tell a printing studio exactly where to cut out your final artwork for publishing. We're not using bleed because we'll be printing through a different program.