Help Files

How to make a Serif Craft Artist Digi Kit from any jpeg or png craft CD

If you are anything like me you have loads of craft CD's that just sit either on the shelf or stuck in a folder on your PC. If you are a lover of the Serif Craft Artist program then you may not realise that you can not only import any JPEG or PNG file format into Craft Artist but you can also save all the images as your very own Digi Kit.  Gives a whole new life to your CD's and makes them available for you to use in a quick and easy format.  

So you've read this and say okay clever clogs how do we do this and what’s this PNG format?  Most of us are used to JPEG as 99% of all the photo’s you have on your PC will be this file format.  A PNG format file is the same apart from the fact that there are no white edges to the image so if you have a frame then you would be able to see through the centre of the image if it was a PNG were a JPEG would be solid.  If you've ever brought the MCS CD’s their images are PNG format and also if you've ever downloaded a scrapbook kit they tend to be PNG format.  To check if a files is JPEG or PNG you need to check the properties this will tell you right away what the file type is.  I do know that PDF files won't work and a lot of the new CD’s tend to be in this format if they come with Adobe Reader then they are PDF files.  So that’s Joanna Sheen, Polka Doodles (check as some are in jpeg format), Debbi Moore and some others.

Okay so first of it’s worth doing a little work before you start on making a Digi Kit from a CD you own.  Start of by copying the whole CD’s to a new folder on your PC, either on the desktop or in the My Pictures folder, this will make it much quicker when you come to make your kit.  You are also going to need a copy of the CD sleeve either scan it in or download it if you can, this is going to be the cover to your Digi Kit so you will know what’s in the kit.  Once you have your cover do a quick edit on it you need to crop it so you just have the front of the sleeve showing. Add this file to the copied CD you have so everything is together. Now depending on how the CD you are using has been put together you should have a number of folders marked with say papers and embellishments etc just take a little time to put the same things together, I also look at any frames included and if they could be used the other way a make a copy and then rotate them.  This then means you have the option of landscape or portrait for your photo's as there is nothing worse than not having a frame going the right way for you.  I also add all the papers to the same folder as sometimes they are in colour folders this just make the importing in to CAP quicker.  This is why you start off with a new copy of the CD so you keep the original CD set up as it’s meant to be. 

So you've done the sorting are happy with the folders you have and you have a cover for your Digi Kit, now the fun bit:

1. Open Craft artist in the normal way so you have a blank A4 or 12 x 12 page.
2. Go to the Tool’s menu and choose Digikit Creator a new window will open.
3. On the left hand side are all the folders you can put your images into I always start of by adding the Backgrounds first.
4. Click on the Backgrounds it will become highlighted in blue, now click on import bottom (right hand side of the screen), you are given the option of add files or add folder I use files mostly.
5. Now a new window will open you just need to find where you have saved your CD file most likely the desktop or in your pictures folder.
6. Once you’ve found the folder open it, you need to copy the cover over first as it’s the first image in this folder that is used as your Digi Kit cover.
7. Just click on the cover and press add it will be copied over to the software.
8. Now click on add files again and this time open the folder with the papers/background images in select all the images (ctrl A) and press add.
9. All the papers will be copied over.
10. Now the way Craft Artist works is that background papers are always fitted to the size of the paper you've set no matter what size the paper is and they can’t be moved unless you unlock them. To be able to us any of the background papers as normal paper you need to copy them into the folder called materials.
11. Highlight the materials folder then choose the add files the last folder you opened will be your papers so again just highlight them all and add them to this folder.  You will now be able to use all the papers at the size they are meant to be used at.
12. Next we need to add the embellishments, so highlight this folder first then choose add files and just find your embellishments highlight and add.
13. Don’t worry about adding things to the wrong folder you can move things around once you’ve added them to the Digikit Creator.
14. Once everything has been copied over you can check each folder to see if you are happy with the files in their.  If they are PNG files and you have frames you can move them over one at a time to the frame folder just click and drag over then let go.  The program will do all the work of making the frame work if it won’t copy over then just leave it.
15. If there is an alpha set on your CD you can add this too, the program will ask you to choose the correct letter for each letter.
16. So you’ve got everything loaded you are happy with the folders and you don’t need to add anything else so now you just need to save it.
17. My tip is if you have a number of CD’s from the same company just use the letters from the company name for example: Polka Doodles have a few CD’s that you can make a kit from so I use PD – Sugar Candy as the name for my kit. By doing this when they are added to the menu window you will always be able to find these CD’s grouped together.
18. It's worth doing this next bit now close the Digikit Creator bottom right DONE. Find the cover of your CD or kit and bring that to the work page (it is worth having this page set to 12 x 12 size) now save this as a Layout twice this will be the file that will become the front of you kit in CAP.  
19. If you are using CAP 2 then there is a colour generator called Generate Palette  if you click on the cover page this option will become active just click on a window will open and the program will find all the colours in that page.  Before you close click on Palette and change to My Digikit and also make sure that the box is ticked on clear.
20. Now go back to the Tools menu and reopen Digikit Creator.
21. The button for saving the kit it is at the bottom of the Digikit Creator window on the right called save Digi kit, click and it will ask for a name type it in and press save.
22. It may take a few minutes to save the files it depends how big your kit is.
23. Once saved click done at the bottom of the window.
24. You are now back, on the home screen with a blank page and your Digi Kit loaded at the side. DON'T CLOSE DOWN YET!
25. To make sure you kit has saved okay open the add Digi Kit top left.
26. Scroll down until you find your kit (they are in alphabetical order), if your kit is there then it’s saved it okay. Sometimes they don’t save for some reason you can re-open the Digikit Creator and try saving again but the only option maybe to just close down and start again.
27. When you are in the add Digi Kit menu you can choose to clear all the categories (bottom left), this will remove the Digi Kit from your screen. You can then load in another kit or make yourself a new kit.
28. Your Digi Kit is saved in a folder in you’re my Documents call My Digi Kits, I suggest you copy this to another hard drive once you've added some kits just so you have a back up.  Please remember not to copy this folder and give it to others as that is braking the law, these files are for your own personal use no one else’s just as you are not allowed to copy the CD’s.

I know this may all sound a little long winded and a little complicated but once you've done this a few times you will be doing it without thinking.  

I’m also doing this with all the MCS CD’s I have as although I do use the MCS software I prefer Craft Artist as it much easier for me to use.  There is a place for both and I wouldn't be without MCS as there are something’s this software does that Craft Artist doesn't.  I’ve paid good money for these CD’s I want to be able to use them in the software of my choosing by making each CD into a Digi Kit version I have the best of both.

If you have any downloaded scrapbooking kits you can do the same thing and make your own version of a Digi Kit from them, they also tend to come with some lovely covers for the kit.I hope you find this useful, just give it ago you will be amazed by the CD’s you have that you forgotten about, gives them a new lease of life.  Feel free to contact me if you get stuck or need any help, feel free to tag others if you think they might find this helpful.

How to make a Mask in CAP 2

We've all bought a digikits that has in them a black mask and we think that’s pretty but how do I use it in CAP?  Well after playing around this is how I use them and how I add them to a kit for use in CAP.

1. First of open CAP and go to Digikit Creator, in the embellishments tab import all the items including the masks and frames.  Do the same to the other tabs importing the papers and any alphas you may have.
2. Once you’ve done all this it’s time to close the Digikit Creator, and sort out the making of the Masks.
3. Now on a blank sheet you need to drag over the Mask place it roughly in the centre make sure it’s not too big as you need to draw a box around it in a bit.
4. Right click on the Mask and choose copy now right click again and choose paste.  DON’T MOVE EITHER IMAGE OR THIS WON’T WORK
5. Now on the right where the layers are you will see that it says Layer 1 (2 items), click on the arrow and you will see both images.
6. Now click on the last image, once that image has been selected move down to the arrange tab at the bottom right there should be a circle with quarter points on it you need to click on this now.
7. You will see that in the layers it now says Poly Curve click on this one again and change to colour to red. NOTE: don’t worry if the whole picture including the background goes red sometimes this happens it’s just how the images has been made.
8. Now click on the first image, once highlighted you are going to need to draw a box around it.  Just make sure the box you draw is just a little bit bigger than the original.
9. Once done you need to fill it in, in white click on the image again and move this to the front (arrange tab).  Now leaving this image highlighted, go over to the Blend Mode and choose Erase.  Now click on both the image and the rectangle and group them.
10. Next go up to the top menu Tools and click on convert to picture.  Your image may have turned all red that’s okay, got over to the Blend Mode and choose Erase again.  Now go back to the Tools menu and this time, choose Convert to Frame.
11. It won’t look like much has happened but if you look in the Layers menu you will see there is now an arrow next to the Frame, click on this.
12. Now at the bottom of the layers there is once image that’s called Poly Curve and this will most likely be in red.
13. Click on this and move it up to under the image that’s call picture.
14. Now you just need to delete the two images below, click on the first one then holding down the CTRL key click on the other once as well now with your mouse click on these two highlighted images and choose Delete.
15. If it’s worked then you Mask should now be grey in colour, if this has worked then just drag this over to the frames and place a copy in there.  Now you can use this Mask as a photo frame too. 

I keep both the original and the converted Masks in my kits as you never know where or how you are going to want to use them.  Just repeat this for all the Masks you've got then re-open the Digikit Creator and save the Digikit.  I hope this helps and you give this ago it a lot easier to do than it sounds and the affects as so well worth it.