The Lettering Stencils in Your Computer

By: Jennifer Blackham

I love the look that hand-cut letters add to a layout. When I first started scrapping, I purchased some lettering stencils and quickly learned the trick of reversing the letters to tracing on the back side of printed- papers (so that stray lines would not be visible) and was quite content and happy. While browsing through a magazine, I noticed some block letters that I liked, and looked to see what stencil had been used. The information on the layout said the author had used a computer font and electronically reversed the letters and printed them on the back of her paper. I was immediately intrigued by the idea - but there was only one problem. I did not know how to do this. No one seemed to know - I asked my brother, the computer guru of the family, I asked my scrapping friends on various lists (even one devoted to computer scrapbooking) and could not get an answer. Eventually, I was told that some printers had this capability - but by then I had (finally) figured it out myself. It is simple and easy, and can be done with the basic word processing programs (Microsoft Word or Corel Word Perfect) that most scrappers already have on their computers.

Microsoft Word

When you are creating this type of lettering in Word - you are actually drawing; so the first thing you want to do is to bring up the "drawing toolbar". To do this, select "view" from the top menu, from this dropdown down menu, click on "toolbars", then select "drawing". This will bring up the drawing toolbar on the bottom of your screen.

Select: In the center of the drawing toolbar - there is a blue, slanted "A" - this will bring up your WordArt. You may also bring up WordArt by choosing Insert (from the top toolbar), selecting "picture" from the dropdown menu, where WordArt is one of the options. When you first bring up WordArt - you will be asked to select a style. The default style (in the top left corner) is a simple outline, which is what we want. Press "ok" to continue.

Edit: You are now able to edit your WordArt text. Type in your title and change the font to whatever you wish. You can also change the size, but you can change the size easily at an time in the future. Press "ok" to continue. Finalize Placement: Your title will be transferred to your document. You may change the size just as you would any graphic by pulling at the corners. You can increase/decrease the size in general, or only in one direction (making it taller, wider, etc.) You will want to move your graphic from the center to a corner of the page to conserve paper when printing.

Flip: To reverse the lettering, bring up the drawing toolbar by clicking on the "draw" tab in the drawing toolbar (bottom left corner). Select the "Rotate or Flip" option, giving you the choice to "Flip horizontal" - Your graphic should now be a mirror image.

Print: If you are working with printed papers, make sure you put the paper in the printer so that the printing will be on the wrong side of the paper - when you cut the letters out, the correct direction will be on the printed side, while any stray printing lines will be unseen on the back. You may also want to select the "economy-fast" option (under your printer properties) during printing to conserve ink.

Word Perfect

Select: From the menu at the top of your document - choose "Insert" then choose "Graphics" then choose "Text Art" Edit: You are now able to edit your text. Type in your title and change the font to whatever you wish. Go into your 2D options and change your text color to white (so that you will only have an outline when printing) and press close.

Finalize Placement: Your title will be transferred to your document. You may change the size just as you would any graphic by pulling at the corners. You can increase/decrease the size in general, or only in one direction (making it taller, wider, etc.) You may also move your graphic to a corner of the page to conserve paper when printing.

Flip: To reverse the lettering, look at the graphic toolbar that appears when you click on the TextArt box. There is an option to "Flip left/right around a vertical access" (the symbol looks similar to >|<). A warning stating it is changing the format will appear - click ok and the letters will be reversed.

Print: If you are working with printed papers, make sure you put the paper in the printer so that the printing will be on the wrong side of the paper - when you cut the letters out, the correct direction will be on the printed side, while any stray printing lines will be unseen on the back. You may also want to select the "economy-fast" option (under your printer properties) during printing to conserve ink.

Benefits of the Computer

First - you don't have to find and buy the expensive templates. Second - you save the time of hand-tracing you lettering, while getting perfect letters every time. Third - you can use ANY font, allowing you to get completely unique lettering, and also matching your titles to the same font you use in your computer journaling. Forth - you have complete flexibility in the size of your lettering. Not only can you make them as big or small as you need, but you can also change just the width or height. There are also options to make all the letters the same height, different shapes, etc. If you have Microsoft Works or another word processor . . . look to your printer settings. If you check the features under the properties tab, many of the newer printers have a "flip horizontal" option. Note - it does not show up visibly on your screen but will be reversed when printed. I haven't used a letter template since I started using my computer. Armed with my scissors and xacto knife, I don't mind cutting the letters, and feel that since I have already saved the time of tracing, they are worth the extra effort. But don't throw out your templates just yet - Stencils still have their place in scrapbooking. Most of the limitations of computer lettering are based on the printer. You will use up slightly more paper, as you cannot push the letter quite as close together as you could manually. Also, templates allow you to use up scraps of paper that would not be able to go into a printer. The traditional stencils also come in handy when creating your letters out of your photographs. Not every one has, or feels comfortable using a computer. However, if you are reading this, you presumably have some computer experience. Although there are programs you can buy aimed directly at scrappers - take a look at your word processing programs and see what they can do first. I think you will be pleasantly surprised to see what you can do with what you already have.

Popsicle Font - Ariel Black You are always sure your title will fit nicely on your page, because you can see the spacing and make any necessary changes before printing

 

SWAK SWAK Font - Playbill Sealed with a Kiss Font - CK Script Although it is a bit of work to cut out, you can also use cursive fonts as well.

 

Easter '96 Font - DJ Crayon It isn't just the big, blocky letters that look great hand cut, the smaller, narrow fonts work too.

 

Rock-a-Bye Boat Boat Font - Jiffy (Expert Software) Journaling Font - Scrap Casual (Inspire Graphics) The wavy writing at the bottom of the page is also done using Word/Text Art.

Experiment with the features!!

 

 

 

 

 

This article and the images contained herein are copyright 2000 Jennifer Blackham and Scrappers Haven. Articles and designs are for private use. Any publication whether in print or online must receive written permission and be accompanied by credit to both the artist and Scrappershaven.com