Cutting and sticking* #3!

*Bored of this title yet?

So I'm now pretty much done with this Spy vs Spy piece. Thanks to a very helpful guide that I found online after a great deal of searching, I've been able to create die-lines around my composition's shapes (i.e. White Spy, Black Spy and the breathing mask). These are needed to show the vinyl cutter where it needs to cut around in order to create a sticker.

I'm going to be using a different method to create my final piece than I'd originally thought, and it's ridiculously less time-consuming. See, I'd thought that I'd be using the vinyl cutter to cut out each of the individual vector shapes which make up my final pieces, and then layer them to create the final effect (like a stencil). However, I hadn't understood that I'm actually able to print each design straight onto white vinyl and then that in turn can be cut out all by itself to make a sticker. That means I'll only have one layer to deal with, so I'll also be using much less vinyl, keeping the cost and wastage down.

With that enormous relief, I began following the step-by-step guide provided by a website called Sticker Robot, which specialises in printing custom, high-quality stickers for both business and pleasure. It was actually part of their own blog, which you can view at stickerrobot.com/blog.

Now then, the all-important process. Well, let's start at the very beginning!

Step 1.
The first step of the tutorial involved me having to split up the three elements of my "finished" Spy vs Spy artwork (White Spy, Black Spy and the breathing mask), in three different Illustrator files.

The second half of Step 1 was to copy each element into a duplicate layer above the original shapes. This was done simply by selecting the object layer and dragging it onto the "New Layer" button.

"Click and drag, students!" - Every ICT teacher ever. 

Illustrator automatically names the new layer "[...] copy" and puts it above the original.

Step 2.
I then had to "target" the "White Spy copy" layer using the targeting icon.

Using the targeting icon makes absolutely sure that every shape, path, fill and stroke on the current layer is selected.

After that, I had to click on the "Expand Appearance" option in the "Object" drop-down menu.

This makes sure that any objects that have been "transformed" or otherwise altered from their default position (such as those which have been rotated) are selected correctly. Observe below the difference the "Expand Appearance" option makes when applied to "warped" text.

Before "Expand Appearance".

After "Expand Appearance".

Much better!

Step 3.

To further ensure that every single thing was correctly selected, the tutorial suggested that I use the "Expand" option (also under the "Object" menu) as a failsafe.

It was here that I encountered my first problem. When clicking "Expand" in Illustrator CS6, one gets presented with the following window.

Scary tiny window! This is basically asking me exactly what I want Illustrator to expand (and therefore what I want it to select). I needed to select everything in the case of making a die-line, so I left all of the checkboxes ("Object", "Fill" and "Stroke") ticked.

It looked like I'd really found the right path, no? Oh, suit yourself. 

But speaking of finding paths...

Step 4.

I now had to use the "Pathfinder" menu to merge every single object, fill and stroke into a single object (with a single fill and stroke). 

If you can't admit that these lickle icons are vewy vewy cute - everything's fine.

Notice that there are two rows of icons; one's for messing about with shapes, and other's for messing about with paths. The tutorial began messing with paths. I needed to merge all of the paths that make up White Spy into a single path. This is done using the aptly-named "Merge" button.

Can't miss it.

Clicking the button produced this result.

No trouble! Well, not as far as a narcissistic, homicidal cartoon character is concerned.

Next, it was time to join the shape elements of White Spy together. This is done using the "Unite" button under the "Shape Modes" row (with the "White Spy copy" layer targeted, of course).

Lovely! But I'm fine, thanks. Option-click sounds like a bit of a lottery.

Here's the result of pressing that button.

So now I had an object of the entire White Spy design, all with one single fill and stroke. From this point, it was time to take the next step...

Step 5.

...literally. Oh dear.

Aaaaanyway - the tutorial now told me to apply an "Offset Path" to my new shape. The "Offset Path" function can also be found under the "Object" drop-down, and going to the "Path" sub-menu. Just need to make sure that the layer is targeted first!

Object > Path > Offset Path... (very OP!).

Ah yes, another window. This one allows, um, one, to change the distance of the offset path from the source path, and can also be used to change the type of corners that the offset path creates. 

As default, the corners (or "Joins", as they're called in Illustrator, corners being the "joins" between path segments), are set to "Miter". There are two other types of joins - "Round" and "Bevel". To illustrate what these short but strange words actually mean, I've created a diagram showing the differences between each setting.

From left to right, we have the "Mitre", "Round" and "Bevel" settings. With "Mitre", each corner is copied to the offset path exactly as it was drawn, which makes a line-only drawn shape (one without any specifically curved paths, like those created using the "Arc" tool) appear sharp and straight. 

As you may have guessed, "Round" gives every corner a more rounded look, which can be observed clearly in the more complicated shape - some corners are sharp, just the same as with the "Mitre" setting, but corners with positive angles (those that don't go back on themselves) are given a more rounded appearance.

"Bevel" is very interesting. Any curved corners are skipped from the bevelling process, which bends corners inwards on themselves. That's why the "Bevel" setting works on the square on the right, but the more complicated shape below it features no bevelling because of the curved lines.

I find that the "Round" setting is the best for applying offset paths to complex shapes because it gives the smoothest-looking result and the lack of too many sharp corners means that the vinyl cutter will be able to produce a smoother cut, reducing the risk of cutting problems because of jerky movements of the blade.

For a larger design like White Spy, I set the offset distance to 1mm in order to give plenty of clearance between the edge of the sticker and the design. That way, if the vinyl sticker paper were to slip under the blade, the risk of damage to the sticker design itself are reduced. As detailed above, I selected "Round" joins.

Here is the result.

Shadow-ception?

Step 6.

The final stage of the process is to repeat the "Merge" and "Unite" functions to the shape, which means that the offset path with be joined with the rest of the shape. After carrying this out, here was my result.

Comparing this screenshot to the previous one shows that the gap underneath White Spy's nose (yes, he is still White Spy!) has now been joined to the rest of the shape. 

Now I could finish off by changing the fill and stroke of the result to create the final die-line. The fill must be switched to "No Fill" and I've changed the stroke to magenta (#F0047F). It's normally advisable to choose magenta as the die-line colour because it normally stands out very clearly from the common colours used in most pieces of artwork.

So, after much ado about die-lines, here's the final White Spy sticker, ready to print!

Tell a lie. I spotted a couple of imperfections that I wanted to get rid of - I've detailed them below.

Bit too much of a bump around the eye there. Smoothed that out using the Delete Anchor Point tool.

This is actually a problem with the source path as opposed to the offset one. Fixed using the Anchor Point tool.

Ooh dear, that's a very unnecessary cut around the top of the boot there. Another fix with the Delete Anchor Point tool.

NOT GOOD - those explosion spikes are way too close the die-line. Fixed 'em with the Arc tool. Also widened the die-line around the "BANG!" text using the Delete Anchor Point tool.

Another unnecessary bump. Fixed with the Delete Anchor Point tool, of course!

If it's not an unnecessary bump, it's an unnecessary dip it seems. Fixed with the (you guessed it), Delete Anchor Point tool.

*sigh*. Fixed with the Delete Anchor Point tool.

Bit of a silly bump. Delete Anchor Point tool, please!

Same deal as the explosion spikes. Fixed with the Arc tool (for a change!).

Stupid dips. Fixed with the Delete Anchor Point tool.

And now for something completely different... please? Nope. Delete Anchor Point tool it is for that frankly garish armpit!

 Phew! Once I was finally happy, here's the finished result. Ah, the art of suffering for one's art!

Right - one down, time to rinse and repeat. Aaaaargh, let's just skip to the good bit!

Finished Black Spy sticker:

Finished Breathing Mask stickers (I had to do two, there was just too much room between the mask and its shadow):

And finally (I promise this is the last thing!), here's the finalised sticker set for my Spy vs Spy piece. Chuffed to bits! As an afterthought, I considered the name of the piece (which I want to be "I can't breathe", referencing Eric Garner's death, when he reportedly said "I can't breathe" eleven times before suffocating), and how best to convey the piece's message. A technique used by Antonio Prohias in his original comic strips was to write "by Prohias" in Morse code underneath the first panel of every Spy vs Spy comic strip that he drew. In this fashion, I thought about the "I can't breathe" title and had a brainwave - to use a Morse code generator to create "I can't breathe" in Morse. I then duplicated this eleven times, creating a semi-border. Because the eleven Morse sequences didn't balance out aesthetically as a border, I added "by Banks" in the bottom-right of the border. A simple, rectangular die-line was created around the new border, and hey presto, the piece is now ready for print. The spies and the breathing mask will be layered over the new border vinyl, which will then be attached to some thick, white card (the same sort as I used in "Slice and dice!").

So yeah, here's the final piece, ready to print, A1 size. Ta-dah.