templatemaker.nl

Help & FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

The template is too big for my printer!

Yes. Quite likely, it is. Boxes need quite a lot of paper, there is not much I can do about it. But, here are some suggestions:

1. Find a larger printer. Either use a copy shop, or buy yourself a A3 or A3+ printer. You can also print at, say, 50%, and use a copy shop to enlarge the template with 200%. (Note that if you want to enlarge from A4 to A3, you need to scale with 141%. And, from A3 to A4 is 70.7%)
2. If you need a plain, straight box: use the multi-sheet box template.
3. If the template is only slightly bigger then the sheet, you might still tweak it to fit. From the detail page of a template, choose the paper size (Letter or A4, most likely). You will see a preview of the template at the right-hand side. Maybe you can decrease the size of the glue flaps to make it just fit. Also, note that glue flaps need not be perfect. If these end up in the unprintable margin of your sheet, then it doesn’t matter. You can always draw them with a pencil before cutting.
4. Create 'tiles'. First, for the paper size, choose the paper size that your printer can hangle. Then, from the list of file formats (PDF, SVG, etc.), choose TILES. This will create a multi-page PDF with overlapping tiles that you can assemble. See this example video
5. For the cone-template, you can easily reconstruct the template on a large sheet using the calculated dimensions given on the top of the template: draw two concentric circles with the given radii, one horizontal line and diagonal line, originating in the centre of the circles. The angle of the two straight lines is also given on the top of the page.

The dimensions are off!

This happens a lot when you print from PDF, because Windows or Mac tries to ‘help’ you by scaling your document. So, from the print menu, turn scaling off or (equivalently) set scaling to 100%.

Also, it helps to choose the page size for the paper that you will be printing on. For example, “A4” or “US Letter”.

For Silhouette Studio: by default, when a DXF is imported, it is scaled to fit your paper size. This is very inconvenient. So, turn this setting of. From the main window, choose 'Edit' → Preferences → Import → DXF. Under 'open', choose “As is”

How do I open your files in Silhouette Studio (the free edition) ?

The payed versions (Silhouette Studio Designer edition) can open PDF files and SVG files. The free (OEM) edition can not. But, it can open DXF files. So, you can choose the DXF-option from the listed file formats. Because of the limited DXF support of Silhouette Studion, all lines will be imported with the same color. Either you have to select all the fold lines by hand and give them their own color and cutting-settings. Or, you can choose to download a “perforated DXF”, where all the fold lines will be created as perforated cut lines. (The machine will sound like it‘s trhowing a house-party when cutting these.)

Be sure to import the DXF in the correct size, see previous chapter.

How do I create beautiful artwork from your templates?

You would need a vector-editor. The most famous one is Illustrator (from Adobe), but you can also try your hand at Inkscape. It’s free, open source and works on all platforms. I really recommend it!

How do I open my files in Cricut?

From Templatemaker.nl, choose 'Cricut' as the file format.

1. In Cricut, start a new project.
2. Choose ‘upload’ from the toolbar on the left.
3. Choose ‘upload image’.
4. You can either drag the file you just downloaded into the ‘drop zone’, or press ‘Browse’ and find it on your computer.
5. Cricut will show you a preview of the image.
6. Choose ‘upload’ from the lower right corner.
7. You should see a series of ’thumbnails’ at the bottom of your screen under ‘Recent Uploads’.
8. Select the template and press ‘Insert Images’.

Cricut can also read the DXF and Perforated DXF file formats.

The SVG files generated by Templatemaker.nl are standards-complient. However, the Cricut software ignores colors or linestyles.

I suggest choosing the 'Perforated SVG' file format. That will create perforated cut lines instead of fold lines, making it a lot easier to prepare your box template for cutting.

Cricut messes up my templates. It is just a random bunch of lines now?

After importing, select the whole template and click on the attach button. This should keep the paths in their proper place.

What kind of paper should I use? How heavy? How thick?

The choice of paper depends on the size of your models. Small models can be constructed from copier paper, while larger models require heavier paper known as 'card stock.' Refer to Card Stock for more information.

In metric units, you should look for paper with a weight between 180 and 300 grams per square meter.

For imperial people: look for paper that is between 3 to 4 times heavier as copy paper.

My files are opened in the wrong program! (Windows)

Maybe this helps?