Attach is one of the functions in Design Space that you will use often. Attach does two basic things:
- Holds cut placement
- Fastens a write/draw layer or score line to a cut layer
Holding Cut Placement
The most common use for the attach function is holding cut placement for text that has been ungrouped. You might ungroup text if you are going to adjust the letter spacing.
However, if you don’t attach the ungrouped text, Design Space automatically rearranges the images to use the least amount of material. So, if your text is all “mixed up,” you need to go back to the design screen and attach.
To select what you want to attach, either
- click the button labeled “Select All” in the top row Edit panel to select everything on the design screen, or
- drag a bounding box around your image, or
- hold down the shift key while selecting the layers in the Layers panel
Selecting the images (text) that I want to keep in the same position relative to each other and clicking “attach” will keep them together when I get to the Prepare screen. Remember that the Design screen is not a representation of your mat, the Prepare screen is what will actually cut.
Selecting and attaching images that are different colors will make the images the same color. This is because attaching puts all the images in one layer. If you need to hold cut placement with multiple colors, select all the images of one color and attach. Repeat for additional colors.
Fasten to Write/Draw or Score Layer
Attaching also keeps score lines and write/draw lines in place on the image when sending the project to the mat.
To add a score line to an image, select the shapes menu and then click on “Score Line.”
The line can be rotated or lengthened to fit the image.
To get the score line in the middle of the card, select the image and the score line and go to “Align.” Select “Center Horizontally.”
With the score line and the image still selected, click “Attach.”
If a write or score layer isn’t attached, it will go to a separate mat after clicking “Make It.”
In this example the drawn image and the score line can be attached at the same time. Select the draw layer, score line, and the image and attach. (They can be attached separately, but attaching at the same time makes the layers panel a bit neater.)
All the attached items are on one mat in the Prepare screen. Design Space will prompt you for the appropriate tools after hitting “Continue.”
For more about using writing fonts and the write/draw feature, read my posts about attaching written text and writing on the inside of a card.
More Facts about Attach
Another function of the attach feature is that it can be used to cut an image or text out of an image. Read my post about cutting text out of a shape for more information.
There is one common situation where Attach should not be used. If you’re re-connecting cursive text that will be cut out, weld should be used to remove cut lines where cursive letters touch.
I demonstrate how to attach in this video:
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