If you want to play along with the home game, you can download the signature, a sample Microsoft Word contract and a sample PDF contract by clicking the links.

For this step, you'll need:

• the digital version of your signature that we made in the first tutorial
• sample PDF contract
• InDesign*
• A rudimentary understanding of InDesign and it's most basic selection and text tools

*I'm using InDesign CS5 on a Mac. This should work in other desktop publishing programs, including Scribus, a free open source alternative, but the individual steps my vary. You can refer to your help menu or user manual for more guidance.

For the sake of simplicity, I'm going to opt for the least technical explanations, I can. Most steps have a keyboard shortcut equivelent, but I'll tell you where the option is in the menus, and I will describe tools by how they appear, not necessarily by their technical name.

Open InDesign and create a new document. You will want to have the same number of pages as there are in your contract. Set your margins to 0 and make sure your pages are the same size as your contract. Contracts from Europe will likely be on A4 sized pages. Contracts from North America will likely be on Letter sized pages. That's pretty much the extent of my default paper size knowledge. Since you don't need to print anything out, it doesn't matter, your digital file can support either or both sizes, if you like.

New document dialog box

The next step is to place your PDF. Go to FILE | PLACE and navigate to the PDF of your contract.

File | Place

IMPORTANT: click the SHOW IMPORT OPTIONS check box before proceeding.

Show Import Options

This will bring up a set of import settings. Choose to import ALL the pages and set the "Crop to" drop-down to "Media".

Import settings

Your cursor will change, giving you a tiny thumbnail of the first page of the contract. Click in the upper left corner of your page to place the first page of the contract. If you have multiple pages to your contract, the next page will now be loaded into your cursor and you can place it on the next page of your InDesign document. Continue this process until all pages have been added.

Contract is now placed in InDesign

Note: The default setting in InDesign is to show a low resolution preview of the PDF in InDesign. This is not reflective of the actual quality of the file. The quality is determined by the original PDF and whatever export settings you use when you make the signed version of the PDF.

Navigate to the point in the document where your signature should appear. Go to FILE | PLACE, as we did above.

Select your signature file but turn off all the check boxes that were turned on before. We do not want import options and we do not want the signature to replace any selected images.

Find your signature and turn off import options

Your cursor will now be loaded with the new image. If you just click, anywhere on the page, the image will appear, or you can click and drag a box that matches the size you want your image to be. Either method will work but the latter will save you the step of having to resize your signature.

Place your signature

With the black arrow tool selected from your toolbar click the signature.

Select signature

And drag it into place or nudge it with the arrow keys on your keyboard. Even though the black signature is on a white background, if you created a bitmap TIFF file, InDesign will treat any white pixels as transparent, so your descenders can dip below the signature line.

The signature in its place

That's pretty much it for adding an image. If that's all you need to do, you can skip ahead to the end, where we make a PDF to send.

If you have text to add to the page, you'll need to select your standard text tool from the toolbar. Use this to draw a box over first space requiring text.

Use the text tool to create a text frame

Type in the relevant text. If, after typing in the text, the frame is blank or the text cut off and you see a little red plus sign, that means your frame is too small to hold the text. Use your black arrow to resize the frame.

With your text frame still selected, go to OBJECT | TEXT FRAME OPTIONS to modify your text frame.

Modify the options for your text frame

The default vertical alignment is TOP. From the drop-down, choose BOTTOM. This step is totally optional but it makes it easier to align items to a visual baseline.

Set vertical alignment

If you were about to fill out a bajillionty page contract or job application, and you wanted to save yourself a few moments, you could use this opportunity to define the current text frame settings as your default text frame settings. That's a bit out of the scope of this tutorial, but the options for defining object styles are in the Object Styles Palette, which look a little like this.

The vertical alignment change will push your text to the bottom of the text frame. It will look something like this.

The date is aligned to the bottom of the text box

You can nudge the text frame so that it is as far above of the line as you find visually acceptable.

Nudge text frame into place

To quickly create a second text frame with the same attributes, hold down Option (Mac) or Alt (PC) button and click and drag on the text frame. This will create a copy of the text frame, leaving the original one where it was. Drag or nudge it into its final position.

Create a second text box

Double click on the frame to edit the text or switch to your text tool, and then modify the text.

Update the new text box

Continue in this manner until you've filled out all the applicable information and signed in all the indicated spots.

The only step remaining is to create a PDF. Go to FILE | EXPORT. A dialog box will appear. Choose Adobe PDF (Print) from the Format drop-down list.

Choose PDF from the drop-down

Name your PDF and click Save to complete the process.

Save your PDF

That's it! Your contract is ready to email back and you have a signed digital copy for your records.

I may actually add a part 4 to this 3 part series. Microsoft Word does allow the placement of PDFs and you could do a hybrid of the two methods to sign a PDF in MS Word. This would work well for people who do not wish to invest in buying and/or learning a desktop publishing application.

If you want to play along with the home game, you can download the signature, a sample Microsoft Word contract and a sample PDF contract by clicking the links.

For this step, you'll need:

• the digital version of your signature that we made in the first tutorial
• sample Microsoft Word contract
• Microsoft Word*

*I'm using Microsoft Office 2008 on a Mac. This should work in programs like Open Office, Pages, or other word processing programs, but the individual steps my vary. You can refer to your help menu or user manual for more guidance.

Before we get started, let me just say that word processors are called, "word processors" because they are meant to, um, process words. I know, obvious. But the point is that word processors are not layout design tools. They support including images and spreadsheets and flow charts and various and sundry other bells and whistles, but just as you'd want to track your businesses expenses in Excel, not Word, you need to accept that Word manages layout design duty the way Carrot Top manages his face (it ain't pretty.) All this is to say that while Word does an acceptable job of allow you to plop your signature into a document, it's not an ideal solution. Personally, if it's an option, I'd rather save the document as a PDF and use the method I'll be outlining in the third and final portion of this tutorial. But it's good to know these skills, regardless, so I'm covering them here.

Begin by opening your contract in Microsoft Word.

Place your cursor where you'd like to place your signature and go to INSERT | PICTURE | FROM FILE

Insert picture

Navigate to your signature and double click it.

Note: If the image is grayed out, it means the signature is a file format your word processor doesn't support. Word is pretty accommodating, open source alternatives may be more restrictive. If your image file format is not supported in your word processing program, open your signature in your photo editing software and save it as another file format. JPEG should work fine for this purpose.

Your image will now appear somewhere near where your cursor was. It has probably caused portions of the page to reflow, move or shift in some aesthetically unpleasing way. Depending on how the page is formatted, it may look acceptable or it may look more like the example below.

Image imported

Double click the signature to pull up the Format Picture dialog box. Your dialog box may look different than the image below. Look along the left side and choose the LAYOUT option from the list.

Format Picture Layout options

From the Wrap Style icons, choose IN FRONT OF TEXT. When you make edits, in the dialog box, you'll see changes happening on the page. Do not be alarmed if your picture jumps around even if it's not in you view at that moment. Click OK to continue.

Find your signature on the page. Mine jumped down to the bottom. Remember what I said about Word being a not-good tool for layout? This is a good example. Why changing the wrap should send the image hurtling to the bottom of the page is beyond me, but there it is.

Signature on the loose

Move your cursor over the signature, click it and drag it into position. In Word, I place it just above the signature line so that it doesn't overlap. You can drag the corner of the signature, holding down your SHIFT key so it doesn't distort, to adjust its size on the page.

Signature in the right place, at the right size

Depending on how your contract is formatted, the underlines may be created by applying an underline style, adding an underline to a tab stop or by typing an underscore repeatedly. I find the last used most often so that's what's in our sample contract, but in any of those cases, you'll probably need to include the date and your name somewhere. Unless someone has made an interactive form, there's really no pretty way to handle this short of reformatting someone else's file so I usually just settle for the"good enough" solution that follows.

Select enough underscore characters to accommodate the date. If you are using a MM/DD/YY type format, you won't need to select many characters. If you are using the FULLMONTH DAY, YEAR format, you may need to select the whole line.

Selected underscores

Type in the date. If you removed too many underscores, you can simply type additional ones in. If you didn't select enough underscores and some have jumped to the next line, just delete them.

Repeat this process for your name.

Add your name

And that's it!

You can email your contract back as is, or save it as a PDF if you prefer. Personally, I'd rather send a PDF which can be locked so that the signature file cannot be reused. It's not a foolproof plan but handing a high quality picture of your signature off to someone you barely know, just seems a little unwise.

I have a fax machine at home, and I could print out my contract, sign it, fax it to the person who needs it, who probably gets their faxes printed out on more paper and then I could wait to get a copy of the version they signed, and file that away, but honestly, that seems wasteful and unnecessarily labor intensive. I'm also partial to storing files digitally so the paper workflow is not ideal. I have enough unsorted clutter in my house.

As a side note, while I'm posting this as a knitwear design tutorial, it really is just a useful thing to know in general. This skill was invaluable when we were buying a house, and again when we refinanced. If you are applying for jobs, filling out contracts, or signing any file you receive digitally, you can use the methods I'll be covering.

In this post, we'll be covering the creation of a reusable image of your signature. Because I'm not completely out of my gourd, I am going to be using a signature of my nom de rien, Lady Awesome Pants, as opposed to my actual real signature, which someone might want to use for nefarious reasons.

In the following posts, we'll discussing using the image to sign your contract.

If you want to play along with the home game, you can download the signature, a sample Microsoft Word contract and a sample PDF contract by clicking the links. You can also download the unretouched scan of the signatures, here.

For this step, you'll need:

• pen
• paper
• scanner or digital camera
• Adobe Photoshop or photo editing software of choice*

*I'm using Adobe Photoshop CS5 on a Mac. If you are using a different photo editing software, you may need to refer to your user's manual.

Find yourself a good, medium point, dark (preferably black) ink pen and a clean piece of paper (no lines, no show-through from anything printed on the other side) and write your name and/or initials a bunch of times. Try to do this on a surface that's not too hard, a catalogue under your piece of paper works nicely. Press firmly as you sign. You don't want a light whispy signature, you want something clear and legible.

Signature Samples

Once you know you have at least a few examples that you like, get ready to scan your page. I usually scan the whole page. Sometimes, it's not until after you've cleaned up the scan, that you can tell which signature will work best. I like to scan at a high resolution, in grayscale, to ensure I get all the detail I need with no unnecessary noise.

Scanning settings

If you don't have a scanner, you can photograph your signatures with a digital camera, just make sure you do so in good, natural light, on a background that won't show through your paper and that the signatures are in focus.

Depending on your scanner, your digital camera, the lighting, and whether or not you fed your Mogwai after midnight, your digital file may be too dark or too light or otherwise somewhere short of perfection.

Note: If you scanned or photographed your signature in color, convert your file to Grayscale by going to IMAGE | MODE | GRAYSCALE before proceeding.

This raw scan is not living up to its full potential

In Photoshop, go to IMAGE | ADJUST | LEVELS

This will bring up a set of sliders that will allow you to clean up your scan. Bring the black triangle as close to the white triangle as possible. That will make everything on the page either pure white or pure black and remove all shades of gray. Play around with moving them more to the left and more to the right. One direction will make your lines appear thicker, the other will make them thinner.

Adjust Levels

Next we'll convert the mode to Bitmap. Your image must already be grayscale for this option to be available. If it's not grayscale, convert it now. Bitmap files are made up of only black and white pixels, no shades of gray, no color. This is a good format for pixel based logos and line art. Additionally, many programs, like InDesign, Quark and other desktop publishing applications, will view the white pixels in bitmap images as transparent, which can be useful with signatures that are supposed to sit on a line. You'll see how this works in the InDesign portion of this tutorial, to come at a later date.

Go to IMAGE | MODE | BITMAP

Change Mode to Bitmap

Choose 50% Threshold from the Method drop-down. I like a resolution of about 1200 dpi. I would avoid going below 1000 dpi.

Settings for conversion to Bitmap

If you adjusted your Levels properly, you won't notice much change in your file. If your signature looks too washed out or too blobby (technical term) after conversation, that means you didn't adjust your Levels slider to be close enough together. Simply undo and adjust your Levels further.

If you are happy with the results, you can crop your image so that you only have your favorite signature visible.

Cropped

Save your file as a TIFF.

You might be thinking, "But Marnie, what is this TIFF madness of which you speak? Why can't I save it as a JPEG?"

JPEGs do not support the BITMAP format because JPEGs are always, RGB (color) images. So all that work converting to a bitmap, to make a good quality piece of line art, will be lost. It will still work well enough, but if your image software supports Bitmap and TIFF format, that's the way to go.

That's all there is to it. You now have a lovely file of your own signature, that you can use to sign digital files.

In the next tutorial, we'll talk about using the file to sign Microsoft Word documents and in the third and final installment, we'll use this file in InDesign and talk about adding typed text to PDF forms.

Now on to the interview.

Marnie MacLean [MM]: Hi Kate, thank you so much for taking the time to do an interview with me.

Kate Atherley [KA]: Thrilled to talk to you!

MM: For my readers who may not be familiar with your work, can you tell us a little about yourself?

KA: I'm a teacher, a designer and a tech editor. I was born in the UK, but I live in Toronto. I'm lucky enough to live less than 2 blocks from my local yarn shop, Lettuce Knit. I studied mathematics at University, and worked in the IT industry for 15 years before becoming a full-time knit professional. When I'm not knitting, I can be found with my husband, walking our rescue hound-dog around our neighborhood, and drinking coffee.

Top-Down Triangle Shawl: Spring Leaves by Kate Atherley
Photograph © Kristen Caldwell 

MM: Can you tell us a little about your new book Beyond Knit and Purl and for whom it's intended?

KA: I've been teaching knitting for 10 years, and my most popular class is the Project Class. It's a multi-week workshop and knitters bring whatever they want to work on. Every month I meet knitter who have mastered the basics of working the knit and purl stitch, but are struggling to make the leap to working a pattern. My book is for those knitters, or for knitters who are looking to expand their skills and are seeking a way to learn about socks, lace, cables and colorwork. It's not just for new knitters: it's for any knitter who is looking to better understand the craft, the techniques and the patterns.
Learning to handle needles and yarn doesn't teach you anything about choosing or reading patterns – they are totally different skill sets. My book addresses that side of things. I've tried to capture all those things you need to know to be successful in knitting from a pattern – things that aren't typically written down. I've included a glossary to help understand how patterns are written, I've included an explanation of sizing, how to read a schematic, information on ease and tables of standard ease for different styles. I've got suggestions for specific project types based on skill level. I've got explanations on how to join a new ball of yarn, and lots of advice of choosing and substituting yarn.

MM: In my experience, designing simpler patterns can sometimes be even harder than designing involved patterns, as you really have to think like the knitter instead of running with your own whims. What sorts of goals did you set in designing the patterns in the book and what sorts of hurdles did you face?

KA: The objective was to design patterns that are simple to execute and yet build skills at the same time. Because the book is organized by "skills" – shaping, working in the round, socks, cables, lace and colorwork – I had a framework for the patterns – each pattern includes skills from a previous section, and one or two of the skills taught in that particular chapter.
The key is to remember what it's like to be new – to remember that knitter might not know how to weave in ends yet. I had to question everything about the patterns and the designs – would a knitter understand and know everything they need to know to work it? And if they might not, then it was up to me to teach the skill. For example, I have a top-down one piece baby sweater in the first set of patterns, and although the first version of the pattern had the sleeves worked in the round, I had to remind myself that knitters might not yet know how to do that, so I had to adjust the pattern to allow for the sleeves to be worked flat. And then, of course, I teach mattress stitch so that knitters can be confident about seaming the sleeves.
And I have a built-in test audience: the students in my classes. Many of the projects in my book come directly from these classes, and have been road-tested by knitters of all skill levels. If a pattern isn't successful, my students aren't shy about letting me know!

Classic Cabled Sock by Kate Atherley
Photograph © Kristen Caldwell 

MM: When did you learn to knit and how long did it take to become a passion for you?

KA: My grandmother, Hilda, taught me to knit when I was a young girl – probably 5 or 6. I don't actually remember learning, it's just something I've always done! Although I knitted on and off through my childhood and teens, I didn't take it up seriously until I finished university and had some spare time on my hands. And it became a passion and a serious pursuit for me when I found the first edition Nancy Bush's Folk Socks. I loved the idea of making socks, but because I have pretty small feet I embarked on a journey to learn enough to modify the designs to make them fit.

MM: Was there anyone in particular that helped usher you into designing and teaching?

KA: Folk Socks is what pushed me into designing, although at first I was designing just for myself. I started teaching when the girlfriend of a co-worker opened a yarn shop, and she needed instructors. And I've never looked back! I am very grateful to Lorena for giving me that break!

MM: What has been your most epic knitting disaster?

KA: That's easy: the big green monster. Before I understood anything about gauge or ease or fit, I made a reckless yarn substitution. I worked a pattern for a cropped, slightly loose and boxy turtleneck sweater written for 18sts/4 inches in a bulky lime green mohair at about 14 sts/4 inches. It's still cropped but hilariously wide – about 50 inches around when it should have been 38 or so – and what should have been a turtleneck is a wide and short cowl. But I still have it – and I actually wear it! With a miniskirt, boots and a fitted turtleneck under it, it's a fun outfit for the coldest days of winter. Plus an excellent cautionary tale.

MM: Excluding glaring mistakes and omissions, what is your personal pattern peeve when working from someone else's patterns?

KA: It's a little thing, but I get pretty worked up about SSK. A common "definition" or explanation of SSK is given as "slip, slip, knit". I teach a lot of newer knitters, and if that's the description you give them, things are going to go horribly awry… There are so many ways of messing up SSK, and if we don't give a proper definition, we can't expect knitters to get it right! If I could change one thing about the way the world writes patterns, is that we stop spelling it out as "slip, slip, knit" and give a proper definition: "slip next 2 sts one-by-one as if to knit; insert tip of left needle from left to right into the fronts of these two sts and knit them together".
I'm also very disappointed by patterns for socks and mittens that are "one size fits all". The size of adult hands and feet can vary enormously: I have a US size 6 foot, and one of my best friends wears a size 11. The idea that the same size sock will fit us both comfortably is ridiculous! If we're going to go to the trouble of knitting socks, they should fit well.

MM: Is there anything that you particularly like to see in patterns, that is not necessarily the norm?

KA: The majority of sock and mittens patterns are prescriptive about needle configuration: 4 or 5 double-pointed needles, or magic loop, or 2 circulars. They don't need to be! After all, the basic construction is the same, it shouldn't matter what needles the knitter chooses to work with. We put knitters off if we're prescriptive: if you're only a magic looper, then you'll avoid all those patterns written specifically for DPNs. I love seeing patterns that are written generically, that work with any needle configuration. More options for knitters!

MM: You're going to be on an extended vacation, somewhere cool and isolated, with lots of alone time. What will you bring with you?

KA: My Signature 2.5mm DPNs and a huge collection of wild colors of self-striping sock yarn, and 5000 yds of laceweight and a bunch of Japanese stitch libraries!

MM: Back to your book, which pattern are you most pleased with and why?

KA: I must confess I love the houndstooth socks in the colorwork chapter. They look so much more difficult than they actually are!

MM: Are there any other patterns you'd like to make special note of in this book?

KA: Each chapter has a mini-project, to allow you to practice and build your skills. They're no more than an evening's work, using up scraps of yarn, so you can try something out without making a major commitment of time or money. There's a dishcloth, a lacy bookmark, a catnip-stuffed cat toy, a mini sock ornament, a coffee cup cozy and a phone cozy. These were a hoot to design, and I think they're just as much fun to knit. I also included a top-down one-piece construction baby sweater as it's such a popular type of project – and can be so very daunting to new knitters.

Houndstooth Sock by Kate Atherley
Photograph © Kristen Caldwell 

MM: You got lots of great hints and tips from knitters, peppered throughout the book. Can you tell us a bit about why you talked to the people you did and what you think their input brings to the book?

KA: I talked to my friends, my colleagues and my students – both experts and new knitters. I wanted to capture those little bits of wisdom that don't normally get written done, the advice that you get when hanging around your local yarn shop. It was important to me to talk to new and "average" knitters, as their experiences and advice are most relevant to the readers of my book.

MM: Is there anything else you think people should know about this book?

KA: It's not just for newer knitters – even experienced knitters have told me that they've learned new things and had questions answered. For example, I explain what the big deal is about "twisting the round", and why I never worry about it until after my first round is complete because it can be fixed. Even my editor told me she didn't know that trick!

MM: Thank you again for taking the time to do this interview with me. I think it'll be a great resource for new knitters.

Six folded bags and a sash to keep them tidy. Don't mind the wonky hook and loop tape.

The sash can hold up to 6 bags...

...or as few as 2 bags

Templates for the tree and leaves are included in the pattern.

The squirrels are killing me

There was an air show

Panda entertained us with her acrobatics

And the other birthday girl seemed utterly pleased with the whole day.

I guess it works out that the things the birthday girls want to do most, cost us very little. I believe they call us "cheap dates." If you average out for dog years, Thea and I are about the same age, this year. As a pup, she was such a handful, unfazed by reprimand, destructive, and mischievous. She's matured into one of the most sweet, loving and playful girls you could ever imagine. I love her so much and am glad to have an excuse to share my birthday celebration with her. Here's to many more years to come.]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MarnieTalks/~3/6niZ1pHeRl0/yah_yah_yah_cue.html http://www.marniemaclean.com/words/2012/02/yah_yah_yah_cue.html darwin misc ocean oregon panda quilting sewing theano Sat, 25 Feb 2012 09:25:45 -0800 http://www.marniemaclean.com/words/2012/02/yah_yah_yah_cue.html Vogue Sewing and while doing so has certainly been helpful, when it comes time to actually sew a garment, I'm often at a loss to remember which couture tips should be employed and how. I end up sewing garments just as the instructions tell me to, not that there's anything wrong with that. To be honest, though, I have tended to pass up patterns that require things like linings or boning or other more advanced construction features because I still feel like a real rookie at the whole process. What I needed was a good class but time and money make that a bit tough. Lucky me, Craftsy offers some online courses and one of them is all about making a well constructed, perfectly fitted, couture style bombshell dress. Yes please, and may I have some more?

• Panda turned 11
• We celebrated our 1 year anniversary with Darwin
• And Leo and I hit 11 years together (eesh, how did that happen?)