Making my own "skin" for my Kndle Touch using Make the Cut and Printable Vinyl

Hey everybody.  Welcome..  I wanted to share with you a "skin" I made for my kindle touch using inkjet printable vinyl.  The vinyl I purchased was orginally white and on a roll (though they do sell sheets to easily fit in your printer).  I cut it down to an 8 1/2 x 11 piece to fit in my color printer.  I purchased the vinyl at H& H Sign Supply online here: http://www.hhsignsupply.com/productcart/pc/Inkjet-Printable-Vinyl-c620.htm.  I think that you can buy similar product else where as well.

I had never used this vinyl so I wanted to give it a try.  They also sell a clear laminate to put over the top of it to help preserve it. It is tricky to do - tried one really messed it up!  LOL  So, this one does not have it on there!  Probably would be best to use it though if you are using it for something like this.  I would apply it before I did the actually cutting.

I made my skin template using my Make the Cut software and its basic shapes after having figured out the required measurements from my Kindle Touch.  (I had tried to find a template for the Kindle Touch but couldn't find one online.  I found one for most every other type of Kindle and lots of other electronic products but not the Touch! So I decided to create my own using MTC!)

Once I had the template created, I created new layers to create the "print and cut" elements that I wanted to print on my "skin" (The print and cut elements I used ARE NOT included in my MTC cutting file I am providing below even though they were free images I found by doing a google search online for images of Mickey.)  I used MTC's text element to create the text that I put on the front left side using a free "Minnie Font" I have on my computer.  I then used "pixel trace" and "texturizing" to pull in the two other picture elements that I wanted to include (the small mickey on the front and the magazine cover on the back).  Due to the way that I have my "skin" template laid out on the mat (so that I could get both out of 1 8 1/2 piece of viny) I had to rotate those images outside MTC before I pulled them in so that I could then resize them as needed. If I had not done that, I would not have been able to rotate them inside MTC and also been able to keep and rotate the texture too.

Couple of things to note: First, since I wanted to "cut out" the middle for the screen and the small square area for the vent on the front but I wanted to make sure that it was all "blue" I didn't "join" these elements.  This keeps them from being "white" if they don't cut just right. This is also why they are "colored" similar to the front cover so that no white shows once you print and cut out these pieces.

I first cut out a sample template out of plain regular removeable wall vinyl to make sure my template fit.  (This is the purple template you see).  Once I knew my template worked, I then did the print out of my template with my images with registration marks from Make the Cut and then I used my cutter to "cut it out".  I then simply adhered my vinyl skin to my Kindle Touch and I have my own skin I created myself! How cool is that!

Note: Be careful when working with this so that you don't accidentially move any of the elements or accidentially resize them.  I do no lock my "layers" on my files but you may want to do so to ensure no accidential resizing or moving while working on your project.

If you have a Kindle Touch and Make the Cut and would like to make your own "skin" for it then you can download my Make the Cut file here: MTC Kindle Touch Template.

For various reasons that I won't get into right now, for now at least, I will only be sharing this template in the Make the Cut format. I may, at a later date decide to share it as an svg file but I am not doing so right now. I hope you will understand.  Please feel free to leave me a comment if you are interested in it in that format so I know to reconsider. Also leave me a comment if you have any questions.  I did leave some "detailed" notes and photos of my project in the Notes area of MTC.

As always, thanks for stopping by.  I hope to see some projects using this skin soon!