OK, so let's talk about the new properties for flipping flakes at SnowDays, and try to make
some sense out of it at the same time!  Many folks preferred the OLD WAYS to flip flakes,
but I don't see a reason to dwell on this, as they are likely gone forever...

So, that being said, let's move on.  The new program, (thankfully), still allows for flakers to
'x'plore the other dimensions of their flake worX by seeing what they look like in the various
"dimensions" that the program displays them in. To keep things relatively simple here, I will
discuss and display just 3 of these "dimensions", but I have an entire page that discusses
them in more detail located HERE.

Below we see a simple (and rather happy) snowflake design.  I placed just 2 cuts into it, one
for the mouth and one for the eye.  The flake hasn't been flipped, so it sits in dimension "0".

(ALL FLAKES START AT "0" BEFORE BEING FLIPPED.)

One of the new ways to flip flakes is shown below.  Start somewhere below the triangle as
seen, cut all the way around the OUTSIDE of the creation triangle, then finish the cut again
along the bottom and below the canvas as shown. If successful you will see a true negative
design appear.  If not, hit UNDO and try the procedure again.

(A TRUE NEGATIVE FLIP IS PERFORMED.  WE SEE THE DESIGN IN NEGATIVE AND THE FLAKE IS AT "-1")

Now if we do the same cut as seen above, but go around the flake in the opposite direction,
(start at "F" and finish at "S") we come back to "0" and to our original flake design.  That's
because we have performed a positive flip on the flake this time.

If we do a positive flip on the original design (as seen below) we end up with a flake that app-
ears to be blank.  It's not really, the design is still there but it can't be seen. The flake's now
sitting in dimension "+1" and if you wanted to see the design again you'd have to perform a
proper negative flip as shown above.

So there's one way to flip your flake.  Take your cut all the way around the triangle and end
the cut near where you started.  As we've seen, taking your cut COUNTER CLOCKWISE
gives you a NEGATIVE FLIP and making a CLOCKWISE cut makes a POSITIVE flip.

You MUST make a PROPER NEGATIVE FLIP to see your design in negative.  Making an
improper or POSITIVE FLIP will likely show you a blank flake, (even though the flake's de-
sign is actually still there).

I've heard many folks complaining about the above flipping methods though, as it seems to
be a bit 'hit and miss' and many flakers find themselves performing the same cut several
times trying to get their flake to flip the way they want it to.  There is a much easier way to
accomplish flake flipping (in my opinion), and here it is...

Once again, let's start with our original happy face flake design, sitting at dimension "0"

Instead of making a cut going all the way around the flake, this time we only make a cut a-
long the bottom line of the creation triangle.  This cut is made right ON the bottom line, to
avoid adding unwanted cuts in the flake design itself.  If you cut from left to right, as seen
below, and follow the line, this cut is far more likely to make the flake do what you want it to.

Likewise, if we want to make a +1 positive flip, we do the same as above, but in the opposite
direction.  Once again, we get the 'blank' flake, but our design is still there.

Following along the bottom dotted line of the creation triangle is used only when you want to
flip the ENTIRE flake (to either -1 or +1).  Of course you can make a line anywhere in the
canvas and thus change the portion ABOVE your cut (just like with the old  flakey program)

Above we see what happens when making a negative cut on our original design.  The area
below the cut remains the same (at "0") and the area above the cut goes to dimension -1.

Below we see what happens when I again cut into the design.  This time I made a positive
cut (from right to left) and the area ABOVE the cut goes from -1 back to "0".  We are left
with the entire flake sitting at "0", Xcept the negative line in the design (-1).

Of course your lines do NOT need to be horizontal in order to flip an area of your flake.  They
can also be vertical, or anywhere in between.  Do a bit of "x"perimentation now you know how
the flipping worX and it'll be second nature to you in no time :)

These are just a few methods for flipping I have discovered in a couple days of playing with
the new program.  Perhaps you will (or have) discovered easier ways to flip flakes.  If so, I'd
love to hear about them!  ;)

This page attempts to discuss some of the MANY dimensions of flake making.  Still not too
sure what that's all about?  Please CLICK HERE to learn more about the + & - "dimensions".

by "X" - June 18/2010