Familiarize yourself with the parts of the Alto's Mat Cutting System by lifting off the cutting guide with the protruding legs. Notice that the holes are marked in 1/2-inch increments.
Lay the base on your work surface with the long plastic piece on the left. Locate the two sets of pegs placed in stepped fashion along the plastic, with each peg 1/8 inch closer to the edge than the one below.
Decide on the mat border width. For a 2-inch mat, find the holes marked 2 on the cutting guide and place the slots over the lowest set of pegs on the base.
Prepare to mark the back of the mat 2 inches from the top and side edges by placing the mat board face-down on the Alto's base. The cutting guide automatically falls 2 inches from the edge of the mat, so you can use it to mark the borders where the corners of the opening will intersect.
Mark the bottom border of the mat 1/2 inch wider than the rest of the mat. Establish the position for the line by moving the cutting guide to the 2 1/2 - inch slot on the lowest peg.
Leave the mat board face down and use the cutter provided with the Alto's mat cutter to cut the bottom border. Start at the corner pencil mark and stop at the next corner mark.
Re-position the cutting guide at the 2-inch hole over the lowest peg. Turn the mat 90 degrees at a time and make the cuts for the sides and top. The slices will overlap at the corners on the back but meet perfectly on the front.
Remove the center piece after the fourth cut. Turn the mat right-side up and check the edges and corners.
Position the art work behind the mat and tape into place with acid-free masking tape.