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KDM - I agree with haumana, that you are to be commended for giving AI a shot. Regarding the cut of that design, though, gets back to what Mz Skeeter was trying to help you with. AI does not tell your machine how to cut, or how deep to cut - or anything other than where to cut, from this point to that point. If you have a second layer in your design, the machine is still only being told to cut from point A to point B a second or third time. If your blade depth is set correctly, a second cut or even a third cut on the same path will not cut through the backing paper. That is from the voice of experience... I usually always do designs with the pen tool first, and that is one of the reasons why.

I did some designs in 651 just testing them and threw them up on my painted eggshell paint, They peeled right off years later, Didn't hurt the paint. but most 651 is gloss.. You really want a matte to keep the shine down.

I put up some 631 waves on a textured wall with no problems and pealed them off easily a few years later. Although I could see how a skinny design might have trouble sticking to a textured wall. Surface area plays a really big role in how well something sticks and how easy it is to remove.

I suspect you still have too much blade exposure. The circles that cut all the way through are most likely a combination of too much blade and a double line in the design. With a double or more line, it looks fine in the design but the cutter will go over the line 2 or more times. That with a combination of too much blade exposure would easily cut through the backing paper. When you peal your designs off the backing paper, looks closely at the paper. Is there only a light indentation, or is the paper scored/cut?

Agree on the matt finish it looks better indoors however 631 in my opinion is one of the toughest installs there are. The other misinformation is that removable note says if removed within a year or some such. So if you leave it hanging for a long time it is about the same as the other offerings as far as pulling it down. The adhesive is water soluble which would be easier to scrub off but in my limited experience no painted walls handle scrubbing anything off very well. I did some early testing when I started out with my cutter and put up some of both. Like Skeeter mentioned I really had no big issues with pulling off the 651 and did not see adhesive left behind. Nothing goes on eggshell textured walls very good but 631 goes on the worst probably due to the water based adhesive and also needing higher tack transfer paper to deal with the matt finish.

definitely go with matte.

Kudos for trying to trace! I have to admit that I'm an absolute "short cut" kind of person, and am always perpetually grateful for Inkscape I think tracing your own artwork is very admirable. I, on the other hand, have zero creativity and have to rely on others - thank goodness I'm surround by a bunch of right-brainers! Anything original, that's done on old school paper is awesome! I have done my fair share of tracing (what Inkscape isn't able to vecotrize for me), and I kind of suck at it, but at some point, I get tired of tweaking the nodes and just send it to cut to see how good (or bad) it looks. Many of the custom hand-sketched stuff comes out decent, and the results may not be perfect, but the customer is usually just super stoked to see their creation turn into something they will undoubtedly end up plastering everywhere they possibly can. If they complain, I will generally spend more time to clean it up and smooth it out, but most times, they're just grateful that they found someone to do it in the first place. Let me justify the "less than perfect" results by saying that most times it's for family, friends, and/or friends of friends, and I do preface it with, "it's just a rough cut, and it can be smoothed out," and let them decide whether they want to chase down that rabbit hole to pay me for more tweaking time. I will generally provide a few sample at no cost because a lot of times, I do it in my spare time and cutting is not my 'day job.' If it's a company/corporate gig, then yes, I will spend copious amounts of time editing if necessary, and a proof goes out for final approval before I go into mass production. Pat yourself on the back, because I wouldn't have put forth the effort that you did to create original artwork! (seriously!)

Goodnight.

It doesn't look right to me.. Either you made a lousy design or the N is cut wrong. The corners are not sharp/ square. They are rounded on each side. Bottom of N top of N. (Is that the way it is supposed to be?.) The white design zoomed up looks like the vinyl is cut too deep and the vinyl is lifted up everywhere. The X left upper corner is not right, It goes further into the background vinyl. A properly set Graphtec cuts better than that. No way should the cutter be cutting thru the vinyl like that..thru the design, and cutting thru like that will put gouges in the cutting strip.

Seems from the photos that your blade is cutting right through the backing paper -- it should not do that.

glad you got it working - they are amazing cutters. sometimes my "rudeness" is a ploy to snap someone out of their current train of thought and relook at the issue with fresh eyes - we see a lot of people that get going on what they think is the problem and have a hard time getting to the systematic troubleshooting. Now you can help the next person with an issue and a mac (real experience is worth more than guessing ) - - - -we have a few mac helpers but not enough and several of us old timers that are set in our ways just don't like em, doesn't mean they are not great machines just we are set in our old ways :/

I want to thank you for your time it was a user error and it’s official I do not know how to talk when it comes down to the issue I’m having. I did not notice the tab issue at all, I had it above not below & I guess when I was looking at the manual I was not understanding what it was talking about so I was just winging it thinking it was a force / speed issue. The machine works amazing and no issues with my Mac I’m officially a happy camper. First 2 cuts with it ..... cut very very nice the anchor I don’t know why it punched holes at top but I’m sure it was the way I made it in adobe illustrator because the rest of the vinyl is perfect.

no, not really.

food truck night in battle creek if the rain isn't too bad - - - - for the others I used to work in a womens prison the first 10+ years of my career - where I met my wife. (did that help?)

What's she in for this time? LOL You might want to clarify this for our other forum members

Cool, if you ever need a custom blank made let me know, I only have the mold for wall st or sierra, and 30 cal bolt action , getting more when I can afford them