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Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/26/2019 in all areas

  1. 2 points
    I agree with the others. The info you found was seriously inaccurate and sad that someone would even waste your time with that list. The Graphtec cutters and the Roland are about the only ones that I would call a commercial grade cutter. The FC being the best on that list and the most expensive. There are a LOT of other options out there as well. I started out with a Creation P-Cut (no longer offered at US Cutter) I think it was similar to what the new SC2 is putting out. In fact the SC2 may be better than what I had. I ended up getting busy and so I upgraded to a SummaCut which is priced right in between the CE and FC Graphtecs but the specs are higher than both except for down force of the FC. One train of thought that is NOT WRONG is that learning on a budget cutter will teach you more than starting out on a high end machine. You will be forced to learn the true art of tuning your cutter. As mentioned previously the MH (as bargain barn budget as it may be) is still capable of cutting decent mid sized work in the hands of a trained assassin. If you are going to try to cut really small stuff with text very much below 3/4" or anything very much over 3 ft long or anything that needs multi-layers to be aligned or anything that is going to be multiple copies then it's not going to make you happy. My P-Cut did ok on average stuff but I started needing multiple copies of Heat Transfer Vinyl logo's and it would only do about a dozen before it would overload the memory and wig out and ruin several feet if expensive vinyl or just stop in the middle. I had to "hover" over it every minute it was working so I could stop it if it started going wrong. It was susceptible to static charges and they would also cause it to do something awful. Hobbyist, no problem. Business, not happening. On top of ALL OF THE OTHER THINGS ON YOUR MIND you will need to carefully consider what actual design program you want to build files with. Vinyl Master has seemed to be rock solid and has about all the tools you could want (in the upper levels of the program, not in Cut or even in Letter). I have been trying to learn VM Pro but have not gotten very far yet because my days are so full with a day job and then my cutting work which is a side business. In the end if you really want to be a viable business you will need to become proficient in SOME design graphics program of which there is a list. The more popular ones include Adobe Illustrator (my tool of choice so I listed it first. Extreme on the learning curve I might add). Corel Draw is used by many and said to be easier to grasp for many people. Inkscape is a free option and several here on the forum are handy with it. (I am not) It's a bit clunky IMO but with practice you can do about any basic sign graphic. All three of the aforementioned are strictly design programs that you then need a cutting program to send to your cutter. Vinyl Master Cut that you have will do this just fine. VMCut may be missing some of the nesting and tiling tools for cutter interface. Someone who knows for sure may pitch in and clarify this. The other programs that offer design AND cut in one program include Flexi, (pretty much the boss when it comes to professional sign software and expect to mortgage your house if you were to buy the pro levels) Vinyl Master which you already know a bit about. The Pro level is pretty nice with all the bells and whistles for cutting. The Expert level is even higher but is aimed at print level production work. Then there is Sure Cuts A Lot Pro known as SCALP on the forum. There are several levels of this offering and some have had success with it as a design and cut. I tried a beta version when it first rolled onto the scene and absolutely hated it. If you are actually going to be in business you will be receiving customer files in a myriad of formats. Most I get are un-rendered pictures that I have to re-create. Some come in pdf and have the vector lines within, some in eps or svg vector as well. For an actual business it's a big part of the job and being capable will determine your success, that's why I bring this up. You probably better spend some quiet time deciding how far you plan to go with this. Download Inkscape and work through the tutorials and you'll begin on the path. I design almost exclusively on a mac in Adobe Illustrator and then I cut from a cut only program called SignCut Pro 1. It is both mac and pc compatible and probably would let you cut from your MacBook to your MH although the crappy chipset in the cutter will be an issue for you. There is a special adapter that will supposedly fix you up on that too called a Tripp lite Keyspan adapter (name brand, other brands usually do not work) but you would be stepping off into left field with little tech support if trying to make all that work on the mac. Your windows laptop will work just fine as a cutter controller as will your VM Cut program should you start designing in something else and just using it to run the cutter. Still need to figure out why it's not currently working of course but that sounds like a fine tune/mechanical issue rather than software issue.
  2. 2 points
    That is funny. ( and I do mean the ha ha) Who wrote that??????
  3. 2 points
    If you are not using a Windows side. How are you using Vinyl Master? It is for PC Windows only. The entire set up, Vinyl Master software and the MH cutter are to be run on Windows only.
  4. 2 points
    So I'm guessing you have not used your MH at all, because it's not supported on Mac? Bootcamp, VM Fusion, or Parallel you computer with some version of Windows as the secondary. If you already have your Mac with Windows capability, then try Sign Blazer, it's free and it works! It's going to be a new learning curve, but all software is. I hate learning new software too , but once I get the hang of it, it was worth the hair pulling and aggravation. In other words, is the software what makes the cutter incompatible with mac products? In a simple answer - Yes. Not so much as the software, but the driver that allows you to communicate with the cutter successfully. Is there a way to possibly force feed the Mac to cut on your MH - possibly. But you'd need mad skills to know what to try, be creative to think of a gazillion workarounds, and super patient to try them all. If you really want a cutter that will be Mac friendly, my advice would be to sell the MH, and get one that is supported for Mac.
  5. 2 points
    Links from 2014 have been changed, and the CURRENT (not publicized) USCutter archive for the v7.0.0 hybrid of SignBlazer is found HERE ----> http://www.uscuttersupport.com/downloads/Software/SignBlazer/signblazer_setup.exe and the operations manual (.pdf) -- remember it contains features not available in the Elements program (and Pro is no longer available, with all the different options for RIP, etc.) http://www.uscuttersupport.com/downloads/Software/SignBlazer/signblazer_manual.pdf Both of these links are NOT displayed or linked from the US CUTTER support pages anymore. Also, disable anti-virus software before downloading or installing, as the version of the application offered above has a code in it that will alert the protection scheme, but is actually harmless (it's a code that eliminates the Registration in SBE, as that is no longer required since the software is abandonware at this point).
  6. 1 point
    Started off on an original LaserPoint, finally upgraded to a Graphtec. I don't trust that ruler either, but gotta admit, I do use the tick marks on it when I'm cutting a sheet - I can see which direction the vinyl is drifting and make my adjustment from that. pinch rollers over the grit roller bar is definitely a must. I've had to put tape on my LaserPoint, above the carriage, so that I know where there is a break between the two grit rollers to make sure I don't accidentally drop the pinch roller there. yup, that took a few times to learn I wish I could say that I would never need forum help in the future, but that's not realistic for me. I will always need this forum for help, but admittedly, I sometimes bring weird questions, so it is what it is If you're still wanting to keep the MH, then sadly, Windows will be the way to go for you. That being said, Sign Blazer is free, and a lot of the other design/cut software have free trials. If the screen on your windows (assuming) laptop is too small, then you might want to consider the bootcamp/vm fusion/parallels route.
  7. 1 point
    It is a pain to set up the low end cutters, but when you move up to a better one, you will already know.
  8. 1 point
    Oh, and never trust that taped on ruler to adjust your vinyl. It was put on by a kid in china that don't care what you do.
  9. 1 point
  10. 1 point
    OMG! This thing had a manual? I had to learn via trial-by-fire.
  11. 1 point
    Well a year, or not. whatever the case - great application!
  12. 1 point
    For sure, I was taking about the lower ones he said was 651. Hood, ya maybe a year or 2 with 651.
  13. 1 point
    probably depends on the climate - right now we are at 0 and heading down to -14 by Wednesday - betting it shrinks more than in your climate
  14. 1 point
  15. 1 point
    software use for cutters are more based on what platform your computer is - PC or Mac. that being said, there is a bigger selection of different PC software that are compatible with multiple cutters - it becomes a personal preference as to which software you want to get to know. on the Mac side, the choices are much, much slimmer, unless you're willing to, or have already - bootcamped/VM Fusion/Parallel your Mac with Windows as secondary operating system. there are also free design/cut software out there for PC, that you can readily download and run without even having a cutter (i.e. Sign Blazer Elements, etc.), and other software where you can download the trial versions.
  16. 1 point
    Maybe this thread will help you
  17. 0 points
    OK. It's 2019 and I have the MH series 34" cutter. I am having little to no luck with VinylMaster Cut.... so have been thinking about buying Sure Cuts A Lot as a better software. However, I wonder why or if the new software will now connect my mac to the cutter?? If not, can anyone advise as to what will help with editing? These days I have to use my cricut cutter for almost everything and it takes a great deal of time...