Wildgoose

Cutting master is a proprietary graphtec cutting program that they give you a basic version of with any graphtec cutter. Won't work on anything else that I'm aware of. Signcut Pro normally has a subscription and then if you would rather you can buy a dongle (usb Key) to own it for life. Dongle is about $300.

Thanks Dawn! I particularly like the last one. I'm a class A CDL holder myself although I don't get out there much anymore.

It does and actually may be the one thing it excels at. I hope you are making that pretty big or the little lines on the music bar will give you fits.

That pressure seems a little high but I guess you were cutting matte finish. I run mine around 85 or 90 for most vinyl. I am still on the original blade that I started with in june or july of last year. These Summa blades are tough!

I use quickbooks and while I am not a very good accountant type, it does a great job with invoices and the part I like is that if you record things accurately it will track your inventory real nice. I just wish I had a little better understanding of the accountant side because I make a mess each year and my accountant friend cleans it up.

You can get an aftermarket brand drive for half that too. My drive went out on my iMac (common I hear) and I found a different brand at best buy for about $40. I think it's LG but I can't remember and I'm not at home right now. I currently design on my mac and then cut with a window laptop over at the cutter. I just transfer the files on a thumb drive.

Welcome to the forum. There are several parts to the equation like the previous post alluded. You will need to be figuring out which design direction to head as well as the actual application of the end products. Can't go wrong with the Graphtec cutter, good choice. I was hesitant to invest too much when starting out because I was afraid it would be a waste of money. It didn't take long to get hooked and then I was wishing I had bought a better first machine. Was real happy when upgrade time came! Design program options in order of cost Inkscape Corel draw Adobe Illustrator Flexi The flexi is actually available in multiple set up variations as I understand but is widely accepted at THE sign makers software. Very few of us on here have the full suite but quite a few us the starter version to cut with. Inkscape is totally free and not a bad program.

"Lets do the time warp again......"

I guess I did! The cool part about this bumper was that I built it with cardboard first and then made a full scale model in Illustrator and exported it in a dxf file and had a friend of mine cut it with his plasma table. Easy peasy!

The average joe will walk by and glance and see Warn, the seasoned wheeler will do a double take and get a good chuckle out of it.

OK mark, good to know. I may try downloading a free trial or something to give it a whirl before I decide. I like the $ound of $100 better than $300. I'm just so used to signcut that it worries me and I spent money on SCALP thinking it was going to be awesome and was disappointed. Flexi is much less worrying because they definitely know their stuff but I have been worried that the base versions wouldn't do much. The Summa comes with MacSign and Winplot to do rudimentary cutting but without upgrading there isn't much in the way of utility. No nesting, no tiling etc... Thats not new to me because there is even less options available in Signcut

I also started building separate color files for each job so I didn't have to fight the program getting those messed up. I decided on my big HTV orders from my maim clients to do it that way all the time because I can stack all of one color in a smaller area and save a lot of vinyl so i still do some files that way.

Ya I remember that I did. Seems like it did better in one version or the other but I can't remember which it was. I think it liked the newer CS5 which surprised me because most other cutting programs I have tired like it in version 8 except when I contour cut with winplot and it likes version 3. If you are in doubt at all post the file and I will open it and make sure there aren't any problems with the file itself.

Here is a pic. The back design was one I saw online somewhere and made my own copy.

Ok I did four shirts for a friend of a client of mine, she supplied the shirts from costco. While we were discussing the layout she mentioned she had this old heat press in her garage her folks had given her and her husband would like out of the way. I told her bring it over and I'd take a look. I am probably dumb but I traded her vinyl job which would have been about $8/ea. for $32 but in actuality used about 5 feet of HTV for this old old OLD I mean OLD Hix HT 400 clam press. Serial number is 5101...way old. It's a dinosaur but I think it might be just the ticket for a back up if my swing away takes a crap.

Are you guys using version 8 or 10? Ok let me give you a few real world scenarios to see if it is comparable to SignCut. You have a large detailed design and during the install you make two mistakes and need to replace one little piece over here and another little larger spot over there where the wind blew and the vinyl stuck to itself and is ruined. The rest of the design is ok. Can you isolate two spots (or more) on a design and just cut those two leaving a user determined (say 1/4") overlap to patch it up and will the program nest those so as to utilize the vinyl as efficiently as possible? Does flexi read the vinyl width from the cutter? Or do you have to tell it how wide it is? Can you insert weeding lines and a weed boarder? Does Flexistarter have a cut by color option? Sorry for so many questions!!!!

Way to go dude. I like the design. I have a Red Jacket Firearms shirt that has a Zombie Response Unit circle on the back. I'm telling you the JPSS is like nothing else. That RJ shirt has been through the ringer so many times I've lost count and not a sign of a problem in fact the graphic is so soft you can't even tell how it ever got on there.

I have a big old half chow half black lab that is silver and black and looks very similar to a bear. He tries to act all tough but he's a real pansy. The UPS guy has him all figured out and brings treats. Last box I got he must have been in back because the deliveryman left his treat sitting on the top of the box! Too funny. I don't have a fence and I let my dog roam free and I have no sign (although he is old enough his hips are getting bad so he stays put mostly). I'm liable to get sued some day I just don't like chaining him up. He knows he's not even supposed to bark and won't do it unless it's dark and he wants in the house.

The cutters are all about the same for the most part so try a MH or P-Cut or a different brand. There will be a few minor differences with the buttons and such but the vids aren't going to show much of that anyway. Some of that stuff is just better when you have hands on. Don't take my comments wrong either, feel free to ask questions when you need answers. MOST of us won't give you a bad time. LOL Videos worth watching are the ones about weeding and application and applying app tape using a squeegee properly etc. Take everything with a grain of salt too because nothing says any one of us knows what the heck we're doing either. Ha ha!

Do a LOT of searching and reading on the forum. There are answers to just about everything you will encounter. Also recommend watching any youtube videos that you can find for extra tips. It's not super complicated but it is a craft that takes some practice and learning. We are here to chip in and help but we all have jobs and are trying to make a buck just like the rest so time to spend on the forum is sometimes time away from our own work. Be mindful of your requests and try to find the answers you seek first and the forum will be appreciative. This is about as helpful of a group as there is anywhere and most of us have received a lot of help and then have stayed around to help the next guy just out of appreciation for what we got at the beginning.

Hey I said that first!

Wow Jaybird. I must have gotten lucky with the one I had in stock. I just used it up after setting here for several years and it was fine. That one looks like it was run over by a forklift while rolled up. maybe they do that to increase the amount they can fit in a shipping container. doh!

Probably a good learning machine. The cutter is just one part of the equation however but the whole process is exciting and enjoyable. Welcome to vinyl.

I agree with the others just re-do it on your own, you'll score big brownie points. You were in a rush is why it happened anyway. You might also be able to swing by with an exacto and slice an equal amount off the other side and I doubt you could tell the letters were off. It just shows up because the box is so obvious.

That's a state by state thing and it's all about sales tax not income tax. In Idaho I did it quarterly the first two years and then last year I they changed and said I was below some threshold and I only had to send it in at the end of the year. My sales doubled so I will probably be back to quarterly this year but I haven't heard.