Wildgoose

Are you talking application tape? The mildest app tape that I personally have used is the R-Tape clear choice AT 60 which is a medium tack. It works pretty good but occasionally it has trouble getting the vinyl off the carrier. Not sure if that's what you were trying to ask or not.

I have heard the same problems reported by others. I have a swing away but just a 15"x15" without the extra attachments. I saw something on youtube where a guy put heavy drawer rollers under the base unit so it would pull out toward him and push back under the platen, It was a great idea but required some building.

I had SCAL Pro I think you have SCALP too the three is in there but everyone on the forum just calls it SCALP. Anyway I never tried to export directly from illustrator to SCALP and I don't know if there is a plugin to allow that or not. I gave my copy away with my old cutter so I am rusty with the details but as of the last time I was using SCALP it was able to cut from native CS5 version of Illustrator. Not sure at this point with upgrades and all and I don't know what version of Illustrator you are running. About every other cutting software needs to be down-saved to version 8. I THINK that SCALP will cut from version 8 but it was a little glitchy with the cut by color when I had it. I often just designed different color files if I was having trouble. So I just save my files to in my current case Illustrator 8 (When I was using SCALP I just saved it then opened it in SCALP) and then open it in my cutting program. I have a plugin to export directly to a cutting program that came with my new cutter called MacSign but I don't really like the program so I use a completely different one. I think since you own SCALP with your cutter I would stick with it and worry about all the other new things you are going to find in your new adventure. Illustrator is a beeaatch to learn but WELL worth the trouble. It is the standard that all the other program compare themselves with. I'm not knocking the other programs out there because you can do proficient work with several of them unfortunately SCALP is very lacking in the design side of vinyl work. Decent for cutting although they are still lacking a few things they were supposed to get figured out last summer. The biggest problem most beginners have with AI is that its similar to having a high end professional camera that prefers someone who knows all the ins and outs and is comfy with all the settings. Once you get a handle on it you will find that you really mainly work with a basic set of tools. If you have problems post up your questions and I'll try to pass a little info your way. What version are you running BTW? I am running CS5 which is a couple versions older than the new Cloud based version CC. You may have to interpret my help if you have a newer or older version. The functions are basically the same but sometimes they hide them in different spots and occasionally rename them or change a default setup value here and there. When you are playing around with the program go into the "View" menu and select Outline mode which will let you just see outlines. This is what your cutter is seeing. So when you get done with a design it's a good idea to use this mode to check it out before you send it to your cutter. You will notice that any text that has not been outlines will show up as colored and not outlines and raster images will basically be a blank box. Another few tips for your set-up tip is in illustrator>preferences make sure the following things are set: In General make sure "Scale Strokes and Effects" is on, in Selection of Anchor display be sure that "Object Selection by Path Only" is selected, that is a big deal, also select "Highlight anchors on mouse over" some of these may be a default on already. In Appearance of black set on screen display to display all blacks accurately. There are probably a few others in the preferences panel but those are the main ones. The last big tip I would highly recommend is back in the view menu there will be an option to either show or hide bounding box. Hide it and enjoy. As far as I have seen no other program lets you get completely rid of the bounding box. I did a 30 day trial of the newest Corel and it would get close but still had these annoying dots around the objects. The bounding box has a purpose and if you want to do a quick rotate or stretch or all that jive just turn it back on real quick, Quick keys "Shift>Command>B" or Shift>Control>B on a PC I think, the rest of the time it's just in the way. With the setting set this way you can select the line you want to work on (remember the select objects by path only setting) and if you click in the open somewhere it doesn't automatically select some object you really didn't want to select. By not having the bounding box on you can see clearly the line you are working on because the line highlights and depending on if you use the black arrow to select the whole object or the white to just select a node or line segment you can manipulate them as you see fit. Good luck and have fun with it.

Do you have any problem with thicker garments or using a heat pillow? I notice it doesn't have a floating platen but the base looks like it might give a little whether it is supposed to or not. It heats up great and has consistent temp over the whole platen.

I think it is possible to cut from a mac but it might not be friendly, mainly the cutter drivers but that machine should come with SCALP (Sure cuts a lot Pro) which I believe you can get either format. Absolutely on the illustrator! You will be able to import your illustrator files into SCALP and cut either from your design computer or some of us mac users design in mac then cut with a windows based computer but you don't have to do that. If you find yourself having problems with SCALP there are other cutting programs out there you can buy or lease but for your application I think SCALP will work fine. If you are already proficient with Illustrator which from your post sounds like you might be then don't waste your time with Inkscape. It's a decent vector program especially since it's open source at no cost but Illustrator is way better. If you don't already own AI then you might consider Inkscape to keep the cost down but if you are AI trained then your going to be frustrated with Inkscape. (I keep a copy on my day job computer) You will have to learn to use your cutter but it's not rocket science and the software just takes a little getting used to. This is hands down the best forum for someone in your situation. Nice people , willing to help without flaming you for everything you ask. I would recommend spending a little time researching the various cutters and the problems associated with various models and make an informed purchase. I say problems because there are certainly some quirks that accompany most of the budget model cutters but they are not that big of a deal once you know what's going on. Main things to be aware of with most of the chinese cutters is static electricity causes glitch-outs and some models have memory lock-ups if you send too big of file or too many copies at once and off tracking can be a problem where your vinyl doesn't want to run straight. There are ways to deal with all of these. I used anti-static cling spray around my machine to avoid the static charge, Only cut about 10 copies at once and pre-feed your vinyl all the way froward and back once to be sure it's staying on the rollers to combat the three main issues. All in all the budget cutters are a great buy and if you are producing with them at all then they will pay for themselves in no time. I ran a P-Cut for about 2 years then made a the jump to a high end cutter once I decided I could make money at this. Oh and welcome from Idaho!

I doubt it. looks pretty easy to build though. My guess would be a block text like Helvetica or Swiss 721 that was used to build it.

That's the problem I face around here is there are a bazillion screen printers and to get much of the work I end up fighting for stuff at their prices which doesn't clear as much as it evidently does in some other parts of the county.

Thanks for the template!

Go-C I like that shirt preview, is that something you found out on the net? I have a couple but not quite that layout. As far as pricing I would probably be at about the $10 range for that much coverage plus the shirt. I usually give my discount in the "I don't charge a set-up fee, ever" kind of thing which has scored me a LOT of one off shirt orders and short runs. Then they come back when they have 90 for a camp and I make good money.

I THINK so but I don't design in inkscape so I never actually did it and I no longer have my copy of SCALP to even check. It's totally free so no loss except the time to try it out. I have played around with inkscape a little on my computer at my day job and am getting more proficient with it. It's a very capable design program, much more so than SCALP.

They can just go to Signcut and get their own subscription. I wouldn't list it as deficient but be sure and disclose to interested parties that they will need the software. They are going to need the ability to build vector graphics too through inkscape or some other program so the cutting part will be no big deal. They can probably get a copy of SignBlazer from UScutter that will cut and design.

YEA I got one!

I hate it when I do that! Like 100 times and then spend hours combing back through trying to find the font. I would guess at Goudy Hand Tooled. or some other open face

Nah, looks just like my place. All that crap is there as an ergonomic arm rest.

We have a guy in our area that outsources basically everything. He just takes orders and gets the items done elsewhere so he has no equipment overhead and just installs or even hires out the install as part of the deal. I don't know that i would want to work that way but I can see where if you were real good at sales but not at the other parts you could still make money if you can get the shops to give you a break from retail. I have had a local shop print a digital job I had a couple years ago and I have asked for an occasional quote for other things but they are soooo pricey that I end up just layering vinyl and saving the money for my pocket. I plan to use Dakota here on the forum next time I have an application. whether he is any cheaper or not won't really even matter, at least I'm pseudo friends with him! These other guys just consider me a competitor and grudgingly do me the favor of gracing me with their services.

I'd bet that's calendared vinyl. Thicker doesn't equate to better although it might equate to tougher in some situations. It definitely equates to cheaper. I have gotten away with Oracal 651 cast in a lot of flat app situations but I tend to shy away from vehicles or trailers with anything but a good cast that can handle the amount of expansion and contraction that goes on. I put a big rectangle of black green star with some white lettering on top (about 36" x 10") on one of our 40 ton articulated dump trucks a month ago. We needed to cover up an old logo from previous owner and I though that would be a great real world test of that cheap stuff we all love to bash so much. I'm curious how long it will go without showing shrinkage issues etc...

Was that coro black or did you have to cover it to start with? I agree with the others that no one that isn't looking for it will even give it a second thought. Specially since it for yourself.

Have you read the instructions? It's a classic style of "Engrish" Too funny!

Those look more like a cloth product and I can't see much of a hem, at least not like you would get on a regular banner. Maybe these are sublimated on nylon or something.

Ha ha! Ain't that the truth!

I have had trouble with color transferring onto teflon with shirt transfers, particularly on dark transfers that are facing up. When you switch over to a white shirt and have some carry-over it can ruin your day. A lot of scrubbing with goof-off cleaned my teflon but I switched to parchment paper that you would otherwise use for baking. Awesome product, cheap and plentiful and is the same thing they send with opaque transfers but larger. Nothing sticks to that stuff and if by chance it does you can see the color and toss it because it's cheap.

If you can see it happening then at least you are figuring out WHAT is going on then you can figure out what to do about it.

You might look into inkscape. It is a free open source program that does a good job and gives you way more design abilities. Many on here use it and then use SCALP to cut the design.

Sounds like it's getting converted to a dxf type file. Check your export settings. dxf files are for plasma cutters and use splines instead of brazier curves.

Poor tracking is just one of the trade-offs with budget cutters. You will learn some work-arounds to get by. I used SignCut-Pro as a cutting utility rather than SCALP and it has step-by-step cutting that you can set to cut a given length at a time (user defined). This works well for long pieces but not as helpful for text because it's almost impossible to guess a spot between lines of text and if it tried to stop half way through the letters is makes a huge mess. For text I was careful to order my letters in such a way that it ran through them in order one to the next. That's something that is easy to do in Illustrator but I have no idea how to do in any other program. Basically arranging the stack order of the letters, kind of sub-layers. SCALP didn't seem to care what order you put them in it just cut whatever it wanted (I tried it out early on and ended up selling/giving my copy with the P-Cut) Signcut would follow my order of design which was my work around. I don't know what to suggest in your case. I have noticed that SignCut Pro working with my Summa seems to ignore the stacking order rather than follow it. I don't know if that is a difference of the driver for the Summa vs the one for the P-Cut or a setting that I have clicked somewhere now that I didn't then but the Summa cuts so nice it doesn't matter so I haven't worried about it and it's less work in the design stage too.