dbtoutfit

What I am trying to say is, many people on this site interested in my OP are people trying to get into printing decals from the ground up. Say what you want but what you are talking about simply doesn't happen with Brands I have used. Hexis and LexJet being two of the many. I simply could not accept this in my business, customers would not allow it. SImple. I don't want the little guy to get discouraged and believe they have to spend a fortune to do decals or to get into the business and when someone is sending out little messages of discouragement based off uncommon occurrences I can't set idle. They all have advantages and disadvantageous. I wouldn't use a Plane to fly 10 miles no more than I would use a VW to travel 400 thousand miles. I forgot #3) The ones that feel the need to justify their $10k-30k investment. How many sticker decals you got to sell to reach 100% ROI on that kind of money? I'm not going to run the mimaki to make 90% of my sticker decals. It's overkill. Got better paying jobs per Square inch to use it on like any other serious shop. I have a full understanding of whats achievable and whats out of reach. What makes money and what looks like it makes money. I'd rather be fast than look fast. Just like your self I didn't start doing this yesterday either. Thank you for sharing your experience it is one I have never encountered or heard before. I would be highly interested in the product/s that have had this issue you dealt with first hand so I can avoid them at all costs.

If you're saying that solvent adheres better to the vinyl than the absorption layer that is applied to the vinyl via manufacturing process for water based inks, I Disagree. At least from any reputable company i have EVER used. In all my years I have never seen one issue where the vinyl and absorption layer separation was an issue or have I ever considered this as a basis to make a decision on the best print approach for any job reqs. Solvent is over rated and Latex is underrated. Most the people I see talking UP Solvent Printers are one of the two people. 1) Salesman 2) People that don't own a Solvent Printer.

If you're only getting 6 months from your prints. Solvent, Aquos, you name it and its UV laminated. You got other issues. Eric

You would be correct, I got basically the same answer "it will be in the next update". So if this is assistance then I stand corrected. The support leaves much to be desired that's for sure...

No suggestion? Not to be a jerk, But this isn't something I'm making to hand to my BFF. I have customers. I cant set idle until just when ever. What do I need to do from my end to resolve this issue? What Can I change in AI to get consistent results? Eric

I can get some to work, however the issue lies somewhere with the color settings. I have another graphic, when i import it into VMC, its in grey scales and looks to be inverted. I was able on the one i am having problems with right now, to save as EPS. I saved in EPS and unchecked CMYK Post in RGB. It imported fine into VMC with the colors a little different shade. This leads me to think some of my graphics have a mix of CMYK and RGB and this is causing the issue. Can you confirm if this is an issue? Eric

End Result FWIW.

Here is what fixed the issue.... I messed with all these options but never this combination. Started adjusting the rasterize settings and found what the problem was... No matter what, Transparency can not be checked. Must be on "White" No Matter what. Anti-aliasing Must be set to Type Optimized (Hinted) Screen shot of the settings that provided the correct output. I make my cut lines but you could use the Create Clipping Mask and give it an offset to create your contour cut lines. its worthless to me cause it doesn't allow you to enter a negative value to set the Clipping mask inward.

Anyone had this problem yet? I have spent all yesterday working on this issue. I have no idea why it is doing this. In each file, one graphic is 100% Raster with a inside bleed vector cut line. I had no issue with the VW Van (below), I was able to use my cut line, print and cut. Everything came out as expected. But everything else I have tried has imported in Grey Scale or Black and White. I prefer to have control over the cut line cause the VMC autotrace doesn't hold as tight of a tolerance in corners etc. Also messed with saving as SVG, EPS and PDF. They all have their set of issues. PDF has same issue as AI file. I played with every setting in AI for 9hrs now. I'm stumped, I give. Eric This one comes in perfect. This one Has everything blacked out? (Left image is 100% vector) Right one is mixed. The one I need.

Here is a template that will give you every thousand of an inch of work room. Template is saved as Illustrator CS3 format. This template is precise. Works for Simple and Advanced Contour Cut in SC. I also Included a graphic I have had many request for as a bonus and a way to make it easy to see how to swap your graphic for the included one. The boarder has extremely fine lines. In the right lighting you can see the corner of the guides in the center of the laser eye. (Very helpful) These thin lines should help you get an even more accurate cut from top to bottom of the decals/sticker. (Use 3 point Reg) Disclaimer Because of the high tolerances and it being made specifically for a LP24 I can not promise any other machine will not have issues with this template and it may need to be shortened. Some printers or print settings may not allow for the width of the guide lines. (This template was designed with typical print settings to help it be universal, No Boarder less print settings was added) This goes for some cutters as well. Some cutters will not allow the head to go past the rollers left to right. If your machine is like this you'll need to modify the width of the guide lines inward. Other cutters have different design features such as shorter or longer rollers to and from the cutting head. Some machines also may have a lip further away from feed roller this could result in a bunching of the media. The template will allow the paper to come to the very last lip on the backside and front, any further and it would risk bunching up and jamming the vinyl cutter. If the paper does some how jam turn the power off that second. Though unlikely to harm your cutter I take no responsibility if something major goes wrong! If you are running a into this issue using an LP24 then something is wrong, laser eye offset, cutter calibration or poor alignment of reg marks in setup. If you are just starting to use SC for contour cutting use PACO template. Once you have determined your getting satisfactory results then you can use this one from then on. PACO template is safer for first time contour cut setups. I personally have tested this template and my results were extremely accurate. Again I take no responsibility if anything goes wrong! Good Luck and enjoy! Eric SC AI CS3 Contour Cut Templates.zip

Its been a while (since I got the machine when the LP first came out) that I've done contour cutting. Well now I have a Large format printer, So this weekend I have been back to hacking at this crap again. Just when I though Signblazer CC was a PITA. (But it works) When using Simple Contour you can click "Simple Contour" 1st and THEN load the paper manually in the machine. Then run your reg alignment and cut. Only issue you run into here is IF your work area is too long for the media and the roller wheels have nothing left to carry its left hanging out of the front of your machine. With advance it doesn't move the substrate at all until after you do the reg alignment and THEN hit the cut button.... and there goes your media right out the back. Whats the fix? Keep your bounding box small (not much larger than Paco) But this sucks and limits the size of your decals/sticker etc. So I spoke directly with SC they finally understood what I was explaining. Their suggestion... use a carrier, Pi$$ on a carrier just more crap to deal with. I told them the movements (IMO) are unnecessary and are useless to the end user and certainly if its used to calculate the code behind the scene that it could certainly be done with out any output movements to the cutter. I also added if it was a necessity then why did SignBlazer not need these movements for CC's?? Maybe I'm the one missing something? I explained this issue is all over the net and suggested someone get with applications and R&D this issue or at the least revisit it. I was told they are going to send the issue up stream for review... So if your new to this problem here's the answer. Minimize your work area. (least for now) (use PACO template and don't enlarge/stretch it by too much) or don't use advance CC stick with Simple if you can get away with it. OR use a carrier. : ( For the rest of us we'll see if the changes come about... Eric P.S. Paco most/all your links no longer work in your posts, prob due to the new theme etc....

I don't know what the heck I am doing wrong but after 6 hrs of hacking at this freaking thing its still spitting the paper out. It was a little tricky with SCx2 but this new one has got me scratching my head and saying WTH! [sigh]

The straight forward answer to yellowing or discoloring clear vinyl is... NO This is a fact with Oracal 651 and I have even used cheap clear vinyl in my early years for printed decals and the clear never changed a bit, never dulled, color changed etc, peeled off the same as it went on after 4 years prior. Eric

Theoretically any laser printer, its going to be hit or miss. Eric

Hate the thickness and other issues with Solvent based decals? Check out my Other Post on How to thermal print Direct to Oracal 651 or any other regular vinyl using your home based Laser Printer. How to thermal print on the cheap and cheap! Eric