slice&dice

Hi Buddy, these days things are really really slow around the USA --- from California, to Hawaii, to Maryland, to Florida, and everywhere in-between. You picked an opportune time to sit at home and explore software and play around with it. That's what I'm doing with VinylMaster, slogging through that learning curve. What kind of stuff are you doing with those crafty-cutters?

You might be waiting a bit for anyone here to answer about a craft cutter. The 'regulars' who participate in USCutter Forums own machines that are full-feature plotters, and operate with professional-grade design/cut software, like Flexi, VinylMaster, SignBlazer. Cricut is a unique, proprietary system and only functions within the narrow confines of what that company offers. There is no way around it.

OK, I can't help with the PSN, you may try to contact FutureCorp. support (it's their software). In the meantime, just download and install (disable your defender program 1st) this simple application which will allow you to start cutting in 10 minutes, (RedSail model). http://www.uscuttersupport.com/downloads/Software/SignBlazer/signblazer_setup.exe

Many businesses are closed. Perhaps that is one of them?

Welcome from Baltimore. "The Greatest City in America"

I can't listen to that thick accent for more than a minute... And those convoluted video instructionz are over 15 minutes! The Nesting feature is what I've needed, so I'll play with that a bit and see if it works the way I want. The key to it is having the stuff I want cut being selected FIRST in the workspace, before sending over to the cutfile manager. What am I trying to do? Here is signblazer doing it, with no tutorials, no complexity, no hassle -- it just happens, intuitively. Recording #3.mp4

In this particular thread, all that we're trying to accomplish is get the machine working --- i.e. troubleshooting to "see if the issue is software or hardware." The intricate feature details (of how to work within SignBlazer) aren't vital at this point. In fact, I've never even read the manual in all 8 years since I've been using the program. When you provide a link to that directory, at least mention the first SignBlazerElements link is not the right one to use, OK? signblazer_setup.exe is the V7.0.0 that people should utilize and not be bothered with the 2 startup screens (registration and trial countdown). My first reaction is to point to the hidden link for that INSTALLER DOWNLOAD itself, whenever I hear that someone is "having issues finding sign blazer. Every link I click on, says it’s no longer available" Now, if they want to learn all the gory details of the program, or perhaps are having issues with achieving a particular task, then the manual is probably worthwhile (or, just a quick peek into the Help menu within the program usually provides the answer sought).

I have been running full-blast from day one, on MH, SC, LP2, and SC2 machines, (yeah, I've owned them all over the years). Never lowered the speed control below max, not once. Your mileage may vary. Regarding ORIGIN ---- you go OFFLINE, adjust the vinyl & cutter head (x and y axis) manually with the arrow keys, and when the tip of the blade is at the lower right corner of the vinyl, hit ORIGIN. The machine will start cutting from there.

Better yet, to avoid installing the Trial version (the one featured FIRST in that file directory linked above by haumana) here is the direct link to the download of the no-nag V7.0.0 -- n.b. --disable your defender program, it will identify a threat, despite there being no threat. http://www.uscuttersupport.com/downloads/Software/SignBlazer/signblazer_setup.exe

I tried Spool All, but it places them in their absolute position -- i.e. -- as the objects appear in the design (spaced as they are). And yes, it does this despite the checkbox "absolute position" being unchecked. Also, when doing Spool All, there aren't various colors displayed, just Grey. All of this rigamarole is beyond my pay grade. I'll keep playing around with it, but I wish there was a video or tutorial on this, because I'm not getting how to accomplish what I routinely do.

Arrrrgggghhhhh ---- I am trying to learn VM, and have looked into the Help menu, but cannot find the answer to this one. I want to have the cutter work on multiple colors at once, but not ALL the colors in the cutfile. I can't seem to find a way to do this within the cutting screen. (in my familiar signblazer, all I need to do is CTRL-click on the list of colors and it multi-selects the ones I want).

Honestly, I would not waste any major effort on adjusting and fine-tuning the pen plotter, especially if you have no further use for it besides this preliminary phase of testing. Spend your time with the program -- learn that in detail, read through the Help topics; create some stuff; organize your saved files with a folder hierarchy for various types of jobs and/or dates; practice node editing; explore the fonts (familiarize yourself with the different Serif and sans-Serif typefaces) and browse through the vast Graphics library, making mental notes of the things available in there. And for the record, I have NEVER reduced my cutter speed below the top end, I run it full blast always. ( I am a sign maker, and all my work is text-based, not detailed small graphics).

GettyImages. (CORBIS photos)

OK, I'm gonna play along ---

The "Duplicate" command is also useful -- just have the offset at 0 - 0.