slice&dice

Here we are, getting a feel of the "new reality" of 30-million people unemployed, and many still sitting at home. In this incredibly shocking environment, there is more need than ever for entrepreneurs (and hobbyists) to obtain USCUTTER equipment and move ahead into the realm of custom designs and producing decals with these machines. Was the Prism probably 'overkill' for a newbie? Perhaps, but as we often suggest, buy the best you can afford right from the get-go, and that slick unit seems like a winner. Thanks, Pm-Performance, we do want to check what you come up with, as things progress from opening the box to setting it up, to running your first cuts. Keep us posted. Oh, and by the way, the VinylMaster vectorizing function is quite nice (converting pixel-based images to paths). Try it and you'll see!

Yeah, Marcus, the original owner of Selltopia. Marcel was a presence here on the Forums, I think his job was in the sales dep't. http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php?/topic/418-goodbye-everyone Anyway, the entire USCUTTER brand has a lot to be proud of, as they've grown over the years. This newest cutter, the Prism, looks great and offers a high-end machine at a fair price point (just wish it was available in the 870mm size). I highly encourage PMPerformance to get back to us here about the reactions to this new unit. We don't have many users providing feedback and reviews, so it would be nice to see that.

Years ago, the USCUTTER company shipped every cutter they sold with a copy of SignBlazer. It was the main standard that allowed the USCUTTER company to exist at all. The guy who was behind all that, Jerry Bonham, knew a thing or two about a thing or two regarding cutters, designing, & drivers, and both USCUTTER (Marcel) and he formed a relationship that focused on providing first-time vinyl-cutting users with a way to quickly and easily enter the field. My first cutter MH was shipped with a SignBlazer CD. I had that cutter up and running within ten minutes of unpacking it from the box. (Not including assembling the stand, which I did after making my first trial cuts). Before running SBE, I had never touched a graphics program, but immediately was able to figure it out. The colorful 'cartoon-y' interface was fun and practical and efficient. That's what Jerry put into our hands -- a way to make money and enjoy doing so as raw newbies. I am forever grateful. By the way, I happen to love SignBlazer, yeah, but the VinylMaster program is superb and USCUTTER deserves a pat on the back for making it the default program to run these machines.

I also don't want to fight with janky drivers to get this to work on some other program. I'd rather pay for software at that point. I do not have time to troubleshoot trial and error drivers. It doesn't take much time, maybe 5 minutes. You select from a drop-down list in SBE Cutter Setup. If you get lucky, one of the above suggested drivers works right from the get-go. If none of the choices communicate, you didn't lose any money, as SignBlazer is no cost. In any case, if you re-read what I wrote, I actually suggested that you utilize the features you require in SignBlazer for designing, and Export the finished product for Import to the dedicated software provided by USCUTTER (VinylMaster). Having SignBlazer run your cutter itself is just a BONUS! Let me repeat --- SignBlazer contains ALL of the items on your list, and then some. ( I had to look up the term "make/release compound paths' and it turns out to be a function in SignBlazer called PunchThrough ) VinylMaster CUT may not do all the things you need, and you can discover yes or no by downloading the DEMO and find out. You may avoid having to recreate your 200 proprietary Silhouette Studio files, since I believe you can export as .svg and then import for cutting into VM. Yeah, that has to be done one by one, but it can be accomplished, and you can try that out with the DEMO version.

Honestly, this is probably a topic better suited to the VinylMaster section ( Questions and/or discussion about the USCutter edition of VinylMaster software ) -- however, since it's already here, lets go ahead. 1. There is a comparison chart of features. Take a look. https://fcws7.com/vinylmaster-features-and-comparison-list 2. All of the things you mentioned are indeed available for FREE within the SignBlazerElements (SBE) program. All you would need to do is Export the final design as .eps and then Import to your VM cutting application. If you actually prefer to design and then cut directly right from within SBE without the additional step of Export/Import, that may or may not be possible, we don't know the answer to that. Once the machine arrives, set it up, connect it, and try communicating with SBE using Copam driver or maybe even CreationPcut or LiYu. You just have to keep trying different models, maybe one of the choices will work right. It would be nice to know what you find out!

I had a 54" roll that I just ripped through with an 18v battery-powered circular saw. Had to rotate it to get through (blade diameter not enough to reach all the way). End result = 30" and 24" rolls. Makes a mess of vinyl shavings !!!

Just be grateful that you aren't trying to reach your State unemployment office call center to deal with a problem getting some money to live on. I have attempted everything to contact the Unemployment Admin. (Department of Labor -- DOL) The phone number they publish online is "Not Set Up -- leave a message" (yeah, like someone there will actually call back!!!) The 2 toll-free numbers just have a recording, with a loop that hangs up on you after saying sweetly "Good Bye" I once did get an answer from yet another number I found listed (trying maybe 100 dials with a repeating busy signal), only to finally get through and then have a robot ask me for my Social Security number, and an automated response indicates "You are not in the system" and recommend I go online! And then it hangs up, no option to speak to anyone. Tried calling their offices in OTHER areas of the state (not in the Baltimore region) and that was also a joke, as recordings loop around Press 1, Press 4, Press 2, and then "Sorry, we are experiencing heavy call volume, please try again in an hour" I even reached one recording that says their system is being updated, and "please call back after May 8th..." CLICK. As for eMails, no reply yet to any of the various ones they say to contact. (this is already several weeks that I've been sending emails, calling, and of course, the physical offices are closed "Due to Covid19") https://www.wbaltv.com/article/coronavirus-worries-fears-emotions-unemployed-maryland-website-problems/32479470# "... Others said they have called the DOL thousands of times and getting no response from their call centers." I don't want to hijack this thread, nor minimize your particular concern about returning a product to USCutter. If I was in your shoes, I would just send the thing back, along with a detailed letter explaining what your intention is for upgrade, and provide contact numbers and email. Let their warehouse manager deal with it from that point.

I love it when a plan comes together. Y-W, Bob.

Cliff it.

Two words ---- "Stray Nodes"

Holy Pickup Truck, Batman!

Hi Felix. The quick answer is YES, you'll be able to download and activate the VinylMaster software online. It is a program from FutureCorp. and they have a D/L on their website. https://iifuture.com/vmfull/getvm.htm Alternatively, you can run the cutter using SignBlazer, which is a free (unsupported) option. http://www.uscuttersupport.com/downloads/Software/SignBlazer/signblazer_setup.exe

"I don't know your cutter to know how to reset the zero point but it will be there somewhere." Probably the button that says "Reset"

There are two options --- WYSIWYG (Absolute Positioning) and "Origin" (starting point of cut). Rarely will you require WYSIWYG. Sounds like you have the cutter working, finally. Congrats.

I don't own the MH, but the value for baudrate should be 9600. Can you show us a picture of the screen on the cutter?

Oh Nooooooo -- you touched the dreaded Setup button !!!! What are the values you changed?

What's that click-clack noise? (not the cutter blade rising/falling -- something else)

If you find yourself doing graphics that are approx. 22" wide routinely, then it's worth owning rolls of 24" vinyl (and app tape to match). This unit is a good applicator for that width. https://www.uscutter.com/APPRoller-Tape-Application-Roller

For small pieces of vinyl, I'll put them onto a larger sized backing paper.

Sure, you can do that. https://www.uscutter.com/Vinyl-Cutter-Carrier-Sheets Adjust the pressure & speed, it's not automatic.

USCUTTER is an American company. They employ Americans in their offices & warehouses. They provide work to Americans at the Ports of entry (where the containers filled with products come in from overseas). They give jobs to American truckers & delivery people. The cutter is only a small part of the equation. Those consumables are the key to making decals. USCUTTER profits beyond the initial cutter sale on the vinyl, app tapes, HTV, tools, etc.

I want to see what SignBlazer's cutter/com settings look like. Can you show us a screenshot?

How is the country of origin even relevant?

Not gonna work. Just not. There is a reason that you "have looked everywhere for information on cutting magnets and I couldn't find any."

You mean, like this wd40 product?