darcshadow

I'm not a mac user, but if your cutter has a serial port and you use that, there is no need for a driver and no logical reason why you wouldn't be able to cut from a Mac, so long as the software sends the correct HPGL commands over the serial port that's all you need.

PNG files are a "new" type of bitmap, so you can simply open the files with MS paint and save them as bmp. You'll loose any transparency color but that shouldn't be an issue. You then import the bmp into signblazer and trace/vector it. Unfortunately, the vector capabilities of SB are not the best and I have never been happy with the results I got from it. I switched to using Inkscape to trace/vector the image and save the file as an eps, that can then be imported easily with SB.

I've recently started playing around with VM and have noticed issues with SVG imports. The file will import, but it's not always correct. Till the problem gets fixed I just save my svg files as an EPS, they open just fine in VM.

The UPS Sure post option is still only $9.99, and there's no tax when I order. I do know the tax thing can vary state to state, and if the company has stores (not sure if warehouses count) in your state they have to charge tax.

Not sure on the SC, but on the MH the test is only about 3/4" square. I would expect something close on the SC. Most vinyls are pretty close to the same thickness and just need slightly different pressure settings, but you will also find you'll need to adjust the blade depth for different brands, types, and sometimes even color.

Welcome, cool car

Does the blade rotate freely in the holder?

I don't think this is how I did it, but this is a pretty simple way. Create a batch file (.bat) and put put the following in it. @echo off del /S c:/*.pvw Create a shortcut to this batch file and put it in your startup folder. Each time windows starts it'll search the entire c: drive and delete all pvw files. I have never seen pvw files used for anything other than SB so this should be safe to do.

What is the file extension you are trying to import? As noted above, SB does not recognize all vector formats. If you can open the file in Cadworx, can you then save/export it as a different format? EPS would be your best bet, although if given the option be sure to select the older version of EPS. SB does not work with the latest version. Another option that I have done, is open the file in a different program, then do a select all and copy then paste it into SB. This does not always work but is worth a try. Lastly, that screen you're looking at, if you have the preview option turned off, or the files are huge, there will not be an image there, but there should be the name of the file that you can select and open.

I can't find it now but I had a similar batch file that I put in my startup folder that would find and delete all .pvw on the computer.

Ideally you want to do the layering at application, layering on backing paper you can/will get more bubbles. With that, a great way to get layers lined up is using parchment paper. The vinyl and application tape do not stick to it and it is see through enough to get things lined up pretty easily.

My guess is that font the yellow parts would be black by default and the white would be clear. Changing the black to yellow is easy enough obviously, the trick would turning the clear to a solid color. I don't use Silhouette Studio, but my process would work, I just don't know the terms used. I would start by duplicating the text, then break it apart, then weld all the parts back together. This should result is a solid image. Make that image white, then lower it to the bottom so that the original font is on top of it. You could also draw a box around the font, punch the font through the box and you'll be left with an inverse coloring of the font so you can now color the pieces you want and delete the extras that you don't need.

For no bigger than what you're looking, you might be able to get by with a Cricut. I have no experience with one but my sister has one and I've been pretty impressed with the level of detail it can do.

Most software have a calibration adjustment, find it and run it. The default settings are usually pretty close, but rarely exact.

All 3 are great programs and all can pretty much do the same thing they just take different processes to get there. I am a big fan of Inkscape, to me it's very intuitive and help when needed is pretty easy to fine online. It's also free, so that's a plus.

Does the Titan have the origin on the left or the right? If it's on the left, could be that he has the WYSIWYG setting turned on.

Here, this should work and minimize blade lifts. You'll have to view the file in outline mode, in "normal" mode it looks kind of weird. There are 5 rows of hexagons and an extra row of vertical lines. You can tile the image and get more rows of hexagons then just delete the last row of vertical lines before cutting. Honeycomb.svg

question on your size, a true hexagon that is 0.5" from flat edge to flat edge is going to have a distance of 0.577" from point to point.

No, that won't work with a hexagon, you'll still have over laps. If you're going to draw a new file from scratch, you could do a zig zag pattern like this, then go back and add in the horizontal lines. You'll still have the cutter lifting and dropping the knife, but it'll minimize it as much as possible.

Depending on the quality of your cutter and over cut settings, the design I posted would probably accomplish your goal. If nothing else, you can tile it a couple of times and do a quick test cut to see how your cutter handles it.

Have to be careful with the statement money is not a problem, there are some expensive toys on here people have posted about. Geo Knight are suppose to be a really good press, at least that was the recommendations when I was looking around. They were out of my price range for a hobby though. I think Hotronix was the other high end machine that I found mentioned a lot, again, out of my price range.

You could create a drawing like this then just tile it. However, in Inkscape anyway, there is no way I know of to join all the line segments so even though the nodes are touching, the plotter will start and stop at the line segments.

Cool, small world. I have family up in Fort Wayne area, Ossian.

Grew up outside of a little town called Royal Center, not to far from Logansport and about an hour north of Lafayette.

Temp and humidity is weird. Grew up in Indiana, living in Texas now and I'm surprised at how cold I feel at times when I know I've dealt with much much colder temps in the past.