darcshadow

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Everything posted by darcshadow

  1. darcshadow

    Bikemike's picture thread

    I have not done that, but I have seen it done. They come out really nice. As for holding up against scratches you could powder coat it with a clear coat.
  2. darcshadow

    MH781 cutting lines across design

    He's already using a serial cable, straight to the motherboard so a tripplite adapter won't be the cure this time around. The speed change of the data being sent is suspect but I have no idea what that could mean. I know you said you didn't make any setting changes, but double check the comm port settings and verify that the baud rate hasn't changed. Only thing else I can think to try would be to try some different software. It shouldn't matter, but at least it'll rule that out as the source of the problem.
  3. The garage sale thing is a tax thing linked to in Dakota's first post.
  4. The cutter specifications should say. But this link also confirms that the SC uses a Roland style blade, http://www.uscutter.com/3-Pack-of-Roland-Cemented-Carbide-Blades-60-Degrees
  5. Ok, but just because you get the tax form from Paypal doesn't mean you have to pay taxes on it if the sales fall into that garage sale thing. And if the sales don't fall into that category then you were suppose to pay taxes on it anyway. I suppose it does require the seller to keep better records to justify why they don't need to pay income tax on it, so that'd be annoying.
  6. Yeah, every software is a little different in how they do things. typically, if a program uses a proprietary file format that is usually the only options for Save and Open functions and you have to use Export and Import to get other file formats. Inkscape tries to make Opening and Saving a little more straight forward by doing the import/export without calling it that. For example, when you save an EPS file from Inkscape you'll be prompted for some additional settings on how you want the file saved. These are essential the same questions you'd be asked from other software when you tell it you want to export it. The downside of Inkscape doing this, is since you are technically exporting/importing the file, it may not be exactly what you intended due to things like layers being handled slightly differently between different programs and variants of file formats. EPS for examply, there are a few different versions of EPS, but they all have the EPS extension.
  7. For those types of vinyl, yeah, the same blade will work on all of them. There are a few topics on the forums regarding the blades and why you'd want one vs the other in different cases.
  8. I don't quite get why this is an issue? So the problem is just that you are now forced to claim the income on your taxes rather than the honor system where you were suppose to anyway? If people are wanting to skirt taxes that badly switch to accepting Monero, or one of the other cyrptocurrencies that claim to be truly anonymous.
  9. Right, Exporting in Inkscape is only for raster images. In VM, is there an import option?
  10. For designing in Inkscape and then cutting in VM, you don't want to use the Inkscape export option, you just need to do a save or save as. Save will save it in a SVG format, which I believe VM will open. Save As gives you loads of options, EPS is kind of the industry standard. The Export function in Inkscape will produce a PNG file, (a raster image). When you do the export, the window that opens has 4 tabs, Page, Drawing, Selection and Custom. If you have a single item in your design selected when you click the export, I believe it will default to the Selection tab and only export what you have selected. You'll want to select Drawing to export the entire drawing. Remember though, this is a raster image. The main reason I use this feature is to save a design off that I can then send to someone for review knowing they will be able to open it without any hassle.
  11. No, you just select the text and the circle. You can draw a selection box around both, or click on the text and while holding down the Shift key click on the circle.
  12. Use text tool to type out your text, Use circle tool to draw a circle, Select the text and circle then under the Text menu select put on path. You'll probably need to rotate the circle 90 degrees as the text is usually centered on the left side. Unfortunately, if you delete the circle your text will go back to normal. So what you have to do in order to get rid of the circle is convert the text to a path. Select the text then from the Patch menu select Object to Path. The text is now a path and can no longer be edited as text, but it also means you can delete the circle.
  13. funny, when it comes do doing things on the computer I'm better at reading than watching. Partly because watching someone do it takes about 5 times longer than for me to look at a picture and short description. There are tons of Inkscape tutorials, here's a good place to start, although i believe most of these are reading and pictures. https://inkscape.org/en/learn/tutorials/ if you google, Inkscape tutorial youtube, there are quite a few that come up. I use Inkscape exclusively for what I do and will be happy to answer any questions you may come up with. Although fair warning, all that I know came from just playing around and google.
  14. Yes, Inkscape can be overwhelming at first glance, but once you start playing around with a little you'll find you only use a handful of the tool to do 90% of your work. Inkscape can do quite a bit more than what is needed for cutting vinyl.The text tool, circle, square, beizler and node edit tools are really the main ones you'll need. Inkscape can be used as a cut program, but that's not what it's good at and since Vinylmaster will come with you're machine it'll better for cutting. Don't let the idea of designing in one program and cutting in another scare you off. That's quite common, I would guess it's actually more common than using one program to do it all.
  15. If you can save the file without the demo thing going across it, you might be able to find someone one here that you could send the files to and have them save them off as an EPS that you could then open in most any vector program. Unless the design is complicated and not easy to reproduce I'd suggest just redoing it. It'll give you the practice of working with what ever the new software you choose. I know I'm probably starting to sound like a broken record (do kids know what that means these days?) but I highly recommend giving Inkscape a try. It's free and very powerful. Signblazer Elements is another free and very good program, although it is very old and feels a bit clunky.
  16. darcshadow

    Go-C Graphics

    He looks like a happy little guy. Congrats.
  17. darcshadow

    Need some help with an image please!

    You have to read the license agreement to be sure. It's sad, but even if you buy something, you may still not be able to legally use it.
  18. darcshadow

    Need some help with an image please!

    I believe any thing and everything created is technically copyright protected even if not registered. The catch there is it becomes hard to prove ownership of non registered work. There is a fair use clause that does allow some usage of stuff for personal use, but that's kind of a gray area and can come down to a matter of who has more money in the law suit. I remember a story from years ago about a teach who drew some mickey mouse pictures and hung in her class room. Some how Disney found out and came after her. I don't remember the outcome but I know it was a mess. Basically, if you didn't create it, assuming that you are not allowed to use it.
  19. darcshadow

    Accessing Glyphs

    Before spending any money you might give Inkscape a try. It's free and can do quite a bit, although it doesn't work with text as nicely as some programs, you can usually get what you want done, and did I mention it's free.
  20. darcshadow

    Rocket Talk

    Funny how things line up. Just had a divergent of a topic into rockets and today SpaceX launched a massive rocket taking a Tesla roadster car to Mars. Pretty impressive launch and recovery of the two boosters. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spacex-falcon-heavy-launch-spectacular-maiden-flight/
  21. darcshadow

    Using Heat Gun in Cold Weather

    I don't think a heat gun would throw enough heat to cause a thermal shock like you'd get with water. It would be interesting to watch the glass with an IR camera while they worked to see how much heat the glass was soaking up.
  22. darcshadow

    Car magnets

    Might double check your truck, more and more vehicle these days are plastic. I don't believe I have any metal body panels on my car.
  23. For sq ft, you simply multiply length by width so you have a 1'x6' roll, you have 6 sq. ft. of vinyl. But honestly, the cost of vinyl and materials is insignificant for most designs. The real cost is your time. Often times it's actually cheaper to make a large decal than it is a small one. Sure, you're going to have more cost in material but often times a larger decal is easier and faster to weed so you have less time involved. People don't think that way though so they will willingly pay more for a larger decal even though in terms of material it only cost you a few pennies more. I don't do shirts, but from what I've read on here, most try not to let the customer supply the shirt. The reasoning being that if you screw up the shirt you can't simply replace it with one from your stock and the customer has to then get you another shirt. Can turn into quite a hassle and an unhappy customer.
  24. You'll be surprised how easy it will be to recover your cost and make money. I only do this as a hobby and practically give stuff away I'm so cheap and I've still managed to make a nice bit of change. Gotta love a hobby that can pay for it's self.
  25. darcshadow

    help understanding how layers work

    I don't use SCALP but my guess is when you import the flag, it's just a single layer. You would need to create multiple layers and the move each color to it's own layer. Some cut programs allow you to simply cut by color, so no need to worry about multiple layers, just pick the color you want to cut and go. I don't know if SCALP has that option or not.