samtheitguy

I have a Roland VP-540 , if anyone in the UK needs anything doing providing you cover costs etc you can sub it to me. Hope this helps anyone in the UK. PS: Definately the heads that are the pricey part - i picked mine up for just over 10k and if a head goes down, its almost 2k to replace it. Ouch

Hi everybody, Was just wondering if anyone knew of some software to create promotional images of canvases. The sort of program which can take an image and put a 3d effect on it. I have attached an example I found. Thanks in advance, Sam

Cheers for the tips... We took the plunge and it looks like we are getting an SP-540 and going full time with everything. Just need to wait for delivery now. Anybody else have one of these machines? Regards, Sam

That looks brill, I need to start practicing cuts more on paper, my biggest problem is cuts going off the edge of the vinyl. Still learning though. Im sure a sign shop would be able to cut down a roll of paper to the correct size with one of those slicing machines. If its just for scrap, a jigsaw might be able to do the same thing. Im going to go to B&Q (think Home Depot) and see if i can get some wallpaper lining paper, it comes in huge rolls, and i think its about 24" wide. Quite heavy paper, but ideal for roughing out designs. Regards, Sam

Thanks John, Im gunna go upstairs now and raid all my piggy banks. At least I could make some vinyl stickers to put them back together :S I have no idea how much work that machine would need, but it seems like it powers up and gets through its POST checks. My main concern is being able to keep the machine topped up on ink, for some reason everything seems to be twice as expensive in the UK as it is in the US, not sure if thats just the exchange rate, but for example a $300 plotter, is

Super quick five! Lol - riiiiiigggghhhhhhtt ok, so Plan B I think i need to take the 'cutting' element out of the machine, and just have something capable of printing full colour banners. Ive been looking at this machine on eBay which needs a bit of a service by the sounds of things. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=180268799979 Printing banners will be the biggest priority. Printing vinyl (will have to cut by hand, or get really good at refining my refine) Does it look like an OK machine to start out with?

Hi all, I was wondering if I posted the kind of work I want to be able to do, if anyone could point me in the right direction for equipment. It looks like most of the requests Im getting for work are things which I cant do... Full Colour stickers which then get cut out. Banner printing in full colour Car vehicle graphics in full colour and cut out. Full colour poster printing. Ideally I want a printer which will support refillable cartridges, and be able to print on canvas material. But something where i could print say a graphical word like 'COOL' and then cut around the outline after would be perfect. T-Shirt printing would also be kinda cool. I currently have a 24" refine, so would need something 24" at least ideally - and in case you havent guessed, im on a budget and in the UK. Any ideas? Sam

I got my refine MH721 (although it has no branding on it) for

Thanks all for the kind welcomes. Mind If I ask which cutter you bought WeeJohn?

Hi all, Does anyone here know anywhere in the UK to get banner material? Ideally I am looking for a .5m x 25 or 50m roll. Everywhere I have found wants to sell me precut, pre everythinged banners. Regards, Sam

I've seen a lot of people who use renders as the samples instead of photographs, an image from the impact vehicle library with a sign writing design on it for example may be just as effective as a photograph if designed well. I think this is the approach I will be going for with my site eventually. Another thing you may want to consider is using CSS layouts for your website, there are some free ones available from www.free-css-templates.org (off hand) and a lot of the designs implement a nice graphic layout which can compensate at times for the lack of photography. I would definately recommend a template for ease of use and the pre-built professional look, with CSS you can change the layout using very simple code changes, which will make your design more personalized. You have a good domain name which is simple and easy to remember, so thats your first hurdle over - you just need to have the website make an impression now. I took a quick look and it looks good so far. Best of Luck. Sam

Cheers firemalt, should have done that really. Theres some pretty good stuff on that site, hundreds of silouhettes of dancers, etc too.

I cant remember the site I found them at now, I've hit loads of vector art sites in the last 2 days. My only nag with the artwork is that the cutter cuts all the little details and not just the outline, so out of the 30 or so girls in the graphic, only about 20 are usable after weeding. This is purely down to my own lack of skill I'm sure, but anyway, have attached the graphic. Update: Had problems uploading the file, so it can be downloaded from http://www.adiovo.co.uk/1.zip - the image was from www.dezignus.com

No template for the laptop, although I did search for one first and have been considering making a few. I cut the vinyl the right width and applied it wet (a little risky), then trimmed and used a heat gun for a little more flexibility around the curves, the centre was cut out by hand afterwards, a little silly as one slip and you scratch your laptop with the blade. Perhaps when I have a little time, and a little more skill, i will redo it making a template in FS or something. Regards, Sam

That looks fantastic. Whilst I wouldn't recommend it as it was a nightmare, I stuck my first large hand cut decal on without app tape, I had a friend help me peel the backing off the vinyl, and soaked the car so i had as much flexibility as possible. At least the beauty of having your own cutter is if things go wrong- you can always re-cut. Looks great though, well done!