Cal

Late to the party, but you do have way way way too much blade exposed. I am not familiar with the SignMaster program. Do you have to register it, and if so, have you? Looking at your pictures up top, it looks like you have about three layers going on. You might post up a copy of the file so that someone can take a look at it. And welcome aboard, glad to have you here.

Welcome aboard Ralph

Let's just sweep this under the rug... move along, nothing to see here folks...

Wow Lolly, are you cutting big, big, big designs or do you have your computer set to go to sleep after 30 seconds? Change the sleep to 15 minutes or so or move the mouse around now and then while it is cutting. Cannot help you with the text - don't know anything about that.

Thanks @davidb, really did not think I even hit 10 - but it is working now. Thanks again for looking into it for me. This is an important resource for me. While I most of the time cannot offer any useful suggestions - I do like to provide thanks and encouragement to those who can and do share with us.

Some time yesterday as I was browsing the forum, I hit the like button and I got a message that I had used my allotment for the day. No problem, it has happened before although I had only given out a few. Today I got the same message when I tried for the first time.

A simple way that I use to advance the vinyl after a cut is to use the origin buttons. Advance far enough to cut your project off, advance out to cover the next cut and then back it up to re-locate the origin in the lower right corner. Two other items I will mention. When I use a wide roll of vinyl, I still only use two pressure rollers, about 2" from the edges. I used to use a third on sorta in the middle, I think it tracks better with just using the two. Second, do not rely upon the machines rulers to set your vinyl. They may or may not be accurate (and probably are not).

Not just ugly Sue2, I had to study it some to figure out what it was saying. Definitely not a decal for the side of a truck!

It appears to me that you will get what you are seeking - solid letters and solid footprints. You will just weed out the vinyl around them and the centers of the "a", "d" and such. Now, if you wanted the reverse of that - picture a large oval shape with the name and footprint inside of it - you would peel out the name an footprints. Same design as far as the name and footprints go. Now, about the drawing on paper part. This is a hobby for me, I just use scrap paper mostly. Regular 8.5 x 11 sheets. There is usually some type of junk mail I get during the week that is only printed on one side - I use the backside. Sometimes I have to use new paper - but I am kinda cheap... I don't know how large those designs are that you are playing with, but I would make them fit inside the single sheet of paper for testing (drawing) and after getting them where I was happy resize and cut. For larger designs, and I do a lot of mirrors and such full size, I mostly use a roll of brown craft paper I got at Lowes. It is a pretty big roll and cheap. I cut it to width on my table saw, and I generally use both sides of that! Get it at Lowes in the paint department. A month or so ago I was doing a large design and found a roll of butcher paper at Hobby Lobby. It was white so the design showed up perfectly, but it was more expensive and only one side was usable - the other side was waxed. But it is good to know it is out there.

Let me chime in here - when you get your machine, install the pen tool and get your designs done before committing to vinyl. You do not need to "plot" it out full size, but you should at least keep the proportions correct. That will save you a lot of expense. I have been cutting for a few years now but I still plot (draw) the design before the knife goes in.

Hey, a big congrats Go-C. He sure does look like a happy little critter there!

That was a good business move for you in my book. I am sure that you felt some sense of relief after your last text.

I have not run into this on squares, I do not think I have done any work that involved a square or frame around the work on glassware. Designs that have been close to that, however, were ok when the arch was applied. Now a circle on the other hand - is tougher to get to that "just right point" where it still "looks to be a circle. I learned that the hard way when I did a Yeti mug for my SIL. I think it looks pretty gosh awful - but she is happy with it and uses it everyday. I cringe every time I see it! On second thought - I guess I don't cringe so bad that I would go out and buy her a new Yeti Probably should, might be better advertising than what she carries around now!

3barefoot - there is a learning curve on computers and software. This is part of the learning curve on customer service and working with people. I suspect that we have all been there & done that. My advise would be to listen to your gut and cut this one loose. Yes, she will likely poor mouth you and cost you a couple jobs. Likely this would be the outcome if you did the job. Just my $.02 YMMV

You are correct that if the taper is different the arch would different. Now, will your program calculate for a wine glass? Curves instead of straight tapers? I have so far drawn the line and for the most part stayed away from curved stuff.

Mike, if you are going to get into this and do a bunch of glassware - rather than measuring the glass and marking it, I determine the center of the design and the centered height to where on the glass I want it placed. Then if there is a 1-2" space above the design I simply cut my decal out with a 1-2" margin above the top. Then I just apply the decal with the top edge of the decal even with the rim of the glass. Clear as mud? As a quick example, the design is 2" tall and I want centered 3.5" from the top. 3.5" to center of glass minus 1" center of decal = a sandblast decal with a 2.5" margin at the top. Side and lower margins are unimportant as they will be taped off anyhow. The 2.5" top margin aligns with the rim of the glass where I start when I apply the decal. FWIW, I design in AI. On 16 oz. glasses I try to stay in the 2.25" width range and after doing the design do a 2% arch; import to SCALP and position the design on the grid and put the box around it so my top margin is correct. It took some trial and error to get the 2%

@bikemike - if you had not distorted the vector, what your sandblasted image would have looked like would have been pretty much like the distorted image you have shown, a "smiling" bowtie. Don't ask me how I know One day I plan to go through the process you linked to above. For the last few years, and using the same 16 oz. glass with an approx. 2.25" wide design I find a 2* distortion works pretty good. A circular design now - that is a different animal to get it looking good. I have done a few and pretty much have to relearn the process each time.

Looks like a good find Mike. Thanks, Cal

Welcome aboard Tirsh. Like s&d said, we need more info to get you going. I will say this though. Do not tell the cutter to "print", tell it to "cut". If you have a pen tool installed in the machine it will draw out your design when you tell it to "cut". Cal

That sounds like a heck of a deal on a servo machine. Some conflicting info on their web site. This in the product description: Whether you're working with heat transfer vinyl or adhesive sign vinyl, the Vinyl Systems Evo will get the job done like no other. While this is in the Q&A section: Q: Good morning, why this machine isn't compatible with heat transfer materials? I saw it on eBay. Vinyl Systems Evo 28" Cutter Plotter - Contour Cutting DC Servo Motor Thank you Posted On: 10/2/2017 By: Robson A: Hi Robson, the Vinyl Systems Evo is an exceptionally powerful cutter that was originally made to cut all types of sign and decal vinyl as quickly and efficiently as possible. With its powerful servo motor, we noticed when tracking heat transfer vinyl, it could potentially fold a bit due to how thin the material's backing is. You can still cut heat transfer vinyl with this cutter but we would recommend using a cutting mat for a large design. Sign and decal vinyl already has a backing that is able to feed the vinyl back and forth without any issues so therefore, we would consider this cutter to work flawlessly on decal vinyl without any additional supplies. Cal

Welcome aboard Jennifer, Cal

Nice work! Curious what you would have done differently on the tow truck though... Cal

to forum member @pshawny! I needed an assist with a graphic yesterday and Shawn stepped up and helped get me moving in the right direction - big time. Shawn, I owe you one buddy! Cal

Welcome aboard, and happy new year Times - In AI, I presume that you have simply typed your words. At that point you need to select "object and expand". That will convert your typed text to a vector. If you then arch the vector, you will need to "object and expand" again. At least I have to. Then save and see if VM will import the vector for you. Hang in there, it will become second nature for you. Cal