pyrophire

So there has been a few discussions on here about printing on vinyl and there have been mixed answers, yes/no/sometimes/if you stand on one leg and rub your head and belly. So here is my post on the subject, hopefully this will clear up some of the questions out there. I ordered my Epson Workforce 1100 CIS with Pigment Ink a couple days ago, got it in, set it up. Mactac's representative was nice enough to send me a small roll of their JT1958 Printable Vinyl with Permanent Adhesive. Sihl was also nice enough to send over a couple of 8x10's of their Synthetic Polypro Film with EasyTack - 13 mil - matte 3539 and Tornado Outdoor Self Adhesive Vinyl - 12 mil - matte 3175. Mactac: Their product came in a nice tight roll, which was impressive but not the best thing for trying to print on the Epson 1100. I had to roll it backwards to try to straighten it and feed it into the printer properly after cutting them into 13x36" strips. It printed cleanly and was dry within seconds of exiting the printer. Being that it was a matte finish, I coated the vinyl with some FrogSpit that I ordered from the SignWarehouse last week. It dried to a satin to semigloss finish, what I was looking for. The vinyl is thick enough to not tear easily and light enough to see the design through with some back lighting. Sihl: Now Sihl didnt send a big roll over to test, just a couple of sheets which is good enough to get a feel for their product. First the 3175, this product is similar to mactac's where the face is a matte coating for the inkjet. It printed cleanly and dried quickly but decided to not use FrogSpit on these just because they were tests. I assume the same results the mactac had would be present here. The 3539 vinyl on the other hand is clear and has a pattern to the face, seeing as how it didnt have a matte coating as the 3175 the ink printed oddly and did not dry quickly. Overnight the ink was still not dry and still smears, leading to not being able to use this product for any sticker/banner work without some type of drying system. Images of products and results are linked within the text. [uPDATE] I have been using the Sihl 3988 since running out of the mactac sample material and have been satisfied with it more so than mactac's product. The material is thicker, making it sit flatter and easier to load into this picky printer. The backing is blank so I an stamp my own logo/contact info on each sticker for future business. I was also able to find the Sihl locally and not the mactac, this is the main reason to switch over to this brand, but after trying it, I will definitely be sticking with Sihl 3988. (Also would like to thank Reece Supply for being able to get me these products the same day or next day for wholesale prices)

CuttingMaster 2 has been released for OSX Lion. Available here: http://graphtecamerica.com/support/

From Graphtec's Site: NOTE: Cutting Master 2 for Adobe Illustrator® and Mac OS X Lion will be available November 15, 2011.

Check your software settings, I remember seeing an option somewhere for signcut or cuttingmaster that says "hold on color" where it waits for color switches to send the cut commands

Actually microsoft did just that a couple of times, if the os checker didnt think your hardware was new enough, it would cancel the install before it even started. Mac's have been using intel processors for over 5 years, most people have updated their systems to take advantage of updates.

Since it doesnt support power pc apps, CuttingMaster is disabled now. Now to figure out how to get my cutter back online...

I've been using frog juice for a couple of years now but am looking for an alternative that provides a glossy final product instead of a matte/satin finish. Has anyone found a product that works well with inkjet vinyl with a gloss finish preferably in an aerosol can?

You should sell your stuff before you start upgrading to more equip, stuff might not sell and youre stuck with equip that doesnt bring in money and items youve made that you are going to end up using yourself

AI with signcut pluggin. done.

I buy rolls and cut them down, its pretty price up front but the mark up makes up for that.

you need to merge everything into a single path so there are no overlaps

I've had my CE5000 for about a week and I started using CuttingMaster2 to cut instead of signcut since my signcut requires a yearly subscription. I've noticed that some of the cuts arnt 100% cut and I was looking for an "overcut" option in CM2 but I cant find it. How have you all fixed this problem with incomplete cuts using the stock blade with factory settings on the CE5K?

Charge by the square foot because you will have waste, and why loose money on vinyl which could technically be a decal? Prices should cover vinyl, weeding and install, along with any materials you might need.

I've actually downgraded to a 24", nothing I do is larger than 24" so why have a huge machine. Chances are that if they want something 30+ inches, a big company can do it for cheaper.

My version of signcut had the Refine MH-871 option on there and worked better than the roland driver. Listed it right away on the usb options too, not sure why others dont see it listed on their macs.

Just got my CE5000-60 today.... I have signcut installed for my Refine871 and it works great with the graphtech, but I installed cuttingmater2 and the plugging for illy and when I sent a job to the cutter it gives me a HP-GL Error 1. Ive done a reset on the software and cutter and still have the same problem. I've done the reset that I found here and still nothing. Id like to use the cuttingmaster software and not just the signcut. Sorry for that run on statement.

I put it to GPGL and it worked lol

I used cuttingmaster and signcut only, I'm on mac so I dont know what the graphtec software is... if there even is one for mac

You should look into injket vinyl, it is matte and will accept paint/ink/marker better than standard vinyl.

Why do you have to lie? In your past 20 posts, since March of 2009, about 18 of those are asking for graphics, the other 2 are asking for help because you applied a decal and it bubbled up. So it is not a "first." Anyone can view your previous posts, so saying that you've supplied many graphics to others doesn't qualify when its YOUR graphics that you need work done to. So my previous statement still stands, and I say, Good Day Sir!

now that i took at look at your previous posts, it seems all you do is ask for other people to do your graphic work. you need to learn the software before you take on another client, do your own work and stop trying to get others to do it for you.

you seriously cant make one? its an r and a circle... cant get any simpler...

Send me an email and lets see if we can work something out (contact page is on my site)

Thanks, those are some things I threw together for the interview of the job I have now, obviously they liked it at the newspaper, enough to hire me lol

If you have enough money to move and open a shop, you can spend money on equipment that will make you money. You need to spend money to make money, if you're being cheap, you arnt going to succeed.