momoftwins

I am just getting into print and cut decals with my HP310 and Graphtec FC8600. We have some Caution decals to make for farm machinery manufacturer that are Yellow with Black lettering/design. What would most of you do - print both Black/Yellow colors on white vinyl material? Or print the Black on Yellow vinyl material? The rest of their decals will be printed on Oracal 651 white material. TIA

Did you get anything figured out with this issue? We are having the exact same issue so we would love to hear if you were able to fix it perfectly.

Just curious if anyone has tested out the new GreenStar wall vinyl and what their thoughts are.. We have used Oracal 631 extensively in past and would LOVE to save a couple $$. My first test - cut dandelion stickers in black, cutting seemed to be a tad bit thicker than 631 (at least I would need to up my pressure by 10 or 20). Weeding went not so great since I didn't have that pressure bumped up but otherwise not much difference. Transfer taped with Oracal HT55 transfer tape which went smooth. Applied it to a textured wall - I'd say it is slightly better to apply to a textured wall than Oracal 631. I didi this today so we will see how it stays over the next couple days. Anyone know if the GreenStar Color Chart has the new wall vinyl colors in it?

Wondering if anyone knows anything about testing required by CPSIA (consumer product safety improvement act) and the similar Canada regulations. We are being asked for lead and phthalates testing to prove our Oracal 631 wall decals are approved due to these regulations. The testing is a major cost! Has it been done already? And can we use the same testing results from Oracal some how? Appreciate the help!

My brother wants a "chrome" vinyl for his windshield. I typically use LOTS of Oracal 631 for indoor and then 651 for the outdoor stuff. He doesn't like the metallic silver of 651. I was looking at the Specialty stuff but that only has outdoor life of 2 years. Anyone have any suggestions of what I should use that is a comparable price? Most likely I will be making this "at cost" since it is family and I owe him a few favors =)! THANKS!!

Thanks for tips everyone!! I didn't think to check Sign Warehouse =)!

HI! I am trying to figure out how to make an object take the shape of the object above or below it. Say, I want florals only inside a box and everything outside the box to be deleted. I think we do Control G in Photoshop - was wondering if there is a way I can do that in SignBlazer? THANKS for your help!!!

It is actually cutting through correctly - I have the force at 280. And yes, I am guessing there is some slippage somewhere as the machine cuts beautifully for all the other things. Just haven't found anything to adjust to stop things from moving/slipping. The material on the mat is not moving for sure as that is stuck down good. I tightened the pinch rollers and you can not hardly move the mat at all once the rollers are down so it's pretty tight. I will move on to Plan B and work with a different machine, I guess, if I can't figure this out.

I am trying to cut all the way through the backing of vinyl using a Cricut mat. Using a MH751 and SignBlazer. I used to use the Cricut but that lately is unreliable. I am cutting basic shapes and the largest ones will not close. I have adjusted the force, speed, offset, pinch rollers - I am ALMOST there (meaning I have improved quite a bit from the first cut) but it will not fully close the largest shapes (smaller shapes are perfect). Does anyone have any other suggestions as to what I can mess with? Will a 60 degree blade change anything? What does the Baud setting do? THANKS for your help!

OK - THANKS! Got it to work finally. I was able to delete the black background so it should be make the correct cut. And clicking the other option for the import into SBD must help! THANKS again!

HI everyone. I have been using Sign Blazer for a couple months now. Still have LOTS to learn. So lots of questions... =) What's the best method of getting a .eps file from a SVG or JPEG. I have done it before - occasionally it works. Most of the time, the file is there but no image or it freezes my sign blazer up as soon as I import. EPS files that I have purchased import just fine. I read somewhere of saving EPS in a version 8, etc. Is that something I need to do in Inkscape too? There is a pop-up after I click save in Inkscape and I have no idea which options should be checked or not checked. If someone has a tutorial that they can direct me to, that would be great! Right now I am only trying to get a basic basketball into a EPS either from my SVG file or the JPEG file. Any clues as to why my sign blazer freezes up so often? It was installed from the CD that came with my cutter and doesn't have the trial mode countdown. My laptop sign blazer was downloaded from internet, has the trial mode countdown, but doesn't freeze up near like the computer hooked to my cutter. Both are running Windows 7. THANKS!!

PERFECT! Got the project done! THANKS for your help!! Now if I could just get a serial plug-in so I could quit wasting so much vinyl. I got an USB/Serial adapter but my device manager says Com9 but there is no Com9 on the drop-down menu in the cutter set-up.

Is there a spot where you can select an item and type in the x and y coordinates for it? I would like to be able to make a shape every 2 inches. Is there an easier way than measuring and moving and measuring again? I am using Sign Blazer with Windows 7 and have a MH721 machine.

AAHH! That might be the key! I didn't remove any paint.

So is this something you need installed into your computer or is it a plug-in device? I bought a new PC to dedicate to the new cutter but still have some freezing issues. But the new PC has no serial! So I would like to see if that plug-in would take care of my problem. Another problem I have on the new PC, but not on my laptop, - when I click on Text Dialog to EDIT a text, the program freezes. Basically I can't edit text on the PC - I have to delete and start over.

So what is the best method to do this? There was wire with my new cutter- MH721 - and I have read that this needs to be done but where should things be connected.

HI! I am looking into a new software and possibly a new cutter. Right now I am using the Cricut with the program Sure Cuts Alot. My wall vinyl decor business is outgrowing this craft cutter. I have been researching Illustrator since it would cut out one step for me - I wouldn't have to cut everything out to take a photo of it. The way I understand in Illustrator, I could save the vector file as a SVG and the same file as a jpeg with color, correct? What other file formats can you save it in? Next question, would any of the earlier versions of Illustrator work with Windows 7. Technical notes say it is not tested but I really don't want to pay the latest version price. I use Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 with Windows 7 without any problem although it is not technically compatible. Third... does any cutter work for basic wall vinyl decor cutting? I will do mostly wall sayings, occasionally outdoor signs and vehicle lettering, but a lot of wall stripes which would require accurate tracking or they aren't any good. There is such a HUGE choice and I am apt to choose the cheapest version that would work for me. Any suggestions are great - I tried out a Graphtec Craft Robo Pro and hated it! It wasted a bunch of vinyl, was nearly impossible for me to line it up straight so it would quit cutting halfway through. I was thinking about buying the US Cutter MH-Refine, I think it is called. Would I be able to easily convert my SVGs to their cutter software? Maybe I should just call into to US Cutter with my one million questions

Ok. When I did the cut I had the 4 ft piece precut so it wasn't tugging it off the roll. If the roll is installed properly, will it line up by itself correctly? My other problem, I am currently using all 24" rolls of vinyl. My Graphtec is 15" and I'm not sure if I want to have both sizes on hand. What happened when I did the test cut, it stopped because the roller ran off the vinyl and showed misaligned. Then, when I realligned and try to continue the cut it just cut one huge line all the way across the vinyl and stopped - ruining the whole piece of vinyl! Any suggestions?

I am pretty sure I have that manual - I keep confusing the manual of the Robomaster and the Craft Robo. Basically, I need to have a way to simply line up, say, a 4-ft long sheet of vinyl so it will cut from start to finish without running off the roller. Maybe, I need to have the rollers attached to roll the vinyl around?? Also, maybe it was the setting... one, I know measures just right and left and the other setting measures all 4 ways. Maybe I do need to haul it all out and try again. I have a tendency to give up too quickly. I will have to try the trial version of the Sign Blazer - will it tie in to my RoboMaster/Graphtec and allow me to cut? Thanks for the manual - I am printing it for future reference.

See... mine is a blue color but almost like that. I paid $650 for it but was hoping to get at least $500 out if it. Am I going to run into the same problems with any cutter? You guys all say how good Graphtec is and it drove me CRAZY! Maybe cause I am such a "simple" person with my craft cutter!? someone mentioned Inkscape... I have that already. Quite complicated although I have used the trace feature and saved files in different formats with it. Can't figure how to design some simple/elegant wall sayings in it though.

Mine was the Craft Robo Pro II - I don't find much info on it. Could easily be I didn't know how to run it properly as I bought it used. I still have it sitting under my desk. Spent HOURS trying to figure the thing out. Seems to waste a couple inches of vinyl on each side although other threads suggest otherwise. I searched for tutorials but they all seemed to be on a different machine than mine. I also wasn't using any software except Robomaster which wasn't ideal either. Just can't decide where to go from here.

HI! I have upgraded from a Cricut to a Craft Robo Pro and I am trying to learn the new stuff. I need help with the blade settings. I sell alot of my items as peel-n-stick so I need to know the settings to cut all the way through the vinyl and the backing. Has anyone done this before and give me some clues? I am using the RoboMaster program. I bought the machine used and I'm not sure if the blade is old and dull or if I have some settings wrong. Any help would be WONDERFUL!!

In case anyone is still looking for answers... I just got my graphtec somewhat figured out! When loading the vinyl, make sure the pinch rollers are above a grit roller (a rougher part underneath the vinyl). I finally was able to load a 12" wide vinyl and the machine wouldn't continually say "realign rollers".

I downloaded all my files again and now I got my Windows 7 (64 bit) laptop to accept everything and it shows up in the output settings portion. I have very new to all this - I had been using Sure Cuts Alot with the Cricut but my business was growing enough to warrant a bigger machine. But I have a HUGE amount to learn it looks like (guess I will be using the cricut for a little longer). Anyway the next problem I have, when I click "cut" or "output to plotter" I get the message "cutter plotter controller startup failure". anyone have any suggestions why this is? I REALLY appreciate everyone's help!

Yes, I would like to know too. I have a craft robo pro that I am trying to install drivers for on my Windows 7 laptop also. Would love to hear some solutions! THANKS!