happytree

I just had a thought.....maybe I just tried to make this thing too big. Since my max width is about 22", I just doubled it to make 44". What if I made it a couple of inches smaller? I'm just thinking that maybe it just cut all it could fit into the roughly 22".....does that even make sense??

Well, I tried to attach the file....looks like its too large...

I am trying to create a large (44") graphic of a globe with children around it for my church's new nursery building. I have a 24" COPAM 2500 machine. I haven't used it much in a while and when I did, I never really did anything large enough to have to piece together. Actually I think I've done it before but can't remember how I made it work. I cut both pieces of this thing out and where they are supposed to meet, there is about a half inch gap! I tried placing in scraps of vinyl and cutting it with an Exacto but it looks terrible and will not hold up to children walking by it and touching it in a hallway, I'm afraid. I had changed the setting that says "tile overlap" to around 1/3 of an inch (or so I thought), thinking that this would allow it to be pieced much easier, but now I'm wondering if it did the opposite??? Or was there some other setting I was supposed to change? I just tried making my rollers spaced just slightly larger and cutting one tile again, thinking that I could get more on this piece and it might be able to meet, but it looks exactly the same! Before I print tile 2, is there anything I can do to help this thing come together?? I hate to waste any more vinyl! Thanks, Allison P.S. I've attached a picture of the graphic. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! I need this thing finished ASAP as we have our grand opening this weekend!

Super! Thanks!

I was just wondering if my cutter can cut anything besides traditional vinyl? Like maybe wallpaper? Or even certain kinds of paper? May sound like a crazy question, but if the Cricut can cut all kinds of different mediums, I thought it was worth an ask! Thanks, Allison

http://www.healthybuilding.net/press/carpet.html 80-90% of phthalates are used in PVC. I just don't think I could in good conscience keep using it. I saw that the Avery only comes in white and clear (what is clear used for?). This may be a crazy question, but can a vinyl plotter cut anything else, such as wallpaper or paper?

I hope someone can help me. I have been running a successful vinyl wall art business on Etsy for over a year now. Recently I have become concerned about the dangers of PVC, both for my customers and also for myself and my family as I cut all of my vinyl in my house. I'm not here to debate whether it is truly dangerous or not. I did come across a site that said that there are vinyl wall art companies out there that use PVC Free vinyl. Do any of you know where I can find this? Does USC carry it? I have never seen it, but then I have never looked for it. I do not want to give up my business altogether, but I don't think I can continue using the PVC vinyl that I have been using. Thank you for any guidance you can give me, Allison

rrc, thank you so much for all the information!! Boy, that sounds tough!! I definitely think you're right about it being easier as separate graphics. I feel silly that I didn't think of that to begin with. But that's what you guys are here for, right? I will definitely try to watch the videos, I just didn't have a chance last night. I have 7 orders to do tonight (including the 2 we've been talking about), so I don't know if I'll have time tonight either! But I definitely will and thanks again to all of you for your help! Allison

No, there's nothing there, just a line from you that says "videos from youtube.com" and then a huge blank white space below it and my computer is still trying to load it. I've refreshed several times. It may just be the computer I'm on. I'm at work. I can try again at home and see if I can see anything. Thanks!

Aha!! That's the best thing to do...why didn't I think of that?? (speaking of shipping as two separate decals) OK, so with the "emma" design you would do the same thing? Ship the "e", the "mma" and the bird as 3 separate pieces and have the customer apply them? Will I run into any extra hassle for the customer that way? I've already had some feedback from people about having trouble applying and I don't want to risk my reputation just for the sake of a cute two-color design. I'm not exactly sure I'm following your other suggestion, but its probably just my lack of know-how and terminology. Thanks Speedoggy for your reply, however, maybe the file is too big or something, because my computer has just been sitting here waiting ever since I first saw your reply. And I've already gotten rrc1962's reply, so I'm not sure what's going on there. Thanks to all of you, and if there are any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them, too. Allison

Thanks for your reply! Maybe I'm thinking about this all wrong. My assumption is that I actually OVERLAY one color over the other. Is that right? Or do I somehow tell the software to cut the vinyl so that they "piece" together to where it looks like it's overlaid? If I'm right about laying one color over the top of the other one, then my question is: how do I have a large enough canvas to lay the TOP piece? In other words, I have to have a piece of backing large enough to lay the birdcage on top of the bird. The only way I know to do that is to cut the bird right in the middle of a large piece of vinyl, then weed away all the outside part, then lay the birdcage over the bird. I'm really hoping that I'm wrong and maybe the second option is the correct way to do it, although it sounds a bit intricate. Thanks again!

Hi, I'm still a newbie at this and I've gotten myself into more than a few messes already... :- Here is my latest. I got all gung-ho about designing cute little things for kids rooms and I've sold quite a few on Etsy already. I even had the bright idea to design a couple of 2 color designs where the colors overlap, thinking "all I have to do is lay the top color over the bottom one...EASY!". OK, now that I've sold a couple I'm having a real hard time figuring out the proper way to do this. I'm going to include pictures of my 2 designs so that maybe someone could give me some suggestions. The first is a bird in a birdcage. My questions are, (1) in order to get the bird "under" the bars of the birdcage, do I need to cut a HUGE piece of vinyl in the color of the bird and then weed out all that excess and waste all that vinyl, so that I have room to lay the birdcage on top? (2) If so, how do I tell Signblazer to leave the bird where it is in the design, rather than cutting it out in the bottom right corner? The next design is a child's name with a simple overlay, but my question about it is the same as number (1) above. Do I have to cut a HUGE piece of brown vinyl with the "e" at the beginning in order to leave space to put the rest of the name or is there some other way? It seems to me that's the only way to do it, but I pray not because that is a tremendous waste of vinyl! Why didn't I think about this before I made the design??? Anyway, I have a couple of orders that are waiting on me to figure this out, so someone please give some advice ASAP! Thanks in advance!

The bubbles are under the tape between it and the graphic. And sometimes it actually seems like the tape is shrinking and pulling the backing into a curl which then loosens the graphic from the backing. No matter how many times I try to squeegee it down, it actually seems like it makes it worse. I am concerned that once it reaches the customer it won't have any sticky left. I don't have any other types of vinyl besides the 631 because I do strictly wall art. I'm starting to think that the tape is not tacky enough from what I'm reading here. That would make sense why it is pulling back up even though I've squeegeed it down.

Thanks so much for the reply. Is the RTape 4076 RLA the kind you are referring to? Or is there something else you would recommend?

I am new to vinyl wall art and am already getting swamped with orders! Which is great except that apparently I didn't do enough practicing first and now I'm in a pickle. Every order I cut seems to cut fine and weed great, but when I apply the tape and squeegee, there's always at least one side of the design (a large section) that air bubbles just keep coming back. I'm not talking about little bubbles, either, these are long "fingers" if you will. We just keep squeegeeing over and over and they reappear right before our eyes! Is that what is called "tunneling"? My husband did vinyl graphics for 7 years and has never seen this before....he thinks its the transfer tape. I am using R-Tape AT60 with the Oracal 631 vinyl. I have seen all the threads on which tape to use with 631 and am no more educated than when I started! There are so many different opinions....high tack/medium tack, which brand etc. I don't even know that its the tape, but since my husband has experience and he can't make the tape lay down either, I'm thinking it is. My husband HATES working with this tape because its so static-y, too. I don't have anything to compare it to because I've never used any other kind. I was thinking of ordering the R-Tape 4076 RLA. The MyVinylDesigner website recommends R-Tape 4075, but USC doesn't seem to have it. Also, when I roll it to ship, the "fingers" seem to get bigger. Would a higher tack tape do better? Also, will it affect the adhesiveness of the vinyl if it has these bubbles or whatever they are? I'm just wondering if its just an eyesore or if it will actually affect the functionality. Either way, I don't like it. I want my stuff to be neat & pretty! Thanks for any help!