txpatrol

I've seen references on several forums that there's an .eps file that contains the barcodes and cut paths to cut your own barcode stickers using silver ribbon on black vinyl.....but I haven't found anyone that actually has that file! Can anyone help me out?

I have a new (to me) PC60 that I got a great deal on. I'm new to vinyl cutters, but I've done plenty of work on regular plotters. I'm trying to find the best software to use for both printing and cutting with this machine. I'm having zero luck finding a copy of the original software that came with it. I did manage to get a copy of Roland's cutting software and that works great for cutting...but printing is still a problem. I've had some luck printing/cutting out of inkscape, but it seems bulky and kind of a pain to set up a file. Anyone have experience with one of these machines? What's the best software to use? Anyone know what the later model CAMMs came with?

I'm trying to recreate something similar to the "POLARIS" logo along the bottom of this ski for one of my projects. It has about a 1/4" black outline around it. I already have a font that matches, but I can't seem to find a good way to outline the letters. Basically, all around the outside and inside of the letters I need to make a black border so I can cut the different layers....I also want to try to make a think offset outline that is completely separate from the solid letter...so it would be the letter, a think blank space and then another think outline of the letter. Basically, I need to be able to offset the boarder line of the letter by a few pixels.

Seems like it should be simple....I want to trim the black oval so everything that is under the gray is deleted and I'm left with basically three new separate black objects. I tried Arange->Shaping->Trim and I'm left with the object shown in the middle....basically it's trimming it and making it one object instead of three, which is a PITA to clean up Is there a function I can use that will actually make new separated objects?

Yep! That worked! It's a little bulky but it'll do the job. I wish there was a way to offset the line only to one side. What it's doing now is setting a contour on both sides of the line I select....so I have to break the contour and then break the curve of the two contour lines to separate them and then I can delete the inside one that I don't need.

Now that's getting much closer than I was before. Now I'm getting a contour line on either side of the existing line...but I can't seem to convert them to objects that aren't tied to the original letter/line. How do I break the new contours away so they aren't tied to the original object?

That worked perfectly. Thanks much!

Trying to find this in a vector: I've found an eps on Brands of the world and another site, but both show up blank when I open them in Corel 12 or import them in to my Roland software. http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/logo/arctic-cat-0 Could someone possibly see if that one opens and if so save it to an older version that Corel 12 will read? Or even another format - .ai or something? I've vectorized a raster I found but I'm not loving the result.

If you go to Oracal's site and register, you can order a swatch book that his little square samples of every color and most of their product lines.

If you already have a compressor, yes. I use the air eraser without a cabinet and do just fine....although you usually end up with a little grit in your teeth...and hair...and shirt. It uses such an insignificant amount of media that it's really not worth trying to recycle it. I use maybe half a tablespoon off 200 to do a beer mug. With a smaller blaster, like the eraser, a cheapo compressor will do just fine. For the bigger setups like a pot or gravity feed gun, you're going to need a much bigger compressor. I personally use an 80-gallon emglo that's rated for 17cfm @ 170psi.....but that's just a tad overkill.

What do you use for a gun? I've been using an air eraser with 200 grit AO because that's all that will fit in the air eraser. I tried with 70 grit and it just clogs it up. I'm waiting for a deal to come around on a cabinet so I can just get it over with.

Looks like you just put vinyl on it? Not sure what you mean. I used some old plain white no-name vinyl as the stencil, but what you see in the pic is the blasted finish. I used an air eraser to 220 aluminum oxide. As far as a cabinet goes, the air eraser holds about a tablespoon of media and I used maybe half of that amount to do that one mug. I wouldn't use the recycling of media as an excuse to buy one unless you're doing tons of glasses....but having a cabinet to keep the dust down and crap out of your eyes sure is nice. I'll pick one up as soon as I find a sweet deal on Craigslist or something. Has anyone tried a heavier grit AO media? I picked up a jug of 70grit some some black beauty but it's too heavy to pust through the air eraser. I suppose I could try it with my little spot blaster.

So, would you say that you're bike-curious?

Yeah, Comic Sans...I've used it on just about everything for the past decade! I need to hit up the dollar stores. I just happened to be at this place and saw the mugs and picked up a couple. This one happened to be extra-huge....must be at least 30oz. I have a pile of bare pint glasses that are my everyday drink glasses. I have a feeling they're all going to get "modified" in one way or another over the next few weeks.

This thread inspired me to give it a try too. I figured it's not worth starting a new thread over. $5 giant beer mug from Garden Ridge. Took about 20 minutes from sitting down in front of the computer to filling the mug with beer. (That's 2-12 once bottles in there and it still wasn't enough to completely fill it!)

So I just got a sample roll from 3M and it's way too big for my 24" cutter. What tricks do you have for cleanly cutting a roll of vinyl down to size? I've tried searching - who would have thought the words "cutting" and "roll" would show up so many times on this site.

Made a couple of my first multi-color pieces. All for coworkers...for free. No copyright infringement expressed or implied. The SPFC is a Brazilian soccer team.

This. I do 90% of this stuff as a hobby. I'm happy if I make enough on my side jobs to cover the cost of the extra material I use for myself. I got my cutter for nearly free and I next to no overhead. Sounds more like people are hurt because the small guy is "stealing" their business. Capitalism can be a bitch sometimes.

I'm trying to cut some lettering for someone. The font he wants to use is one he's been using in Autodesk and unfortunately it is not a typical Windows font. Autodesk calls it "script s" or "scripts", which unfortunately makes it pretty generic when searching. I've gone through most of the sites linked here and haven't had much luck. I've got a couple that are close, but not quite right. Anyone happen to know this one? Here's a sample:

Worked! Thanks!

Thanks....but I forgot to post the pic of the one I was trying with my last post. I'm trying to get the "Welcome" one above to open.

I can't get the EPS for this one to open....Corel just gives me a gray square and both CutStudio and Inkscape both give me errors. Anyone have a file that's verified to open? Could you possibly save it as an older version .eps or something?

I'm trying to vectorize these in Corel and keep getting a weird error about multiple paths or something....never seen it before but the traces are definitely not coming out right. Can anyone give me a hand?

Well, that will definitely work better! Why didn't I think of that!

As far as I can tell these are not in any industry standard barcode. They are short, only 2 digits from 10 to 20 and there are only 2 or three bars on any label. The originals are silver foil with black printed over the top - the bars are silver. I've read that people were able to use spot silver ribbons and print on black vinyl.