Software and machine question

[Lezliej 0]

My husband and I own a small trucking company and we are considering buying a cutter so that we can decal our own trucks and branch out to logoing other trucks. Would the MH cutter be a total waste of money to get started with? I see that it comes with software. How much creativity is there to being able to design logos or put ones own artwork in that has been created with, lets say, Photoshop or Illustrator?

Thanks, Lezlie

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

you will want to design in illustrator so it is a vector format - the plotters cannot use any raster type image without a conversion that will take some skill to do.  I would suggest downloading the free signblazer to see what you are getting into for the software end.  on the cutter I haven't used it but there have been some good reviews on the sc series - personally the copam was the lowest dollar one that worked as it should making life easier.  or course the graphtec is the caddilac and has eliminated the hair pulling altogether.    a mid price cutter that works prettty good is the gcc expert 24 also

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

If you are artwork challenged like many of us you can buy packages of images that are "cut ready"  I use that term loosely because any of those need fixing also before use.  don't forget to start with the right materials - you will want oracal 751 for the vehicle graphics, some application tape (paper)  xacto knife, possibly some application fluid (or make your own), straight edge, and a decent cutting att to work on.

[OWJones 1,981]

A lot of it depends on what you're wanting to make, too...

 

If all you want to do is cut out large block letters and numbers, then pretty much any cutter from US Cutter will meet your needs.

 

If you're looking to do more intricate designs, especially anything with small/fine detail, then you'll want to work your way up the price list.

 

I started with a cheap Chinese cutter from Sign Warehouse and quickly realized that it works great for cutting letters/numbers for banners and signs, but for doing small decals (most of my work is less than 8" x 8") it was woefully inadequate and so I jumped straight to a Graphtec and haven't looked back.

 

I've played with the SCALP (Sure Cuts A Lot Pro) software that comes with cutters from US Cutter and it's adequate for doing most work.  I personally like software that has hundreds of buttons and menu items (even if I I don't know what most of them do), but that's me.  Some people like the simplified interface of an application like SCALP.

 

Like Scott said, stay away from using Photoshop or other Raster software - you want to use only Vector based software like Illustrator (which I dislike), Corel Draw (which I prefer) or a free application like Inkscape and do all of your design work in that as you won't lose any detail when you convert it for cutting.

Although you'll want to stick to name brand vinyls, like Oracal, for doing vehicle work, if you purchase a package deal that includes an assortment of Greenstar vinyl, go ahead and use it up for practice.  You're going to waste some vinyl getting the equipment all dialed in, learning how to weed, tape, layer, etc - it's best to practice with the cheap (or free) stuff before using the more expensive materials.  If you do the math you'll find that Oracal isn't much more expensive than Greenstar, and you definitely get what you pay for when it comes to vinyl.  Especially if you're going to be selling decals to other people, you want to make sure it's going to last.

 

Greenstar vinyl is OK for indoor use, so if you need to make any signs in your office or home, then it's OK to use it up for that, too.

[Lezliej 0]

I REALLY appreciate all of this info! It's been really helpful.

Lezlie

[slice&dice 2,450]

I run into people all the time who walk into my store and ask for me to reproduce a logo, but all they have is a business card that has their miniature logo that's just impossible to utilize.

 

When I ask where the original digital file is (from the graphic designer) 99% of the time I get a blank stare and they have no clue, and seem to think that I should be able to use the logo on the card.

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

I run into people all the time who walk into my store and ask for me to reproduce a logo, but all they have is a business card that has their miniature logo that's just impossible to utilize.

 

When I ask where the original digital file is (from the graphic designer) 99% of the time I get a blank stare and they have no clue, and seem to think that I should be able to use the logo on the card.

vistaprint didn't give me a digtal file - well for $70/hr I can recreate it . . . .  usually followed by someone call 911 I think they fainted.

 

or my other favorite - my nephew is a computer wiz and created it on a napkin with crayons then kinda painted it on the puter

[Wildgoose 4,200]

I actually started out digitizing those business card images that people would try to have put on shirts and hats. A local embroidery shop hires(d) me to do that kind of work. They started slowing down (in housing the work rather than paying me to do it) so I got a wild hair and decided to try my own cutting and started with a 48" Creation P-Cut. I have had a viable sign business running nights and weekends for 2-1/2 years now and am probably stealing some of their clients since I branched out into the apparel side of things. The P-Cut was adequate for the work I did but I finally stepped it up into a top of the line cutter this summer and it really changed things for me. I didn't want to invest that much to start with because I wasn't sure if it would even pay off. The better cutter basically makes the biggest difference in really small stuff and really big stuff. All the middle from about 3/4" lettering up to maybe 48 inch long graphics the P-Cut did just fine although slower, noisy and would glitch out if I tried to do a bunch of multiple copies of decals. If you get cutting software with step-by-step cutting like SignCut Pro you can even do the real big graphics decently but the budget cutter still had trouble matching up all the lines on large complicated cuts. Most of the time a little hand work with an exacto knife and you couldn't even tell.

[slice&dice 2,450]

My husband and I own a small trucking company and we are considering buying a cutter so that we can decal our own trucks and branch out to logoing other trucks. Would the MH cutter be a total waste of money to get started with? I see that it comes with software. How much creativity is there to being able to design logos or put ones own artwork in that has been created with, lets say, Photoshop or Illustrator?

Thanks, Lezlie

 

 

I have a 10-disk set of DVD's that contains a ton of ready-to-cut graphics.

 

Worth looking into, in my opinion.

(on ebay --- Mega Vector collection)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=321168859483