Fitz 0 Posted September 27, 2014 Good day all, I'm new to the forum and a real newbie with vinyl cutters. I'm from Montreal Canada and decided to recently buy myself a Laserpoint II cutter so I could cut my own airbrush stencils. That was the only reason I decided to buy the cutter but, recently folks started to ask if I could do some signs for them and my immediate answer was yeah sure! But then I realized that I needed the SignCut software to do contour cutting. I went online and learn that the SignCut software should be part of the cutter I bought but, it's not and I can't find it...The only thing I have is the SCAL Pro software. What did I missed ? Is it somewhere hidden in the SCAL software disc ? Do I need to download it form somewhere ? Please need help. Fitz. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wildgoose 4,200 Posted September 27, 2014 SignCut is a subscription based (or dongle purchase) program. When I bought my first cutter it came with 1 year of SignCut Pro. You can get a free trial. I am confused though. How are you cutting your stencils without some sort of cutting program. Whatever you are doing to cut stencils should work for everything but contour cutting and contour is only necessary for around printed graphics. Do you have a printer? How do you design your stencils? Sorry for the questions. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fitz 0 Posted September 28, 2014 Hi Wild Goose, Hey no worries about asking questions, my father always told me: "Son, the best way to learn is to ask questions!" LOL! I'm new to the cutting machine world, and I'm hearing (reading) that if you want to do vinyl sign you have to be able to contour cut around the printed, let's say logo, you need to have registration marks. I have SCAL Pro, GIMP and Inkscape and with those I can cut any airbrush stencils I need to but, neither of those have the registration mark option (unless I'm to dumb to find it), and I would like expand to doing vinyl signs, lettering, decals, etc... I also learn through the US Cutter videos that when you purchase a cutter (in my case a LaserPoint II) you get the SignCut software for a year but, this is exactly the problem, the only thing that arrived with the cutter was the SCAL Pro install disc. Where do I find or download this one year subscription to this software ? Thx. Fitz. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skarekrow 1,842 Posted September 28, 2014 With sign work, whether airbrushed (paint) or cut vinyl, or both, I can't imagine needing to contour cut anything. That would apply mostly to print work. (I guess one might have some vinyl printed and adhere it to the substrate...) Registration marks however, do come in very handy when using multi-layer stencils. You can create the registration marks in Gimp or Inkscape.... SCAL too, I imagine. They are just alignment marks to correctly place vinyl or stencil layers/ colors. Cuz, unless you're needing them for contour cutting, the plotter doesn't need to read the marks. ~You~ will use them by eye to line up your stencils to one another on the substrate. (How 'bout that, Mopar? Did you see I went back and added to my post? ) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,708 Posted September 28, 2014 I would guess that it has been over a year ago that Signcut and Signblazer were included with a purchase. They only send Scalpro3 now... And you don't need to contour cut for regular vinyl cutting.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wildgoose 4,200 Posted September 28, 2014 Yeah I think you are mis-understanding the procedure for regular vinyl. You just cut it like you would for a stencil but weed the stencil off and keep the letters so to speak. Then use some app tape to transfer the cut vinyl to it;s final resting place and squeegee it on there and remove the app tape. I would assume you do about the same thing with your stencil material/paint mask product you have been using. Contour cutting is just a line around a printed graphic like a "Sticker". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mabscotthandyman 1,410 Posted September 28, 2014 Hello and welcome. For layered vinyl on a sign you would want registeration marks to align the different colors/layers and some thing as simple as a circle or square can be added at the top of your design for that. Do a search for registeration marks to learn how to add them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fitz 0 Posted September 29, 2014 Thank you all for your help, greatly appreciate it. Fitz. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
