Skip Willis

What different cutting programs will the SC series be able to cut from?

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I got this Vinylmaster software with my cutter, but I'd like to be able to cut from CorelDraw or Inkscape.  I save my cut files to png, or eps and import them into VM but I've been having trouble with them.

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Corel Draw is not cutting software,    And you might want to read this thread about InkCut   What problems are you having with Vinyl Master?  Great support on here for the program,    Free Signblazer is available  under the Liyu driver...  Other soft wares  Sure cuts a lot,  Signcut,  Flexi products,  all for sale. 

 

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1 hour ago, Skip Willis said:

I got this Vinylmaster software with my cutter, but I'd like to be able to cut from CorelDraw or Inkscape.  I save my cut files to png, or eps and import them into VM but I've been having trouble with them.

Sure cuts a lot 4 pro will work as well.. from craftedge.com.. I tried Vm and i just didnt like the layout and scalps4pro was just so simple in my own opinion lol... I ca n setup a live view for you if you want to see how it works..You will be able to see my screen live .Send me a pm If your interested..You be surprised on how many people do this with me and switch over, I do so much helping privately live view  on here lol.. @cardudenc is just one of them..

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1 hour ago, Skip Willis said:

I got this Vinylmaster software with my cutter, but I'd like to be able to cut from CorelDraw or Inkscape.  I save my cut files to png, or eps and import them into VM but I've been having trouble with them.

Vinylmaster is far better than scalp - part of your problem is saving as a .png that is a raster format and would not be cutable - you need to have your graphics in a vector based format.  plotters use the vector based images to cut and raster images that are made of pixels don't work.  taking time to learn a vector program will greatly reduce your anxiety quickest 

Scalp is only still offered as an option for mac users - designed for cricut users it is not a good decal or sign program IMHO.  You will find very few old timers  or experienced users still using SCALP for a reason - check the scalp thread to read issued with it

 

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5 hours ago, Dakotagrafx said:

Vinylmaster is far better than scalp - part of your problem is saving as a .png that is a raster format and would not be cutable - you need to have your graphics in a vector based format.  plotters use the vector based images to cut and raster images that are made of pixels don't work.  taking time to learn a vector program will greatly reduce your anxiety quickest 

Scalp is only still offered as an option for mac users - designed for cricut users it is not a good decal or sign program IMHO.  You will find very few old timers  or experienced users still using SCALP for a reason - check the scalp thread to read issued with it

 

I import the png then trace it. The eps files will cut without tracing, but either one of them give me fits. Sometimes the program won't trace all of the png objects, and some parts of the eps file get cut twice. I design stickers using CorelDraw and just started learning Inkscape, but I guess the cutter won't cut unless I import them into this Vinylmaster program that came with this cutter. I used to used Coreldraw when I had a Graphtec, and Roland. I wish I still had those cutters.

You're just east of me an hour or so. I'm over west of Niles about 20-25 miles.

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7 hours ago, MZ SKEETER said:

Corel Draw is not cutting software,    And you might want to read this thread about InkCut   What problems are you having with Vinyl Master?  Great support on here for the program,    Free Signblazer is available  under the Liyu driver...  Other soft wares  Sure cuts a lot,  Signcut,  Flexi products,  all for sale. 

 

Thanks for the inkcut link. I read about inkcut a couple of weeks ago. on thing that is happening is that the carriage produces terribly jagged lines.. the other is, that some png files I import and trace, parts of the graphic don't get traced.  They are all one color too, so  I have no cluewhat's going on.I'll  try to find the VM section and take a look. Thank you for the help. Much appreciated.

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22 minutes ago, Skip Willis said:

I import the png then trace it. The eps files will cut without tracing, but either one of them give me fits. Sometimes the program won't trace all of the png objects, and some parts of the eps file get cut twice. I design stickers using CorelDraw and just started learning Inkscape, but I guess the cutter won't cut unless I import them into this Vinylmaster program that came with this cutter. I used to used Coreldraw when I had a Graphtec, and Roland. I wish I still had those cutters.

You're just east of me an hour or so. I'm over west of Niles about 20-25 miles.

if you design it in coreldraw as a vector graphic then export as an .eps then no reason to trace or convert and would be a clean graphic..   yes after having a graphtec or roland the sc would be torture for me - not just the sc but any stepper motor cutter would be rough to go back to.

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Just now, Dakotagrafx said:

if you design it in coreldraw as a vector graphic then export as an .eps then no reason to trace or convert and would be a clean graphic..   yes after having a graphtec or roland the sc would be torture for me - not just the sc but any stepper motor cutter would be rough to go back to.

Exactly. I can cut directly from an eps file. Import it into VM then tell it to cut. It cuts, but some parts of the graphic get cut twice. I thougth I might have told it to, but I didn't see anywhere  where I clicked a box telling it to cut twice.  I even went back into corel and pulled up the file to see if I accidently layered two pieces of the same object and it was trying to cut them.. No idea what's going on....lol. I just got to thinking maybe it's the VM software doing it.

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sounds like you traced an image and there are 2 layers on parts of your design - if you made if from scratch that shouldn't happen

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@cardudenc   and others---- Per uscutter website...http://www.uscutter.com/Sure-Cuts-A-Lot-Pro-4 .  They have added scalps4pro to their software list  which will work on windows.. I do not get paid to mention software .I only mention it cause its an option for those who are looking for something else if needed.. :angry:  Not sure why the down talk is going on today but whatever. If Scalps was such a horrible program etc ,uscutter would not have JUST ADDED the new version to their software list. Like i said before ,the older versions of scalps had issues and problems and those have gone away  and i have had 4pro for over 2 years since it has been out and it works awesome for everything i do and have done.. Its a choice if someone wants to try or check out a different program.If they choose to switch to another its their choice,I force no body to pick ,I show how it works etc and they make that choice.If they choose scalps4pro over Vm then thats not my issue or fault..  I dont ever bash any software ,i just state my opinion oh how things look and work etc. Its not my fault if people leave whatever software and go to scalps .So can this retarded #$#@ come to an end holy crap. I dont think a Moderator should be commenting the way its happening here ..

Untitled.thumb.jpg.beddb3fd7f1a295abf3f31fef793b1ed.jpg

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Now that I see the cutter list, His cutter is not supported.  (Graphtec FC7000-75)  Those are  Graphtec CE cutters.  They are either  15" 24," or 48" ..No mention of FC   cutters.   FC cutters are 24"  30" 42" 54" 64"  

This is why I asked before, if the FC driver was there for the size of his cutter in Scalp?.  And I don't care what your Craftedge guy said. .  No it is not...Now back to scaling problem. It is the software. 

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oops, @MZ SKEETER  the Graphtec scaling problem is a different post . but I understand, Ive never witnessed this type action on this forum before.

Sorry but I feel the brand software debate is similar to the old Chevy or Ford which is better arguement

I have used/use VM and Scalps4  with my SC cutter . my opinion is my opinion on either. I can say this from being an absolute newbie/computer illiterate person trying to cut vinyl, I started with VM because it came with my cutter and that could be the reason I think being the comp. dummie I am some things were easier in VM. But now that I have learned a little in the last 14 months I feel that scalps4 does a better job cutting and there is several things I like better using it. and of course scalps4 pro has a lot of features my basic VM program doesn't have. so on that part I don't believe its a fair comparison on that part.

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I knew where the post was.  I am replying to the picture of SCALP above.  :D  Your cutter IS there for the SC on both software.  The Graphtec FC is not.on Scalp, which the other OP was told to run his cutter on. by someone who doesn't have a Graphtec FC:huh:

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gotcha, I just got home and logged back on. I usually follow the post about the cutter I have, I hope to give back the help I have received on here to others like me last yr when I started. that's how I met @Primal Decals who I now consider a friend verses just someone I talk to on a web forum. and I'm sure our opinions are not the same on everything vinyl related. lol

but if I'm not mistaken Primal posted he called craftedge about the compatibility with that model graphtec

I saw the 2 post and program discussion/argument earlier today.

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Skip, If you are in doubt about the file post it up if it's not something copyright protected and we will take a look and verify that there aren't layers in there stacked or something wrong with it. 

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21 hours ago, Wildgoose said:

Skip, If you are in doubt about the file post it up if it's not something copyright protected and we will take a look and verify that there aren't layers in there stacked or something wrong with it. 

Thank you. I have a logo for my photography business that I've made numerous copies of, in different colors. I export them as png files so that there is a transparent background when I use them as a watermark.  I think only one of them traces out the whole graphic, while the other ones don't trace the car.  I noticed that if I export one as an eps file, it cuts right from the get-go, but cuts the outline of the car twice... It's not a big deal. I can work around it.. My biggest concern now, is that the carriage jerks horribly when cutting. I've been trying different speed/pressure settings thinking maybe that's the problem. I quit using vinyl, to try to figure out what's going on. I stuck the pen in and just use paper now. I read somewhere that I should go thru the keyspan adapter instead of the usb port. I have one on order. Any other ideas, on how to smooth out the cut, if the adapter doesn't do it?

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1 hour ago, Skip Willis said:

Thank you. I have a logo for my photography business that I've made numerous copies of, in different colors. I export them as png files so that there is a transparent background when I use them as a watermark.  I think only one of them traces out the whole graphic, while the other ones don't trace the car.  I noticed that if I export one as an eps file, it cuts right from the get-go, but cuts the outline of the car twice... It's not a big deal. I can work around it.. My biggest concern now, is that the carriage jerks horribly when cutting. I've been trying different speed/pressure settings thinking maybe that's the problem. I quit using vinyl, to try to figure out what's going on. I stuck the pen in and just use paper now. I read somewhere that I should go thru the keyspan adapter instead of the usb port. I have one on order. Any other ideas, on how to smooth out the cut, if the adapter doesn't do it?

the cutting twice is an indication that there are two of that image stacked on top of each other.  the jerking is probably a lot of nodes created with the tracing.

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It jerks even if I make circles, or squares in VM then cut them. You can really see how bad the lines are, when using the pen. I thought I read somewhere to adjust the tension on the carriage belt. I might take a look at that too. I know this is only a $300 cutter, but my Cameo was $250 and it cuts fine. It's a little noisier than the SC, but it has clean lines, and it cuts the same files, without the problems the SC has. lol

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The SC is definitely a budget cutter but should run smoother than what you describe. I agree with Dakota on the file. You either have two of the car or possibly some open ground around it that is also an object (possibly with a white or transparent fill) that will cause a double cut. If you can manage a short video small enough to upload showing the cut being jerky maybe we can be of more specific help. 

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I'll see if I can't figure out how to load  a video from my iPhone to my pc so I can put it up here. Any special format required for attaching videos?

 

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sorry the video isn't as good as I'd like. the pic shows what the cut lines look like.Do you guys think there's something going on, or am I imagining things?

BTW , Thanks a lot for all the help you guys have given me

IMG_0202[1].MOV

IMG_0203[1].JPG

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Betting you traced the words - recreate with fonts to get rid of all those nodes it is trying to copy and also slow the plotter down a lot - it's moving at lightning speed when it is not trying to follow hundreds of nodes is my guess -

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wow - the way it was acting I was guessing it was traced - maybe some one else has an idea - it sure looks iike it is following hundreds of nodes - can you post the file as an eps so some of our old timers can look at it?

 

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