Titan 2 and SCALPro (Mac)

[Meucow 5]

First, thank you to all that help respond on these boards. I know your expertise is always appreciated. I just purchased a Titan 2 and then received SCALPro3 (Mac). I got everything set up so mac/SCALP is sending to the cutter (yay) AND think I have blade setting and speed and force set (a miracle and another yay!). I'm super familiar with SCAL as I have version 4 and a silhouette machine (know it's a 'craft cutter'). I'm struggling with this most simple thing. The vinyl piece I'm using is 14" by 18" wide. I'm lining it up at the 1" mark so that puts the vinyl to 19" mark on the ruler. 

I'm loading the vinyl from the back (but still unclear how far to bring it up to the front, obviously past the rollers but not sure how far to have it...

 I have it set as WYSIWYG - so it cuts the way I have it on the SCAL virtual mat. The carriage head 'moves over to the left and then the rollers push the vinyl so it's cutting in the far left-hand corner.  I have attached a screen shot of the word TEST. I'm lining it up so the 'T' would start at 1" down and 1" across... when I go to cut, rollers are pushing the vinyl so much that it's falling through...  I know I can add a longer piece of vinyl (than the 14") but I think I just need some guidance on 'margins' or how to best line up the vinyl/how much to allow for rollers...  I do some VERY specific designing so where lettering lines up and all will be crucial for me to comprehend -right now I'm not clear how lining up vinyl/allowing for margins/rollers etc. on the Titan 2... help appreciated. 

Thank you in advance. 

Cindi 

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

You load the vinyl from the back. you only need a little bit of vinyl past the cutting strip. Your cutter cuts from right to left.  Most people would put the design in the lower right hand corner, and start cutting at the lower right hand corner of the vinyl. You must hit the ORIGIN button, before you start cutting. That is where the measuring starts for your design. Roller marks go away, if that is what your afraid of.  The rollers can go right over the design, no problems.  

[Meucow 5]

MZ Skeeter. Ok- yes, I'm loading from the back. That helps about just needing a little bit of material past cutting strip. The cutter cutting right to left, interesting and different from what I'm used to... I will make sure I'm hitting ORIGIN . Sooo, I do a lot of pieces like the attached... Example (attached): Size is 16x16... and I create the design as if you were reading, Starting top left over to top right and then on down. Previous cutter cut left to right....  Again, just trying to re-train my brain on the new cutter logistics. Do you see any way that I would need to design anything differently from the way I have been? Or just realize with the new cutter, instead of starting at the "G" (in GRATEFUL) at the 1" mark, it would start with the "N' (in BETWEEN) and adjust layout/vinyl material etc.... accordingly. (thank you as always)

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

First off I don't use SCALP.  I got a demo and didn't like it at all.  BUT most software tells the vinyl cutter to start cutting where the design was originally created first.  There may be places in the software that tells the vinyl cutter something different.  I only use Flexi software.   When I cut a design. my software tells my vinyl cutter, where to start cutting.  If the design is 16" x 16"  the starting point may be  14" into the design, but it will come back and finish all of the design.   Go to youtube and watch vinyl cutters and how they start out cutting. 

[darcshadow 1,626]

I don't think they really mean start, but rather layout. The N will be cut where the B was cut with the old cutter.

But yeah, you don't need to change your design, just the way you think of plotter orientation. You say it cuts right to left, but if you look at the cutter from the other side it's cutting left to right. If I'm reading correct, the bottom right corner will be the origin point on the cutter so that when the job is done you'd be able to read the words as the vinyl hangs from the cutter.

I don't know your software, but most programs you can change the orientation so that it will plot like your old one if you can't wrap your head around the different orientation.

[Wildgoose 4,200]

Another thing to think about is the cutter may or may not be paying any attention to the 1" border you have on your design work space. WYSIWYG SHOULD give you that but it may not. If you load your vinyl and then move your cutting head over an inch and zero it out there and cut regularly it should get you to the same place. I use a different cutting program and it names WYSIWYG a different name and it will cut as if all the elements are included meaning the different color combinations within a sign job so if the top half of a job was red and the lower was blue it will leave the overall same amount of space which is handy when layering with app tape but I don't think it holds any certain amount of free space based on a desktop workspace. YOURS MAY do this mine doesn't to my knowledge. Unless you are doing a paint stencil I don't know why you would want it to do that anyway. If I am doing a stencil I just add a box aout around the design so it creates the exterior overlap I am looking for. 

[MZ SKEETER 4,708]

Not sure how a Titan would be,  but on a Graphtec, the plotter orientation is in the Graphtec cutter menu.   You can start Left, Center , or Right hand corner.  

[Meucow 5]

Thank you all - yes, Wildgoose - I'm doing a paint stencil (that is my business) and the 1" border (For my purposes represents the frame I hand cut). I looked in software settings but couldn't find a setting to modify the cut pattern (i.e. left to right) but if not as darcshadow says, my layout shouldn't change just the way this cutter will cut (and me changing my thought process going forward)....

[Meucow 5]

FYI - contacted Craftedge (creators of Sure Cuts A Lot) and the software does NOT have the ability to modify 'where' the design starts/stops. No worries - it's just helpful to know as I design and layout orders.