Inkstaind

VinylMaster Cut V4.0 Tile Question

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I'm sure you've all seen this question many times, and thanks in advance for any advice you can lend. 

I'm cutting a fairly large graphic for a customers window.  The graphic is 50"x30", but I can only cut 23" wide.  So I looked everywhere online for tutorials and realized that I don't have the overlap "tile" option with my version of VinylMaster V4.0.  I then simply duplicated the graphic a couple times and cropped half on one file, and cropped the opposite half on the duplicated file with a slight overlap.  It cut well, everything seemed great, applied the top portion to the window, then when I went to align the bottom section there was about a 1/8th misalignment that had me baffled.  Not sure how that was possible, but it was unworkable, could not align, and I had to remove everything.  Seems simple, should have been easy.  Why would it not align? 

I cropped the files in Corel Draw then exported them as .ai files, then imported them into VinylMaster.  They should have been exact.

Thanks again for any advice you can as I'm in a pinch now trying to get this job completed.

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What cutter are you using? A graphic that big on say an MH Cutter and only being off by 1/8" is actually pretty good.

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Depends on the cutter. Some do not track as well as others. What are you using for a cutter?

When I had that problem I used a sharp blade and trimmed the intersections so they lined up.

Just note, you need to install the bottom first to keep rain and such from getting behind the seams.

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Thanks for the responses.  I'm using an MH 721-MK2.  I know it's pretty cheap as cutters go, but would think it should still be a fairly simple procedure.

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1/8 misalignment may not be bad, but it would have been a disaster to try and trim.  Would have been a joke I would think trying to make that work.

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Lucky you only got that with a MH.

The trim would be right after install. Pretty simple actually. Free hand it and pull the excess. Have done it on painted drywall with no problems.

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I just re-cut the graphic the same as I did previously, then trimmed a straight edge right up against the graphic so I could lay the top piece up against it to see if it aligns and it does, nicely.  Does that mean that the vinyl is actually stretching when applying causing the misalignment for the second piece?

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It can stretch when applying and if no overlap, especially with calendared vinyl, it will shrink leaving a gap in time - the reason a tile feature creates the overlap sections. 

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I understand, that's why I used the crop tool and added about an 1/8 of an inch to the second crop cut to overlap.  I'm thinking now that it stretched when applying the first section, then when I lined up the second it seemed way off.  I guess that could just as easily happen again.  Is there anything I can to to minimize that or compensate?

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Now that I'm thinking about it, when I applied the first section last time I did not use any solution on the window, dry applied it.  Anchored the middle then applied one half, then the other, then sprayed the window to apply the second section.  I don't want to dry apply the second section, sounds too risky, so may wet apply both sections?

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I always apply dry on flat surfaces. You are seeing the downside to cheaper cutters. There IS the possibility of stretching accidentally when applying but if you are using good paper app tape it's not all that likely. That is well over the size that you will have good results with. The budget cutters really struggle with large graphics over about 24 inches long and also with really small stuff. There is a reason people pay so much more for high end machines. My Summa runs over $3500 but I started on a $400 Chinese cutter. It still got the job done but Oh what a difference when I decided to upgrade. The results you are having were regular occurrences when I was using my P-Cut. I got pretty good at chasing where to try and overlap things so that there were places I could hand trim and not see the misses as bad. 

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I went ahead and just applied wet, since dry both the sections lined up perfectly.  Even though I would prefer to apply dry, it worked out this time nicely.  The only issue was since it's been a bit cold outside here, it took forever for the solution to evaporate enough to remove the transfer tape, lol.  A cordless blowdryer would have been great.

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