haumana

I don't think I've ever run into stroke widths being an issue when it comes to fonts. But I will fire up a few different programs on PC and Mac and test out the varied font situation. I was also under the impression that font pts. were somewhat fixed - with an approximation of 72pts = (roughly) 1 inch.

Yup. So, for example, a word in Corel - 4" in height (and 4.873" wide) is 338.491pts. The same word in Graphtec Studio is 2.892" wide and 184.1pts. At the same height, I'm getting very different widths, which the results only become much more pronounced the more words/letters that are in it. No stretching, or adjusting to the width or kerning. I find the pts difference interesting, but fairly inconsequential, as when I do text, it need to be measured in height either in centimeters or inches. What truly baffles me is the difference in width, because it is vastly different.

So this is something I just ran into. I have a customer requesting basic text. When I enter the test in Graphic Studio (because I'm working on my Mac today), and then I did the same in Corel Draw. I'm getting two completely different dimensions, however, when I'm looking at the text in both programs, the proportions look identical. The kerning and text width seem to be spot on in both programs. There's a huge difference in font point sizes, even though the text are exactly the same measured height. Has anyone else ran into this? my mind in blown

That would be me in a nutshell.

Remove the protective plastic on the cutting strip. See if the cutting strip has any deep cuts. If there are some deeper cuts in it, you might want to flip it over, or replace it. I always have a new replacement cutting strip on hand just in case. Lifting on cut vinyl can be caused by several things, or a combination of them - too much blade depth, too much pressure, cutting too fast, broken blade tip, etc. If you're going to cut smaller things and/or more intricate designs, slow the cut speed down and you might want to consider using a 60* blade. I personally prefer the 60* from Clean Cut Blades, they last me forever. I believe has a trial version you can test drive before buy, so you might want give that a go. Keep us posted.

So in this screen shot, were it says "Port", you have <Auto Detect> selected, I would go into Device Manager and find out which port Windows has assigned to the cutter to, and select that port in the software. That's a good place to start. The next question is, is your cutter connected directly to your computer with a single cable (ie. not using an extension or a hub)? The cutters tend to function best if tied directly to the computer, preferably one that isn't excessively long. Go from there and keep us posted. Good luck.

I am envious that you have a dedicated working space. I have to put things where they kind of fit, and work around that The cutters are in front of my desk, with just enough room for me to load them up. On a good day I have a small table with a self healing mat to tape up. If the project is physically too big to fit on the small table, then I have to clear off the dining room table. I do my best not to take on projects that have longer runs. LOL

not quite understanding the question or issue. If you select the color red to be cut, then everything that's red will cut as long as it fits in the design space and the media size at you set in your software. It will also preserve the layout so if you have a 36" design with a single red item at the very left, and a single red item at the very right, the cutter will jog all that vinyl between the two different elements. If you have multiple red items, but it's not cutting all of it when you send it to the color, make sure that all the elements are actually the shade of red, because the software will know if it's RGB Red 255 vs RGB R250, and it will only cut the one that you designate. <- That's just an example.

Thanks for keeping us posted. Sounds like you have some serious static management going on.

Super random - any chance those two elements are actually raster and not vector?

If you can't seem to break it apart like you would like, then copy and paste, then node edit out what you don't want to keep from each one. I do that frequently.

I'm a dual platform person, however, I spend the majority of my time on Macs. Right now, the top priority is getting clean cuts, so let's get this done one step at a time. The best way to tell if the cutter is going to perform to your standards, and get the clean cuts you're looking for, is to test it across multiple software if necessary to see if you're getting differing results with the same image. If you are, then it's the software that you should be looking at. I get that the AI plug in was a huge selling point for you, but it's not quite time to throw out the baby with the bath water. Have you downloaded and installed Graphtec Studio? I would select on design which will be your benchmark to test across the board. You know the results that you're getting from going the Mac > AI plug in route, so merge that design into Graphtec Studio and see what those results are. You can also test the design on a Windows machine. Window is not going to be you go to right now, but this is part of the process of elimination to get your machine dialed properly.

You cannot start blaming the hardware, until you've had a chance to test it with other software. Be patient with dialing in the machine until you find the 'sweet spot' of blade depth, speed, and force. It was a learning process with my first cutter (LaserPoint), and another learning process with my Graphtec CE6000. It is what it is, and I would have liked to be able to dial in the Graphtec quicker because I had cutter experience, but every machine is different, so it is what it is. If you're wanting more accurate detail, wait until your 60* blade comes in, hopefully you ordered a Clean Cut Blade. You'll get there. Don't give up on the machine. Just find smaller designs to get your feet wet with this cutter.