haumana

In a case like this, is cast vinyl better than calendared vinyl? Most of the signs will be in the sun (direct and indirect). I noticed that there doesn't even seem to be a noticeable ridge at the edges of the lettering. I won't need to use reflective, just simple black on white. Would matte be better than gloss? Would I need to buy one of the 'pen things' (my technical term), that will seal the edges so they don't lift or curl up over time?

Hahahaha. I guess our question definitely falls under 'optional' rather than 'required.'

good point. I am considering replacing the scanner for one of the newer epson all-in-one's. I just figured if I got the tablet, then that would eliminate the need to vectorize since I would be using the vector tools to trace/create the image ... although I could be totally wrong about that too. I know just enough about vectorizing to make me frustrated that I don't know enough. hahahaha.

I'm considering picking one up. Any advice? Ideally I would like to use it to input images from tracing paper. I know that the tablets are supposed to be pressure sensitive, but would I be able to lay the tracing paper on the tablet, or does the pen need to be in direct contact. I have a scanner, but it's a tank and the images that it scan suck. Just wondering if the bigger active space is really that beneficial (since the tablets aren't as cheap as mouse's/mice/whatever)? A mouse isn't required, as I really love my kensington trackball. Do you think a cheapy graphics tablet is viable? (or is it more - you get what you pay for?).

I think I need to spend a little more time taking a look at the dingbat fonts that I have. Hmm.... I like that it's easy - I like that a LOT!

Those are a couple of cool sites.

Hey T - I posted your question to the SB Forum and this is the response... http://www.signblazer.net/forum/index.php?topic=71.new;topicseen#new

I wasn't quite sure what either one did, however, when I choose postcript scanner, I get nothing. It takes me back to my workspace with nothing on it. So I guess for me, only the interpreter works. But I'd still like to know what it does.

maybe everyone is waiting to see if we look it up ourselves.

I know it seems like a really stupid issue. I ask because I cut a few things for my nieces and nephews (and gave them to their parents to handle), but in a simple transport (from my house to yours), the application tape started peeling back and was sticking to stuff in the their bags, glove compartment, etc. I ended up cutting more for them, but was just wondering if there was a way so that it can get marginal stick so the corners won't lift during transport ... else I'll need to envelope stuff prior to giving it away. Just one of those things I guess

I don't mind if I can get it to stick, but it just won't. I squeegee and squeegee, but still the corners lift. It's making me mental.

Yup. That would be the logo that I would need to pay to have it digitized, but then only be able to order my shirts from them. I didn't even need it to be multi-colored. I just made it that way so that there was some color on my billing invoices. You guys all did a great job helping me vectorize it. I've already started putting up my decals on everything that I possibly can ... too bad I'm not paying myself for doing it. Hahaha - I totally suck as my own customer.

That sounds like a more than fair price. If the images require the whole 9-yards of work - keep in mind that the skills that you use are no less than what a web designer or graphic designer need. Web designers and graphic designers charge in the range of $50 - $125/hour. Another thing that I noticed, and this is something that you might want to put into writing when doing a job - is that graphics that are digitized don't necessarily get "sold" to the customer. In an effort to try and find a reasonably priced person to do embroidery for my business shirts - many offer to digitize so they can embroider, but they will absolutely not give me the digitized file. It doesn't matter what they charged me to digitize it, they still won't provide the file to me (dammit!).

I wanted to know the same thing, but was too ashamed to admit that I hadn't read the SBE Learning Guide yet.

You best bet would be to open the .pdf file and crop so you only see what you want. You should be able to export the file as various file formats (including image formats). Acrobat 8 has an export as .eps file (as well as .jpf,.png, and .tif), so that's kind of half the battle right there. I'm sure if you are willing to post your file, there should be someone able to help you with it. Good luck.

I know that we aren't supposed to request for copyrighted graphics. Here is my question... Are the CDs that contain various companies' logos, trademarks, and service marks in violation of any of those laws? If I buy a CD set, was I ripped off and essentially buying something that is illegal? or am I able to use the graphics on the CD for personal use? I know that they aren't supposed to be used for business/personal profit without permission .. blah, blah, blah. I was just wondering where does the copyright law come into play, or is never acceptable to use it for any without permission?

There are several discussions about pricing, but this is one of the latest ones with new postings. http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php?topic=791.0 I hopef you find it helpful.

Thanks. That definitely helped to clarify stuff. Hmmm... Just think how many thousands of dollars are being made on eBay with illegally copyrighted decals. I guess I'll just need to get better with my vectorizing skills so that I can actually work in "stealth" mode. Although I did appreciate the fact that I didn't get any kind of lecture about the first graphic I asked for assistance with ... definitely a stealth item. hahahaha. I shall consider myself informed! Thank you for the insight.

Those are great policies Latitude. I think I need to start drawing up contracts (and work orders) with that info. Any chance I could plagiarizer some verbiage from you? (If so, could you PM some of the text you use). I ran into that same problem with a client I was designing a website for. The basic terms were agreed upon a handshake and faith. To say the least I ended up cutting my price way down, and pulled the entire site until some kind of agreement was made and partially paid for. I've learned my lesson and never again will I agree to anything that has to do with the web design side of my business. Damn cheapskates!

Maybe you should be asking Santa for a Roll-off ... That's what I'm gonna ask Santa for

wow. that's a great shot. i'm convinced. light box will be next on my projects of things to do.

So does a different color light box work better on white? or is that just a totally lame question? I think I can manage to put together a light box.

Okay, it's been making me a little mental. I've been working on this logo for a little bit. I converted it to b&w, then used Vector Magic, however, when I got o cut it it does a few lines then simply stops. This is the original graphic file that I got from the graphic artist. Is there a definitive way to tell if an .eps file is vector or raster? Another question is when I open up a raster file so that I can possibly convert it to vector, or if I need to scan it in - what is the ideal dpi that I should be using? Any guidance would be great. logo.EPS logo.EPS

Hahaha. I so put the cart before the horse. hehehehe. Now it's a game of catch-up. Maybe I'll tinker with the pen side of it this weekend. Since the cutter doesn't show up among the list of printers, does anyone know what I would need to plot a drawing? I'm guessing I need to save it as a .dxf then plot(cut) in SBE?

I'm sure he'll be hitting 800 before the end of the weekend.