Wildgoose

I have a client that likes the flag on a shoulder. I just flipped it around so the stars stay and I weed off the background and it's easy. IF they insist on the other way I up-charge for the weed time. Honestly if there are a bunch I end up doing a plastisol transfer these days but sometimes that takes too long to get the job done.

I would give you a tip if you are needing to keep the overall layout the same as that pic (not neccessarliy the case) 1.Import the image into your sofware 2.Resize it if neccessary to be in or near a certain scale. (this may cause issues with pixelation of the image so you may need to resize after vectoring) 3.Reduce the opacity to 50% or 60%. (this will aid in visibility as you do the next steps) 4.Lock the image so you don't accidentally get hold of it while working. 5.Design ON TOP of this image so you can type out things and preserve the original appearance. Even if you can't match the exact font, often that is not super critical to clients. You can hand trace a simple object like that truck in a few minutes once you get used to your software and the texts can all be typed out like has been mentioned. Once you type your text you can adjust kearning and spacing and stretch thiings around to get the layout to match up to the inderlying image and recreate it to near perfection. These steps are a good workflow to consider for most jobs. I also save a "working copy" prior to converting fonts over to outlines so that if I need to modify something later or if I mis-spelled a word I can easily make changes at some future time. (this happens more than you woud expect) Then I save a cut ready file and remove all the background stuff and convert all the text over to objects (outines) so it's a cut-ready file. If it's HTV tee shirt work I mirror it all at this time too.

Second plug to remember that you are cutting on the adhesive side so all designs need to be mirrored. (in case you missed or glossed over that). I once forgot to mirror and made around 100 copes of a left chest logo that were all backwards. I now save my files already mirrored so I have to un-mirror them if I am cutting on regular sign vinyl.

Awesome pulling tractor Pop. They do a little of that in my area. (Idaho)

I don't know much about the Ricoh printers but I used to run an Epson WF and went back and forth from sublimation to regular ink several times without any issue. If Ricoh uses regular ink (not gel) the sublimation ink seemed rather watery and was not hard to flush out when going back and forth.

Yeah I guess there is. Still... you are selling your time. When I upgraded to my Summa I sold off my old P-Cut to some people who ran a Halloween scare house and they had been hand cutting vinyl graphics for doors, walls and windows. When they got the cutter working they were like kids at Christmas with wonder and amazement at the details and speed that even that very low budget machine could produce. The guy told me he spent a couple hours on each decal he had done before and the P-Cut was cutting them in under a minute start to finish.

I have a junk bin that I throw it into but rarely pull any out for anything very constructive. It makes decent tape and we do a lot of t-shirt press work which leaves a lot of lint around the workspace and I use the scraps as a sort of lint roller/tape and wipe up the lint from my press and work table.

I don't do much window work anymore but the few times I have had a situation like this I removed the peice completely that would have been where the frame is. I wouldnlt try and put the little bit on the frame and definitly not wrap the design up the side and over that frame. The human eye will ignore the missing part perfectly and almost no one will even notice. You will of course, but that's also typical, the installer is the worst critic.

I think it's either a tracking issue or some sort of x/y calibration issue. I wouldn't even know how to dial that in on a MH cutter. As to the double cutting/drawing, take a look in outline mode. If you are having this issue with text it is because the cutter/plotter is designed to cut vinyl and the text litterally has an outline rather than being a single line so the cutter is tracing the outside of each letter so it does in fact have two lines. In the case of vinyl work the end result is a letter that is left after removing the excess unused vinyl (weeding) and you see a letter. In your case you get an outline around the edge of the letter as traced with the pen. Your plotter/cutter is capable of just doing a single line but the software you are using may not be capable of producing DRAFT like effects due to it being designed for vinyl cutting rather than plotting out a scaled drawing.

You are going to have to determine which program has the issue. Upload a simple AI file with something like a square or rectangle and I'll open it and see what it transfers over. I have been moving and doing a remodel/addition so I'm in and out of the forum lately but I'll try to pay attention. lol There is a quick key on the tools menu that lets you drag the art board to any size you like. AI DOES have a max size of 227 inches (I think) Also some info. What file type are you exporting as? Some programs need specific file types or versions. I am unfamiliar with Cutstudio so can't help with that program but I use AI religiously. I use SignCut Pro 1 and it likes to have older Version 8 Adobe files. It will accept other types but they often come through out of scale like you are talking about. SVG are smaller files and I tried to convert over and start using them but they were inconsistent in size so I quit using them.

You can put it on a cutting mat and cut through. If you don't have something to act as a carrier sheet then it will all come apart in the middle of the cut and have a big mess. The CE6000 MIGHT have the KISS CUT or PERF CUT option that bounces up and down creating a perforated edge but I don't run Graphtec so I am not sure. My Summa will do that for printed work. It is hard on cutting strips but may be worth the trouble for mass sales of peel and stick type work.

One trick I was told from my SummaCut tech support is to get down at eye level when the cutter is running and be sure you can see a very slight air gap between the blade holder and the actual vinyl. If the blade holder is dragging on the vinyl when cutting you would need a slight adjustment but if it's got some gap and you are cutting through then you are set correctly. I still question the blade tip. That is a LOT of pressure. Could be that your machine doesn't read accurate gr of pressure but if the very tip has broken or been rounded off it will do similar. I have found that a few times when cutting HTV which is a bit more demanding on blades. If the tip was not pristine I start having issues with needing more pressure and I usually save those blades for use when I need to cut something nasty like glitter. Still useable but not pristine.

I wondered about the tip of your blade as well. Each cutter runs at different downforce numbers but your at 120g which with a Clean Cut blade should be well into your cutting strip. I am unfamiliar with the Seiki 720H, is it a servo or stepper motor? If you have had it for 15 years it may be reaching the end of it's life cycle. These things do wear out eventually.

Several HTV suppliers say you can install with a hand iron (even Siser) BUT we who do this a lot do not recommend it. If it is for a one time costume that doesn't need longevity then you will get by... mabye. Getting enough heat AND pressure for the required dwell time are really hard with a hand iron. ALSO the Cricket press thingy-ma-bob is basically a large hand press iron so you're not getting much better with that thing. Even the most basic clam press out there will spank any hand applied option. If you think you'll do more than one shirt and you already have a cutter, a press of some sort will help you out immesurably. USC has a few options at very low price points for beginners. Like everything, you do get what you pay for and a little more investment will pay off in the long run if you do more later. If you can find one with a center point pressure or springs that allow the upper platen to adjust to differing shirt thickness you would be smart to go that route. HTV is very finicky about getting even pressure across all the area and some of the budget presses do not preform as well. Also, the bubles you are seeing are not uncommon even with a heat press in some circumstances. IF they are really small they may have no bearing on langevity. Most HTV will show the weave of the fabric as well.

On the temp just make sure the coolest place is at the minimum temp for the product. The areas that are hotter will be fine. Almost every heat applied product can handle a pretty wide margin ABOVE the minimum temp without any serious consequences. Also bear in mind that hats are rarely subject to the same torture than regular clothing is so there is some comfort in knowing they are rarely washed and usually aren't stretched and abraded like a shirt. Some presses have different interchangeable lower platens that help fit various hat sizes. I have the press that slice&dice pictured. I tend to use the smallest lower platen most of the time. It limits the height of the design to about 2.25" tall but is the easiest to get the hat to conform and usually is large enough for most basic logo's. This is especially true if doing a smaller logo on one side of the front two panels which has become very popular of late. Whichever press you have I find it helpful to pre-heat the cap and then stretch the material over the platen while it's good and warm to get it to lay flatter and often do a second pre-heat for a few seconds. The press in the above pic also has a spring loaded hold down that helps keep the hat tight during the process. Not all presses will have this option and it's of great value and worth considering when picking a press. You may want to invest in a roll of heat tape as well to help hold your design in place as you press.

There is Inkcut that is supposed to be compatible with Ubuntu. No idea if it works or how well. You sound savvy so it may work for you. Here is a link: https://sourceforge.net/projects/inkcut/ Worst case you may have to find an older windows XP to dedicate to the cutter and run the VM Cut that should come with the cutter. Many people do that for pretty cheap. I'm a Mac guy and even Macs have limited options (SignCut Pro for me) but Linux is stepping out onto the path less traveled. Good luck. Cutters are freakin' awesome.

That's it exactly. Thanks Dakota.

Yes but if you look at the shot. The computer is not "Square" due to the angle of the shot. If you trace than it will not be accurate. You can also attempt to scan the thing if you have a large enough scanner. That will be more accurate in my experience but may not fit your MacBook.

I did this once for a Wii controller. Took a pic and then made a template off that but it was off slightly the first try. Ended up doing it again to get it perfect. If you DO take a pic you will need a way to get it to scale within VinylMaster. In the pick include a part of a measuring tape so you can expand or shrink the pic until the measurements on the pic are correct. Once you size your pic to actual size then you can create a skin. Also bear in mind that if you don't get your pic purely square with the world the image will be skewed.

Did you make sure the red button over on the far side did not get hit by the carriage or by some other accidental means?

Welcome from Idaho. You're over halfway in my neck of the woods. Great group of support here.

If that is the case that you printed, the black looks great so you must be about right on your heat, time and pressure. There is a lot of variation that can happen depending on how you change those three control items. I am surprised that you didn't seem to get any color at all and is why Dakota would suspect the ink. Try a bolder color a darker pink etc.... you will have some trial and error with sublimation. You might grab an old (or new) 100% poly shirt to practice on and save some cases.

I am like you and am not a strong free artist. However, in this world you don't have to be. The best method to do these kinds of things is to insert an image into your software, reduce it's opacity to about 50% if you can, lock it so you won't move it and draw over the top by tracing the edges of the objects with the manual drawing tools. You'll have to learn the skill but it's not that hard with a little practice. Each software has it's own quirks with the drawing tools but once you figure them out the world will open up for you. The auto trace options rarely give the quality clean images done by hand tracing. Also, whenever possible find the font and type in the lettering or switch the font out to something similar if you can't find it. Typed font's always come out much cleaner than traced fonts. The font builders spend many hours perfecting the look of their letters that are very hard to duplicate in a hurry.

I would bet that the cutter is trying to run on GPGL I read a post about the cutters defaulting to GPGL if they are ran on Graphtec software and needing to go in and swap the command language if running other cutting software. I don't own or know much about the Graphtec cutters other than what I read about them but that seems to be the best starting place. Double check the setting on the machine itself and make sure its set to HPGL.

Yeah that's exactly it. If you don't want the hassle you can do your outlines with path offset rather than stroke and save some time. I actually use this Illy feature a lot (use the stroked outlines I mean) to save time when building two color designs that I want to have overlap and let Illy do the line split for the lower color and the outline fits nicely and allows for some shrinkage on tee shirt designs. So it can save time when used on purpose.