Wildgoose

Josh, Everyone on the forum is an end user. All volunteer. So far they have expended a reasonably high amount of effort to help you get rolling. We love cutters and are excited to help new users out. Please be respectful when responding and give everyone the benefit of the doubt that they want to help you. We don't tolerate flaming here so I can guarantee that none of the regular people here will mess with you in any unfriendly way. Please respond appropriately. This is a HUGE resource for the cutting world and there is a lot of information available on here covering almost every question. In my estimation you have a couple problems. 1. Does your cutter actually work or not? Sounds a bit doubtful but I can tell you from experience that getting hooked up and running is often the greatest hurdle and can be troubling even with a brand new very $$$ cutter. So it is entirely possible it's just a connection problem. If you bought this from someone far away from you you may be out of luck. 2. Connecting to software for someone unfamiliar is problematic almost every time. Don't get frustrated. Here is an option I would throw at you. I use SignCut Pro and they offer their program on a rented basis and will give you several days free use to try it out. They are based over in the UK and offer live help to get you connected. I will post a link to their website for you to try out. However this is only going to help IF the cutter actually works. https://signcutpro.com

Looks like fun! I have a good friend who rebuilds them here in my home town. Since you are already familiar with Adobe Illustrator I would definitely stick with that for design. (that's what I use too) When you export you may have to do a few preliminary experiments to see what your cutting software likes best. I use SignCut Pro 1 and it likes AI version 8 legacy files. I think this is due to the more modern file versions support multiple art boards and other things that don't need to be in a cut file.

Slice is correct. Your cutter should be able to cut most of the typical vinyl applications you will find. About the only things that can cause issues are when you get into thicker products that require a lot of cutting force such as "blast resist" or maybe diamond reflective street sign products. Most of the literature will tell you what thickness the product is and almost anything that is under 4 mils you can cut just fine. The budget vinyl types are usually 3-3.5 mil and the high-end stuff is 2 mil. Getting your machine "tuned" up can be a new user challenge but some time spent searching the forum will yield a lot of helpful advice. If you struggle and can't find the answer post a question and someone will try to help. This is an end user forum and all of us are non-paid volunteer help that happen to love the craft and try to pass along things that we have learned.

Welcome to the forum. I go one step farther than what Slice suggested and mirror my whole file when I save it so if I happen to open it at some later date I don't forget to mirror before cutting. You can probably figure out why I started doing that.

Pretty sure someone was able to get the MH to run from a Mac on the forum. Been a few years back though. The biggest issue is probably more along the line of needing design software too. If you have a lot of time and are comfortable with trial and error I would use InkScape and InkCut. I wouldn't be surprised to find that InkCut may be behind the times with the newest Mac versions. I have never tried it out but saw on line that there were quite a few questions about trouble with version 12.?? and I'm already running 14.something. I design in Illustrator which makes me pay to use. I own an older CS5 version but as the upgrades came along it eventually didn't meet the more stringent controls and started having issues and crashing AI especially with font searches. For cutting I have an old windows laptop that I take my files to and cut from a thumb drive. My old old old SignCut Pro 1 software for cutting is cross platform compatible but I still cut from the Win 7 computer, mostly so I don't tie up my main workstation when the cutter is running. Personally I like slice&dice advice to find an old laptop on the cheap and use it with your software and cutter.

Nes, Sign up to the forum for better visibility of your posts. I don't believe the Titan has dual pressure capabilities. There are a few brands that do. Some Graphtec models, Summa and a few others offer something like you are wanting. They are often referred to as a flex cut, perf cut or kiss cut and the concept is that they actually modulate between two pressures as they cut a simple outline around the rest of the decal. They leave a user defined amount of paper keeping the decal connected to the carrier sheet. To completely cut it free would cause a catastrophic failure because the integrity of the carrier would fail. Pretty high level stuff really.

Try converting the live text after writing it out and at that point it will be an object and you should be able to nail the size. I use SignCut Pro 1 (the old original) and I have to convert all my text anyway. That's why I asked the question. If the 3" object was spot on it pretty well has to be something to do with the interpretation of the text. If working on something that will need revised later I save a working file with some live text saved over on the side so I can recreate the overall thing if needing to modify. Then I save a cut file with the text all converted.

I don't run the cutter or program. Does that cut from live text or do you have to convert the text to lines and curves first?

Interesting. I often do just the opposite. I sometimes have clients who don't have a vector of their logo and only have an old business card or similar and it's small and perhaps messy or in an image file and not clear enough. When I need to do a trace I use a program called SimillaEnlarger that lets me blow them up much bigger. It uses some sort of engine to interpret what the edges probably should be. I find that going about 500% will let the trace program smooth out the fine details a bit better. Once I trace and expand as a vector then I'm good with less clean-up. Most of the time I actually just hand trace logo's for more direct control. Image trace engines always tend to do funky things in their quest to create a vector.

Agreed with you and darcshadow. The work-arounds are there if you are diligent and patient. I OWN an older CS5 Adobe Illustrator version for Mac that I used for a long long time and didn't have to pay monthly rent for the cloud based stuff that it has become. Once apple upgraded their intel it started causing issues with several things when running it. Namely it would crash AI if I was trying to scroll through the font list in a certain way (the way I usually do it). I lived with it until I upgraded to my current new iMac and finally broke down and started paying subscription to avoid the crash and fight that running the old CS5 was giving me. Don't love the payment but I write it off and the upside is I have access to AI on several computers now and can store my work in the cloud if I want to be able to mess with it from other locations. I pay the price because I am doing business and it works for me but if I were a hobbyist it would be a tough pill to swallow.

My biggest problem is I actually can't draw for crap freehand. Ha ha! I bought an iPad Pro a few years back and Adobe Illustrator CC is available for the pro. I use it occasionally but there is so much to AI that they have to modify to make work on the tablet that it's a whole new learning curve. I basically use it for emergency situations when I am away from a regular computer.

Welcome and nice design.

I'm sure this was it. I often download to my desktop rather than my downloads folder. Definitely not a VM problem, just user error.

This is an old thread but still relevant. Illustrator is now fully functional on the iPad Pro and I hear works good with the Apple Pencil. I sadly still have little to no freehand ability so I stick to what works for me. (old school Illustrator with standard drawing tools through a Magic Mouse) I don't freehand but I run a mean trace over an inserted picture. I do have the iPad version on my tablet but it's got enough new tools or more accurately new methods of using the Illustrator tool sets, that I feel clumsy and use the pad mostly when out of town and need to make an edit for someone rather than as my go-to workstation.

Siser should IF the pleather can handle the heat. I have not done it myself, but I see they say you can. I believe they recommend reduced heat and increased dwell time.

I get some sort of perverse kick out of it. I do it for fun sometimes when I have free time. I'm weird I know.

I tweaked it to try and see if it would help. Still didn't get there in FMF but Agency FB Bold is close and with some work could be made to work. If you figure it out to be an actual font post the name cause it's a cool look.

Around the 18K mark. It's been a while since I asked and I saw an add that was a few thousand higher the other day so they may have went up.

They sell the Mahindra jeeps a few miles from me. It's silly what they want you to spend on those things. As near as I can tell they must have bought the patent rights to the old Willys and made a few upgrades and started rolling them off the production lines. To the OP - Most upscale printers that have sensors for the rollers are magnetic and trigger when the roller is in a specific location. Not sure on the Rolland but form follows function. Be sure you have the pics rollers placed in the proper location in case you're just not getting started correctly. Typically there are several spots for the left hand roller to sit (usually in about 6" increments starting about 12 inches from the right side. The right side roller typically has a larger variable location that lets it fit different sizes of vinyl. If using scraps they would both go on the variable area. Not sure if that makes sense in written form and I don't own a Rolland so it's just general information.

I actually use SignCut Pro (there is a newer version out now) because I mostly work on a Mac platform and it is able to run the cutter from either Windows or Mac. I have found that the older laptop is simple and effective and removes the cutting operation from my main workstation. My cutter sits across the room and I just transfer cut files on a thumb. If the windows computer gives me a problem I can pull the cutter over and use my Mac (requires a lifetime dongle do do this without deactivating it the other) I am not sure what the new Pro 2 version is like but the original Pro 1 that I use is simply a cutting utility but has most all the bells and whistles you can get for a cutter interface. The company also has live tech support which occasionally comes in handy if something is going wonky. When I bought my first cutter it was a Creation P-Cut and they used to come with 1 year subscription of SignCut Pro. At the year mark I poked around for something that I didn't have to rent or spend too much on but there really wasn't a lot to offer that was Mac compatible and fully legit. I tried out a beta version of Sure Cuts a Lot Pro (often called SCALP) and missed all the bells and whistles from SIgnCut too much so I broke down and bought the Dongle (at the time was $400). This was in 2011. I design in Illustrator so have no use for the design side of most of the other options. If you are running on a windows platform and need the design AND cut tools the Vinyl Master program is probably the best overall bang for the buck I've seen. I suggest paying to get up to the Pro level. There are tools that I tend to find essential that the lower tiers hold out on you. That is sort of the way they entice you into spending more and they all pretty much do it. It's a fairly big investment if it's only a hobby but the open source options out there are very rudimentary by comparison. (InkCut being one such).

I would try an old cheap laptop. I cut from a windows 7 myself. I do my design work on a mac and transfer via thumb drive and it's double helpful because I can continue to work while the cutter is working. I also recommend signing up in the forum so we don't have to review every post you make.

Glad you are back in action. Sometimes it's the simplest things. I wore out a blade holder myself and likewise had a bit of time trying to figure out what the hay was going on.

I don't have any help for you on this. Hopefully someone will be able to chime in. If no one responds in the next day or so you may want to start a new thread to garner more attention. You are way down on page three and sometimes it matters, sometimes not. I recommend joining the forum so you don't have to wait for an admin to approve each and every post. We (admins) are all volunteer and often get busy so you may get stuck waiting. If you are planning on keeping the cutter you will find a lot of helpful information here. It's a nice forum with experienced regulars who enjoy helping out.

Blade holders do wear out. I had one give up on me and it definitely caused issues. That would be my first guess based on your results and what you've tried. You can add some oil (just a tiny drop) but if it "feels" at all a bearing has probably dropped and any kind of drag or misalignment is going to screw with you. I run a different brand but the same form and function exist.

Also bear in mind that the polled length or either axis is not measured by the actual edge of your paper. Meaning that the cutters poll is to define how much actual working space is within the cutting area between the rollers side to side and between what you tell it is the origin and when the back of the paper comes off the sensor on the back. You could easily place the paper to one side a bit and inadvertently throw off the side to side result or get the paper crooked and have problems that way. I don't use your brand, but my Summa has a sensor on the back and there is a given amount of space left at the end so that the vinyl/paper does not roll past the pinch rollers. Mine leaves about an inch on the back.