slice&dice

GooGone is one product that every user of cut-vinyl should have a bottle of. I love that citrus smell.

"Siser" is the brand name. Might be worth it to buy a heat press. They're cheap enough (starting at $149) You'll likely get lots of use from having one in your workspace, producing tshirts as part of your routine, once people find out you can do them.

I actually have FLEXI loaded onto my laptop, and it's really very powerful & feature-filled. However, I prefer to work within the SignBlazer environment, it just feels comfortable. Maybe it's the cartoon-like appearance !!! If I had a wheelbarrow filled with cash, I would personally volunteer to become involved and attempt to get SignBlazer back onto the market as a retail version, with support, upgrades and more functionality.

SignBlazer Elements can be put onto any number of machines, there's no limitation on installs. With the patch, it just opens, no trial version nags, no registration reminders. I have really not found it to be lacking features for work at my sign making store. I've made tens of thousands of $$$ running SBE, and intend to continue doing so because it's just COOL.

Fair enough, Rodger. Let me change it to --- I'm feeling enlightened and empowered I've got GRID !! I'm tellin' ya, that program is azz-kickin. It changed my life.

Rodger, SNAP! (Slice slinks away..... chastised and feeling foolish)

I'm holding onto that one --- it seems very useful for a lot of different purposes. Thanks, sdgirl.

Funny enough, SignBlazerElements has a Grid option (Draw menu) but lo and behold, it's greyed out and unavailable, so I've never been able to align things to a grid, and thus was forced to actually just jockey things into place and line them up by eye. Every once in a while I add an actual guideline across the workspace from the ruler(s) but generally I can adjust things pretty well just by mousing them into position. As I've noted many times, this ain't rocket science. ------------ Oh, by the way, speaking of rocket science, John Glenn turned 92 yesterday. On October 29, 1998, Glenn made a return to space on the space shuttle Discovery, at the age of 77. Amazing.

That is just a SCALpro program flaw -- you cannot just type in multiple lines of text. Yep, I know, hard to believe. As for curving, that's called "Follow Path"

I watched the tutorial, and I really would have preferred to see you type the entire word "LEARNING" vertically and then adjust the leading of that entire word as a single unit. Then, just add the horizontal TE CHER and place the two together. The reason for that has to do with the lack of a precision numerical value of leading when using the Edit Text (or Node Edit) function, and you must work with the leading adjustment thingy by eye. In your tutorial, the LE and the RNING were leaded differently. If you had typed in the entire word, the letters of LEARNING all would have been properly spaced. (leading is the technical term for spacing between lines of text)

You can also use "Edit Text" (Edit menu) which allows leading and kerning.

Honestly, I really don't even understand that question, bulldog. Can you explain what's the actual problem you are encountering?

"Append" is located within the OPEN dialogue box (it's a checkbox) --- you need to have .SBD files to begin with for that to work. In other words, start a new project in SignBlazer, import an .eps graphic and then Save as SBD. Do this for each of your designs (creating new files one by one and saving as SBD) --- then open any of those, and go through the routine of using the Open/Append process.

I run into people all the time who walk into my store and ask for me to reproduce a logo, but all they have is a business card that has their miniature logo that's just impossible to utilize. When I ask where the original digital file is (from the graphic designer) 99% of the time I get a blank stare and they have no clue, and seem to think that I should be able to use the logo on the card.

It would seem to me that you only have to type in LEARNING using the return key -- If the spacing is too much, then adjust the leading (space between each line) L E A R N I N G

Is there really an actual possibility of a Zombie Outbreak? If so, I might want to reconsider my entire business model.

Welcome. Your daughter should also join the Forums herself. Be aware that placing lettering onto curved surfaces is somewhat tricky.

http://www.signsupply.com/Only_Ordway/current/accesories/tape_dispenser_OAO.asp I love the thing, it's a real good dispenser for app tape.

Ahoy there!!! What you want to achieve is called "offset" and can be done simply and quickly within the SignBlazer program. First you define the offset amount (the white area between the letters and the shadow) -- you're terming this the "void" This is found within the MANIPULATE menu (Expand Outline/Inline) Then, add the drop shadow (also in the MANIPULATE menu -- Shadow). It's really easy, go ahead and download & install SignBlazer and mess with it, you'll see how it works.

Valid questions ---- "I don't mind some cosmetic defects here and there, as long as everything on the refurbished unit works absolutely as good as new. Are the functional parts on the refurbished units replaced with new parts, for example, the motor, cut strip, belt, things of that nature, or are they reused if it still works?" Here's a recent thread here about a refurb unit that was a mess when it was sent out. http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php?/topic/39045-unacceptable-refurbished-unit/?hl=%2Brefurbished+%2Bcutting+%2Bstrip

Use "weld" and it will handle the entire graphic just fine. I do it all the time with my SC, even down to 4"

While it's pretty hard to say what kind of income you'll derive from going ahead on your own, just remember that there's a very good mark-up in this business. Materials that cost you under $25 will bring in nearly $100 if you are doing it right. I run my sign-making operation out of a storefront, BTW.

Ahhhhhhh, so THAT'S where this function is hiding (and it also allows other corner shapes) SBE continues to make me happy.

I hate it.

The font in the arc seems to be just Times New Roman. The one at the bottom is Tiffany Bold. The fact that you indicate "I hate identifying fonts" really indicates a serious flaw in your business model. Just saying.