slice&dice

Tires appear to be out-of-round. It's worth cleaning this up. Also, seems to be too much negative space.

Third Eye Blind The Pretenders Red Hot Chili Peppers

It is a SCALpro- specific question and was properly posted in that Forum, so let's stick to that thread ---- http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php?/topic/40786-trying-to-make-arched-text-look-rightplease-help/?p=314718

Hmmmmmm, there's certainly some serious problems there, for sure. For one thing, when having text follow an arc (which is a different thing than Arched Text) you've got to kern out the letter spacing to allow for the curvature, so they don't collide with each other. Secondly, be aware there's simply more letters to "Christian Counseling" than there are in "Graceful Path" so you have to be careful trying to put them onto the same diameter of circle, otherwise they'll run into each other. In my example illustrated here, in order to make the top part and bottom part line up, I needed to follow the arc of different diameter circles on each one, due to the amount of letters not being equal. Thirdly, this process needs to be done by the program automatically, and not the user (by trying to drag them onto a circle one letter at a time). I am not familiar with the features/functions of SCALpro, but this is called "text follow arc" in the program I'm working with (SignBlazer) And lastly, the font you've chosen isn't very attractive for a ministry, but that's a design decision you'll have to discuss with the client.

As users of cutters/plotters, it should be recalled that we all perform our work with the assistance of HPGL - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HPGL

I want to meet NudiSuzuki.

Change the power cord. (any standard computer power cord will do) Try one that has NO GROUND (no third pin). =============================================== BTW, what's everyone's fascination with skulls? Really.

Coast Guard (Federal Regulation) -- They must be plain, vertical, block characters, not less than three (3) inches high, and in a color contrasting with the background. A space or hyphen must separate the letters from the numbers.

I kinda know what he's talking about ---- in Inkscape there's a setting called "edge detection" and at certain settings, instead of a silhouette (Filled-in) what you end up with is just the outline. Instead of THIS -- You end up with THIS --

This is outside the purview of "copyright violations" --- these works you are creating are commissioned for the express purpose of providing those companies advertising, so you are not "stealing" anything from them. Your client is technically acting as an agent for them, and as such you are fine by using their names & logos in this context. (IANAL)

I looked up Allen Datagraph and it's just a regular plotter. This same plotter technology has been around since the 1960's, and it's not all that complicated. For a company that is not really using a vinyl cutter very much ("we don't use it that often anymore...") and all they need is a unit to sit around in case they have to run something through now and then, I would say that an expensive Roland or Graphtec is overkill. Any USCUTTER midrange machine would suit them just fine, IMO. The TC probably is enough. $600 with stand (31")

What would you do with three?

This is typical of the type of thing we vinyl cutting guys (and gals) face all the time, as customers hand us their logos & designs they want reproduced, not realizing the requirements of vector outlines & silhouettes. Basically, people think mainly in terms of printed materials --- raster imaging has become the standard in a logo designer's world. Even most .eps designs today are pretty much only practical for raster-based reproduction methods (i.e. - printing), even though they technically are vectors. Sign-making has evolved from hand painted texts, into computer-cut lettering during the 1980's (vinyl cutting) and now it's mainly printing that rules. Just go to any Signage trade show, and the printer machines are the primary focus, no question.

May I make a few small suggestions? 1. You don't need to have "Weed All" checked, unless you really require a box to be cut around the text. 2. This type of work should be cut on 24" wide vinyl, across. 3. What does the Cutter Setup screen look like? (Press the Setup icon there along the top of your toolbar) 4. You'll need to gain access to the PORTS in Windows --- Control Panel / System / Hardware / Device Manager / Ports and verify that the port you're using is properly configured there (choose it from the Device list, right click on it, select Properties, then Port Settings, and use the ADVANCED button)

Yes, it should start cutting immediately, no delay. You've still got some sort of conflict or lack of communication going on there. What does the Cutter Setup screen look like (provide a screen shot here) Here's the patched UK version, no Registration or Trial screens --- http://www.mystat.com/Signblazer.zip

Regarding the "Error Initializing" -- as Mr Karma has indicated above, that is a COM port mismatch usually. By the way, have you patched SignBlazer to eliminate the nagging start-up screens?

Well, it's classified within the "ampersand" category of SignBlazer, so they're technically included in that term.

Previous thread --- http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php?/topic/39520-fancy-and-not There wasn't an actual answer provided as to what they're called. Honestly, there isn't much involved with making them yourself, the possibilities are endless.

SignBlazer has a collection built-in Draw menu -- Library -- Symbols category -- Ampersands 2

Both of these can be recreated in less than five minutes, from scratch. The wavy red thing is simply an object that "polyline" tool will handle easily, click click click click of the mouse. As for the dots and lines, well, it's just dots and lines. Lots of 'em, it looks like a bubblelicious project!

I feel yer pain, petroman. I sure wasn't trying to bust your chops, just being friendly, in my own way. This is my choice for photo of the day ----

Reminds me of the story of a guy who heard the phrase "breastaurant" (describing the style of place such as Hooters or Tilted Kilt) He decided he liked it so much, he registered that and opened his own place with that as his Trade Name. See: Doug Guller http://abcnews.go.com/Business/racy-texas-restaurant-chain-trademarks-term-breastaurant/story?id=18914720#.UaQeIM2__cw

Enter that minefield at your own risk.

When the law in MD is repealed, then the market will materialize. I know the legislature is currently working on dropping the front plate requirement. Until that happens, there aren't many people affixing personalized plates (not even as riders).

I hate to nit pick this one, but why are there those little triangular extra sections in the middle of the letter M? They don't seem to belong. It's a huge advantage to live in a state that doesn't require front DMV plates --- the opportunity for creating personalized ones are endless. I wish Maryland would dispense with the front plate so I could produce those custom plates in my shop. Ahhhhh, I can dream, no?