thredz

I would try saving it as an eps instead of ai.And then I would run it with a pen on poster board to see if the cuts are completing.I have my offset at .025.I don't think .030 would make that much difference because I'm pretty sure .032 is the max.

Here's a link with eps-ai-jpg in a zip.I use flexisign to do most of the traces.But I have to use a couple of other programs at times to get the image traceable. http://thredz.org/powertrowel.zip

There are racecar and vehicle graphics cd's on ebay.That would be the cheapest way to go.I don't think there are many free racecar cliparts,but you might try doing a search engine image search for "race clipart -race clip art -vehicle graphics" phrases like that.I always click on the large images only tab in the search.It cuts down on the smaller images that are really not at a high enough resolution to blow up and cut.

Like this?

I agree with Tater.Illustrator is a tough program when it comes to signmaking.If you plan on spending money taking classes on learning the program,it would be a wiser investment to buy a starter version of flexisign or even winpcsign.I don't use winpc,but Tater does and his work looks X-O-lint!

What are your blade offset settings?

There are numerous sign supply shops that carry their own brand of vinyl.I use a blueprint store here locally which carries fdc vinyl and it helps keep my cost down because I don't have to pay shipping charges.A calandered vinyl is usually around 3 or 3.2 mil/Most of it has a 6 year ife span and it is about the most reasonably priced kind.If you buy a cast vinyl,it has about an 8 year life span and is a thinner material than the calandered.The cast conforms mores to curves and corners because of it's flexibility.It's the main use on vehicle graphics because of the way it forms to the body lines.On the weeding end,the cast is a lot easier to weed than the calandered.Cast is more pricey,but worth it in the long run.The best way is to get on google or yahoo and type vinyl film.It will bring up thousands of pages.But if you can find a supplier in your area or close to you it would save you money on the shipping and increase your profit margins.

I don't know for sure what to tell you since you did not mention the program.But you can have a 1" x 1" image in signcut,and if the image size in the image and tile markings are set larger it will cut the size mentioned in the setup boxes.And the cutter will travel all the way from front to back at times.It has it's own way of optimizing the cut and it does not always cut in the way you would think it would.

Signcut is not a design program.It's used for cutting.I have never tried working fonts out of signcut.I use flexisign or psp or photoshop,then send the final design to signcut.

I think the times new roman font comes in italic - expanded - condensed and a few other styles.But they are seperate fonts.Some fonts can't be changed by clicking the italics.I think I have 5 or 6 times new roman fonts showing in my font folder.

I have mine set to none.Are you using the roland pnc1000 driver in flexi?And are you using the cabling that came witht the cutter?I know that the pin assignment is not the same as a regular cable.

I think I would set the com ports to auto detect in the bios.You haven't said how you had it set up,but it sounds like com 1.I would change the bios and then when the computer restarted I would go to the control panel - system - hardware -and device manager.Check and see under ports if you have com1 or com 2 showing installed in windows.Then I would chewck the settings on the com ports and make sure they matched the settings on the cutter,like the baud rate and handshake settings.

If you are getting a write port error that usually means that you have another device using that port.If you have printers,scanners or cameras hooked up you might try unplugging them and see if you still get that error.

You don't have all of them installed do you?I have something like 2300 fonts installed and when I boot flexi,I usually go fix me a cup of coffee because it takes so long to read the fonts.

Thanks.Believe me,when you do it,you need to make a lot of time.I started this around 2:00 a.m. and it was close to four when I finished it.You could probably do them at a faster speed if you used a couple of fresh sharpies for each color,changing them about half through the color run to keep them from drying.But I invest way too much money in sharpies as it is so I don't try that.

Here's a diagram of setting the blade. [attachment deleted by admin]

Most of the embroiderers use them for cutting heat transfer vinyl and for cutting different types of backings that are used for display purposes and adding effects to their work.And they use them for scrapbooking.I saw a lady on the carolina stitch bulletin board that took the stahls flocked vinyl,cut out letters and applied them to a sweatshirt,and then she hooped the sweatshirt and embroidered around the lettering with a fancy floral font.It was a really nice effect if you're in to that artsy fartsy kind of stuff.

When I was doing the embroidery business,I noticed over the years that there were many embroiderers that also used cutters.In the embroidery field,it's about 85% female.And if you look at the members on the board you will find that we have quite a few females.Of course the females in the embroidery field used theirs to do more of the creative crafts end than making signage.But I have seen a lot of impressive things made by those embroidery gals.And I think Tater should get on google or yahoo and find some of those embroidery forums.He could spend days trying to make a date with those in the field.(Hehehe).

I'm not sure,but I think it has something to do with the electronic speed that the computer feeds the design onformation to the cutter.I have mine set at 5 and 9600 baud.And I am running on com 1

The speed value is the speed at which the cutter runs.It will run from 48 inches per second all the way down to 8 i.p.s..I usually run mine at 24 i.p.s. unless I am doing something with a lot of fine detail then I'll turn it down to 16 or 12.When I run large pen plots I set it at 12 because if you run it faster it will dry the pen out.

Take the blade holder and take a scrap piece of the stahls vinyl and lay the vinyl on a flat table.Turn the blade out to where it is barley showing in the end of the holder.Then with a moderate amount of pressure with your hand draw a little line and see if it cuts through to the backing sheet.Keep adjusting the blade and making lines until you have reached a depth that will cut to and not through the backing sheet.And if it's a thicker mill than the other vinyl you will have to apply more down force than the g's you said you were using.

You have to go to the windows control panel - fonts folder and then click install new font.Hit the browse button and go to the folder where you downloaded the fonts.Hit select and windows will install the fonts.After you restart your computer the fonts should be available in flexi.

I haven't tried using the cutter to cut magnetic sheets.I figure if it's strong enough to hold onto a car going 70+m.p.h.,it's strong enough to screw up the cutter.I have always used a chalk line a straight edge and a fresh x-acto knife when I do larger sheets that won't fit in my paper cutter.

The auto registration marks only work on the printer or a print and cut.You have to use the rectangle tool in the design area and make a block.I usually make them the size of one grid.Then you duplicate that block as many times as you have need for reg marks and place them where you want and overlaying the colors on top of each other changing the colors of the blocks accordingly.

Well that sounds like a good money maker to me.And I'll bet you have no problem selling the school parents.I have found the one thing in this world that is a constant is the pride people have for their children.