motoxguy

I was debating purchasing a 12" cutter, but I mainly need it for cutting paint mask. I only see 15" and larger plotter rolls. Does anyone make the 12" paint mask or do I need to just buy a 24"?

This is probably very simple, but I am just learning Inkscape. I can easily do what I want in Photoshop, but then I have to save and then vectorize in a diff program. Id like to just do it all in Inkscape. Here is my question and an example. I do alot of arrows, stars, shapes etc with colored borders. See example. I need the borders cut on the vinyl so I can use as spray mask to paint with. How can i do this? in Inkscape the strokes dont show up for cutting it seems, and I cant see how to do this! I cant just make the same shape a bit smaller or bigger and combine them as Im not using simple shapes. Forgive me if its a dumb question!

I have SBE, and everytime I select the shadow option for text or shapes, it brings up the shadow nodes, I drag them out, then right click for options. As soon as I click anywhere within the options box, the box closes and no drop shadow is applied. Is this option disabled or is my program screwed up?

Nm, got it. Still a very odd way for something to work. I would never have figured that out, Definately not intuitive.

nope, like i said, whatever I click on, whether it is any of the options or just the OK buttonm the box immediately closes out and no shadow is applied

I thought a vinyl cutter would make my life easier, its just the opposite, i cant get simple stuff to work! I have a standard vector edited in Inkscape and saved as .EPS. It looks normal when I import into SignBlazer, but when I view the wireframe/outline it will have small circles in the middle of lines (See pic). this is how it cuts as well with those circles/breaks. I cant understand what thats coming from. The image looks normal wen viewed and zoomed in any graphic program..any ideas? arrow_prod1.eps arrow_prod1.eps

Helllo all, Not only am I new to the forums, but I am new to cutting as well. I recently started custom painting helmets on the side and needed a cutter to print vinyl paint masks and stencils. With some help in the pre-sales section, I decided to try out a 12" Refine to get me going. I also ordered a 12"Avery paint mask roll via ebay. Im already set with Illiustrator CS3 and I can find my way around it pretty well. Im hoping this is all I need to get started. Now I just have to wait for my unit to arrive and get to installing and then cutting.

It looks like its may be some sort of odd issue with SignBlazer and Inkscapes eps format. I took that same eps image created in inkscape, opened it in illustrator and saved as an .ai and it worked fine in SignBlazer, looked and cut perfect. Not sure why this works or why I need to do it, but its my work around for now. If I could only figure out how to do the editing I need to in Illustrator, I wouldnt need Inkscape. Something else to work on...

Yes I noticed that, not sure why either. It looks fine when zoomed in with Inkscape or Illustrator. This little stuff is driving me nuts.

I am having a heck of a time with this. I have a simple vector image of a skull. Im trying to create an outline around it. The only thing I can find regarding this was to use the outset or offset path commands. Problem is when I select my vector and go into node mode as instructed, then do my outset for an outline, it outlines every single line in the image not just the border. I cannot figure this out. There has to be an easy way to do this but I cant figure it out. Anyone that can help?

That works well, thanks a ton for all your help. Now I can get busy on some designs. One problem solved and another one created however, the image wont cut correctly. The cutting lines have breaks/circles in them in a few spots after importing into SignBlazer. I posted that info in the SignBlazer forum as Im thinking it must be an issue/setting in that app. Hopefully I can get this all figured out and start working! Thanks alot for the graphics help!!

That gets the cuts right. The only problem I have now is that the inside line does not remain sharp like the outside, it curves a bit at points

Yup that is what Im looking for! How did you do this? Not used to vector programs I guess, its easy in Photoshop. I can usually figure this stuff out easily, not this time lol. I have Illustrator CS3 and Inkscape.

I had posted this in the Inkscape forum but is not really Inkscape related. I just need to know how to do this in any application that will get the job done. I have some ready made vector shapes in .eps format. I need to add a border to them to use as a paint mask. see my attached image. This seems to be such a simple thing to do but I cannot for the life of me get it done. In the pic you see the eps arrow I start with, then on the right is how it needs to be cut on the vinyl. Anybody have a simple solution to do this?

Almost. It needs to be just as the yellow portion of my jpg shows, and I cant seem to get it. The last arrow you did looks correct, but the cutting program cuts around each line creating two borders instead of one.

Heres a vector arrow ive been playing with... arrow.eps arrow.eps

Ive tried all the above and cannot seem to get it to work. Here is an example. The left part is an example of the basic image, the right is what the final cut would be. I will need to do this on a regular basis.

Here it is... I need to figure this out, I will be needing to do this alot. skull4.svg skull4.svg

hah, I found my answer by reading the manual...go figure!! Inset and Outset functions from the object menu. Now time to go get it down.

Thanks a TON!!

I have a small gif image of a pinstripe design I would like to trace. No matter what settings I use in Illustrator CS3, I cannot accurately trace it. Is it not possible to do cleanly because of the small initial size of image? I am curious as I do not want to waste too much time on something that really cant be done. Here is a sample of one of the small images...

Thanks all. Terry, did you make those or download them? Im gonna need to do this alot which is why I am asking. I have another question too. If I have a file like this in Ai or eps format, what else do I need to do send to cutter? Do i have to convert them to outlines or does the cutter figure that out?

im trying to do that now. I have never been able to really get the pen tool down pat and it drives me crazy. I really need to figure out the trick to it.

Thanks alot for the quick replies all! If I was to get the 12" where could I find the vinyl spray mask to cut? Most of the rolls I see on sites are larger than that.

I am working on a tight budget. I paint helmets and other smaller items, just getting my feet wet. I am in need of a cutter for paint masks/stencils. I cannot seem to reach anyone at uscutter which is a bit worrisome, but figured I would ask here. What would be a good cutter for me? The copam is out of my price range at this time. I see they have the mH series 25", the pcut, and the Laser print model for a bit more. This will be a for a low use (few cuts a day at the most) to cut low tack spray mask vinyl material with graphics usually smaller than 12". What do you recommend?