TaterNuts

BTW, Flexi on ebay, $300??? http://cgi.ebay.com/FLEXISIGN-7-5-SIGN-MAKING-SOFTWARE-New-Original-Sealed_W0QQitemZ260092803100QQihZ016QQcategoryZ26245QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem It says it will only work for creation plotters? I think that It would probably be worth it for the vectorzation and the sign tools that it has... Then just export to ai or eps format and cut in another program...

Ok, you cant get WinPCSign Installed? That really sucks... I heard tho that the vectorozation in WinPCSign PRO is alot better then the one that i got. Im using WinPCSign Letter 12, old version.

Since no one wants to post... or is too slow to... lol orioles. http://www.divshare.com/download/188526-e0d tigger. http://www.divshare.com/download/188529-c95 The last one, I really cant do anything with. The image needs to be of the highest quality, normally, clip art pics found on the net are not good enough. Did you say that you use WinPCSign? I can teach you how to do it there, but the results will not come close to using flexi...

Sorry guys... I'll let you guys have a stab at another one... He said he needed more done. LOL

Sorry fivestar... I used flexi... I did find a larger image of the pooh on google images, and just vectorized that one. the fairy, i just had it on a clip art cd here i had laying around...

DONE! Heres your pooh http://www.divshare.com/download/188327-30d Heres your fairy http://www.divshare.com/download/188330-6b9 Let me know what you think... and if these will work for you. they are both in .ai format, so you should be able to open them in most softwares

I dont use sign cut either, im a pretty much die hard winpcsign user.

Yeah, that way works too, but you will have to do that each time... either way will work.

For the best results that i have found vectorizing the image, they need to be of high quality... It is difficult to get positive results from a poor image. Like fivestar said, post a pic, let us take a look at it.

Are you trying to open up EPS files with signcut? Here are the steps to make is so when you double click on an eps file, it will open with sign cut Goto Control Panel (Start>Control panel) double click on folder options icon (If you do not see this icon, on the left hand side, click on "switch to classic view") Click on the file types tab In the registered file type box, scroll down to the eps extension and click on it ON the bottom of this window, you will see "Details for EPS extension" It says Opens with XXXXX (probably notepad) CLick on the change button, Select signcut by clicking on it Sign cut SHOULD be in there under recomended programs, if not, look under other programs. Make sure the box is checked that states "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file" Click "OK", this will close out the window, the other window that is open, you may have to hit apply, if it is shadowed out, just click close. Now, try double clicking on your eps file... Should work

By the way benb, where did you get your EH721 from? As I am interested in maybe purchasing one?

I never checked out the ECP port in the BIOS, maybe on next re-start i will check it out. Is the Letters driver for the refine? as that is the one that i have. I thought that it only worked on the copam...?

I personally do not prefer the lpt... I have three plotters running from the same computer and I notice a bit of lag when sending a file to the plotter that is on the lpt port. Maybe just my computer.. Dont know? It has always worked tho. Any Idea why the lag, or is this typical of this configuration?

Here is a link to an EPS file with a bunch of dogs... These are more then just the outlines, I have no idea what a leonberger dog looks like. I have never seen them before. Maybe there is one in this file? Check it out. http://www.divshare.com/download/184106-6d3

BTW fivestar, congrats on Senior Member Status... Beardown, Myself and now you are the only people on here as of right now to hold that status!

Ah, okay, you have the copam... Last I knew, They didnt have a driver for flexi, but that may have changed.

Are you people making sure, when you set up the plotter in production manager of flexi sign that you are selecting the correct com port? Heres how to decide on which port your plotter is using. Goto your control panel on XP, click on the system icon, this will bring up a window with a series of tabs, click on hardware, then on device manager... Click the plus sign next to ports... Do you see any red x's or yellow exclamation points? if so, you may have an IRQ conflict. If not, click on your com port, On the first tab (General Tab) should say communtications port, Then in paraenthesis, or howerver you spell it it will say (COMx) where x is your port number. If this doesnt match in flexi, you wont get it to work. As with MAC users, I have no idea... To check in Flexi. Open production manager, Click setup, then setup properties. Click on the second tab, looks like a plug, what is there under port? Does it match the other one? It should, if not, plotter will not work. The settings should all be default, if not, then this is what they should be Bits per second, 9600 Data Bits, 8 Parity, None Stop Bits, 1 Flow control, Hardware Hardwires, Check DTR, RTS, CTS - Uncheck DCD, DSR That is how my refine is setup, had no problems.

Ive only used a Roland Sticka 15 inch machine... My Refine is 10 times as good as that... I dont know how much you paid, but I know that a new Roland will cost quite a bit of money. The Refines are a bit louder than the Rolands, but not normally a big deal for most people. Hands down, My Refine is made of the highest quality, very durable, and probably one of the most solid stands that I have ever seen. I have no problem getting it to work with any sign program that I throw at it, because it can use standard Roland drivers. Parts are avaliable at USCUTTERDIRECT.com, if I ever need them. It uses standard Roland Blades too, so I can get them pretty much anywhere. I've only bought machines or plotters that were as one would say "CHeap", but this is the best one that I have ever had... (Comparing to a Seiki and Master...) I'm glad that I made the decision to purchase this machine... After I bought it, I found this board, and there are alot of great people on here. The people at USCutter are awesome folks too, without them, there wouldnt be happy customers like me.! Buy It, and you will probably find yourself to never buy a Roland again!

I kind of sort of maybe had the same problem with some eps files that I got my hands on... Flexi said that the file was not in a standard AI format. WinPCSign would only import them as a very very low resolution bitmap. InkScape wouldnt open them at all. but, Illustrator would open them just fine... So, what I did was opened them in illustrator and re-saved them as the 6.0 .ai format. Now I can import them with the lines and nodes in any program. On your EPS files that you are trying to open in Arcut... Did you design them your self and if so, what program did you use?

In sign cut, on the right hand side, there are color boxes... click those.

Use paint mask.... ITs very similar to vinyl, and has a backing paper carrier sheet. If you still want to use the plastic stuff that you have, i would take some application tape and put it on the underside, that way it will hold it all square and true, and then below that, i would just have a piece of cardboard, Like a cereal box, so that it didnt hit the cutting strip... Never tried it, but it will probably work.

When I save an EPS file in inkscape, i only have one box checked, and that is convert text to paths... To get your back ground lettering to go behind the foreground color lettering, follow these directions 1. click on the selection tool (arrow on left hand side of screen) 2. Click on the background color... 3. Goto Layer at the top of the screen, then to either, "lower layer" or "layer to bottom" then align it or whatever, then save file. Should be able to bring it up in sign cut with no problems

video here

Layered Graphics using InkScape and Sign Cut. 1. Open InkScape, Click The Select and Edit Text box on the left toolbar (Has letter A as an Icon) 2. Enter desired text. 3. Adjust size of text if applicable by dragging corners. 4. Select the current Text and copy it to clipboard (Edit on toolbar, then copy) 5. Paste the text. (Edit on toolbar, then paste) This will be your Background Layer. 6. Select the Background layer, either one... then goto path on the toolbar, and click outset, (you can do this a few times to get the desired thickness of the background letters) 7. Select either layer, and adjust colors. 8. Select both layers, then goto Object on the tool bar, then align and distribute. Center on both axis, horizontal and vertical. 9. Save the image as an EPS file. 10. Open this file now in SignCut. 11. On the left hand toolbar, there is a icon that looks like a bullseye, this is your registration mark tool... 12. Once that is selected, on the bottom, highlight the icon that looks like a plain diamond (Registration Mark, No Snap.) 13. Place Registration marks on image above the lettering. 14. Left hand side is where you can toggle the diffrent color layers. 15. Cut Out each layer seperately, then layer them... Done! Video Coming Soon!

Very nice looking... BTW, becareful with that fox one... The MAN, doesnt like to see that one if you know what I mean...