Hi Everyone,
I am hoping that you could offer some advice and opinions regarding vinyl cutters/plotters and their use as pen plotters.
To give you a little background information:
I am not looking to necessarily use the plotter as a cutter, although I am starting to come up with many uses for the cutting function in addition to the pen functionality.
I am a wedding professional who currently runs a very old flatbed X-Y plotter system to do "pen & ink" calligraphy on envelopes and invitations. The system is by a company, Inscribe (Inscribe.com) and has been around for about 20 years. You can see a sample of the very old plotter in action here:
http://www.reavesengraving.com/images/Calligraphy_Full.wmv
and also here:
The system is retro-fitted to use calligraphy nibs with plotter ink. I do not know who the manufacturer was since it is only branded as Inscribe.
The envelopes/paper are held in place using magnets. Also, if you want to print more than one envelope at a time, there is a pad of paper in place on the bed and the plotter draws boxes on the pad where you place your envelopes - driven by the software. You then attach your envelopes in the drawn boxes using the magnets.
However, there are several issues with this system:
* It is very, very old and is run by a DOS-based program
* It is an extremely limited system - you cannot use your own fonts or graphics, only those that came with the DOS-based software
* There are no windows drivers for it, so I cannot explore other software for it, since I cannot get it running on any version of Windows. I've tried the Winline universal plotter driver, but unfortunately, it does not work
* It is extremely slow
So, I am looking to move to a more advanced plotter that will give me design freedom from a graphic and <especially> font standpoint. Initially, I wanted a flatbed X-Y plotter, but I am finding that they are not readily available. I've found some very old ones on Ebay, but none that are new or up-to-date. The only newer ones I've found are enormously expensive.
This has brought me to the sign cutter market. I know that most sign cutters also can do pen plotting.
What I think I am looking for I think is the following:
* Ability to retrofit in some manner with calligraphy pens or nibs and also if possible, with an assortment of other pens, the more the merrier - Are there any brands/models that are more receptive to non-plotter pens?
* Ability to use as X-Y plotter rather than as friction fed to prevent the ink from smearing
* Must not make any other marks (usually from friction feed) on the envelopes/paper
* Possibly integrate with Adobe Illustrator and InDesign
Also, I've seen some plotters that can do engraving. I have a question about the engraving process. Can it be done on paper to give a debossed or embossed look, or will it "burn" through the paper?
Thank you for reading my message. I greatly appreciate any advice, opinions feedback or suggestions that anyone can offer.
I anxiously look forward to your responses!
Sincerely,
Maria