CRD

I have reworked and updated response #77 in this thread. If there are more options please supply full URL. I also sent an email to MACTAC europe for advise and samples. Lets wait and see. Thanks, Paco

Hi, If you find self adhesive vinyl medias samples that work fine with a regular desktop home inkjet printer then please specify where you find the stuff and please described the full product name with URL if possible. This way we all can benefit. I will try to summarize all details in one of my responses and if there is enough we can create a new item. Paco

BB, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_transfer_printer Does this help? Paco

If my knowledge is correct there a several ways to produce a printout on selfadhesive vinyl. Correct me if I am wrong or add the info. 1] Home desktop inkjet printer A4 or A3 but wider Office printer using water baased inks go upto A0 format. Printers like Epson, HP, Lexmark, Brother. They all use water based ink where some from the factory brands sold use DYE BASE ink and some use PIGMENTED ink. Water based Dye base ink is cheaper but lacks UV resistance. Water based Pigmented ink is more expensive but has better UV resistance. For all machines there are 3rd party brands (not the original) of ink available which have no guaranteed performance by the brand of the machine you use. So this is always try and error and MIGHT void your warranty. The vinyl to be used for this type of printing is coated self adhesive vinyl. The thin coating makes sure the waterbased ink (dye or pigmented) will settle into it so it will not smear when it has dried completely. If you take ordinary cutting vinyl and print on it the ink can not penetrate or adhere as the surface of the vinyl is not porouse. Coated paper and laminates that can be used and is used by members of this forum with good results are. Paper: * http://papilio.com/inkjet%20waterproof%20adhesive%20film%20media.html * http://www.mactac-europe.com/en/imaginvisual/pdf/jt1958p.pdf To make sure a printout is more UV resistant and the surface mechanical protected, cover up the printout with a layer of UV resistant laminate or spray 2 or 3 layers of UV resistant coating. Laminates fixed or sprays: * http://papilio.com/spray%20uv%20clear%20laminate%20clearjet%20aerosol.html * http://www.superfrog.com/sunscreen.html * http://www.mactac-europe.com/mactacdigital/overlaminating.html 2] Large format printers. These printers are using SOLVENT ink which also will not work with ordinary cutter vinyl. Large format printers using solvent, use a special kind of vinyl too but it is not coated. The printing of a large format printer is as follows. Before vinyl is fed to the spot where the ink is sprayed the vinyl is warmed up by a heater. This opens up the upper surface of the vinyl. Then the ink is sprayed and the vinyl is cooled down again. So the solvent ink is more or less captured in the surface. Then the solvent evaporate as it is used as a carrier for the color particals and only the color particals are left behind in the surface of the vinyl. Depeding on the vinyl and ink used, there is no need to cover up for UV resistance. Laminating will give better mechanical protection of the surface from scratching. 3] Ribbon printers. These printers print a layer of wax and color on the surface of the vinyl. The conversion of the color to the media is done by heat and pressure. As far as I know all type of ordinary cutting vinyl can be used. There is no need to cover up for UV resistance. Laminating will give better mechanical protection of the surface from scratching. I hope this all is correct and if not let me know and I will add it in this response. Happy printing. Paco

Bigjimt, what is the difference between pigment inkt and pigmented ink? Would you be so kind to clearify this? Thanks, Paco

Hi, I have been here for a few weeks looking to see what goes on and to learn as much as possible in a short time. I am a beginner (newbie) but have to start somewhere Got a request to design a decal 45x32 cm for a carry box called polybutler (sorry printed version, so no weeding and bleeding) but the customer declined the design. What do you think? Only got the name (this is not the original one), rest is made up from the head and some vectors found on the web. X4 (CRD-4) is the used program. 24" inch laserpointer machine is ordered (sorry no US cutter version as the 360 Euro transport cost to Europe is to heafty) for contour cut these decals. Paco

Dave, Yes I misjudged the request from the customer. These size decals go to a professional printshop using OCE ECO-solvent printers. They then are laminated with clear or FLOOR laminate depending on the usage. Paco

Hi Tory, for your information. If you found how to use layers then look a little furhter. In front of each layer (I use X4) are two icons. One is the EYE. If you click this is hides the selected layer (color) If you click again it shows the selected layer (color) The other is the printing icon. If you deselect the printing icon on the layer (red slash) it will not be printed. So if you open a file and have put all colors in seperate layers just toggle the buttons in front of the layer name and send it to the plotter. Now what you have done with layers you can also do with pages. You can create in the same collum with the properties of the layers pages which can be toggled with the EYE and PRINTER icon. Also if you like to move layers in order just drag and drop the layers. I hope this helped. Paco (X4 newbie)

Look here for all about desktop printing on vinyl. http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php/topic,7141.0.html Paco

See no reason why not But make sure you print on coated inkjet vinyl as mentioned in responses before. Standard vinyl will not work. Paco

Hi Levy, It is my pleasure if I can asssist on questions raised and will do my best to answer in a way people will understand even if they do not have any technical knowledge. I will use BROTHER printers often as reference as this is where I have the most knowledge from. If there are other eningeers from other brands then please join. For the smearing of print heads liek BB mentioned. I do not knwo if the follwowing is the case but it might apply in general. Is saw people using CV (Coated Vinyl) that comes from a roll and is not flat but curled. If you feed for example a A4 size sheet through the printer it might due to the fact it is not 100% flat touch the printer head when it moves from left to right! For high speed high quality inkjet printouts most manufacturers are reducing the distance from the head to media as much as possible. So if the media is not flat it touches the head. Touching the printer head by the media can damage the "NON WET COAT" (microscopic thin) that is put around the printer head nozzle surfcae exits to assure the drop is released without splattering and in a vertical path to the media. If this coating is damaged the head can not be repaired and need to be replaced. Machines with fixed print head liek the Brother the head need to be replaced. Machines with a printhead build into the cartridge need to be replaced. BTW there is also Vinyl media available that cna run through a laser printer!!!! Yep Now color laser printers are getting cheaper. Less then 300$ this might for some become an option too. With color laser prints there is no problem with UV resistance as the toner particals will not fade and are large then pigmented particasl from inkjet inks. Regards and happy printing, Paco

Thanks for the quick answer. Paco

Hi US Cutter Laserpoint owners. Maybe tough question. But what is the diameter in mm of the laserpoint when it hits the vinyl? 3 mm or less? Thanks in advance, Paco

Mike "the" Man, Thanks, 100% bingo. Happy XMas days. Paco

Hi, I like to vectorize a logo but I searched for this font whit not result. Whatthefont autosearch did not came up with something resembling. The designer of this logo has past away so therefor I have to ask some help. Thanks in advance, Paco http://www.buggy-sport.info:80/images/logos/bsi/logo.jpg

Hi, Following was printed on the previous described Ebay QP media coated NON CURL glossy inkjet vinyl I use for samples. Printed with a color dye ink based machine the Brother DCP585. Printer setting was BP61 paper and photo resolution = 2400x1200 dpi. Maybe these pictures are usefull for some people. The design is for a former WC where I matched the colors to the body of the car. No fancy photoshopping all vector based. These samples are not laminated or cover sprayed with UV protective coating as they will be removed next week. Enjoy, Paco

BB, I can not give you any advise on that, sorry. The CIS unit can not be the problem except for the dripping. I might that the containers are to high in level compared to the printhead and therefor putting more pressure is put on the ink system causing the dripping. I know Brother ink jet and laser machines in and out but never have seen or used an Epson printer in person. (Not allowed in our office ;-) ) Like I said, all is try and error when it comes down to using other brands ink. I have seen machines coming in for repair where some inkpads were not soaked as they should but ink was build up as if it was thick and sticky like syrup. That is what we call high viscosity ink. But we mostly see no brand names on the third party ink cassettes used. Maybe others have more experience with the Epson brand. I do for a personal reason bring my files to be printed to a profesional print shop using solvent inks. From what I have heard they also sometimes have clogged heads. But we then speak about a 300 Euro per printhead only!!! Cheers, Paco

Droplet size (ie 1.5-3.0 picoliter) has nothing to do with clogging the heads. If the viscosity of the ink is to high (thick) it can cause clogging. Dropletsize is just the accuracy in which a printhead is able to fire a drop from the head. For a few years 6 picoliter was the smallest drop that could be fired! ;-) But what is ink? If you go to the supermarket and buy some yellow dye and a bottle of water and you mix it then you have ink too!!!!! Yes there is no regulation or written rule what is ink or should be the contents. Manufacturers design ink (ink contains more then just a fluid with some color) to match the print head and best quality. Not the other way around that a gasoline car engine is designed to work on a specific fuel like 95 or 98 octane gasoline. Thirdparty ink can have good and bad results! So if you put pigmented third party ink through your machine you never know or can be certain what the outcome will be. Most of this is try and error. Paco

Hi for those interested. I started doing decals the same way as described by the original poster at begin of this year. For best results UV resistance inks on pigment bases are the best for longtivity. Epson uses pigment inks in many of their machines called DURABRITE. I am an engineer at BROTHER international in the Netherlands where my specialty is ink jet machines! But our Brother machines print color with CYM dye ink. :- Only black is pigment ink in our BROTHER machines. For using these kind of pigment or dye inks you use in your small A4 or A3 SOHO machine you need special COATED vinyl. Regular vinyl will not work as this will not be taken up by the vinyl so smear is the result. I use for my standard projects matt vinyl from this ebay supplier. QP Media http://cgi.ebay.com/WHITE-A4-INKJET-SELF-ADHESIVE-STICKER-PAPER-VINYL-P-Q_W0QQitemZ140289038065QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_Printer_Paper_Accessories_ET?hash=item140289038065&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177 Is use the matt version and print it on the Brother MFC990 with following printer settings Media: INKJET Resolution: PHOTO When printed I use polypropyleen laminate we use to cover the outside covers of books. It is a soft laminate but other versions like the mentioned Pappilon versions look to be thicker and protect better. The laminate makes the decal glossy so no need to buy glossy version if you are going to laminate afterwards. Currently I have no cutter so all by scissor cut done. I use these samples to see how they look like on the products I am designing decals for. www.customracingdecal.com The products they are used on are on a high stress base so need to be very though. So therefor the final product is printed in a printshop on a large format ink jet printer using solvent base inks and then laminated. These vinyl can be formed with a hairdryer in the shapes you like on corners and edges. BTW the described white lines in printouts is what is called "banding" and can be seen quickly if you print in low resolution lets say 600x600 dpi. If you use higher resolutions 2400x1200 DPI banding should not exist or you are having a bad quality printer or a defective printer head. Use the highest possible resolution when printing. Here a sample decal that needs to go around corners and edges. If there is any question let me know. Regards and happy home decaling, Paco Raap

Hi Jerry, I started also doing modelcar decals since March 2008 (preprinted by a professional print shop and then scissors cut) due to some requests from other drivers. Since then things progressed to being busy every evening with various designs. Started by making wheeldecals and wings at first but currently transmitters, chargers, setup boards or what ever people think they are in need for as a decal is done. But still all is scissor cut due to lack of the print shop not being able to contour cut. Decals are printed in 720 dpi and then laminated. Decals can be used with hairdryer to shape to round contours where needed. Started off in Corel X4 vector only and currently also add some designs in Photoshop. My main webpage for 1:8 scale off-road only can be found here at www.twf8.ws and decal website can be found at www.customracingdecal.com Various other designs can be found here. I am very curious if the Laser pointer machine is capable to contour cut with reasonable accuracy. A2 size is the largest I need to cut. I already posted in the general section about converting a non laser pointer machine to laser pointer by DIYS method. So let me know the results if you like to share it and used it. If you have any question let me know too. From the other side of the ocean, Regards, Paco Raap

Hi Hans, Nice video and manual very informative. Just a simple question. The simple contour cut only uses 2 marker points at the bottom. Why not a 3th and/-or even 4th at the top left and rigth position (advanced option) to compensate for deviation of printed vinyl compared to the original file? If you can select too how many marker points you will align to it, it can increase the tolerance? Or am I thinking the wrong way? Regards, Paco

Hi guys, Thanks for your opinions. I came to this after reading the contourcut .html file and watching the video which can be found here. http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php/topic,4403.0.html First of all I have to say I do this decal design not as a profession but as hobby. It cost more in time then it specs my wallet. But that is my choice. I know spending money on any OPTICAL crop/alignment marking recognition is advisable in the end if things run out of hand and it becomes a professional job. But then you first have to convince my wife about it ;-) So back to the hobby situation. In my case where I have to die cut only 2 times a month maximum (or the business has to expand very quickly ;-) ) . This is how it should work in my case. Case1 The printout I receive from the print shop is laminated and made out of separate print files printed in one large .psd file. Mostly around one square meter. I have to pay per cm2 used. So the more I can put in one printout saves me prints cost. White spaces not used are charged too, so I need to have a less possible unused spaces! ;-) I do not know if the accuracy for a 1 M2 file contour cut on a US cutter laser pointer machine is enough when manually aligned using the two alignment points from the simple contour cut option from SIGNCUT X2. I can have a tolerance of 2 mm over the 1 M2 meter side to side as the design is not contour cutting on the edges itself , but it cuts always 2 mm inside the outer outline edges. http://truggy.nl/e107_files/public/1227339098_143_FT14131_dx3r_rene_gommans_4_.jpg Tracking and printout deviation due to the printed vinyl printout differs from the original file as mentioned I think are inside these limits. If someone has other findings let me know. I can imagine that contour cut this way at >1 meter length prints can be inaccurate ;-) Case2 All small A4, A3 or A2 separate files fit in one large print file and all can have at the bottom the 2 SIGNCUT X2 crop/align marks included. This cost more print space so benefit goes down. When the large printed print shop file comes in I separate the A4,A3 or A2 print files printouts with a knife. Put the printout on an A2 carrier sheet and align the file with the simple contour cut option of SIGNCUT X2. It takes some more work but as the print out is relative smaller tolerances in contour cut are also smaller when you take the difference from the electronic original and printed file in account. Again this is for some 2 times a month work not a daily job. I think if SIGNCUT X2 comes with 4 alignment crop marks in the simple contour cut section the difference in printout and electronic file would not be an issue anymore? Regards, Paco