mars

You might get by with regular calendared vinyl - just might take a little more fiddling to get it applied. Glad it helped. You might post asking for anybody with cast vinyl in crappy colors they might sell cheap - since color doesn't matter for masking

If you have Inkscape and Make The Cut! this is how I would do it. Open the .svg in Inkscape Select All and export selection to bitmap - I used .png Use the pixel trace in MTC! select the trace by color option and I started with blue - adjusted the despeck to remove any extra stray tiny shapes. I also did a resample to increase resolution and then import the blue trace Next do red using the color trace again - import the red trace. Now you have the file in two colors you can cut is as is - but the blue outline of the letters outside of the star are pretty thin. Might be a good idea to make a white layer for the inner part of the letters and layer the vinyl. I can't attach the .mtc file - but here is a .png of the file - I could email you the file if you need it. -Mike

The workspace doesn't have any effect on the shapes you work with - you don't cut the shape of the workspace - all workspace settings in all the programs I know about are just width and height and they are square/rectangle shaped. I think what you want to do is to draw a circle (8" diameter in your case) in the workspace (size and shape of workspace makes no difference as long as it is large enough to hold the shape you want to work with) Do your design within the bounds of this circle (I guess you could call that circle the workspace for this job) and make your cut - weed away the parts you want dyed and you should be good to go. Welcome to the forum. One other thing - since you will be putting the vinyl on a compound curved shape it might work better if you use a cast vinyl material rather than a calendared material (cast vinyl is thinner and "stretchier" than calendared vinyl so it should be easier to apply) -Mike

Welcome to the forum. Here is the font used in the logo http://www.ffonts.net/Honey-Script-SemiBold.font Hope that helps. If you are not sure how to use the font to make the logo let us know and we can offer step by step instruction (let us know the program you are using) -Mike

In SignBlazer there is a tab in the cutting module labeled Save Space Options are to save space horizontally and/or vertically and there are also options for splitting up text and converting text into curves. There are similar features in other software

They are both Graphtec AFAIK the Cameo being more of a hobby level machine - and tied to the software that comes with it - not necessarily a bad thing. There is a significant learning curve on the Craft Robo Pro compared to any of the scrapbook - hobby machines. The Cameo probably would be dead simple to use - but the slower speed might cause you to regret choosing it for use in your business - especially if you wind up doing any large quantity orders. I second the idea of considering a 24" cutter - I have a Copam CP-2500 I have had for 5 years and it has worked well for me. But -- on the other hand I am considering adding a smaller more portable cutter to carry on my truck - I sometimes goof up a piece on an install and it would be nice to be able to cut onsite instead of making a trip to my shop or cutting extras beforehand which I have done on occasion. I am looking at this cutter $399 including the bundled software (and lifetime software upgrades are free) http://knkzing.make-the-cut.com/ It is only a 15" cutter - but it will cut wider than I can cut with my Copam on a 15" roll 14.5" vs about 14" for the copam. It also has a 600mm per second max cutting speed - a 1mm per second minimum cutting speed and a downforce of 750 grams so it can cut both quicky and slowly and has more flexible in the materials it can cut. It does only work with the software from Make-The-Cut - but I have been using it and it's pretty decent and has a very nice set of vectorizing tools. Just another machine to consider - is your brain full yet?? good luck Mike

Here is a discusson with the tail packs from advancedartist.com

Open the first file - then when you open each successive file just make sure the check box "append" is checked and it will add the new file to the others you have opened. Also if you "copy" any image - you will have access to "paste" it into any file you are working on. The "paste" command opens a preview window of all the 'copied" images you have done and you just click on the one you want to add it to your workspace. It's basically a large clipboard - and handy for putting elements you want to reuse in a convenient place to grab them whenever you want. -Mike

Karry, You are welcome. You will probably do OK with whatever machine you decide on. The Pcut has lots of loyal users and I think it offers a good value. Learning SignBlazer is worth the effort, it offers designing tools as well as cutting functions. As to how fast the machine is there is a chart with comparisons of KNK machines - it shows the max speed of 600 mm per second (about 2 ft per second) Equally useful is the built in extreme slow speeds - down to 1 mm per second. This range of speeds gives you lots of control. I am just really impressed with the design efforts that went into the Zing. They worked with the MTC! developer Andy to make an easy to use, durable, accurate, powerful and versatile cutter. By bundling it with MTC! most of the "intelligence" needed to run the machine is built into MTC! This simplifies the machine somewhat and reduces cost. Using the laser alignment you can get accurate contour cuts. Andy tested by misaligning the material at a 45 degree angle Running the 3 point alignment gave an accurate contour cut under these extreme conditions. The machine is similar in quality to KNK's other machines - they use a better grade of stepper motor (I think the Zing uses more improved stepper motors) and the operation is pretty quiet for a stepper motor machine. All of the adjustments are made from within MTC! and you can name and save presets for jobs you do often so you don't have to remember that you cut SAY reflective vinyl with x downforce at y speed - just load the material and select a preset you have made and named "reflective vinyl" and all the settings will be those you have set to cut the reflective vinyl. You can set up as many of these as you wish. Some of other better machines have the ability to save a couple of setups like this I think Graphtec does this - if I remember right it has 2 custom setups? But with the MTC!/Zing combo you can have a custom setup for everything you do. Of course I haven't used the machine - only a few machines are in the hands of developers right now. But it's on my wishlist. Here is the comparison chart:

Welcome to the forum! There are some really good recommendations already here. USCutter machines and SignBlazer make a very capable combination!! Since you are coming from the Cricut I thought I would offer this suggestion -take a look at the KlickNKut Zing - for $400 + shipping you get a machine that handles 15" roll vinyl and has up to a 14.5" cutting width. It works with roll or sheet vinyl as long as the width is at least 11" - for smaller pieces you would have to use the mat - but you already know how to do that from the Cricut. The Zing is also capable of cutting materials more commonly used in crafting-- thicker card stock and a greater variety of materials. I know you said you were looking for at least a 24" machine - I already have a 24" Copam and really like it - but am considering getting a Zing! just to have a portable machine. And nearly everything I cut can be done with 15" roll vinyl. For the jobs you describe the extra width might not be necessary - You would get a free copy of Make-the-Cut! software -as far as I know it only works with this software - so might be a little learning curve - BUT it is GREAT software and the vectorizing functions are better than I have seen in any vinyl cutting program - even the ones that cost $$$$$ thousands of dollars! Only snag is you would have new software to learn and the first production run of machines don't arrive in the US until after Nov 1st with shipping in the first half of November. Here is the make-the-cut website the link to the Zing is near the top. You can download the software trial and see if it suits you or not - and look at the forum for more info and links to video and webinar recordings to find out more about the machine and the software. http://make-the-cut.com/ -Mike

Those are very nice!! Bob -- Thanks grabbed them both.

If you take the job CHARGE PLENTY!! the first one will probably take you lots of wasted vinyl and lots of goof ups and do overs. If somebody tells you an easy way - and it works - clue me in will ya? The stripes across the hood and roof are the easiest - except for compound curve near the front of the hood. I like to leave a reveal at the front and back of both the hood and the roof - takes a good pattern to get it to look right. I cut and tried and marked and adjusted the vector file until I got what I wanted. Not as good, but easier to do is to wrap at the front and rear of the hood and to tuck the ends into the weatherstripping at the front and back of the roof. The bumpers and trunk lid and spoiler and airdam/groundeffects are more fun- lots of changes in angles and compound curves everywhere - good chance you'll go nuts!! I don't make any cuts on the car - with practice and a steady hand it's possible to trim the vinyl while on the car without cutting into the paint - I ain't that good so I don't do it that way. One other thought - using cast vinyl makes it easier to mold to compound curves than if you use cast vinyl. I also do my applications wet - and I use some heat to help form around curves and work out any "fingers" in the material. Good luck!! BTW what kind of car are you thinking about doing? -Mike

You are welcome!!

Cheltenham BT Bold I googled and found this site with free download http://www.fontpark.net/en/font/cheltenham-bold-bt/ BTW Welcome to the forum

Unless you have a better bitmap it will be hard to do. Total size of the image is 240x240 pixels and MOST of that is the purple square background which is of no use in the making this into a vector file. A couple of suggestions 1- Crop the image - no need for anything not part up the actual design to be included. 2- Increase the resolution if you have access to the original image or can get another higher res image. (If it's too blurry to make out details it's too blurry to trace.) 3. Just recreate it - I looked and found similar bandaids on google - does the text have to match? Good luck - I just couldn't do anything with the image you provided.

The head should not go past the pinch rollers - mine has only 2 and they each have a magnet dot which makes the cutter head stop without going past this point. I think some units have 3 or more pinch rollers and the middle ones don't have the magnet dots. Check yours (the magnet is a small dot on the front face above the roller)- if yours is missing one that might be the problem. -Mike Welcome to the forum BTW

I think Avant Guard Bold is a good match. -Mike

Thanks I grabbed it too

Like BannerJohn says overlap a bit so you don't get a gap when it shrinks. The other thought I would have is to measure the size of the hawk head when it is scaled to 40" overall height. You may be able to cut the hawk head in one piece and the parts of the U and then assemble the graphic without any seams.

Cool! I saw someone post about doing this with warm Rit dye solution and have thought I might try doing a couple for my son and a favorite nephew. Welcome to the forum! Post some pics -Mike

Kev, Layering is the best way to make the letters you are wanting. Use registration marks to help with aligning the layers. Here is a video to give you a idea what I'm talking about. -Mike

Thanks mark-s - coming from you - means a lot. -Mike

I never knew what this was - I just looked and I have 13 - reputation good - so I guess I haven't ticked off too many folks. Maybe the 13 is why I didn't win the powerball? Oh wait I didn't buy a ticket! -Mike

Welcome to the forum Kenneth. Pristina is a match for your font.

+1 on both of these comments. Flexi is an industry leader - but you don't get into some of the powerful features on Flexi until you get to the more expensive levels of the software. What do you want that SBE doesn't offer? And as Rodger says what do you want to spend? I bought a couple of different programs - and downloaded some free ones as well - most of them offer some advantage or another - none are 100% perfect for all jobs. I was surprised by the power offered in what I expected to be a "hobby" program - it's called Make-the-Cut! Sells for less than $60 and the guy who made it just keeps pounding out upgrades about every 4 to 6 weeks - always FREE to registered users!! You can get a fully functional trial version (just puts watermarks into the files you save or cut until you pay for a registration code) The vectorizing is worth the $60 just by itself - give it a look. http://www.make-the-cut.com/ -Mike