CyberChuck

Lauren, You can try to vectorize it using SBE by going to the image menu and change the mode to monochrome. Then, in the image menu again, select vectorize. Although, bear in mind that SBE does not (in my opinion) vectorize very well. Charlie

Melinda, What type of connection are you using? USB or serial? Also, are you using a desktop or laptop computer? SBE is known to have issues when using a laptop with a USB connection. Charlie

Art, The site looks clean and well arranged. I dabble around with a little web design and hosting myself (have been learning for the last dozen or so years - I own several domains and webmaster three others for local businesses and my union hall). I took a look at the source code of you homepage. I noticed one glaring issue - you apparently used a website creation program. This is not a big deal, except that it inserted code advertising itself into the header of your page. The following lines are what are primarily used for your site to get indexed by search engines (I copied them from your source code): <meta name="Keywords" content="Web Easy, Avanquest"> <meta name="Description" content="This web site has been created with technology from Avanquest Software."> At a minimum, you need to edit these lines to remove the advertising for Avanquest and insert relevant information for your website. The "keyword" tag is a list (separated by semicolons) of the search terms your page should be indexed under. The "description" tag should contain the short blurb that a search engine will display after someone has searched - on the results page of the search engine. You need to think out your keywords and try to incorporate them into your description as well. Many search engines look at the keywords listed - then the description - then actually scan the page to ensure that all three are actually representative of each other. I like the layout and design of your site. But you need to correct the above coding to help get it listed better in the search engines. Charlie

Sounds like a really good time to break out the exacto and a squeegee. Poke a very small hole in the bubbles you see and squeegee the air out of them. Charlie

Dylan, I never even thought about weeding the hard to get spots first. I'll have to give that a try. Charlie

For a desktop, you can buy an off the shelf power supply. You want to make sure that you get the same type with a minimum of the same wattage. If you remove your old one and go to the local computer store (CompUSA, BestBuy, etc), they can get you squared away easily. Every time I have ever changed a power supply, I try to go with one that produces more wattage than the old one. Things seem to run smoother when you have more power than you need (as opposed to not naving enough). Charlie

I got the same thing. It sux cause I was wanting to upload an image of the first decal I made. Guess I'll try later. Charlie

Has anyone here ordered vinyl from US Cutter before? I just ran out of one of the colors I need to finish a job that needs to be completed by March 14th. If I order right now, would I get the vinyl in time? Or do I need to go over to Fetters (there is one roughly 15 miles from my house)? I'd rather order from USCutter, but I'm in a bit of a hurry. I ordered some vinyl from another vendor last time and it took 10 days to get to me. I am in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana area. Charlie

wasach, I failed to mention that Fetters' vinyl costs roughly 4x what USCutters' does. If I need to get the vinyl from them, I will. But I plan on seeing if my USCutter order gets here in time before I take a loss on a job. Charlie

I agree with Dustin. Canned air - isn't. I don't even own any. What I have done in the past (being a smoker with two housecats) is use the hose attachment on my vaccum to vac out the vents. Any loose trash/fur/dust will show itself at the vent if your vac isn't strong enough to remove it. Charlie

Gary, I said that my first computer was a 286. But, in reality, my first was a Commodore, hooked up to my tv. It didn't do much, but that was the first. I also remember taking a computer programming class in the early 80's. I was programming FORTRAN on a TRS80. I still remember spending hours looking at amber colored pixelated letters! Back in the days when you had to install the drivers for your serial mouse. Now I feel old. Charlie

Four or five days works for me. I'm going to place my order here. Like you said - this forum is priceless. I've only been cutting for a few weeks and I have learned a lot by reading the posts here. Thanks for the quick reply. Charlie

My old 286 had DOS 5.0 on it. I remember "upgrading" to 6.0 and then to 6.22 to get my Disk Space back. The only thing I didn't like about it was configuring IRQ's every time I changed a modem or sound card. Hard to believe that I complain when my cable net slows down - considering I started out on a 14.4 dial up modem. Charlie

I understand perfectly. That's why I bought my cutter - to learn how to do it. I could buy a truckload of signs from FastSigns for what I paid for the cutter. LOL Charlie

The hardest thing about doing nothing is knowing when you're finished.

Thanks for the EPS files. I'm sorry for not posting quicker, but work has been hectic lately (gotta love the ups and downs of construction). Charlie

I know it sounds like a cop out, but you can buy one here: http://houseofgrafx.com/products/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=9 for 10 bucks. Charlie

I just read the post about the laptop overheating and shutting down. I know this sounds crazy, but check with your manufacturer's website for an updated video driver. Also, decrease the video acceleration in the display adapter properties. I had the same problem with my Toshiba a year or so ago. Drove me nuts to have the blasted thing turn of in the middle of a LAN game (I was running as the server). Did a lot of research and came across this suggestion. I haven't had a heat problem since then. It seems that the video on most laptops utilize the processor & memory and cause an increase in heat. That's why gaming computers have video cards with their own memory and video processors - reduces wear of the system resources. Charlie (who is not a tech guy, just a schmuck who has managed to break on figure out a fix for his computers from way back when I bought my first 286-16)

It goes into the pcmcia slot on the side of your computer. They make dozens of different cards for it ( wireless network, cell modems, etc). Charlie

Dan, I had the same problem. I went on Ebay and found an adapter. You can go to this page - http://computers.shop.ebay.com/items/PC-Components__pcmcia-to-serial_W0QQQ5ftrkparmsZ72Q253A1234Q257C66Q253A2Q257C65Q253A12Q257C39Q253A1QQ_catrefZ1QQ_sacatZ3667QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQ_sopZ15QQ_scZ1 (or search for pcmcia to serial) and find several adapters. Mine took around 10 days to get to me. I think it was drop shipped from overseas. But, it solved all of my laptop/usb compatibility issues. Charlie

skaa, can you post the USMC EGA? I have been killing myself trying to get one vectorized. Thanks, Charlie

jheyne, I am using SB to try to vectorize it. I downloaded Inkscape when I got the Cutter, but I am completely lost. I will take a look at the tutorial you provided. Thanks. I haven't opened the vector that you created, yet. I'm not sure how to change the font, as the font was included in the image. It is also the font that LSU uses for their logo, so I would need to find one very similar or it would stand out (for the wrong reasons). FireMalt, I work as a construction superintendent in real life. I always try to get my people to figure out the solution to a problem. If they are willing to put the time in to try to figure things out, they will typically remember what they learn. If I just show them, they'll forget it before the next time rolls around. I have been using PSP for as long as I can remember (at least back into the Windows 3.0 days). I have looked at Photoshop and was lost. And I never even knew that Corel offerred an image program - only thing I remember them for was their word processor. I guess that's what happens when you use a specific program exclusively for a long time - you get passed up when the newest, latest greatest thing hits the market. I guess it's time to shake out the cobwebs and see if I can teach this old dog some new tricks. Thanks everyone for your help. I'm sure I'll be back for more help. I need to learn how to work all of this stuff so I can teach my computer illeterate wife - LOL. She is disabled and a "stay at home mom". She wants to try to make some decals and banners and such to try to earn a little extra money from home. Charlie

I am very new to the vinyl cutting hobby. I have managed to muddle through cutting basic letters and some vectors that I have downloaded. But recently, a friend of mine asked me to make a one color window decal for him from a black and white image that he gave me. When I try to vectorize it, I lose way too much of the detail. The picture is the LSU (Louisiana State University) tiger. Just one example is that when I vectorize it, the eyes become completely black. I don't know much about node editing, so I have no idea if I can recreate the eyes (with my very limited artistic ability) or not. I am attaching the image so you can see what I am working with. Hopefully, someone can give me some pointers to make my life a little easier. Thanks, Charlie

I don't know how to solve your driver issue (hopefully someone else here can help). But, when you installed a USB to Serial adapter, you basically duplicated the hardware the is in the cutter - it does the same thing when you use a USB cable. I use my laptop to cut. It doesn't have a serial port and I had issues when I tried connecting with the USB. So, I went out and bought an adapter like you have. Still had occassional issues. I finally got to scratching my head and browsing on Ebay and found a PCMCIA serial port card. Ordered it using Buy It Now for around $25.00 (incl. shipping) and haven't had any problems since. Just something to keep in mind if you can't get a fix for the adapter issue. Charlie