grumpybadger

Wouldn't have thought you can cut from Photoshop as it can't handle vector graphics. I generally save as a jpeg from Photoshop, vectorise in Inkscape and then cut with SIgnBlazer. I wish you all the best with your venture, but believe me, you will never get rich doing small decals online, there is just too much competition on the likes of eBay and eBid. It seems the World and it's brother has a cutter now!

I just used the generic DMPL driver with my Refine 721 when I tried V6. Worked a treat.

Metal Meet perchance? For the record I am in Nottingham in the Uk so perhaps a little too far for a meet! LOL!

I tend to use a diamond too. TBH as long as it is the same symbol on all layers/colours I don't suppose it really matters.

Thanks everyone. Road course? Indeed, it's The Nurburgring in Germany. A friend of mine runs a business which does trips over there for all the petrolheads (or gearheads?) so this is an advertisment for the business. Thats right Jay I did. It turned out to be just a case of laying it out dry to get an idea of positioning, making some markers on the car and then applying it wet. A little "massaging" with a heat gun to help it around a few of the compound curves and a bit of fiddling and it was done. Not as bad as I was expecting to be honest. The bottom runs right over the gas cap which thought would be "straightforward" to work around, but it turned out to be quite involved, the worst bit of the whole job. Still, all part of the learning curve. Bring on the next one!

So I finally got a decent sized job to work on. Its not perfect (I'm the first to admit that!) but its been a great learning exercise. I know it isn't the best photograph, but constructive criticism welcomed.

I gave up with eBay, they are just too damn expensive for me. I tend to use eBid instead now, which doesn't have the same traffic as eBay but is up and coming bit by bit. I'm sure it will become more popular now, as more and more people become disillusioned with eBay. I noticed a few others on here that use eBid too, Speedoggy for one.

You could try these guys http://www.thevinylcorporation.co.uk/ A bit closer to Spain so shipping may be cheaper. Vinyl is reasonabley priced rather than cheap.

You can safely delete the PVW files. They really get on my nerves so I get rid of them ASAP.

I have to echo the above. I don't get so much time to visit recently, but I do pop in and read stuff and learn stuff. You guys always seem to have the answer!

I use Xilisoft for Mrs. grumpybadgers I-Touch. http://www.xilisoft.com/ Not the cheapest at aroung $65, but so far it has been absolutely faultless. I tried loads of different free trial products before commiting to it and most a were a real disappointment. Glad I spent the cash as its been well worth it for the amount of grief it has saved.

Thanking you sir!

My Refine 720 wasn't listed either in the version that I have (SBE6), but seems to work just fine with the generic DMPL driver.

Just for clarity, rubbing alcohol is the Isopropyl stuff as opposed to Ethanol?

I'll second that. SBE does everything I need it to and I find it pretty simple to use too. Having said that, I'm not really familiar with many other programs.

Hi all. A friend of mine runs a business organising trips to the Nurburgring in Germany. While we were there last weekend we saw the car in the attached pic. He likes the decal and wants something similar on his support car. I have a 24" cutter and think I can organise the cutting in several pieces, but my question is where would I start with applying the decal to the car? I really have no idea. Obviousley it would need to be done wet (he wants reflective vinyl, would this cause an issue with wet application?), but would I have to make any allowances in the design to accomodate the curves of the car, or do i just cut it and keep working it on the car until it looks right? Not sure if I have explained that very well, but any ideas would be very welcome. Thanks in advance guys and girls. *Edited because I am a muppet and forgot the attachment!*

At last an "idiots guide!" just the job for this idiot.

Excellent resource! Thanks Jay.

Thanks Jay, I'll get some pictures and start planning. Unfortunately Charlie, thats not going to be an option! Shame really.

Ditto! I seem to struggle with node editing in Inkscape. Really should make the effort to learn properly.

Another vote for SignBlazer and Inkscape here. I found them very easy to pick up and there are loads of tutorials here on the forums, and some great members who always seem to have the answer!

I use the method jay details above, always worked fine for me. If you REALLY get stuck, you could always use Ctrl+Prnt Scrn and then paste into Paint (assuming Windows).

To open your .eps file in SignBlazer, use the "Import" option and not the "open" option from the File menu.

I had similar issues with my Refine, so I use the Generic DMPL which seems to work just fine. As for the port, if you are using a serial connection it will usually be COM1 but if you are using USB then you will need to load the USB drivers ( I think they are available on the US Cutter support site somewhere, though I could be wrong) and it should create a new COM port to use.

Nice work John. I like that a lot. Simple, uncluttered, striking and effective.