Vermonster

Thanks Terry. Let me see if any of these will work. If anyone has any more, just in case these don't work, I'd appreciate it Thank you!

Anyone have a tribal horse laying around? Kinda looking for a head that fades back into a tribal design if possible.... something like this... http://i19.ebayimg.com/05/i/06/35/1c/c8_1.JPG I can trace it myself, just trying to see if anyone has something clean like that...that doesn't need much cleanup. THX Here's something in return

Here are Some 4x4 Monster Trucks... TRUCKS_273B.AI TRUCKS_271B.AI TRUCKS_273B.AI TRUCKS_271B.AI

Devils Advocate: What happens if they decide to walk, and tell potential customers how expensive you are, and that they found XYZ to do it cheaper. Anyone they talk to will usually go to XYZ. I PERSONALLY, have never been a huge fan of jacking the price up. I understand the concept, but having a pretty extensive sales background (from Tinmen no less), I always had a different idea on how to get rid of them. I would find out their time line, and overshoot it if it's anything realistic (which is normally tomorrow at noon) LOL I would just tell them people know what quality I do, and generally I'm backed up like this at this time of year (what do they know about the 'time of year')...but that never stops people from waiting a little longer to get quality. I'd let them know I'd love to do their work if it fits in their timeline. Nothing wrong with charging a little extra if they don't mind waiting a few weeks, but just straight out whacking the price 3x, 4x, or 5x has never been my cup of tea. Call it a PITA charge. PAIN IN THE @#$% If they walk at that point they say "That guy has so much work lined up, he couldn't get to me for a few weeks" I think that holds better when they tell others about you versus "Oh, he's WAY TOO EXPENSIVE - I got this OTHER company to do it for 1/2 or 1/3 of the price he/she wanted" I personally would be inclined to atleast talk to the guy who's slammed solid with work vs calling the guy that's really out of the ballpark. My .02 worth - Your milage may vary

Small suggestion. I became more frustrated with doing wet installs so I forced myself to learn to do dry installs. I then met someone who told me to use less liquid. I never really went back and tried it, but maybe if you try using 1/2 as much liquid as you're using, and still squeegie the daylights out of it, it might help. Coincidentally, are you hinging it?

Hey All. Not new to Signage, but possibly might be buying a US Cutter. I figured who better to check with than the people who use them. I've been doing signs and vector editing for about 4 years now. I had a Roland PC-60 and a Seiki Tech plotter (ewww) and decided to take some time off for a while and got rid of all my equipment. I'm looking to make a comeback again with a 24" machine probably as I never really had a need to do much more than 20" or so. Was hoping maybe to get some feedback from current owners of US Cutters. Having owned a mid priced (Roland) and a low priced (Seiki Tech) I figured since I'm more of a weekend warrior who likes designing the vectors as much (if not more than doing the vinyl work) then I would stay at the lower end of the price range... I definitely didn't like the Seiki. They admittedly shipped bad mounting brackets, never sent the new ones, material rollers were bent and the thing didn't plot correctly. I'm really looking for the following features... Accuracy Quality Ease of operation Quietness (I do it in the basement while kids are sleeping usually) I have 2 years left on my subscription for SignCut and I also have Corel X3, FlexiSign, Illustrator and Inkscape just to name a few of the apps at my disposal. Anyway, thought I'd shout out and say hey and get reading this board I'm located in South Jersey if anyone is willing to open their shop up to let me check a machine out or something...

I was just curious. Does anyone else around here sandblast? I had a whole set up that I got rid of when I offloaded my cutters, but now that I'm going to get back into the swing of things with a new plotter, I'm thinking of building my own sandblasting cabinet. I had a stand up cabinet with a pressure pot but I'm thinking of going simple. I still have a compressor and a gun that holds a few pounds of grit, so I was thinking of making a little cabinet for what little I'd do. Neat stuff for those who've never messed with it. I started out using scrap vinyl, but learned how nice Paintmask was REALLY quick Here are some pics to give those who've not ventured out an idea... I've blasted Wood, Slate, Beer Mugs, Picture Frames etc. You can use Rub & Buff (Michaels/AC Moore) to color in the etching silver, gold, red, black, etc etc Really sharp looking stuff that's unique looking. Yeah, I think once I get my new plotter I'll start blasting again, just gotta figure out how to build a cheap cabinet to blast in... Hmmmm

Have you ever cut those fonts before successfully? If not (or even if so) I would suggest zooming in as close as possible and looking at the edge of the characters. If it's jagged on the screen...dump the font

Oh Goodie, I wanna field this one It's really a matter of personal preference. I've got a roll of clear that I have had since I first started. Bought it thinking it would make things alot easier. I just found that over time, I liked paper tape more and learned to do it. You can use either one. I know it's a bit 'old school' but I've always cut my registration marks out after I apply the tap (all layers except for the bottom). It's just how I was shown. More than one way to do it. You've got to find your niche, and that's really what it's all about. I visited a friend not so long ago and they're still messing with signs and it was amazing to see how different they did things vs. me. But the end result, no matter the process or exact product used, was the same. Having said that, it's personal preference. Once you understand the layer process, it's second nature to do layers... As far as the app tape, you'll try one, and if you learn to do it that way, with that product, and like it...you'll probably never change unless you see more benefits doing it another way. How many layers is too many? If you have more than you need In all seriousness, you can do a bunch, but it depends on the size, the application etc. Too many layers to me, looks 'stacked' or "thick" and I don't care for it...but that's me. I've always tried to stick to 3-4 and if it's going to be more, it's probably not worth it. I'd have to say no. Depends on the vinyl you're using but I've found it's extremely aggressive when on other vinyl. I'd be more worried about the base layer coming up then the layers of vinyl on other layers. That's a product (base layer coming off substrate) of your surface prep though.

Nice stuff Carl. There are some templates out there that you cut and number but don't weed it all. You blast say #1. Then at once point in the process, you remove the resist that is labeled #2 and blast 1 along with 2 so 1 goes deeper etc etc. What Carl does is really an art. Knowing how long to hold at a spot, how far to hold from the piece, and not having your back give out...all show true talent!!

Ok. Are you looking for the text like in this picture? BTW, it's spelled NAUTIQUE, not NATIGUE http://www.ruthsfun.com/1998_nautique_1.jpg Maybe if you go to google.com and click the link that says "IMAGES" and do a google image search and find what exactly you're looking for (and post the link back here so we can see it) we might be able to help a little better... If you are in fact looking for the text above, I would suggest using one of the online font finders or posting and seeing if anyone knows.

Well, the system wouldn't let me register the knickname my wife calls me. Said something about profanity or something... So I just went with SJ (South Jersey) and my first name. Real original, huh

be sure to repost here with pics when it's done

By layouts do you mean motorcycle templates that you can put vectors onto so you get an idea what they'll look like, or do you mean vectorized numbers, logos, etc?

If you're using an app that doesn't allow you to make registration marks, or are not sure how to use that function yet, it's just as simple as making a couple squares. I make them all the same size. It doesn't matter where they are layed out, as long as you do NOT move them when you change the colors of the squares right before cutting. Here's how I would suggest doing using your image... 1. Cut the red part (including the 3 red squares) 2. Change the red squares to light orange and save the file (must be same as the other light orange stuff) 3. Open it in your cutting software and cut just the light orange stuff 4. Weed them BOTH leaving the squares as if you were going to lay them on the substrate. 5. Apply app tape to the ORANGE and using an exacto knife (I use a razor blade) cut the orange squares out of the orange layer ( so you can see through where the squares were) 6. Lay it overtop of the red and line up the red squares underneath to the cut out squares on the orange piece. You should see the red square through the square holes you cut out. I would apply this using the HINGE method from the bottom up. Apply... If I were putting this on a car or something, me personally, I would lay the red down (with the 3 red squares) right onto the vehicle. Then I would lay the orange over top, line up the registration marks, use a tape hinge at the bottom, and apply the orange over the red. Then I would pull off the red squares and clean er up. Hope that helps some... Of course, I would NEVER apply that image anywhere, cuz that would just be wrong regmarks.eps regmarks.eps

You can add registration marks just by placing a square where you want the registration mark. Long before SignCut (which is great for registration marks) you used to have to put a couple small squares. When you cut each color of the layered vinyl, just make sure you change the color of the square to be the same as the color of the vinyl you're cutting. The top layer, once you place your app take over it, use a knife to carefully cut the registration square out of the top color and then when you lay it over the bottom color (which still has it's squares uncut and intact) you'll know where it goes I'll download that file and check it out for ya

If you post the EXACT file you're saving, we might be able to help you better. As mentioned before, after doing your auto trace in Inkscape, and closing the tracing options box, and you're looking at the image, are you clicking the image and dragging the vector off of the image (which will be under the new vector) and deleting the jpg? if you're not sure which is which, then once you have to two of them seperated, press F2 and click on one. Which ever one has the node editing squares on it, that's your vector. The other one should present a box around it when you click on it with the tool (after pressing F2 to select it). Delete the jpg and save it. One other thing... Make sure the "STACK SCANS" options is unchecked. If it's checked, each scan it will stack ontop of the other. The default for this is 8 scans (unless you change it) and you'll have 8 scanned vectors on top of one another. There more than likely will be some level of clean up necessary when you do an auto-trace with Inkscape (or any program for that matter). Putting it in WIREFRAME MODE in any of the vector programs will give you a MUCH better view as to what's going on, but posting the image here will help too.

yep. You can google the item you're looking for with the word "clipart" and get more specific cliparts, but those cliparts generally trace well too! Good stuff! Forgot about clipart Microsoft Clipart generally vectorized already, but might need some clean up or layers removed. You can actually copy it right from their site, and pasted it into X3 - Not sure about SB, but I assume so

Here is a quick tutorial I just did to teach on to trace a hottie This is great for sillouhettes or B/W gif's, jpgs etc. You can also do a google image search for uh... your favorite character and put "coloring book" or "drawing" and a couple other choice keywords to come up with some highly sought after stuff in the industry that will usually trace nicely using the method in the link below. Hope that helps. I have a motto... Give a person a fish, they eat for one day. Teach a person to fish, and they eat forever If anyone's interested in a quick deal with CorelX3, just let me know. http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php/topic,6535.0.html

Voila inkscape tutorial.eps Finished Inkscape Trace.eps inkscape tutorial.eps Finished Inkscape Trace.eps

Maybe this was already covered, but I've not found it yet... With alot of folks interested in starting a business and using US Cutter machines as a uh... "Gateway machine" to get into the industry, it might be helpful to have an area devoted to sales strategies, pricing, estimate presentation etc etc Yeah, I have a sales background

What's Vista? Vista is the debil!

600 inches? Busy were ya?

Looks good. Thermal vinyl? If so, what brand? Fellers sells some stuff that I had used to do my shirts with a year or so ago. They still look sharp.

Is it possible to post the exact vector you're trying to cut so we can have a looksee? From a trouble shooting standpoint, I personally would start with the vector first. From there, if it's a good vector, then you'd look to hardware/software issue. Have you tried cutting something simple that you've cut before and you KNOW worked once?