karnor 0 Posted February 19, 2009 Forgive me if this sounds like a stupid question, but I'm new to this. I also posted this on the pre-sale question board, but thought this might be the better place. My husband is looking at buying an MH-871 primarily to cut patterns for sandblasting, however, I'd also like to use them to cut a stencil of sorts for the line drawings I use on glass medallions that I paint. I'd like to scan in a drawing and have the cutter cut such that I could weed out the line itself (could be from 0.25 - 0.50 mm thick). Is it possible to do that? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tlzimmerman 11 Posted February 19, 2009 Forgive me if this sounds like a stupid question, but I'm new to this. I also posted this on the pre-sale question board, but thought this might be the better place. My husband is looking at buying an MH-871 primarily to cut patterns for sandblasting, however, I'd also like to use them to cut a stencil of sorts for the line drawings I use on glass medallions that I paint. I'd like to scan in a drawing and have the cutter cut such that I could weed out the line itself (could be from 0.25 - 0.50 mm thick). Is it possible to do that? I would think it would be able to do it, but getting to .25 MM is going to start to push the limits of what the machine is capable of. One area you may need to read a little bit more about however is vectorizing. You mention scanning in a picture and cutting it....and its not that simple. A scan is a raster image, or just millions of tiny dots, cutters can only cut a vector image that is in essence "drawn" by the program using mathematical formulas. You can't simply scan then cut, you must vectorize the image first. In my experience with designing and cutting out archery bows, often times with very small detailed parts, if you are weeding out or removing the small piece it works well, because it can tend to lift or shift those pieces as it cuts them because they are just so darn small, but if you are trying to remove the main area and keep the tiny piece...this doesn't work well because again the small piece is many times lifted or removed entierly by the blade when it is cut. Hope that makes sense. Small is possible with these machines but it takes time and patience to get them dialed in. Just don't set your expecations too high to begin with and realize that lines down to 1/4 mm is just ridiculously small, and getting any cutter to reliably cut that small is going to be a challenge. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
karnor 0 Posted February 19, 2009 I'd definitely be taking out the lines and not the large pieces. Thanks for the input. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
karnor 0 Posted February 19, 2009 One other question -- will the software bundled with the MH-871 (SignBlazer, I believe) vectorize a scanned image? I know that Adobe Illustrator is supposed to, but I'd rather work with just one software program. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kenimes 42 Posted February 19, 2009 SignBlazer will vectorize, but it is not the best out there for such a task. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tlzimmerman 11 Posted February 19, 2009 From what I understand yes it will vectorize, but I am not sure how well because to be honest all I do with it is cut....I find its interface much less intuitive to design in. I have access to illustrator, corel draw x4, which are 2 of the most expensive professional vector design programs....and I use inkscape...which is free and open source. I played with all 3 for about 2 weeks, and was amazed that the stuff I was making in inkscape looked just as good or better and I could do it faster. Just my .02 and everyone is different, but I highly recommend getting to know inkscape to vectorize and design. Then, once you are done you just save it as an eps....open sign blazer import size and cut, takes about 30 seconds tops from when I save in inkscape until my cutter is cutting. I know many people do it different, I just found sign blazers design tools and user interface lacking, so I found something else I am much faster with! Plus its free and updated very frequently, you really can't ask for more....I love open source software! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tlzimmerman 11 Posted February 19, 2009 http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php/topic,13274.0.html you can go there and watch the video of me doing a simple vectorize in inkscape, might give you an idea of what all is entailed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
karnor 0 Posted February 20, 2009 Thanks so much! Triple thanks for the tutorial video. It answered just about all of my questions and more that I hadn't thought of! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
