Creating and Outputting Solid-Color Vinyl Letters and their Outlines for Signs??

[mark98101 0]

I'm new to vinyl sign making. I have a new Toshiba laptop with Windows 7. It has a 500GB HD, 4GB RAM, 16" screen and CorelDRAW X5 and Summa's WinPlot bridge software installed. Everything runs perfectly.

I want to be able to create letters and then to create a different colored outlined to be applied over the top of those letters. How to do it?

I know that I will have to separate the two elements and cut the letters from one file and the outlines from a different file.

This morning I created two different files. I created these files on my MacBook in Illustrator CS3 (I just got CD X5 and am still trying to figure it out). I "created outlines" for both files and saved each as an Illustrator EPS file. I then took the files to my Toshiba, opened CorelDRAW and imported them into CD. I then imported each file into WinPlot. I cut both files. The file for the body of the letters cut just fine. The file for the outline cut exactly the same way instead of making a double-cut so that once weeded it would be an outline only.

I will be outputting the letters and their outlines from a Summa D75 vinyl cutter.

Thanks.

[MZ SKEETER 4,709]

your illustrator book tells you how to outline text. 

[mark98101 0]

your illustrator book tells you how to outline text. 

Yes, I can and did create the outline file in Illustrator, too, and then imported it into CD > WinPlot and it all looked fine on my monitor. But when I cut it, it cut the outline file for the letters the exact same way it cut the file for the main body of the letters themselves, i.e., a single line cut. It should have been a double-line cut for the outline file so I could weed the large part inside the outline as well as everything outside the outline.

[MZ SKEETER 4,709]

It should only be 1 file not two. in two different colors.  You just pause between colors,  then cut the second color,  You have to make sure you have applied registration marks to the design first.  and I have no idea what Winplot is.  

[TSQUIRTZ 0]

In corel type you text and right click and convert to curves, click on the windows button in the task bar and click on dockers, click on contour the rest is easy, just apply as many as you need. You may have to combine 2 to fill with different colors ( shift click on the 2,right click, combine)