Noob, Pantone 347 here with tons of questions.

[5AGraphix 0]

Hi all, I've been lurking here for about three weeks, I learned a lot from BannerJohn, Dakota, et al. But I there are still some more (of course) that I am not all the way clear on. I've used my Laserpoint 24 since day one and it seems I get new challenges everyday. I have made a couple of shirts using Siser Easyweed and lots of vehicle graphics, etc. I would like to preempt my line of questioning to please keep in mind I am brand new to the industry- as I have only been cutting and heat pressing, etc. for about 3 weeks. So please forgive the naivete.

1. What is the offset that we have to set in software? What is that a measurement of?

2. Contour cutting...I tried it last night and failed miserably so, by 2am I decided to check it out again tonight when I get home. 1. Issue I am having is vectoring a bitmap that is pretty complex with shading, etc. But I got it to vectorize, however, it seems to be cutting much bigger than what printed out.

3.Have any of you tried Stahl's Econocut Heat Transfer vinyl's? If so, how does it compare to Siser's easyweed?

That's it for now...I'm sure there will be more to come.

Just from lurking here, I have learned a few things:

1. Laserpoint is not really like the Roland Gx-24, the laser marks the spot so that it can assist in calibration and designation, it doesn't "scan" the registration marks. (Did I get that right?)

2. Get Cleancut blades (I already called Ross and he's charged my credit card...can't wait.)

3. Use cast vinyl, the cheaper stuff adds to frustrations.

4. Siser Easyweed is one of the good stuff...

Thank you, all in advance! BTW, I mod a photography site and another hobby site, the mods here are doing an excellent job!

Garret

[5AGraphix 0]

Okay, I figured it out and I have contour cut (ed?) lol. The key was using a contact sheet. The A4 paper and Letter sized paper I was using kept slipping off of the machine. Also, one very key thing, is that the quality of the vector or the vectorization of the bitmap has to be darn good. Another hint for noobs like me, who would like to start contour cutting. Use the contour effects from CDR or which ever proggy you are using. After getting the Cricut 12 x 24 at Michael's for $15.99, I was able to calibrate the software, cut and produce. I even made two shirts from the mirror cut contour.

I also found answers to me question, the blade offset that we set is the distance between the centerline of the plotter and the blade. This is why a pen uses 0.00 offset, because the pen would be dead center of the centerline. When set too low, the corners would be rounded, too high and it will cut more than necessary adding pigtails, or "ears" to the shape.

I order a roll of the Cadcut from Stahl's and it set to be delivered tomorrow, so I guess I'm about to find out if it is as good or better than the Siser. It certainly needs more heat and time than the Siser according to their instructions.

BTW, thank you, Paco for you noob manual, I have it, the Signcut Pro/X2 instructions for contour cutting, and the Laserpoint 24's Owner's Manual on my iPad2 and was reading all three during my 1.5 hour commute home.

Thanks again, all. I hope this helps someone new to cutting.