New to plotting

[fr0125 0]

Hey everyone!

I'm new to all this vinyl plotting but now I'm so into it that I would like to buy me a vinyl plotter.

At the moment I don't have too much money, so I'm limited in my choice.

- I would like to cut vinyl (stickers)

- I would like to have a machine that doesn't immediately break down

- Around the 200 - 250 €, including shipping (to the netherlands )

Now I know I ask for much, but the USCutter MH-series 12" and 28" without stand seem to work for me.

I would go for the 28" one, is that a good (for the price) plotter?

I hesitating because I've also asked around on a dutch forum, where they told me only, and only to buy brands like Roland.

Any tips and hints are very welcome,

thanks,

Francis

[stokedgraphics 1]

If you have the money to get a Roland or a Copam, by all means, get it! If not, get an MH series from US Cutter. I bought the 871 about a year ago and have absolutely no problems with it, other than being uninformed to start with. As long as you take care of your machine (keep it dust free, check connections, ground, etc.) you shouldn't have any issues. A lot of people will tell you to go with the name brands, but if you're just getting into the biz, there's no reason to spend so much money. Besides, if they're not paying for it, why listen to them?

[fr0125 0]

Thanks

Finally the answer I needed to buy myself that plotter.

What exactly is the difference between a brand and a cheap ass plotter?

Lifetime? Precision?

And what kind of information would you recommend me?

[stokedgraphics 1]

Thanks

Finally the answer I needed to buy myself that plotter.

What exactly is the difference between a brand and a cheap ass plotter?

Lifetime? Precision?

And what kind of information would you recommend me?

Get what you can afford! If you don't have much room, you might get a desktop model like a 12 inch up to a 24 inch. The biggest difference is price and precision. If you want to do decals (stickers) that are printed first then cut to size and shape, you'll need a machine that does contour cutting. That means it can be set to read marks (registrations) and cut around the shape of the print. These generally cost more. If you want to do clothing (t-shirts), glass etching, airbrush stencils, or window graphics, you don't really need contour cutting ability. I would advise a lot of reading on this forum before making the purchase, but if you don't have a lot of money, I'd definitely suggest the US Cutter brands to get you started. If it's a hobby only, you could even get a CriCut or the Raindrop, but those have a lot of limitations. If you do it right, the machine will pay for itself in the money you make with it. Don't listen to negative people. They don't know how to dream and they'll keep you from getting what you want!

[stokedgraphics 1]

Just to add a point, you'll need a graphics software package like CorelDraw or Adobe Illustrator. I've even used Macromedia Fireworks. Just any program that can create vector graphics which use shapes instead of pixels to represent the graphic. The cutter only sees lines and shapes, not images like photographs.

[fr0125 0]

Get what you can afford! If you don't have much room, you might get a desktop model like a 12 inch up to a 24 inch. The biggest difference is price and precision. If you want to do decals (stickers) that are printed first then cut to size and shape, you'll need a machine that does contour cutting. That means it can be set to read marks (registrations) and cut around the shape of the print. These generally cost more. If you want to do clothing (t-shirts), glass etching, airbrush stencils, or window graphics, you don't really need contour cutting ability. I would advise a lot of reading on this forum before making the purchase, but if you don't have a lot of money, I'd definitely suggest the US Cutter brands to get you started. If it's a hobby only, you could even get a CriCut or the Raindrop, but those have a lot of limitations. If you do it right, the machine will pay for itself in the money you make with it. Don't listen to negative people. They don't know how to dream and they'll keep you from getting what you want!

Thanks

I'll was intending on using the machine for plotting decals out of normal (not printed) vinyl. But even if I would want to cut printed vinyl, wouldn't I still be able to do it by just plotting a vector of the contours of the sticker? (probably more work?)

And don't you need to cut (printable) transfer paper for clothing? So here you would also need a contour cutter if you would to cut a shape?

And how expensive is a printable vinyl compared to printed vinyl? You need an inkjet printer to print on printable vinyl right? I have a brother MFC-J615W, would that work?

Thanks again,

Francis