Hairline pieces of vinyl left along cut line?

[BooKooGuru 0]

Again, thanks to all the support I got when I posted my last question. James & I have watched alot of youtube videos, read alot of posts on numerous forums, and are feeling a little bit more knowledgeable as the days go by. We have the USCutter 34" SC Vinyl Cutter with Stand, pkg purchased on ebay. Not much in the way of user guide, etc. We are using Corel Draw X3 design software, along with some photoshop work, and SignBlazer Elements cutting software. We had some problems learning about all the settings on the cutter itself, but have been able to get most of those worked out, tile placement, orientation, etc. We have even successfully cut some designs! The problem we are having consistently with the cut images is that there is a very thin, hairline piece of vinyl left along every cut line. We can't tell if the blade is actually cutting along each line twice or if the cutter is malfunctioning. My guess is it is something in the design, but I just don't know. Does a black and white vector image just auto cut along all the contrast lines, or do we need to manually set a cutting line? I watched one video that showed how to use corel to create a boundary, then a contour inside that boundary, break the group apart, then delete the outer boundary line. That would work fine for just a contour outline design, but what about all the internal cuts. I am soooo confused! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. And thanks in advance for all your help! Sincerely, Ramona

[mars 45]

Most likely is that you have the file that has duplicate cut paths. The solution is to delete all but one of the cut paths. If you can post a file maybe somebody can take a look and give you some advice.

To answer about the cutting line - anything you are cutting out of vinyl is made up of shapes - each is a vector path for the blade to follow in cutting the design. When you weed it you can remove parts to make an image - Cut it again and leave the parts you removed the first time and take away the parts you left before and you get a negative of the first image - just depends on how you want to use it.

It should not cut all the black parts and also cut all the white parts - that is probably what you are seeing. It should just cut the parts and you decide what is black and what is white when you weed it.

-Mike

[slice&dice 2,451]

Is this happening with letters/text ?

Type a word in SignBlazer, cut it.

What happens? Clean?

[BooKooGuru 0]

Slice&Dice, we did cut some text directly from signblazer and did not notice any problem. Thanks for your help.

[Sue2 920]

You probably have outlines around your object and

unless you eliminate them that info will be sent to the cutter

and the cutter will cut them.

Delete the outlines and you will be fine.

WIREFRAME view is great for showing you cut lines.

Always check WIREFRAME before cutting.

In Corel, go to the VIEW drop down menu and select wireframe.

The colors and fills will dissapear and all you will see are the CUT lines.

Delete what you don't want to cut.

Sue2