Newbe Question

[Cal 393]

Hello folks,

I am in the "looking into" stage of purchasing a vinyl cutter.  When I look over the specs on USCutter, many of them come with Sure Cuts a Lot Pro.  When I look at ebay, sometimes they say the same SCALP comes with the machine.  If I purchase a used machine, is the SCALP any good, or must I purchase a new version?

Sometimes I see it stated that the version has X months left on it.  Again, is it usable or no?

How do you sell a used machine if you don't have usable software to operate it?  Seems like if this is required the price would be a lot less.

Thanks

clhyer

[MZ SKEETER 4,709]

There are many different softwares that will work with almost any vinyl cutter.    Even Signblazer, which is a FREE software, right here on the forum can be used with them. But it is not supported, as the owner passed away a few years back.   Softwares are different prices for what you receive.  Some is design and cut, or only cut.   Illustrator is a design  software as well as Corel. Or you could choose Inkscape.org, which is a FREE design.  

 

Do a lot of homework for your needs. 

 

Vinyl cutters are not limited to 1 software.

 

There is 1 version Of Scalp Pro 3, and is updated all the time.  Updates are on the Craftedge.com website.

[Cal 393]

Thank you Mz Skeeter, I appreciate your time and response.

C

[slice&dice 2,450]

I recently purchased a used MH 34" cutter for under $100.

My software of choice is SignBlazer Elements, which has drivers for virtually all machines out there in the market today.

 

What are you going to be using the cutter for?

[Rodger 527]

Hello folks,

    If I purchase a used machine, is the SCALP any good, or must I purchase a new version?

Sometimes I see it stated that the version has X months left on it.  Again, is it usable or no?

How do you sell a used machine if you don't have usable software to operate it?  Seems like if this is required the price would be a lot less.

Thanks

clhyer

 

SCALPro has only been out several months . Before that SCAL has been out a long time . All of that software does not expire & all the updates are free ... even when junping up into another version ( 2 , 3 etc ) . Used is another " technical " question . The license is not tranferable according to the terms , so legally it is worthless . In actuality , iIf it has been removed from the computers it was installed on , it can be registered on another computer no matter for who as long as the registration info is available ( name registered to & serial number ) .  SCALPro allows for 2 computers to have it , If it has not been deleted from the computers, it will not be any good until 1 has been deleted .

[Cal 393]

Thank you slice & dice and Rodger.  Good info for me.

I plan to do small decals for glass etching to start with.

C

[Smokem 35]

clhyer,

I am new to this as well.  I have done limited pieces so far.  You have picked a very good place to
hang out.

Read, read, read....  You will learn so very much here... 

[Wildgoose 4,200]

Like was mentioned above, there are a lot of options out there and many of them are free. Any way you go you are going to need a cutting utility to send any designs you come up with to the cutter. SCALP does this just fine. It also lets you do some basic design work to create your own ideas. There are other programs out there that do this a little easier perhaps but SCALP is a great place to start and like you mentioned comes with most of the US Cutter machines. When I started I actually called the guys at US Cutter and talked over what I planned to do and they helped me pick a machine that met my needs. I would suggest taking a lot of time to research and you can get a pretty good idea what way to go. I use a P-Cut and there are a lot of MH users on here. I started out with SignCut Pro that came with the cutters before they started going to SCALP. I grabbed a copy of SCALP when it first came out and have watched it go through a lot of upgrades. It is a pretty good utility now, especially for someone who needs to do some design work too. A lot of us design elsewhere like with Inkscape (free vector program) or Illustrator or and then import into SCALP to cut.