ravenclaw 2 Posted July 20, 2015 Hi.. tried to post this yesterday but would not post.. hopefully today. When I convert a imported high rez 300 dpi jpeg and let razorcut vectorize it ... usually works fine.. BUT, sometimes it just vectorizes a solid black box even though I can see that it sees the artwork in the scan mode.. very confusing!.. anyone have a clue? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wildgoose 4,200 Posted July 20, 2015 From what I have seen Razorcut is fairly new. Have not seen much talk of it on here. Can't you get it to vector in AI? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jaybyrd 3,770 Posted July 20, 2015 If you image goes all the way to the edges the vectorize won't work. Make a larger white box behind the image and circle both and convert to bitmap. It should trace fine with the extra space arounf the edge that the white box creates. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ravenclaw 2 Posted July 20, 2015 Well when I make my AI file in illustrator everything has to be perfect as an AI file or the cutter sees every little miniscule problem of points not matching.. invisible points.. line weight issues and so on. By importing the file into photoshop and setting it at 300 dpi as a jpg all those issues go away. When I import the image into Razorcut I let it vectorize the file and it makes whatever makes it happy. At 300 dpi it is perfect every time and I can make quick edits in photoshop also if needed. I will go back and check on the white box setting and see if that also works in Razorcut. Usually my black and white art is a .jpg and is on a white field and works just great. I have noticed that the art requires space around it so that was a good suggestion.. most folks would miss that I think. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jaybyrd 3,770 Posted July 20, 2015 We had a run in here a couple months back and that was the cure. I'm wanting to say it was skarekrow who figured it out but my memory isn't that great. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skarekrow 1,842 Posted July 20, 2015 Yes, it was resolved and explained in this thread. (I believe RazorCut is an abbreviated version of VinylMaster.) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ravenclaw 2 Posted July 21, 2015 Thanks so much for all this help.. will read the other thread and see if I can make sense of it.. Will get back to you all when I have the final answer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jaybyrd 3,770 Posted July 21, 2015 My memory is better than I thought 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skarekrow 1,842 Posted July 21, 2015 As they say, "You're not getting older, you're getting better". 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jaybyrd 3,770 Posted July 21, 2015 I think as I age I'm going to start using the term vintage. Always like the sound of that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skarekrow 1,842 Posted July 21, 2015 ...and fortunately, "Vintage" usually comes with a higher price tag! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ravenclaw 2 Posted July 21, 2015 Hey everyone.. I'm Back!.. well have experimented with MANY things and learned almost nothing. I have 2 jpg files.. when compared they are exactly the same type of file.. made by the same program in the same way with the same settings on export and yet one will be vectored no problem by Razorcut and the other will appear to be vectored properly but results in a big black box. So in frustration trimmed one close to the art but not touching and it vectored fine all of a sudden!.. go figure.. I hate computer Voodoo that makes no sense cause I want to know the cause. Then on the other jpg I just cut off the lettering ( which was just lettering art ) and just imported the upper part of the art into razorcut and it vectored fine also.. in the end I put the two good ones together in razorcut after vectoring and grouped and cut it that way. Made a shell today in the same old method I have been using and it vectored just fine. While cutting about 15 minutes ago, my machine decided to go violent on me and slammed left and right a few times fast before I could turn it off, and once just stopped running in the middle of a cut. Gotta call it in I guess.. Newbie learning curve pains I guess... Again thanks for all your help and sorry I could not come up with a better answer to my problems to maybe help you all out. Ray Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MZ SKEETER 4,715 Posted July 21, 2015 which cutter are you having a problem with? A Titan? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wildgoose 4,200 Posted July 21, 2015 Skeeter I think he bought a titan 3 Ray, I rarely use auto trace. Some do some don't. If it's something important I hand trace it from scratch. SkareKrow uses a different process where I believe he pre-processes raster images and gets them prepped to do a decent trace and is faster than I am but I don't have his PS skills to make use of that method. The auto trace files that I HAVE done tend to be messier and have more issues and I spend more time messing with them to clean them up than I would have just re-drawing them. I almost exclusively use AI and then send to the cutter through SignCut Pro. I can't say whats going on is related at all with pushing the easy button (auto-trace) but it may be part of the reason you are getting funky cutting issues. My standard procedure is rebuild the graphic and find the font to match the text. 95% of vinyl graphics are pretty simple and it's not that tough to redraw assuming you have the skills which from your portfolio I tend to think you do. You will probably have to dumb down your artwork because gradients and stroke are irrelevant and everything has to be thought through with a different end game in mind but your years of experience are going to pay big dividends. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ravenclaw 2 Posted July 22, 2015 Hey! yes I have a Titan 3... I think you are right about the idea that I should probably try to import a vector file into RazorCut rather than a bitmapped .jpg.. I will work on that next. The violent jerking of the cutting head that I experienced could be due to static electricity buildup on the vinyl US Cutter has told me and I can see that might be an issue. I put the electrostatic string on it last night to see if it solves the problem. Well, I'm taking my first 4 "beachy" designs down to Gulf Shores today or tomorrow and seeing if they are interested in selling for me on commission... Hope it goes well!... working on a redesign of my website to include some of this newer stuff been making.. so much to do so little time it seems.. wish I could live to be 200! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ravenclaw 2 Posted July 23, 2015 Been experimenting more.. I just had a 300 dpi level 12 .jpg at 16.3 inches wide and it converted to a black box again... I tried shrinking down the art to 15.1 inces and it vectored no problem!.. also at 9 inches.. I think the Razorcut program likes to get Vector files to start with ( as most folks use here ) rather than jpgs to convert. vector files are geometric in nature and very very small memory wise while max level jpgs are large memory objects.. I think after a certain memory size is reached on a jpg or bmp or any bitmapped file the program overloads and just defaults to a solid black field. Anyway.. just my thought on the matter.. seems to be working fine now. Again thanks for help! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites