Since no one else started a thread about Vinyl Cutting, I will.
My primary endeavor in this area is thermo-film cutting for heat application to garments. Think about all those Little League or Pop Warner teams with the names on the back of the jerseys.
Besides the sports applications, I do 'funny' shirts and some graphic art onto shirts as well.
The machine that I use is the same vinyl cutter that the sign industry utilizes for vinyl signs. And as such, I do some (very little) sign vinyl cutting and application, mostly to family and friends for their business, recreation vehicles and those Booster Window Stickers that parents want on their cars/SUVs, etc.
OK. Now there is a thread under Vinyl Cutters. Please chime in.
Hi Hugh,
I've used a Camm-1 for several years (and still do), plus a SP-540V since Nov. 2006. Primarily for signs but with the SP-540 we do decals and contour cut stuff.
Question for you: If I wanted to experiment with thermo-film, do I need a heat press or can I fake it on small jobs for now with a household iron?
Jeff Harrison said: Hi Hugh,I've used a Camm-1 for several years (and still do), plus a SP-540V since Nov. 2006. Primarily for signs but with the SP-540 we do decals and contour cut stuff.
I have a Vinyl Express from Sign Warehouse, in Texas. This is really a GCC Panther II plotter. Mine is only 24 inches wide. When looking at a plotter for cutting thermo-films, I chose this unit becasue it can do from 8 grams to 600 grams of pressure on the blade, as well as its speed. Further, most thermo-films range in width from 15 inches to 20 inches. Stahls, the thermo-film industry standard, comes in 17 inch width for its thermo-film. I have other thermo-films from other manufacturers that come in 19 inch and 20 inch widths. There are many thermo-films that are only 15 inch wide. So the 24 inch plotter seems perfect for my use.
Here's our equipment:Roland VersaCAMM SP-540V (I just love this thing!)Gerber GSx 15" plotterGerber EdgeGerber Dimension 200 Router/Engraver
Steve
Hugh....
I have a Vinyl Express from Sigh Warehouse as well. I have the Q60E and it came with the Flexi software. Can I export directly from CorelDRAW 12 to the cutter without using the Flexi software? I don't really know enough about either software program to be proficient - yet - ....
Leo
rmesgt said:Hugh.... I have a Vinyl Express from Sigh Warehouse as well. I have the Q60E and it came with the Flexi software. Can I export directly from CorelDRAW 12 to the cutter without using the Flexi software? I don't really know enough about either software program to be proficient - yet - ....
Leo:
My cutter is a Vinyl Express, labeld by Sign Warehouse. But in reality, it is really a GCC Jaguar II cutter and not the Q series.
I went to the GCC web site and found a driver for the cutter. Sign Warehouse did not have any, for my cutter.
You could call Sign Warehouse's tech support and find out if there is a driver available for it, if not, find out who the manufacturer of the cutter is and find out if the manufacturer has a driver for the cutter.
If all else fails, and the cutter recognizes the standard HPGL language (which many plotter-cutters do), then you could use Corel to output a plotter (PCL) file that in turn you could send to your plotter.
Another means of driving the plotter from Corel Draw, is to have a third party software that can operate right out of Corel, such as Co-Cut by Eruosystems.
For what it is worth, you could export your design, from Corel Draw 12, as an *.ai file, (ai version 7, limited by Flexi) and import it in your Flexi and cut from there. You may also try importing the *.cmx file into Flexi, which Flexi can handle, but my personal experience has shown the ai file to be more reliable in getting past Flexi's import filter(s).
I use the Flexi software mostly for creating text in vinyl (as most of my work is cutting the thermo-film for player names that is applied to the jerseys of team members). My (non-text) graphic work is mostly in Corel and I use the CoCut program to cut vinyl from Corel. In my case, the (GCC) driver for the cutter was more of a pain in the posterior than any help, at all.
Hugh