Machine keeps pausing in the same place

[Shoshi]

I am trying to cut some envelope liners with the Cougar 13 in machine. I have been successfully cutting another file with no problems, on 12 x 12 paper on a 12 x 12 mat. I have a 12 x 12 mat set up in SCAL5 and I am setting the point of origin at the bottom right hand corner of the mat.

The paper I am using for the envelope liners is A4, which I am sticking to the mat aligning the top edge, to the top LH corner, and setting the same point of origin on the machine. I have designed the file in Inkscape and imported it into SCAL, lining it up on the virtual mat.

Originally I squeezed 3 shapes onto the A4 sheet but when I experienced problems, I tried reducing it to 2 shapes, placed not so close to the edge. This did not help.

What is happening is that the first shape, top R on the paper, is cutting perfectly, and exactly where I want it. The machine then cuts the top of the shape on the left, and when it reaches the LH corner, it stops. The machine says "Pause" on the control panel, and none of the buttons will function. The only way out of the situation is to turn the machine off. When I turn it on again, it puts the carriage back on the far RH side of the machine again.

There are no odd nodes floating around and everything looks perfectly normal to me. For some reason the machine is not liking this file whatever I do with it!!

I'll attach some screen grabs if I can manage it. Hope someone has an explanation for this - it's getting to be a real pain.

It's now 2 a.m. here in the UK so I'm off to bed. I'll try and get back to this tomorrow. Hope someone can help!

Shoshi

3 Envelope liners in Inkscape - 12 x 12.jpg

3 Envelope liners in Inkscape - A4.jpg

2 Envelope liners in Inkscape - 12 x 12.jpg

3 Envelope liners in SCAL5.jpg

2 Envelope liners in SCAL5.jpg

[Gigi]

Shoshi -

Usually when a machine pauses, you are cutting out of "area". You have a 13" machine which means your cutting area is 13" from the inside right of the machine out.

When looking at the file in SCAL, my two questions are - are you cutting origin or WYSIWYG? And where are you placing your mat in the machine? Is it up against the right inside or over to the left? My guess is that you are accidentally placing the mat/paper too far to the left which will then cause the file to be out of cutting range. You only have about 1 1/2 inches to play with and if you move over beyond that you will exceed the 13" cutting distance that you have on the inside area. I know the machine is wider than that, but the actual cutting area is 13". My guess is that is your issue. Be sure to move your file over to the right on the mat, and then move your paper and mat over and be sure you are within the 13" and you should be fine.

Fingers crossed.

[Shoshi]

Hi Gigi,

Thanks so much for your prompt reply! Much appreciated.

I hope to get back in my studio later today and I'll give it a try. It sounds like a really simple solution so I hope it works! I am using WYSIWYG. I've got the mat more or less in the middle. The file is as far to the left of the paper/mat as possible, and the paper is aligned to the left side of the mat. I shall try moving everything over a bit and hope this works.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Shoshi

[Gigi]

Based on what you just shared, I am even more convinced (hopeful!) that it's cutting outside of the 13". The fact that you are cutting WYSIWYG is adding an extra inch plus - so when you are setting the origin, you immediately lose the distance between the right side of the virtual mat and where your design starts. You might consider starting to cut "origin" because then your cut begins where you set the origin and you don't lose space. The only real reason to use WYSIWYG is if you are cutting something with scoring and cut lines or writing and cutting and of course if you are doing print and cut, but it defaults to that. You might try it and see if you like it. It is definitely my preference but you use what works for you. In this case, I think it is adding to your "space" problem. Good luck.

[Shoshi]

Gigi, you are a star. I moved the design to the RH side of the paper and loaded the mat closer to the right as well, and it cut like a dream. Problem solved!

I think I prefer WYSIWYG because I can actually see what I'm getting when I put my files on the virtual mat. I didn't know you lost space that way, though. In the past, using Signcut, I've cut 12 x 12 sheets absolutely choc full of flower shapes right to the edges and never had any problems with those. I shall have to experiment with them in SCAL.

Anyway, for now, things look to be fine. Thank you so much for being instantly available! I've had a busy day today and only just got up to the studio (nearly midnight). I shall work for an hour or two and then bed. Last night's session was so frustrating, not just because the envelope liners wouldn't cut, but I also made a mistake with the rectangular envelope. I rotated the design in Inkscape so that I could fit a liner onto the 12 x 12 as well, and didn't realise (and it seems to be the same in SCAL) that if you rotate with the arrows on the frame, it skews. I didn't realise this till I cut the envelope and it came out as a parallelogram rather than a rectangle - very odd, and definitely wouldn't be approved by the Post Office I'm sure!! I discovered the best way was to rotate it via the menu, setting the number of degrees of rotation. That worked like a charm.

Each day there's something new to learn. Keeps the old brain on its toes, I suppose! The trouble is, it all takes three times as long as it should. Anyway, since last night I've now got more information under my belt, and I'm very grateful for the help.

Many thanks!
Shoshi

[Gigi]

I am glad it helped and was an easy fix. Confused by your comment about seeing what you have on the mat when you cut WYSIWYG. That doesn't change when you cut origin - it doesn't move all of your items closer - it just makes wherever you set the origin as the starting point for your cutting. So the origin becomes the bottom and right side of your design page. Make sense? Everything else remains the same. Try it when you have time and you will see what I mean. The only time to really use WYSIWYG is when you are utilizing two functions and cant have the positioning change. I think once you get it you will love it, but it's fine to do it your way. Just experiment and see if you want.

When you are rotating an item, be sure you have the "keep proportions" box checked so nothing changes. Also if you hold down the shift key when you move it, the item will not change its shape. Hope that helps.

Your comment about having a 12x12 sheet full of flowers and not having problems in Sign Cut wouldnt move because if I am envisioning it correctly based on what you said, "I've cut 12 x 12 sheets absolutely choc full of flower shapes right to the edges" - if you have the images edge to edge, then it would have fit because your mat was full 12x12 so there was no place to shift. And you must have had your paper/card stock close to the right side of the inside of the machine so you had room.

You are relearning and doing a great job. It's going to make more and more sense the more you use it. I find SCAL much more user friendly than Sign Cut and I used that for many years. I understand that we get used to one thing and that is where the comfort level is. Totally get it. But the more you practice with SCAL and push yourself a little more from time to time, you will be more comfortable and have more confidence that what you imagine on the mat will actually be what cuts! I love when that happens!!

Have fun learning - you are doing great. And you are very welcome - happy to help.

[Shoshi]

Thanks Gigi - very encouraging!

I'm still a bit confused about the difference between WYIWYG and origin. I don't understand where you have to set the origin point on the machine. Also, I don't understand what you mean about "utilizing two functions and can't have the positioning change." Is this something I'd have to watch if I was doing a drawing first with a pen, and then cutting it out?

I understand what you said about the 12 x 12 sheet full of flowers. I'm glad I'm not likely to encounter any problems cutting this using SCAL rather than Signcut - that's reassuring. I always hated Signcut - really un-user friendly in my opinion! Also I could never get my head round the whole business of having to visualise it cutting at right angles to your design, and having the "portrait" or "landscape" versions in SCAL is amazing - it completely gets rid of that problem!

I don't think the Cougar has a laser. I can't find it, anyway. I've tried pressing the origin button twice, both online and offline, and nothing happens. If there isn't a laser, how on earth are you supposed to line things up with registration marks? It's almost impossible to see the blade. I've got a click holder which is rounded at the bottom. When I was using the machine before, I never got as far as print and cut.

I think you mentioned something about being able to move the carriage with the computer keyboard? Not sure how to do this. It is extremely difficult to move the carriage by very small increments using the buttons on the machine. They are so stiff. Dawn sold me a new set because of this problem, and these are as stiff as the original ones were! It's really hard work to press them and make them work. I would love to be able to move the carriage more easily and accurately, and have no idea how to line things up absolutely accurately.

Shoshi

[Gigi]

HI Shoshi -

Sorry - I threw a lot at you at once. My bad. And I have been fighting the flu and cold etc for the past week so not sure my head is very clear and may not be saying things as well as I could. Let me try to tackle one thing at a time and hope that I answer most if not all of your questions. I appreciate that you are putting up with me and letting me know you don't understand. It helps me do a better job and I want to help not hinder. I never mean to leave anyone lost!

Ok origin and WYSIWYG. Setting the origin on the machine is separate from cutting by origin. Bear with me. Let me try to explain. To make it simple, let's say you have a bunch of various sized circled to cut on your virtual mat and your virtual mat (In SCAL) and paper are both 12x12. Now let's make the design on the virtual mat be 8x10 - just to round things off and show a difference. (see photo 1)

shapes on virtual mat.png

Ok now you have a sheet of paper or cardstock that is 12x12. You would normally set the origin (the place where you want your cutting to begin) in the bottom right hand corner (closest to you - so the bottom of the paper. When you set the origin there , you will have the rest of the paper (see photo #2) I exaggerated the origin just so you could see it - just pretend that is a 12x12 paper!

So you now have the origin in the bottom right hand corner. If you are cutting WYSIWYG, your design will start cutting an inch up and 2 1/2 inches (roughly) to the left of where you set the origin because that is where you have it on the virtual mat. That is WYSIWYG cutting. Now if you cut origin, the file will cut from where you set your origin so you dont lose the inch on the bottom and the 2 1/2 inches over. This is not a perfect example, but I am hoping it makes sense. If not lmk and I will add more pics.

If you were drawing and then cutting, you would want to cut WYSIWYG because you would want the flower outline to be around the drawing. If you cut that origin, your drawing and cutting would begin from the same point so the cut would be slightly off. You would want the cut line to be around the flower, so you would want to keep their place on the mat from changing, so you would cut WYSIWYG.

I think if you actually drew a square and then outlined the square, set your origin, and the drew and cut with WYSIWYG and then did it again with origin cutting, you would quickly see what I mean. Once you see it, it will make sense. I hope!!

Your machine has a laser but it could have gone bad. Put your machine online, hit the origin button and then hit it again. If your laser is working it will come on. (I have not had a black cat in a long time so I think that's how you get it on , but sure someone will correct me if I am wrong!) Unfortunately there are no longer replacement parts for the black cat as the manufacturer stopped making replacement parts a long time ago. The Silver Bullet came out in 2012 so most have transitioned over. If you decide you want to do print and cut and your laser is dead, you might want to pick up a used Silver Bullet eventually. No rush. Just see how you are coming along and what you want to do. At some point it may be the thing to do - of course you can purchase a new one too , but trying to take it in stages. The machine has just gotten better (faster and more accurate) over time so it's something to consider down the line. Your call...

As far as moving the machine with the keyboard, that is when you are doing print and cut for accuracy. It only works for that. I am surprised that a new set of buttons didnt make things better. I had to replace mine on my previous Silver Bullet when they were getting super hard and the new ones made it incredibly easy to push. Im sorry - again no parts to replace. One trick to know - when you are moving the carriage with the buttons on the machine, the higher your force, the further your machine will move when you hit the buttons. If you lower the speed, it is easier to control how fast the carriage moves. That is true on all of the machines (I figured that out by accident one day!)

Ok - I think I got your questions. LMK if I have helped at all or if you are still confused. Happy to help.

[Shoshi]

Hi Gigi, you are so kind! Pleeeease don't apologise - there's absolutely no need. You are being so patient with me, and spending a lot of time helping me, and I am very grateful. I am sorry that I am coming over really thick over this!! Part of the problem is my ME (I think you call it Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in the US?) which causes brain fog!!! You are teaching me soooo much and it's totally brilliant. I do hope you are starting to feel better now. These viruses can really take it out of you, and believe me you need to rest as much as possible to get over it properly. We've got a lot of it going around here in the UK as well. My dad (who was a doctor) used to say he was suffering from Aloia Disease which sounds like some dreadful flesh-eating thing - but it stands for "A Lot Of It About" lol lol!!

First of all, I have found the laser!! It worked perfectly. I wasn't expecting a little red light. I think I shall be able to do that now - never seen it before lol! It was as if my machine was laughing at me and saying "Told you so..."

Very useful tip for moving the carriage with the buttons, to slow down the speed. I shall try that. The new set of buttons were brilliant to start with, really easy to press, but they have got stiff again like the first lot.

As for the WYSIWYG/Origin problem, I think I'm beginning to grasp it. I think you are right, that I need to try it and see for myself exactly what happens in real life. I will let you know how I get on. If it starts cutting where you've set the origin on the machine, you obviously have to set this a little way in from the actual physical corner of the paper or the blade might catch the edge of the paper. I see from your second photo that your red dot is a little way in. When you cut, the design will come out as close as possible to the bottom right corner, if I'm not mistaken.

You really are being a star. Thanks so much! Take care of yourself.

Shoshi

[Gigi]

First of all, you are not "coming over thick". Some things click and some things don't and it is different with each of us. And believe it or not, I do understand Chronic Fatigue. I don't talk about it a lot, especially on here, but I have fibromyalgia and cervical torticollis, the latter being pretty challenging. It has always been interesting to me that many "crafters" have medical conditions and crafting or creativity or whatever name you want to put to it, is a release for most of us - a sort of therapy. So I get it and appreciate your struggles. I love your dad's Aloia Disease - I am going to remember that and use it!! Thanks for the chuckle!

Great news - you found the laser. Your ability to create just expanded ten fold!!! Holler if you need help when you are ready to try print and cut. There are videos on the forum that walk you through the process, just be sure you calibrate your machine first or your cuts will not be what you want! (and we don't want your machine laughing at you again!!)

As for setting the origin - you are right. You aren't trying to get it at the exact corner of the paper, but in that general area. I probably usually set it 1/4" to 1/2" and always check to be sure I have room for what I am cutting. Another great thing about cutting origin is this - let's say you are cutting five shapes out of five different colors (1 flower each). You can take scraps of paper and put them all over the mat. Then you can set the origin at the bottom right of each scrap (or wherever you want as long as you have room to cut the size) and easily cut the flowers, one at a time, from each different color. It's a great and easy way to use up scraps and makes cutting so easy.

And you are right, I think if you try WYSIWYG and ORIGIN cutting out you will quickly see the difference. Use the pen tool so you don't risk cutting into the mat or damaging a blade. It's always safer to experiment with a pen while you are learning so you don't damage anything, plus drawing it out on copy paper gives you a visual that will hopefully make it all easier to understand.

You are welcome. I am taking care - you do the same. We are here if you need us!

[Shoshi]

Hi Gigi, thank you again so much. I am so sorry to hear about your health problems. One thing I am perpetually grateful for is that generally speaking I do not suffer much pain, but with FM I know this is a constant thing for you, along with the fatigue, and presumably from your neck condition as well. After many years of ulcerative colitis, I had colon cancer 5 years ago (last Sun. was the 5th anniversary of my diagnosis) and ended up having a total colectomy and 6 months intensive chemo, and I am now a permanent gutless bag lady. I have a recurrent parastomal hernia which has been repaired twice - last time spring 2018 followed by sepsis and another long stay in hospital, and the repair failed. I am now in the process of being referred to a specialist colorectal surgeon with a view to yet another repair. I've had my negative moments of course, but generally speaking I've kept upbeat and positive and maintained my weird sense of humour! I think these things stand one in good stead when dealing with any sort of illness, chronic or acute.

I agree - a lot of crafters do seem to have chronic conditions. Apart from it being therapeutic, I think a lot of it comes from the fact that we aren't able to be as active and busy as "normal" people. I know that before I got ME in 2007 that I was so busy, out and about, living a very full and active life. When I became ill I got a laptop and discovered the crafting community online and it flipped a switch in me and I haven't looked back since then. Initially I wasn't able to do too much but once my condition improved a bit and stabilised to what it is now, I've had more time to be creative than I ever had before. I've always been creative but lacked the opportunity. The internet gave me huge inspiration and I've got more ideas than I can ever fulfil in a lifetime! I am grateful for being ill because otherwise I wouldn't have had the opportunity to experience the joy and fulfilment that my creativity brings.

Glad you enjoyed Dad's mystery illness!! He had a great sense of humour. He and I were so close. He died just over 5 years ago, aged 90, and sadly had dementia for the final 18 months of his life. I was privileged to be present (with my hubby) at his death - a profound experience that I shall never forget. He lives on in my heart.

Anyway - to cutting! I am very intrigued indeed to read of the ease of using scraps like that. This was something I didn't think would work if you were cutting "origin." It was something I was going to raise with you. I had intended to spend the evening in the studio playing, but ended up on the settee with my feet up instead... Today is our weekly blog hop day and I was dealing with comments.

I've got another sheet set up on the machine ready to cut some more envelopes for the cards I've just made. I need to source some more suitable paper or cardstock for this - at present I've only got American Crafts cardstock (12 x 12) which is fabulous - cuts like butter on the machine, but rather thick for envelopes, and A3 copy paper which is really too thin. Anything in between I've only got in A4 which isn't big enough. I need something of suitable weight for envelopes, and also suitable for doing some inking on. The Inkscape designs I've made certainly seem to work well. I have an envelope punch board but I thought if I was working on cards using the cutting machine, it would be more convenient to have their envelopes ready to cut too.

My next projects will involve adapting the various card templates I've designed recently in Inkscape, adding elements to the apertures to change the shape, and adding further cut layers. I also want to do more with lattices - something I was doing a while back when I was cutting. I'll attach the new baby card I made several years ago for my Goddaughter's little boy.

Anyway, enough rambling from Shoshi!

x

09 Completed Card Front and Tag 75%.jpg

[Gigi]

Oh gosh - your card is beautiful. I love the lattice designs. I am not creative at all when it comes to designing, but I have "collected" a lot of files over the years and love to mix and match and be creative that way with colors and textures and have started doing more with digi stamps and creating outlines so I can print and cut the stamps and then color them. I like to color after because I don't want to make a mistake cutting and have the coloring go to waste!!!

I am so sorry to hear all of the health issues you have gone through. I can relate to much of it and like you, am grateful for the internet as it introduced me to card making back when it was all created from a software program and any cutting done was by hand. My we have come a long way - thank goodness!! I too love all of the inspiration that is out there - some times I feel like I am on overload - there is just so much I want to try and do and I want to do it all at once! LOL It's a good exercise in patience!!

i wish you the best with all of the challenges facing you. I am glad you found your machine again and your strength and desire to be creative. You are incredibly strong and inspiring. Just know you have support here if you need it - however you need it.

And I think you are right. As long as you are using your machine to cut cards you might as well be cutting the envelopes too! Baby steps - you are doing it.

Enjoy all of the learning and take good care of yourself. You have made tons of progress in a short amount of time. Great job.

Thanks for sharing. Honestly, your attitude is amazing and totally inspiring. Thank you for reminding all of us how much we have to be thankful for and to take the time to enjoy every moment.

[Shoshi]

Hi Gigi, thank you for such a lovely reply, and for your very kind words! I've always determined to be as cheerful and upbeat as possible because a) it definitely aids one's recovery and b) who wants to attend a pity party?!!

So glad you liked my card. I made it several years ago. I'll attach a couple of pics of the envelopes I made last night. I made a silly mistake, setting the origin at the bottom of the paper instead of the mat, and couldn't understand why the mat was being half spat out behind the machine and getting itself all jammed and twisted up - quick dash to turn the machine right off! Duh... The mat got a bit creased, but I warmed it up with my heat gun and it flattened out again just fine.

I haven't actually cut anything using "origin" yet, but when I clicked on that option in the menu to see what it looked like, the little picture did change and I could see exactly how it would cut. I did WYSIWYG for the envelope because I'd already got it set up with very little paper wastage. The paper I've got is a bit thin. I think I'll get hold of some A3 that's a bit thicker for envelopes - what I've got is only 80 gsm. I cut one from the American Crafts cardstock and that is definitely too thick, although it does feel quite luxurious!

The cards I'm making at the moment are shutter cards. When you open the two flaps, they open "curtains" behind the round window to expose an image or a message underneath. I like cards that give the recipient a surprise, or which have some interactive element to them. I found the instructions for this one on Youtube. It was far too much faff to make because I kept making stupid mistakes (I shouldn't have gone in the studio at all that day, being more than usually foggy in the brain dept.) so I've decided to design some cutting files for the various pieces, so if I want to make them again, I can just cut out the pieces and embellish them as I choose.

The decoration on the front of the lighter coloured ones was done with a honeycomb die that I've got. For the darker one, I used the die with an embossing mat so that it embossed rather than cutting. In each case they were inked and a little gilding wax added, but photos never show up reflective surfaces unfortunately. I have a friend who is a bee keeper and I made her one of these for her birthday on New Year's Day but that one was slightly different. I've refined the design a bit since then. When I get round to cutting a honeycomb stencil, this can be used for embossing too, or for inking, spreading texture paste etc. etc. Lots of possibilities. I've got a set of 3 bee stamps in different sizes. I love the bee theme and the lovely colours you can use with it. Several years ago I made this friend an explosion box in the shape of a beehive, which opened up with lots of flaps, each containing a tag illustrating a different aspect of life in the beehive, with a humorous slant. It was one of my favourite projects of all time! I think it's in my Flickr album - I'll have to check. (Found it! https://www.flickr.com/photos/12780076@N05/albums/72157659745462658 It was a lot of fun. You can see a lot of my other work on Flickr. I need to update it, though.

You could make cutting files to construct boxes like this, I think. Also I want to design templates for albums. Then it's a simple matter to cut out the pieces and not have to keep worrying about measuring everything, and get on to the fun part of embellishing more quickly.

Had a horrible time at the dentist yesterday - I needed a filling. I am dental phobic and the whole thing was gruesome. Our dentist is so lovely, though, and always does his best to help me relax, and we usually manage to have a bit of a laugh - on the days when he's not doing anything to me!! I thought after that I wouldn't have the energy for anything, but managed to spend a couple of hours in the studio doing my envelopes. It's all caught up with me a bit today, though.

I agree with you - Internet overload lol!! For me, Pinterest is the worst for this. I have to watch my Pinterest addiction... far too much inspiration on there!

Shoshi x

09 3 Envelopes - Back, Open 24-1-20.jpg

10 Embossed Card with Envelope 24-1-20.jpg

11 Die Cut Cards with Envelopes 24-1-20.jpg

06 Card Insides 20-1-20.jpg

[Gigi]

Shoshi -

Your cards are beautiful. I always thought those were gatefold cards, but perhaps because of the opening they are different. Always something new to learn! Regardless, I love what you are doing and that you are sticking to it.

One thing you said which makes me think you are putting your mat in incorrectly if it is spitting out - or putting your paper down wrong - either way!! The origin should be on the bottom right hand corner of your paper NOT the mat. And your paper/card stock/whatever should be on the bottom of the mat - not the top or it will spit out because the pinch wheels will run out of mat to hold on to. What size mat are you using and what size paper? (remind me please!) So you have two options and I can screen shot examples if you need them.

Either put your design in vertical and keep your design away from the top of the page (top being the part furthest away from you) so the machine wont move off the mat trying to cut the top of the paper, or you can turn your mat so you have more room if your mat is rectangular, or put your design in landscape so you are cutting across the length of the paper - that way most of your design will be toward the bottom (front) of the mat. Typing fast so hope this is making sense.

When you insert your mat, you want the bulk of it to be behind the carriage, especially if you are cutting a design that fills the mat vertically. The machine cuts from bottom to top with origin - that's another way to see your cuts better and you will have fewer problems.

You would not have to change your design if you cut it origin - it will just cut at the bottom of the page as it should - not the top - and I think that is what is causing you problems right now.

LMK if this makes sense and helps and/or if you need some screen shots. Thanks for sharing what you are creating - love seeing it and it makes me want to get some cards made this weekend. Have several I NEED to do so thanks for the gentle "kick"!!

[Shoshi]

Thanks Gigi.

OK, what I did that then went wrong: I put the paper (12 inches wide and about 11 top to bottom - cut from a piece of A3) at the TOP of the mat, and loaded it. I set the origin at the bottom of the paper, i.e. a little bit up from the bottom of the mat. When it started cutting, the bottom of the mat started to disappear beyond the reach of the carriage and the rollers gripped onto part of it, causing it to skew wildly and catch on the sides of the machine. I managed to get to it in time to switch the whole thing off but it did crease the mat a bit. As I mentioned before, a quick blast with my heat tool soon flattened it out and it's OK now.

What I did next, that worked: I put another piece of paper (same size) on the mat in the same way, lining it up with the top of the mat. I set the origin at the bottom right corner of the mat, not the paper. It cut perfectly.

I cut using WYSIWYG, portrait. The design is at the top left of the virtual mat in SCAL. Image attached.

I hope I've expressed that clearly, and that I remember accurately what I did!

So glad you like my cards. Iv'e got to get my skates on and make one of the remaining half-done shutter cards into a Valentine for my hubby.

Shoshi

Envelope on Virtual Mat.jpg

[Shoshi]

Ooops, I think I got that wrong... Trying hard to remember exactly what happened! Looking at the machine again... it was the top of the mat, not the bottom, that was causing the problem - I'd set the origin too high and the machine was trying to cut above the top of the mat. The rollers skewed the mat. Yes... I think that was what happened - so please ignore my first description!!! Hope that is a little clearer than mud...

Shoshi

[Gigi]

Shoshi -

You are making this really hard on yourself - trust me on this one. I know you have it positioned how it works for you - but just try this. Take your whole design and move it to the bottom of the virtual mat. Set your origin at the corner of the paper where I have showed you before and cut ORIGIN not WYSIWYG. Honestly it is so much easier and you won't have to change anything about your design. You should never need to set your origin on the mat. I understand why you are doing it and why it is working, but at some point in time it is going to mess with your head! If you can get used to cutting origin for normal cuts (and it's probably 90% of your cutting at least) you will see how much easier it is for countless reasons. And it will save you having to struggle to figure it out - you know exactly where things are going to cut because they cut WHERE you set the origin. Just give it a try for a while and see if you don't begin to like it better. It is truly so much easier once you get used to it.

[Shoshi]

Ha ha... oh dear, yes, I probably am making it hard on myself!!! I think it's already messing with my head. I'm finding it really hard to get my head round this one! I think what's confusing me is what's on the virtual mat and what's on the real one and if you do origin it's not going to cut where it is on the virtual mat. And there's the diffence between the mat (virtual and real) and the paper! Then there's using origin in the software and setting real origin on the machine... I find myself going round and round in circles and struggling with my brain fog as well lol! I thought I was starting to get it but now I'm totally confused again. What a pickle.

There was something similar in Signcut where you either saw the whole thing (virtual mat? paper? Not quite sure) or just your image. I could never get my head round that either!

It's now 2 a.m. and I really must get off to bed. I haven't done any cutting tonight - I've been working on my hubby's Valentine card. If I have time tomorrow I'll have a go!

You must rue the day I came back on this forum!

Shoshi x

[Gigi]

LOL - I don't rue the day at all - you are fun and eager and willing to look at things and try. That is all we ask ever!

Even in reading your response, Shoshi, I can see how you are struggling with it and making it more complicated even when you write about it. Let me try to make it simple (if I can ).

I don't want to share too much and overwhelm you, so let me see if I can simplify this...

circles on virtual mat.png

So this is "your design" on the virtual mat - up high on the mat. (pretend!!)

Now, if you set the origin on the paper (which is not reflected on the next photo) the WYSIWYG cutting will be up and over from wherever you place the origin - so let's say the origin is 1/4" in and up on the paper. Your design will cut as it shows - only 1/4" over and another 1/4" up. Still with me??

circles with WYSIWYG cutting.png

Now, clear your head a little and let's go back to setting the origin on the paper. Again imagine that it is 1/4" in and 1/4" up. That is the EXACT spot where your design will border. So that top circle (since it is the furthest to the right) will be 1/4 " in from the right and the bottom circle will be 1/4" up from the bottom (based on the origin. But they will cut the way they are on the mat, just lower - based on the origin setting on the machine.

circles with ORIGIN cutting.png

Does that help at all? I can think of other ways to explain it and/or show you a little more, but don't want to overwhelm you. Baby steps........

Hope you got some rest. Good luck with your projects.

[Shoshi]

Hi Gigi, thank you again for being so kind, and so patient with me!!!

Sorry I didn't get back to you yesterday. I was having a bad day with my ME and was on the recliner in my kaftan for most of the day. Much better today, and I spent some time in the studio this p.m.

I cut 2 more envelopes, this time putting the slightly smaller than 12 x 12 paper at the bottom of the mat and setting the origin about 1/4 inch in from the corner. Then I cut them using "origin" rather than "WYSIWYG" and it cut where I expected!! So far, so good. The real test will be when I start using smaller pieces of paper...

I think the "WYSIWYG" diagram on the SCAL cutting window is a bit confusing, because it shows the design right up against the edge, when in fact it cuts the 1/4 inch in from the corner, which you set as origin on the machine. This reminds me of the alternative view on the cutting menu in Signcut, which always confused me! I think if I ignore this picture, this might help. However, the difference between what you see on the virtual mat in SCAL, and what actually cuts on the real mat, is quite confusing. It doesn't matter if there's just one design on a 12 x 12 piece of paper on the 12 x 12 mat, but it could get confusing if you start using smaller paper. I suppose I'm a bit scared to try, in case it goes wrong and either spits the mat out, or cuts on the mat where there's no paper!

Thank you for taking me through this with baby steps. It's certainly helping.

As a bit of light relief, let me show you what I achieved today. I originally cut pieces (by hand and with a punch) for 6 shutter cards. The first bee-themed one went off for my friend's birthday. I made 3 more bee ones which you've seen, leaving 2. I am going to make one with a floral theme, and the other one I have now made into a Valentine's card for my hubby. I did some work on this the other day and finished it this afternoon. I made the envelope using the cutting machine, and the envelope liner from the ones I cut the other day. I have a paper punch that has 4 small interchangeable shapes on it, and I used the heart-shaped one to cut out a lot of little red hearts which I stuck on. When I'd finished, I masked all but one off the remaining piece of scrap card and used it as a stencil to ink onto the envelope, which gave a rather nice muted effect. I used a larger cut-out heart as a mask and its negative piece as a stencil for other elements on the card and finally glued this down and added some gilding wax. I hate wasting things lol!! Anyway, I think he will like it!! (The photos show the cards as being white, but they are actually inked with cream-coloured ink (Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink) which doesn't show up very well on photos because it's very subtle. You can see it better on the picture of the inside of the envelope.)

The next step is to convert all the measurements for the components of the shutter card to svg so that I can cut more when I want to. This will have the added advantage of being able to make them bigger if I want, because this card is quite small (4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches).

I am working on some svgs of sentiments at the moment which I shall be cutting out when they are ready. This will be a good test of my knowledge of "origin" vs "WYSIWYG" I think. I'll let you know how I get on with that.

Thank you again, so much!

Shoshi x

12 Valentine Card Closed 26-1-20.jpg

13b Valentine Card Open (Blurred) 26-1-20.jpg

14 Stencilling the Valentine Envelope Front 26-1-20.jpg

16 Valentine Envelope Inside 26-1-20.jpg