How to Sync Mat and Cutter

[selkov]

I think I have isolated some confusion. I have been speaking of the virtual map onscreen. I am NOT using the physical mat on the unit. The material I am using for my stencils is supplied on a roll. I need the pinch rollers to keep the paper aligned. Looking at the unit the right side of the paper is aligned at the 8CM marking. This is where it needs to be to get the rollers to hold it.

I need to sync the alignment of the Virtual mat to the physical ofset.

[Gigi]

I don't understand. I understand now that you are cutting on a roll. You can cut on either side of the pinch rollers - you are only limited by the machine limits (how far to the right or left it will go). So if you set your origin at the lower right of the roll. for instance, and cut WYSISYG, the stencil will cut 3" in from the right as that is how it is on your virtual mat.

You said earlier that it was not cutting the same as it displayed on your virtual mat. Did you do a reset of your machine as suggested just in case?

[PennyDuncan]

Doesn't matter whether you're using the actual mat or not....you would still make the VIRTUAL mat the EXACT size AS YOUR MEDIUM OR the size you are wanting it to base it's cutting area from......and following Gigi's previous instructions of make a square around the overall wording so that it will do your "weeding" ardound the area so you have as little waste as possible.

[selkov]

Well the issue is that there is a 1 inch difference from the virtual mat and the roll position even AFTER I realign and zero the cutter. That is to say if I set the edge of the first cut at the far left of the virtual mat it will start the cut at 1 inch to the right of the edge of the physical roll.

How do I compensate for this

[Gigi]

First of all, it is not about zeroing the cutter - that is just showing where the blade is aligned. I don't understand what you are realigning.

You shouldn't be setting anything to the far left - the origin on your cutting material should be set to the lower right hand corner. Based on that it will cut the design as you have it on your mat, which right now is three inches in from the origin.

Again, have you done a machine reset? I am concerned that you may have accidentally changed some of the numbers that help align the cuts accurately.

[selkov]

well it is not cutting 3 inches it is cutting 2.
I have made no changes to any settings but will reset it to be safe.
how do I do so?

[Gigi]

The instructions are in the learning center. With your machine off, hold down the origin button and turn the machine on. You will see it say RESET as it comes on - then you can release the origin button and let it finish restarting - just takes a few seconds.

[PennyDuncan]

I REALLY REALLY REALLY think you are over thinking all of this.....You need to go to the learning center and watch the videos on using WYSIWYG .......You MUST take out of the equation the ACTUAL MAT in this scenario!!!!!!! Until you do that you're going to continue to confuse yourself and no one is going to be able to help you......You MUST CREATE A VIRTUAL MAT in SCAL the EXACT SIZE OF THE ITEM YOU ARE WANTING TO CUT!!! Does NOT matter the size of the actual medium you are cutting.....MAKE THE VIRTUAL MAT THE SIZE OF WHAT YOU'RE WANTING YOUR END CUT TO BE......INCLUDING THE "BOX" AROUND THE WORDS!!!! Set your blade WHEREVER YOU WANT on the actual medium your cutting on the RIGHT SIDE OF THE MACHINE!!! NOW in the software set it to WYSIWYG and CUT!!!! I honestly and truly don't think we can explain it any better then that!!! Watching the videos will gleen you enormous help!!!!

[selkov]

Ok I reset the unit. Twice. No change.

Still cuts off by 1".
If my cutting starts on the virtual mat at position 0x0 it will start printing at location 1x0 on the medium.

[PennyDuncan]

Ok I reset the unit. Twice. No change.

Still cuts off by 1".
If my cutting starts on the virtual mat at position 0x0 it will start printing at location 1x0 on the medium.

AGAIN!!!!! PLEASE read my comment right before this one!!!!! NO ONE is going to be able to help you if you are not READING AND WATCHING!!!!

[selkov]

Penny, your advice was noted and ignored as it is NOT PERTINENT.
If you read thru the threads you would see that what I am doing is NOT what you are suggesting.
Seems that you are the one that is not reading responses.

I do not see how difficult it is to under stand. The machines point of initiating a cut is one inch to the right of the relative position on the virtual mat. If I want to cut a line 15" wide on my 15" wide medium it starts to cut one inch in and runs to 16" on the cutter.........can no one be of any help?

[PennyDuncan]

Penny, your advice was noted and ignored as it is NOT PERTINENT.
If you read thru the threads you would see that what I am doing is NOT what you are suggesting.
Seems that you are the one that is not reading responses.

I do not see how difficult it is to under stand. The machines point of initiating a cut is one inch to the right of the relative position on the virtual mat. If I want to cut a line 15" wide on my 15" wide medium it starts to cut one inch in and runs to 16" on the cutter.........can no one be of any help?

Just to share...I TOTALLY understand what you are trying to achieve!!! I know the steps I am sharing with you WILL and DO work as I've done it numerous times before....but I will not assist any further...I do hope you find a recipe that helps you figure out what you're trying to achieve........I'm sure it will be an AHHHHHHH...HA moment for you!!!

[Gigi]

Ed -

I have to agree with Penny. But rather than restate what has already been restated several times and that you don't seem to grasp, please do me a favor and try this.

Make a rectangle on your virtual mat. Make it 2" high and 4" long - no reason - just picked random numbers.

Now with the machine on, set your blade origin to the bottom right corner of your material - in about 1/2 inch from the right and 1/2 inch from the bottom (just so you have room)

Now before you actually cut, when the cut menu appears, click on origin, NOT WYSIWYG. Now cut. Your rectangle will cut exactly where you put the blade 2x4" 1/2" in on both sides. Right?

So now try this. Make a rectangle around your stencil with whatever border you want as we have requested and suggested several times before. With all layers open, set your origin as above and cut with origin not WYSIWYG. The entire thing will cut as you want it. Doesn't matter where it is on the mat - it will cut as one piece.

I don't know how else to say it. There is nothing I have said that is not in the learning center or has not been previously explained. Just trying one more time. If this doesn't work, I don't know what else to say.

[Elizabeth]

Hi Selkov,

Sorry to be jumping in in the middle. I'm not sure this will be helpful or not, but I just had to get "hands on" and try to cut some paper to see what might be happening.

I was not able to recreate your results, as my sample cut the way I expected it to:

IMG_2240.jpg

I did this quickly with scrap paper, as you can see. I didn't take the time to perfect my settings or weed the entire cut.

Here is a screen shot of the file I cut from:

SCAL screen shot.PNG

If you look closely at the first pic of the actual cut, you can see that I inaccurately marked the 3" x 15" rectangle that represents the virtual mat. It is slightly longer than 15", which is why the 3 appears to be more than 3 inches in from the left.

I am wondering if it is possible that you are using the laser to set your origin, rather than placing the blade tip at the lower right corner of your material. That is the only thing I can think of that might be causing your results.

Hope this is helpful. If not, I will keep trying. I'm certain we can figure it out.

[Gigi]

selkov
Just checking to see if you tried any of the recent suggestions and if they helped. Hoping you are cutting with success.