cut cut or cut cut +lines

[Bikeracer]

I've been using cut cut but I'm wondering what cut cut +lines is in the cutter print and cut window?
I'm sure it was once explained to me but my galloping senility has robbed me of the difference between them.

Allan

[Gigi]

Allan -

Guessing you mean print and cut cut versus print and cut draw (version 5). It used to be that when you were doing print and cut, you had to close the vector (cut) or the whole thing would print. If you are currently using the version you had, which I believe was 3, I don't remember what the commands were but I know they were not as intuitive.

Now, with SCAL 5 (and possibly 4 - I don't remember when the change happened), you can select just the print image, go do the weld tool and click on "print and cut draw". Then you can select just the cut layer and make it "print and cut cut". So then when you go to print for a print and cut, you don't have to choose anymore, it knows exactly what to print. It just makes things a little easier and more user friendly. Hope that helps.

[Bikeracer]

Thanks Gigi,

I think one of the reasons I went to Inkscape and Signcut before was that Scal 3 seemed very clunky and not very intuitive.
Scal 5 is a lot better and I'm not using Inkscape at the moment because I'm struggling to get to grips with it again at the moment. It's a matter of two steps forward and one and a half steps back at the moment, but slowly getting better and I've nearly got the hang of node editing at the moment, but I will get there.

Allan

[Gigi]

You are welcome, Allan. Yes, SCAL 5 is much improved and I think you will find you can do all you want without needing to go back and forth between two software programs which will save you some time. It's all about what works best for you, however and only you will know once you get a handle on all of it. Sounds like you are making great progress.

Holler if you need anything. Good luck!

[Shoshi]

This is an interesting thread, which might just answer a query of mine. I am currently doing some designs in Inkscape - what I want to do is to be able to draw the image using a pen in my cutting machine, and then cut it out. I would like the outline of the drawing to show, i.e. that the cutting machine would cut just outside the line and not right on it. So far I've been doing the drawing first, and then going round it again, zoomed right in, with a line that is touching the drawing line. I haven't tried cutting it yet so don't know what the result would be. Is there a simpler way of doing this? Would it be better to import the drawing into SCAL if SCAL has the facility to do this? I've only just got SCAL and am not familiar with the program yet.

Any hints or advice would be most welcome.

Shoshi

[Gigi]

H Shoshi -

The easiest way to do what you want is to go ahead and draw your image in Inkscape if you are more comfortable with that program. You don't need to go to the trouble of drawing another line. Just save the drawing as an svg since you want to draw it, import it into SCAL and then use Effects>Shadow Layer and create a Shadow Layer around the image which is a cut file. You will now have the perfect image around your drawn image. I don't know what your drawing looks like, but you will have the option of doing a regular shadow that will cut all of the areas around, or if you want just the outside with no inner cuts, choose blackout when you are in the Shadow option and you will get just an outside line. Then close the shadow layer to draw and then the draw layer to cut. Super easy to do.

Hope that made sense!

[Shoshi]

Thank you Gigi - I wish I'd known this about a week ago because it would have saved me a ton of work lol! Never mind - it was all good practice for my drawing skills in Inkscape! It certainly sounds like a plan. Is there any way, apart from trial and error, of determining how big a shadow one would need, in order to cut right up to the outside of the line? I don't want too much of a white border around the image.

Shoshi

[Gigi]

Ugh - I just replied and then accidentally closed the forum before posting. AARRGGHH!!!

So here we go again. The default shadow is 0.050 which is fairly thin. (See Photo) But you can certainly decrease that to maybe 0.020 - but that will be right. Just remember the lower/closer you go the more important it will be that your calibration is very accurate.

So in the photo, you have the same shadow setting, but the one on the left is a total shadow (filling in any cutouts) and the one on the right is just a total outline, with blackout checked. Hope this helps.

It may take a little trial and error, but not much!

[Shoshi]

Thanks, Gigi, very helpful. Nice pics too.

What is callibration and how do I make sure it's accurate? (Sorry if that's a silly question...)

Shoshi

[Gigi]

Calibration is what sets your laser and cutting blade so that you can to print and cut accurately. When you do a print and cut with the registration marks in SCAL, calibration ensures that your cutting will be accurate and it is super easy now in SCAL 5 - so easy and so accurate. I always calibrate (you only have to do it once as long as you dont change printers or computers) and then I print and cut a rectangle and cut it to see if my numbers need to be altered. SCAL walks you through the steps once you click on print and cut....and then calibration...

[Shoshi]

Thanks again, Gigi. Was hoping to spend some time in my studio playing this afternoon but having a bad day health wise so have had to rest. I did a bit of physical painting (i.e. with a real brush, water and paints lol!) and watched a DVD instead. I am saving this thread, and this evening, trying to find my way around SCAL a bit, pressing buttons and seeing what happens! I feel an absolute dunce with the machine at the moment and need to get to grips with everything again, to the stage I was at before, and I have every intention of taking it a lot further eventually. Print and cut sounds like something I'd like to do, esp. if SCAL makes this easy!

Shoshi

[Gigi]

You are welcome. I understand health diversions. Just take care and play with this when you are up to it. The more you experiment the more you will see the capabilities. And there is no rush - just take your time and enjoy the process!

Hope you feel better.