Real Mat vs. Virtual Mat

[csnogans]

Hello,

I am new to the Silver Bullet community and I've been running into some issues matching what I see on the screen to what actually cuts on the mat. I have an intricate design I want to cut but the placement is very important and it can't be off by very much.

So I brought my image into SCAL as a SVG and placed it on the virtual mat at 1 up, 1 over from the bottom right (using the grid system). The mat size was custom to the size of the real mat I was using. I then placed my material on the real mat at 1 up, 1 over from the bottom right. Next I turned on my laser and put it on the very bottom right corner of the grid and set it as my origin. Then I went to cut it using WYSIWYG and I expected it to start cutting at 1 up, 1 over because that's where the virtual mat and the real mat said it should cut. What is happening is the blade goes straight up and cuts in the first column of the grid, even though there is no paper there and the virtual mat does not have any design there. I have read different threads on this forum, done some research on YouTube, reset my machine and my SCAL settings and I am at a total loss as to why this keeps happening. If anyone has any idea what I'm doing wrong I'd be very grateful for your advice.

P.S.-I've also tried cutting my image using the Origin function and that's not working either, it's still cutting in the column beside my material even though the virtual mat and real mat do not show anything there.

[Elizabeth]

I'm not at home to test cut for you, but I'm wondering if there is something not visible on your virtual mat that the machine is wanting to cut. If you select the image on your virtual mat, is the bounding box the same size as the image you are cutting, or is it bigger? If it is bigger, you may have to perform a break to separate the images, delete the unwanted part and recheck to see if the bounding box is now the same size as your image.

I can't think of any other reason that origin point cutting would not cut where you expect it to, as the position of the blade corresponds with the bottom right corner of the bounding box.

[Thyme]

Don't use the laser to set your origin. The blade tip is what should be the origin. The laser is only used for print and cut.

[Gigi]

When you use your blade tip to set the origin, your issues should disappear. Thanks Dawn.

Also, you might find it easier going forward (most of us do) to cut with origin not WYSIWYG - then you always know exactly where your image will cut and save WYSIWYG for files with cut and fold lines or text and cut etc where you have to maintain the placement. You will find which is easier for you - just a suggestion.

[csnogans]

Thank you all so much for your help, I started using Origin instead of WYSIWYG and lining my cuts up with the blade instead of the laser and everything is cutting perfectly now!

[Gigi]

Great to hear. It's amazing how adjusting a couple of little things (seemingly minor) can make such a huge difference.

Happy Cutting!