by MeFlick » September 26th, 2018, 9:43 am
First let me say, I have not seen your actual files. Either the AI file or the SCAL file. Second, what i am outlining here may be "simplified," it is not meant as a slight to anyone and your knowledge of either program as I know just enough but either to be "dangerous". However, I have been cutting for a number of years now and I do have both Illustrator and Corel Draw and have imported and seen images imported from both over the years and have seen a few things that can cause "duplicate" images that the person doesn't realize that are there and wanted to explain how it usually occurs. Once you understand that, it is fairly easy to fix. It is not a glitch with either program, or the plugin, it is just the "difference" in how the programs "see" and understand files for their "needs".
As you know, AI is a software developed mainly for Illustrators and Artists. It was created for making "visual" creations. Originally, and even now, mostly those visual creations are made to be seen on "printed paper" or on "screens." Meaning it was originally for creating items to be "seen" but not necessarily "cut" out on a cutter. Which is why you need a software program like SCAL or others to tell your cutter how to "cut" the images.
The problems that people using the "drawing" programs can run into when trying to take those "visual" files into a cutter program is that everything "drawn" in AI and other like programs do not always "convert" correctly to a cutting file. To best understand, you first have to understand that in the cutting programs like SCAL, everything is seen as an item, object or line, to "cut" unless you tell it otherwise in some way. In SCAL, you can do that in different ways. For example, I believe you can tell it to only print a line or an object by assigning it to a non cutting line. You can hide the layer it is on when cutting, so it does not cut, etc. Once you understand that about cutting programs, you have to understand what is being done in the drawing programs like AI before you import your file.
When working in AI, or other outside drawing programs, you also have to understand that all objects, items usually have two things that make up that image when it is "drawn" in that program. First, it can have a "fill" which is usually a color, gradient, or a pattern that "fills" the object. Second, the object will usually also have a "stroke" around it. The stroke can also have a color assigned or can be simply a black line around the object basically "outlining" the object. That stroke can be a small width, or a very thick width or anything in between. Not all objects and items in AI and drawing programs will necessarily have both. It is up to the person creating it in AI to change whether or not it does. I believe, by default objects and items have a fill and a stroke. This is great for "visual" art that will be seen as it helps the "eye" "see" the objects correctly. The problem begins though when you want to bring those "visual" items into a cutter program to be "cut." When you bring it into a cutter program, there are really two objects there to be "seen". I will use a simple circle as my example. The circle created in AI is really two circles on top of each other. One is a circle with a "fill" and the second is a circle with the outline or stroke. Thus, to the cutting program it sees that "fill" as one object to be cut and the "stroke" as a second object to be cut. Since they are basically on "top" of each other, the end user doesn't realize that they now have two objects that will be "cut" out - one on top of each other. The way to "fix" this problem when you are creating in AI to take the image to a cutting program like SCAL, is to create objects with only a fill or a stroke but not both. That way, there is only one object to be cut. If you don't, you will have multiple objects on top of each other as I have explained. In addition, I have seen people "hide" things in AI by using white stroke and fill for example, but they are not "hidden" when brought to a cutting program. If you have an object you don't need to cut, eliminate it before taking the file over to the cutting program.
Once a user understands this about cutting programs, it is easier to create files in drawing programs like AI that will not create a lot of duplicate items. I have seen some users that will basically have two files in AI or their drawing program. One is for the "visual" side for the "seeing" and one is for the "cutting lines" that need to be sent to the cutter. The one with the cutting lines is simply the "outlines" of the objects. This is why I always take the time to "break apart" files that I have traced or imported to make sure that I don't have duplicate items on top of each other.
In regards to your question about the color fill when you break the objects apart in SCAL, typically in a cutter program, you are dealing with "closed" shapes and "open" shapes. If a shape is "closed" it will have a color fill to show you that it is closed. If it is an "open" shape, it will not have a color fill to let you know that it is an open shape. In a cutter program, a "closed" shape means that all the drawing points meet up to "close" the cutting line into one shape. In an "open" shape, the drawing points do not meet up and close the shape. There is a small gap somewhere in the drawing line. This can be important to know and fix sometimes. In SCAL, you can have it show only the outlines only or change the opacity of an object to see through it better if you prefer not to see the object as a colored object. You can also change the color of the object in SCAL to another color.
I hope that explains the "how" you get multiple objects on top of each other and how to fix it so that you don't. If I simplified it too much, I apologize. If it doesn't make sense still, let us know and we can try to explain again better.
Another quick example to help explain is when people "trace" an image into SCAL or other cutting programs. Typically, a "trace" is done when you have an object or an image that is not a "vector" image which means it does not have "cut lines". When you "trace" an image into SCAL, you will often get similar results. You will get two objects on top of each other because it "sees" the image as the filled object and then the cut line. It "sees" the outside of the stroke as one object and the inside of the stroke or the fill as another object. That is why I always break objects apart and check for duplicates whenever I trace or import an object in to make sure i do not have duplicate items on top of each one.
I am afraid that I cannot give any real insight into the cutting issue that you have and why it is not cutting through in spots. Typically, this can occur if there is a problem with the mat not being flat which you have denied being a problem with your mat. Also, if your mat has a lot of residue stuck to it it can make it "uneven" and cause some problems with cutting but if you are only cutting mylar, I would not think this was a problem. Have you taken your blade holder out and looked at the blade tip, you can do this with a magnifying glass. Make sure that the tip is not chipped or broken (it happens) and if so, that can cause some of the cutting and not cutting in spots as well. While you have it out, take the blade out of the holder and make sure that there is not anything stuck up in the blade holder that can cause the blade to not swivel and cut correctly. This can also occur, especially with tiny bits of mylar, card stock or vinyl.
What we typically want to do is figure out and eliminate what typically are causes of the majority of cutting problems for users before we jump to the conclusion that there is a problem with your specific cutter. Most often, the problem is not with the cutter its self, but with the file, the mat or the blade, the setup, etc. By checking all of that out first, and eliminating those issues (or finding issues and resolving them), it is easier to know that it may be a problem with the cutter. That is why they will ask to see the file, and ask what media you are cutting on so they can try to see if their machine can cut it. That is why they ask you to cut or draw it with a different media, blade, etc. so we can see if it cuts on a different media fine, draws it fine but won't cut it, try a new mat, does that fix the problem, check the blade for broken tips, or stuck media, etc. as each of those are checked, and checked off you narrow down what the issue(s) can be.
Go Vols!