Print and cut help

Print and cut help

Postby merrymayhem » November 9th, 2017, 2:45 pm

Hi! I am new so please go easy on me :)
I am just starting out with the silver bullet and already I am so impressed! I have gone through the videos and lessons and test cuts and everything was pretty accurate. However, now I am doing print and cut and no matter what I do, the cuts are shifted to the right more than they should be (approximately .25mm) Does anyone have suggestions as to what I am doing wrong or things I should check/adjust/etc? Also, I know that SCAL pro lets you cut by color - is there something similar I can do in the regular version? Thanks so much in advance!
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Re: Print and cut help

Postby Gigi » November 9th, 2017, 3:17 pm

Easy answer first. No you cannot cut by color in the regular version of SCAL, but you can cut by layer which is what I used to do. Just put your different objects on separate layers and then close the eys of the layers you don't want to cut and it will just cut whatever layer is open. It's pretty easy and not difficult.

As for print and cut, we always say get to know your machine WELL before using print and cut. Did you remember to calibrate your machine? That would cause your image to not cut properly if you didn't accurately calibrate. If your calibration is off, there are instructions in the video on how to adjust the calibration. I have no idea what you are attempting to print and cut, but without knowing if you calibrated your machine, that would be my first thought.

The more info you can give, the better we can help. Be sure you are cutting WYSIWYG as well, just in case you accidentally clicked off that.
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Re: Print and cut help

Postby merrymayhem » November 9th, 2017, 4:59 pm

Thanks so much for your response! Never mind, my response did not make sense. I recalibrated and it is a lot better, thank you!! I have them in separate layers but I guess the question is how to get them to cut at separate times without having to set the registration again?
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Re: Print and cut help

Postby MeFlick » November 9th, 2017, 7:40 pm

If you have too much blade exposure, too much pressure, etc. so that the blade is dragging too much on the material and/or into the mat this can also cause shifting of cuts (and is a common occurrence with newbies learning to use the machines.) If you are referring to doing a print and cut and using separate layers, that is difficult. When doing a print and cut, you always have to set the registration each time you cut to ensure it is accurate, especially when dealing with layers and opening and closing different layers to cut form. If you aren't using different registration marks for each layer (which would necessitate printing again), you need to make sure you have the widest and largest item still open so that the registration marks do not shift. They shift as you open and close layers as the items on the layers will be different sizes and places for example. Many people will use small marks in corners or a rectangle that is left open when doing multiple layers for example. If you did that, as long as you didn't remove the material from your mat before going to the next layer, in theory, you wouldn't have to reset the registration marks. Normally, cutting by layers is not done for "print and cuts" but more for doing as first asked about which is "cut by color" that is true even in SCAL Pro - "cut by color" is not for print and cuts, but cutting items from vinyl of the same color for example.
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Re: Print and cut help

Postby Gigi » November 9th, 2017, 8:02 pm

Maybe if you shared a little more about why you want to cut in layers in print and cut (which Melanie already explained is normally not done - not sure I have ever done it) we all might be able to better understand. The whole point of a print and cut is printing one or several images and then cutting them all out at one time. So is that what you are doing? Or are you cutting out shapes from different cardstock in which case you would just be cutting - not print and cut. Forgive the questions, but I am just trying to grasp what you are attempting to achieve.

Can you upload the file or do a screen shot of your virtual mat with the design on it and explain it that way? If you upload it, it will need to be an svg file (which you can export from SCAL and save as an svg. Or you can email it to me directly to admin@silverbulletcutters.com.

I am so curious now!
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Re: Print and cut help

Postby merrymayhem » November 9th, 2017, 8:16 pm

Hi! Thanks so much for the responses!! I apologize, I might have misunderstood what the "cut by color" meant in scal pro. My experience is with the cameo mostly and in their software, you can designate your cut lines with different colors. All your hearts would be red, all your circles, green and so forth. Then, when cutting, you set different depths of blade for each color. For example, a sticker sheet with circles that were kiss cut and all the circles cut out in a heart shape for the final sheet. When putting it together in scal, I attempted to pause after the circles, so I could change the setting for the heart. But scal reads the shapes in a different order, so I could not pause it for the heart because it cut it in the midst of the circles. I hope that makes sense! So I guess I am wondering if this can be done in scal or scal pro? I'm guessing I could cut all the circles in one pass, load it again, change the settings and re-read the registration for the heart cut - I was just hoping for a simpler and faster solution.
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Re: Print and cut help

Postby Gigi » November 9th, 2017, 8:43 pm

Still trying to wrap my brain around this! So you want to kiss cut a sheet of circle stickers, for instance. Then you have a heart shape surrounding each of the circles and want to cut out the heart shapes completely - so your pressure would change - right? I tried it one way and it didnt work but I wonder if this would work. Put your circles on one layer and your hearts on another layer. Do the first print and cut with the circles. Then close that layer and open up the hearts. Dont reload the material because it is the same material - right? Just change your force or whatever else you need to do. Use the same registration marks so it will do a print and cut of the hearts and then cut. Granted you have to register the marks twice, but it should be easy as you dont have to reload the material - just do the registration marks again and cut. Does that make sense??
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