by Angel135612 » June 19th, 2011, 2:55 pm
Well, I'm really bummed.... I spent hours looking for just the right image, creating a design, cutting out the vinyl, layering it, and when I went to put it on my machine, the vinyl wouldn't stick to it. I'm not sure what the problem is, I "think" it's the finish on the machine that won't allow the vinyl to stick. But I know others have put vinyl on their machines. Does the 24 inch have a different finish than other sizes?? If it is the same finish, how did those that put vinyl on your machine get it to stick??
Even if I can't get my design on my machine, I did learn a lot while working on this project... about Inkscape, Signcut and just working with vinyl.. so it isn't a total loss. I have attached an image so you can see what I wanted to do. I took the Black Cat logo, removed the face of the cougar, and found a butterfly that looked like a "mean" cat face and layered that on the base outline of a cougar head and kept the flames. It was fun trying to learn what I needed to know in Inkscape, and then making sure I would get what I expected in Signcut while working on this design.
I do have three tips for people that are new to using Signcut.
Tip One: TEST!!!
Tip Two: TEST!!!
Tip Three: TEST!!!!!
I am the type of person that likes to try and save as much media as possible, and use the minimum amount needed for a project. You will use a LOT LESS media, if you take the time to test and test again, until you are sure of what you are going to cut. Using the preview button in Signcut and watching how it will cut, will save you some aggravation. By watching that, I realized that if I have a fill and a stroke in my image, Signcut will cut it out twice. So I have learned to change to just one or the other, after I have created my design. Also, by using Preview, it will show you how much media you need.
I also have started, at least until I can remember exactly where to put my media, to put a piece of printer paper on my mat, use the pen tool (If you didn't buy the pen tool, you can still use the pen tool that comes with your machine for testing... it will work just fine for this) and then draw out your image so that you can see exactly which direction things are going to cut. I always get confused with my X and Y, and which is which. Well by drawing out my image first, I can see where I need to put my media, so that it will cut where I expect it to, and get a lot less wasted paper that way. Also, if I want to rotate my design, so that it cuts from side to side more than front to back, I can do that and see that I rotated it correctly. Just be sure to either leave that paper on your mat, until you are ready to put your "good" media on it, so you can make sure it covers the image, and put the mat into your machine the same direction you did when you did the test "drawing". I have the 24 inch machine, so this may have been more confusing to me, than someone with a smaller machine and only being able to feed your mat in, in one direction.
Another thing you may want to use while you are testing, in Signcut, leave the setting that will cut a square out around your design. This is for vinyl, but if you use it when you are testing, and watch what the machine is doing. You can see right where your blade is at the beginning of the design, and see that it ends right back at the same spot. This helped me a lot in figuring out where something was going to cut on my mat. Once you have that figured out, you don't need to use that setting any more, unless you want a square cut around your image.
Hope some of what I have been figuring out helps someone else. I know that some times things need to be explained in a different way, even though it is the same information, before it sinks in for me.
Diane in Colorado Springs
The best angle from which to approach any problem is the try-angle.