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text cutting problems
hi all, im hoping someone out there will be able to help me, as i only have few strands of hair left to yank out…. 🙁
im creating text and designs on corel 12, exporting them to artcut 2005 then cutting on a rabbit plotter.
my problem is that once ive exported to artcut, the design or text is coming out in little lines once cut on vinyl. ive tried editing it in artcut to smooth out, but no joy. and ive done something , that it now just goes mental and just cuts lines across the vinyl, worked perfect yesterday.
any help, advice or use of a gun would help me get through the rest of the day… 😥
tris
if anyone has a rabbit cutter would be great help????
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18 Replies
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HI,
Haven’t got a rabbit but i have had similar happen, the random cut lines might just be you need to clear or reset the cutter after each cut. I’ve had it a few times and that usually cures it.
When you cut do you mean the letter looks like it’s made of lots of small lines but is OK on screen? Try increasing the cutting speed it might be cutting too slow so letters are not smooth.
hope that helps
Lee
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Tris,
what format are you using to export from Corel?
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hi, the letters look ok on screen until you zoom in real close, but i guess thats normal? could it be because im importing from corel, im doing it that way as cant cut from corel direct, only from artcut. tried to export text as curves, does that do anything?
thanks for advice lee -
Tris,
I’ve never used artcut so I’m just assuming things here….are you exporting from Corel as an eps or some other format?
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hi glenn, ive tried using eps, plt to export, both seem to produce same end result
tris
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Sorry Tris,….If you are creating the curves in coeldraw & exporting as an EPS without success…….. I’m afraid knowing nothing about your software & cutter …I can’t help you 🙁
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tris have you tried welding the text
i get this problem when exported from corel some text has cut lines through it no idea why so i always check cut in wireframe before going ahead
hope this helps
derek -
hi derek,
not tried that yet, will give it a go though. just annoying as i cut the text out yesterday and it was fine, needed to do some more today and end up spending all day going around in circles….
thanks
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Hi Tris, I am having the same problem. I believe the problem to be with coral not the importing to artcut. When I have used ant text in coral I find that without zooming in just by dragging the text you can see the lines in the text. I am looking for another program to use instead of coral. If anyone has any suggestions.
Regards.
Martyn -
Try: (I assume you’ve already re-booted computer and cutter) select the text in Corel and clear all colour attributes (choose X under colour). Give all text a hairline outline. Now try running it again through Artcut.
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dont have a clue about artcut…but it could be your cutter is not set on the correct port settings? (just a thought) 😀
nik
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quote Bill McMurtry:Try: (I assume you’ve already re-booted computer and cutter) select the text in Corel and clear all colour attributes (choose X under colour). Give all text a hairline outline. Now try running it again through Artcut.i think you’d have to convert to curves, and weld to be able to play with a hairline / outline on text. i’m not sure why it would be corel, i use 12, and have never had anything like you say, occasionally i have to weld a font that overlaps itself, to stop un-necessary cut lines.
if you zoom in of corel, a font edge should look as smooth as it did at regular size,
cant help with either the rabbit or artcut i’m afraid.
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In theory, the cutter will only cut what is on the graphic, so the lines must be on there somewhere.
When I work in text with Corel I do it this way :
1. Write out the text you want.
2. Convert to curves.
3. Make the text infill clear
4. Give the text a black outline – while the text is selected this will show you all the nodes ( little square boxes on the lines ).
5. If you are using something like Brush Script where the letters overlap each other – select the text, break the curve apart, then select each letter that overlaps and weld to the next one.
6. Once all the welding is done, combine the text to make it all one again – this way you can move it, resize etc… without leaving any bits behind.Set the outline thickness to 0.001mm and export ( I use CMX, but EPS works just as well ).
The benefit of having the text clear and using a thin outline is that you can see if there are any lines that shouldnt be there.
Also, if you zoom in on the graphic, all the curves should be smooth, not made up of lots of little straight lines.
Unless your cutter is up the spout, it will only cut lines that you send to it, so if it is cutting anything else, then there is something wrong with the original graphic you have sent it.
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thanks to all of you for help and advice, just got back from few days away so going to give it a blast later, and ill let you know
many thanks
tris -
Hi
I’m no epert and I not a pro but I use a rabbit and cut straight from corel10 without using Artcut.
I installed the driver which came with one of the disks. The driver is not certified for winXP but I’ve had no conflicts since using it. It was some time ago but I seem to remember that there are issues regarding re-mapping com/USB ports to make artcut work. This is not necessary for corel as it will print to any com or usb port (mine is com 19 but this will change and require reloading if I use a different USB socket)
These are the settings I use:
In Corel:
set paper size (portrait format) to vinyl width and enough length for the job.
Click File- Print Properties and select cutter
Click properties
Select Portrait, Normal, and Origin buttons
Change the cutter model to CP-4500
Change paper size to custom and enter the same sizes as you enter in Corel. This must be the same, not nearly the same.
click OK – OKWhen using Corel ensure everything has a hailine outline with no special fills. Text does not have an outline by default so select "default graphic" on the dropdown box on the property toolbar, or give it an outline, or convert text to curves and combine the outlines.
Before "Printing" check print preview and there should be no issues. To avoid any potential problems I remove all fills just before printing.Another problem I had was interference in the com line. The instructions say that the stand must be earthed, I didn’t and found that the cutter would make stray cuts and miss out others. This seems to be to prevent static build up from the vinyl roll. I found the easiest way to do this was to use a length of cable to one of the stand bolts connected to the earth pin of a standard 13A plug and plug it in.
Hope it helpsSteve
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Glad I use Signlab for my cutting-Corel seems very long-winded, sure I would forget what to do each time!
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quote :Glad I use Signlab for my cutting-Corel seems very long-winded, sure I would forget what to do each time!when you understand its done in 4 clicks and i bought some nice toys with the 2 grand i did not spend 😉
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I suppose it’s a case of horses for courses. Cutting vinyl is not an every day task for me and as I have been using Corel as a drawing program for years it seems easy for me. Setting up the driver is a lot quicker than it looks, and once you have done it, doing it again becomes second nature. I spent a couple of hours on ArtCut and found it really limiting and cumbersome. Its import options are awful and it fills up your hard disk with traditional Chinese art. Setting up the com ports is a bit of a nightmare so I’ll stick with Corel. (I don’t have anything against Chinese art, just that I don’t have much call for it.)
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