Area 49

A vinyl cutter functions similar to a printer.  A computer controls the movements of a tiny sharp blade used to cut out shapes and letters from sheets of self-adhesive vinyl that can stick to walls, windows, and doors. Check with a Makerspace Monitor to learn how to use the vinyl cutter.

Graphtec CE8000 60

Location: Makerspace

Use Options:

• No training required. Ask a Makerspace Monitor for access and assistance.

Cost:

• $2.00 per linear foot (roll)
• $1.00 per precut sheet

The Vinyl Cutter works with the Makerspace desktop computer.  Check to ensure the USB cord from the machine is plugged into the USB extension cord that leads to the back desktop. 

Loading Media

Roll Media

1. Lower the media set lever to raise the push rollers.
   
2. Set the roll on the stock shaft between the stopper clips. These clips are set to match the width of our vinyl rolls.
   
3. Push the tip of the media forward through the machine from the back.
4. Move the push rollers so that they align with the edges of your material AND the grit roller position guides. Ensure that your material always covers the media sensor.
   
5. For media that is 2 meters or more, position the push rollers at least 15mm inside the edges. For media that is 2 meters or less, position the push rollers at least 5mm inside the media.
6. Raise the media set lever to lower the push rollers.
7. Select Roll-1 on the vinyl cutter screen.
   

Sheet Media

1. Lower the media set lever and load the sheet media so that the right edge lines up with the guideline on the front of the vinyl cutter. Make sure it covers the media sensor.
   
2. Move the push rollers so that they align with the edges of your material AND the grit roller position guides. The media should be at least 125mm (5in) in length.
3. Raise the media set lever to lower the push rollers.
4. Select Sheet on the vinyl cutter screen.
   

Tool Conditions and Test Cuts

Test Cuts

Tool Condition No. 1 is pre-set to settings that work well with the makerspace vinyl. Before cutting your project, perform a test cut to ensure that the settings will work for you.

1. Press the tool icon.
   
2. Press "CUT TEST" twice.
   
3. Press the position keys to move the tool carriage to the location you want the test cut to be, then press the Enter key. Note: the cut is performed to the left of the carriage, so moving it all the way to the left will not allow sufficient space for the test to be carried out. It is recommended to allow the text to run on the right side of the material, then move the carriage slightly to the left to carry out any subsequent tests.
4. Inspect the test cut. You should be able to easily peel the cut pieces off of the backing, and there should be a faint impression of the cut lines on the backing. The cut should not go all the way through the backing.
5. If the cut goes all the way through the backing or does not cut all the way through the vinyl, the force setting may need to be adjusted.

Tool Conditions

The recommended tool condition settings are as follows:

• Tool: CB09U
• Offset: 0
• Speed: 30cm/s
• Force: 8
• Accel.: 2
• Assign tool: 1
• Blade Ctrl Force: 4
• Tangential Mode: Off

You may find that you need to adjust some settings to get a good result with different materials.

Force:

• If your test cut did not cut all the way through the vinyl, increase the force by 1 or 2 at a time, test cutting between each change.
• If your test cut cut through the backing, decrease the force by 1 or 2 at a time, test cutting between each change.

Offset:

• If the corners of your test cut are deformed, consider changing the offset value in the following ways:
  

To change tool condition settings:

1.  Press the tool icon.
2. Press "CONDITION No."
3. Press "CONDITION No. 2"
   1. Please only change the settings of Condition No. 2. Do not change the settings of Condition No. 1.
4. Change the desired settings.
5. Please revert back to Condition No. 1 when you are done using the adjusted condition.

Cutting Your File

1. Open your file in Adobe Illustrator. Size the artboard to be the same size as your design.
2. When you are ready to cut your design, go to File > Cutting Master 5 > Send to Cutting Master 5.
3.  The Software should place your design in the lower right corner of the workspace.
   
4. In the "Media Size" tab, click "Poll Size" to get the size of the loaded material from the machine.
5. To create multiple copies at the same time, click the “Matrix Copy” tab on the sidebar. Enter the number of copies desired, then the amount of X and Y spacing desired between each copy.
   
6. Weeding lines are lines that assist in the process of removing unwanted vinyl from the final piece, otherwise known as weeding. To add weeding lines, click on the “Weed Line” tab in the sidebar. Check the “Weed Border” box to add a box around your design. Check either “Horizontal Split Lines” or “Vertical Split Lines” to add weeding Lines.
   
   
        
7. To run your job, ensure that “Send to Cutter” is selected in the drop down at the bottom of the sidebar, then click “OUTPUT.” Selecting “Save to File” in the drop down and clicking “OUTPUT” will allow you to save your project as a file.
   
8.  Once complete, raise the media set lever and pull the vinyl forward as needed. Cut a horizontal line across.

Material Slips Away Before Printing

1. Maker sure loading lever is lowered and that the pinch rollers are within the edges of the material.
2. Go back to step 11 above, make sure the measurements of the “cutting area” are correct.

Error Message: "Motor Error"

1. Turn off the power
2. Lower loading lever
3. Load material again.

To create a vector image from a raster image

Option 1

1. Open the image in Illustrator.
2. Click the image and go to Object > Image Trace.

Option 2

1. Open the image in Illustrator.
2. Place the image on the first layer.
3. Add a layer above the template layer.
4. Use the paint brush tool to trace the image. Hold the spacebar to move the image while tracing.

To clean up the lines

1. Go to “Object” and “Expand Appearance.”
2. Go to “Window” and choose “Pathfinder.”
3. Press “n” on the keyboard to get the pencil tool and shape the lines you want to change.
4. Use the “Merge” and “Trim” tools to clean up the lines.
5. Select the full image (Ctrl + A) before moving to and from these tools.

To save an image for cutting

1. Find and save a vector image (such as an SVG or EPS file) and open it in Illustrator.
2. Follow the steps under "Cutting Your File" to cut.

Vinyl Tool Set 

1. The vinyl tool set is stored with the Cricut Machine.
2. Use the tools to weed, or remove, pieces of the vinyl that are not part of your design.
   • If you have difficulty weeding your design, check to be sure the machine has cut all the way through the vinyl. You may need to adjust the cutting depth it it hasn't cut all the way through. 

Transfer Paper

1. Ask a Makerspace Monitor for transfer paper.
   • Please only take as much transfer paper as you need for the size of your design.
   • Transfer paper can also be used more than once and we ask you reuse it whenever possible.
2. Line up transfer paper with the top and cover your full design with the adhesive side of the transfer paper.
3. Use the scraper tool to press the transfer paper down across your full design. 
4. Pull up the first few inches of the design and cut off the back below it.
5. Line up the top of your design and transfer paper where you want to place it.
6. Press down the transfer paper with your design onto your material. 
7. Starting at the top, slowly peel down the remaining backing and slowly smooth your design and transfer paper onto your material.
   • Use the scraper tool to help smooth it down. 
8. Firmly rub the full design to be sure it sticks.
9. Peel off transfer paper slowly, starting from the top. 

The vinyl cutter is equipped with a registration system (ARMS) that allows the user to cut printed media with precision. It uses registration marks on the printed media to orient the machine and tell it where to cut relative to the design. You can do multiple things with this, such as:

• Making printed sticker sheets
• Cutting out intricate cardstock designs
• Cutting out individual stickers

Below is the process for one use for the registration system, so please note that the process may be different for other projects.

Using the Registration System to Create Printed Stickers

Note: Please provide your own printed sticker paper.

You can print images on printable sticker paper and use the vinyl cutter to cut them out with precise, clean lines.

Before Printing

This method works best using transparent PNG files. If you would like to learn how to make your pictures transparent, watch this video:

1. Open Adobe Illustrator and create a new Artboard that is the size of your sticker paper.
2. Go to File > Cutting Master 5 > Registration Marks
3. Configure your registration marks with the following settings and click OK. The software will create 4 registration marks on your page. Place your designs inside this "box."
   
4. Go to File > Place and select your images. Click and drag on the artboard to place them. Make sure they are well within the registration marks and have a large amount of space between them.
   
5. For each picture, do the following:
   1. Select the image with the selection tool.
   2. Do Ctrl + C and Ctrl + Shift + V to duplicate the image and keep it in the same place. Keep this image selected.
   3. In the top bar, click on the arrow next to Image trace, then click on the three dots at the bottom of the window.
         
   4. In the panel that opens, change the preset to Silhouettes and move the threshold slider so that the black silhouette covers your entire image.
       
   5. Click Expand at the bottom of the panel.
   6. With the black shape selected, go to Object > Path > Offset Path and change the Offset value to about 3-4mm or 0.15in. Change the Joins to "Round," and leave the Miter limit at 4.
      
   7. Click "Ok."
   8. Hold down shift, and click in the middle of the shape to select the original image tracing. In the path finder window, click "Unite." If you do not see the Pathfinder window, go to Window > Pathfinder to enable it.
      
   9. Do Shift + X to turn the black fill into a black stroke.
      
   10. Repeat with the other images.
6. With the black outlines selected, do Ctrl + X. The outlines will temporarily disappear.
7. In the Layers panel,  click the plus sign button on the bottom of the panel, then click on the new layer that is created.
   
8. Do Ctrl + Shift + V to paste the outlines into the new layer. This will allow you to easily hide and unhide the outlines and pictures.
9. Double check to make sure none of the outlines or images are outside the registration marks.
   
10. Hide the cut line layer in the Layer's panel by clicking the eye icon.
    
11. Print your project on sticker paper.

Cutting your stickers

1. Load your sticker paper into the vinyl cutter using the instructions in the above sections. Be sure to select "Sheet" as the media type. Ensure that the push rollers are on either side of the registration marks.
2. In order to cut all the way through the sticker paper, you must change the position of the tool. Unscrew the thumbscrew on the tool holder enough that it can slide over the protrusion.
3. 
4. Pull the tool clamper towards you so that the arrow on the thumb screw matches the arrow furthest away from you on the tool clamp.
   Note: Please return the tool to it's previous position when you are done.
   
   Always remember the above distinction between the the two positions.
5. On the vinyl cutter screen, touch the Tool button.
   
6. Touch the condition number and select tool condition number 3. Do not use tool numbers 1 or 2.
   Note: Please revert back to tool condition 1 when you are finished.
7. The recommended settings for cutting all the way through sticker paper are as follows:
   1. Tool: CB09U
   2. Offset: +0
   3. Speed: 30cm/s
   4. Force: 12
   5. Accel: 2
   6. Assign Tool: 3
      1. Note: Assign Tool should be set to 3 when you are cutting all the way through your material. If you are just cutting halfway through the material (i.e. cutting through the media but not cutting the paper backing), please set Assign tool to 1.
   7. Cut Line Pattern: Type No. 2
      1. Note: This setting will tell the machine to perforate your material so that the individual cut pieces don't fall out of place. Always have this setting on when cutting all the way through your material. If you are not cutting all the way through, turn this off.
   8. Blade CTRL Force: 4
   9. Tangential Mode: Off
8. Perform a cut test using the instructions in the above section, making sure that you move the tool to a spot outside of your registration marks. If you find that the vinyl cutter isn't cutting the test all the way out, adjust the force accordingly using the instructions in the above section. You may also change the offset value if needed.
9. On the computer connected to the vinyl cutter, open Illustrator and click the eye icon in the layers panel to hide the layer that contains the images to hide them. Click in the blank space where the eye icon was for the cut lines layer to show the cut lines.
10. Go to File > Cutting Master 5 > Send to Cutting Master 5
11. Under the "Media Size" tab, click "Poll Size" to get the size of the loaded material from the machine.
    1. You may get an error about multi page jobs. To fix this, under "Orientation," pick the 0 degree option next to rotate.
       
12. Under the "Weeding" tab, disable any weeding lines or borders.
    
13. Under the "Registration Marks" Tab, check "Use Registration Marks."
    
14. Click on "Output" at the bottom of the page, ensuring that the drop down next to it says, "Send to Cutter." This will send your job to the vinyl cutter. If you want to save your job as a file, change the drop down to "Save to File" and click "Output."
15. The vinyl cutter will scan the media for registration marks before cutting.
16. When you are finished, please revert the tool condition to condition 1, and please return the tool to its original position in the tool clamp.
17. The stickers will be lightly held in place by the perforation. Gently punch them out to remove them from the media.