# what a vinyl cutter is and why I need one?



## dmh737 (Jul 30, 2007)

I'm sorry. 2nd post. I'm BRAND NEW at this. Can someone please tell me what a vinyl cutter is and why I need one? Thanks.
Dave


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## John S (Sep 9, 2006)

*Re: Vinyl cutter question*



dmh737 said:


> I'm sorry. 2nd post. I'm BRAND NEW at this. Can someone please tell me what a vinyl cutter is and why I need one? Thanks.
> Dave


A 'vinyl cutter' looks like a printer, but instead of ink, it has a sharp knife that will cut shapes out of different kinds of material. 
(Roland GX-24 is a 'vinyl cutter')

If you want to make a T-shirt with a slogan, you create the design on your computer as a vector file, (ie Illustrator or CorelDraw) load the cutter with T-shirt vinyl, (Spectracut or theroflex) then send (print) the file to the cutter.

When the file is finished, you remove the material you won't want that is around the lettering (Weeding) and apply it to the shirt with a heat press.

You want one if you need to create custom shirts (one to three colors) a few at a time. 

You can also use the cutter with outdoor vinyl and create lettering for signs and trucks.


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