# Graphic Designer needing some help with hardware/software



## drew22mader (Jul 10, 2009)

Hey guys, I'm looking for some help with my choice of hardware and software for my needs.

I'm a professional graphic designer and use Photoshop CS4 and Illustrator CS4 each and every day. So i'm not new to vector. Currently I do graphic design professionally but clothing design on the side for a few major companies, as well as my own clothing line. 

I am wanting to touch base with my local area high schools, sporting events, ect. I've shown a high demand on rhinestone shirt for girls looking for their schools shirts "blinged" out. I currently offer JS and Bare Apparel shirts with waterbase discharge ink with school logos that I have redesigned for the shirts. 

My question is, I want to be able to cut out Rhinestone templates so that I am able to create transfers for my shirts or blank shirt and hoodies. I would like to be able to use it for Vinyl as well, because I have interest in the Motorcross and Racing world for trailers and such. 

What machine would be good to use for this? I'm entry level into this so anything to really get my feet wet would be great, nothing that is too small to where I'm only able to do tiny transfers. 

I was looking into getting a US Cutter and looked at my options in size. If I buy something larger I will not need to upgrade to a bigger one to tackle larger size vinyl jobs. Could you please point me to a machine that can handle all my needs, if this does exist, or is there a certain machine for only rhinestones and one only for vinyl?

Will my Adobe Illustrator work for the patterns for rhinestones or will i need software such as ACS or KnK? 

Any help will be helpful as I'm learning this for the first time.


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

Here is a list that I just compiled today for this purpose http://www.t-shirtforums.com/rhinestone-decoration/t95228.html . it is a list of all the different rhinestone systems and software available. It might be a long read with all the links, but it should be a educational one  I would really make sure to get a cutter that is meant for cutting with good force, and a software that makes it easy for you to convert your designs to rhinestones. I know there are several people here that are using most of the different systems I have listed in that thread, so it really will come down to what your budget is, and what you want to get for your money


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## drew22mader (Jul 10, 2009)

I'm getting a 404 error on your link that you gave me, says it no longer exists.


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

Oops sorry, its fixed now  I had a period right up against the link and it attached itself.


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## drew22mader (Jul 10, 2009)

Will the US Cutters for vinyl work for Rhinestones? I'd really like to know a specific cutter that I can use for Vinyl as well as Rhinestones. Also wondering about Adobe Illustrator working with the cutters for rhinestones as well as which particular cutters work with ASC and KNK.


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## drew22mader (Jul 10, 2009)

Can a US Cutter or Graphtec CE5000 be used to make Rhinestone templates? And are they compatible with the software?

Say a 50" MH-721
or a 40" Laserpoint 24?

or a Graphtec Ce5000?


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

I am not sure about US Cutters, in fact one member reported that she burned out her US Cutter making rhinestone templates. I do know that the ACS software, as well as the IdesigneR software have graphtec drivers. I am pretty sure as well that the DAS stone stencil software will work with Graphtec cutters as well. There are a few here that are using their Grapthec Cutters with good results making rhinestone templates. Both the ACS and the IdesignR software are around the same pricepoint, although the ACS does have a few more fill options specifically for rhinestone design. Hope this helps some to figure out a direction to look


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## lgjar (Jun 5, 2008)

I use Photoshop CS4, Illustrator CS4 and cut vinyl and rhinestone templates with Roland GX-24. As far as I know, ACS does not include a driver for it. 

LG


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## drew22mader (Jul 10, 2009)

I really would not want to tie myself down to only rhinestones, thats why I was looking at the CE5000 since I've heard and seen people using this machine. I can get the US Cutter 50" for pretty cheap and it's hard to turn down for vinyl graphics.

What machine would u suggest sunnydayz and software in your opinion. Or a few options that you feel are better suited for someone getting started into stoning. Software is no problem for me. Just the hardware really.


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

Drew I had a graphtec and loved it  I had done all my research before buying, and figured the best that were out there was the roland and the graphtec, and since the graphtec was a by far better price, that was what I went with. What I did, was wait till one of our forum sponsors had a sale on them, and then combined that with the forum discount from that sponsor  I think I saved over $200 on it after all was said and done. 

There are several people here cutting with a graphtec doing rhinestone templates. So it would fit all your other needs as well. Looking at all the different softwares that are available, I would probably buy the ACS software. Since it is basically a cutting software that has been enhanced to do rhinestone designs as well, it would make more sense to me. It also has a sale price right now I think of $399 which is to me a great deal. I have played around with the version that does not have the auto fill options and it is a pretty easy software to use. 

I was talking to SandyMcC who sells it, and is also a member here, and it sounds like it has some of the same cool features that my cocut pro had, such as letting you seperate out your colors of your design, and cutting each color one at a time.. You just really have to figure out what works best for you.

Just remember when buying a cutter, buy the best you can  so that it will last you a long time.


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## drew22mader (Jul 10, 2009)

I think i'm gonna buy a 50" US Cutter, and a KNK MAXX 24 Rhinestone system from buy-acs.com comes with a bunch of stuff as well as the ACS studio. I wanted to be able to use a system for both vinyl and stones but this seems to be the easier method.

One question, I've seen some machines and people saying it should have it's own computer, and has serial connection. Does the KNK Maxx 24 have usb connection? My new rig I built does not have serial and not about to downgrade just to use a machine that doesn't support modern technology. Also does the ACS Studio support 64 bit Vista and Windows 7?

BobbieLee, What would you do in my shoes? Buy a CE5000 and use it for both vinyl and rhinestones or buy a dedicated vinyl and dedicated stone machine? The 50" i'm going to get for around $475. And on buy-acs the KNK Maxx 24 is listed at $1499 with the ACS Studio software and some other stuff thrown in.


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

lgjar said:


> I use Photoshop CS4, Illustrator CS4 and cut vinyl and rhinestone templates with Roland GX-24. As far as I know, ACS does not include a driver for it.
> 
> LG


Did you see in that link I listed above? There is the basic software that cadlink makes that all of these others are based off of and it works for Roland cutters. It is called signlab 8. I played around with that version as well, and it was really easy to make rhinestone designs, using the tutorials that SandyMcC has on her website, I just followed her instructions and it was super easy.

You can download the demo at cadlink.com and play with it, to see if it is something that would work for you


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## SandyMcC (Jul 23, 2009)

drew22mader said:


> I think i'm gonna buy a 50" US Cutter, and a KNK MAXX 24 Rhinestone system from buy-acs.com comes with a bunch of stuff as well as the ACS studio. I wanted to be able to use a system for both vinyl and stones but this seems to be the easier method.


I don't understand why you also need the US Cutter? Our 24" Maxx easily cuts 24" wide vinyl. I personally have a dozen or more customers who use it exclusively for that purpose. And our software supports tiling, weeding, and power weeding, as well.



drew22mader said:


> One question, I've seen some machines and people saying it should have it's own computer, and has serial connection. Does the KNK Maxx 24 have usb connection? My new rig I built does not have serial and not about to downgrade just to use a machine that doesn't support modern technology. Also does the ACS Studio support 64 bit Vista and Windows 7?


You don't need a dedicated computer with our machines and they come with both USB and serial cables so you can pick which you want. The Maxx is also Vista 64 compatible and I have several customers who have tested it on beta versions of Windows 7 and reported that there's no problem.


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## drew22mader (Jul 10, 2009)

Sandy, thank you very much for clearing this up for me. You were just the person I was hoping to chime in and give your opinion. I've been watching all your tutorials. BobbieLee has been a huge help so far. Only reason I would also need the US Cutter at 50" would be for large projects such as Motorcross and Automobile trailers requesting much larger designs that I don't think a 24" would be able to handle without splitting the design and piecing together. I guess I could go with the Maxx 24 for now and cut and rhinestone until I am in true need of a larger machine and that time I could upgrade to another machine for vinyl.

Another concern I have is switching between the settings for rhinestone templates and viny cutting. What will need to be done to make the switch between them when one job calls for vinyl and the other for rhinestone? Is it basic setting that you set with the machine, or will it be swapping out parts in order for the machine to cut the vinyl?

Thats great news about the USB and Vista/Windows 7 64bit support. I'm currently running Windows 7 trial on my PC. Lets me keep my Mac Pro and Macbook Pro free for graphic design work.

one more question, how much is the "Rhinestone Edition" of ACS Studio vs ACS studio?


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## SandyMcC (Jul 23, 2009)

drew22mader said:


> Sandy, thank you very much for clearing this up for me. You were just the person I was hoping to chime in and give your opinion. I've been watching all your tutorials.


That's great! Please let me know if you have any questions about the methods I show.





drew22mader said:


> BobbieLee has been a huge help so far.


Yes.... She's AMAZING! 



drew22mader said:


> Only reason I would also need the US Cutter at 50" would be for large projects such as Motorcross and Automobile trailers requesting much larger designs that I don't think a 24" would be able to handle without splitting the design and piecing together.


Very true. If the designs for your market are really large, then a 50" cutter would be justified. 



drew22mader said:


> Another concern I have is switching between the settings for rhinestone templates and viny cutting. What will need to be done to make the switch between them when one job calls for vinyl and the other for rhinestone? Is it basic setting that you set with the machine, or will it be swapping out parts in order for the machine to cut the vinyl?


To switch from vinyl to, say, the black motif rubber for rhinestones would require:


Changing blades (but you can also just have a second blade holder for the other material to make it really easy)
Changing the Materials setting in the software
Changing the pressure on the cutter itself
It's really quite an easy adjustment to learn. I have paper crafting customers who are adept at cutting everything from tissue paper to acrylic on their Maxx! They change these settings every single day... between cuts... to create their beautiful detailed projects. And learning to do this is part of the training and continued tech support that I provide for free.



drew22mader said:


> one more question, how much is the "Rhinestone Edition" of ACS Studio vs ACS studio?


We only have ONE ACS Studio version... which comes with the purchase of the ACS Maxx, Falcon, or Eagle OR you can purchase separately if you want to cut to a Graphtec 5000 cutter. Compared to the KNK Studio version that is sold with KNK machines, this version has the additional Hatch Fill feature, an additional 10 rhinestone fonts (besides the 1100+ font/ 3900+ cutting file CD), is dongled, and will have future rhinestone designing upgrades not provided in KNK Studio upgrades.

Please post if you have additional questions. I'm always happy to answer.


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## drew22mader (Jul 10, 2009)

Hmm, so many decisions. I'm going to discuss this with my wife, and hopefully should place an order for a machine by next week. How long is the free training and tech support offered after I buy the machine? And do you go over proper adjustments on settings and cutting processes for certain materials through your training?


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## SandyMcC (Jul 23, 2009)

drew22mader said:


> Hmm, so many decisions. I'm going to discuss this with my wife, and hopefully should place an order for a machine by next week. How long is the free training and tech support offered after I buy the machine? And do you go over proper adjustments on settings and cutting processes for certain materials through your training?


There's no expiration date. Some of my customers want a class right away. Others prefer to wait a few weeks to figure out what they want to cover in the classes. Some of my customers receive their cutter and then don't even take it out of the box for 6 months! I don't recommend that! But it does happen from time to time. Some of my customers never take the free classes at all... they just don't need them or tell me they are still saving them up for an emergency! 

My usual recommendation is for the customer to go through the installation and setup and read the sections I recommend on the first page of the user manual before setting up their first class. Now, if there are ANY tech support issues, like the computer isn't communicating with the cutter, then definitely email me right away and I can help by email or call you and get that fixed. But otherwise, it's good to read the important sections first as they will help identify questions. Then in my usual 90 minute class, I connect by VNC to check and explain your software settings, explain the control panel, show you how to set the origin and do a test cut, how to assemble the blade holder and set the blade exposure, how to know where images will cut based on the location on the screen, how to switch from portrait to landscape cutting, how to manipulate images in the software, how to type text, and then how to cut the materials you are most interested in cutting. Of course, it's a very interactive class... I'm talking... you're asking questions, I'm answering... I'm showing you things in the software... you're trying out things in the software. And also cutting... I like to have the customer test cutting paper or scrap vinyl. And then also cardstock. And then even the materials for making rhinestone templates. The classes are always tailored to the customer, rather than being a formal set class I teach to everyone... and there are no grades or tests! lol I always say that to help the customer relax, enjoy the 90 minutes, and learn a lot at the same time.

Then after that first class, I encourage the user to just practice, practice, practice for a week... cut every day so that it becomes easy to do and email me with every question that comes to mind. Also read a little more of the user manual each day... which is filled with step-by-step tutorials on all sorts of topics. Or if the customer hates reading manuals, I have tons of free software videos they can watch.

Then the remaining free 90 minutes can be split up, as the customer needs. For example, it can be two 45 minute classes or three 30 minute classes. Again, there's no expiration date and I definitely leave the format up to the customer, whether it be one specific topic, two topics, or just a long list of random questions. 

Support by email is on-going... you just contact me, as needed!


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