# please help vinyl cutter purchase newbie.



## tonynjanet (Nov 1, 2007)

I dont know nothing about vinyl cutters but I need to cut heat transfers and I believe a vinyl cutter is the way to go. anyway, can someone please help me with this. I want to purchase a vinyl cutter from ebay. the price range is a big factor in buying this cutter. but I want to know is this a good cutter? does it have registration marks like the roland and craft robo? what else can I do with this? I know this sounds stupid to alot of you professionals but I'm a newborn and need help. this is the cutter:
eBay Express: 34" NEW VINYL CUTTER PLOTTER CUTTING SIGN USB 24/25/36 - Description 

can someone explain this to me or point me to someone who can. thanks in advance.


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## Earnest (Dec 7, 2007)

never heard of it. be careful


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## billm75 (Feb 15, 2007)

It looks to be of the same ilk as USCutters stuff. But they don't have a 34" whatsoever. In fact, I've never heard of a 34" cutter, what standard measurement is that? 

I would contact the seller and ask for specs, customer reviews, or at least an owners manual in PDF format so you can look it over properly.

I have a 24" USCutter Pcut, and LOVE IT. But then, I'm not doing high volume stuff yet either. So I can't tell you if it will stand up to the test of time yet.


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## tonynjanet (Nov 1, 2007)

DMS, I am looking for something in the price range of $300 and thats pushing it for me. I just want to know if anyone has bought a SeikiTech vinyl cutter and is there a 34" cutter. this is where I saw it at eBay Express: 34" NEW VINYL CUTTER PLOTTER CUTTING SIGN USB 24/25/36 - Description 

can someone let me know. thanx


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## billm75 (Feb 15, 2007)

Do you necessarily NEED a 34" cutter or is that what you've settled on because it's the biggest in your price range?

I've got a 24" cutter and quite honestly, most of the vinyl I purchase is 15 - 18 inches wide at most. I'm not doing commercial fleet vehicles or anything, so it's perfect for me right now, starting out.


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

never heard of this make. It seems clear to me that it is a typical chinese cutter and most of them are just plain junk...try getting support or parts or..??? I would not buy that at half the price unless I needed a large door stop. And no it does not have an optic eye or registration system.

by one you can afford from US Cutter...or one of the vendors..you can get one for about $100 more that will do.. You can't buy a ford or chevy for the price of a yugo!..

just read all the comments about such cutters


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## billm75 (Feb 15, 2007)

USCutter is chinese....


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## badalou (Mar 19, 2006)

Ok, here is the deal.. Don't buy it.. You know it is just not about the cutter.. It is about the software as well. I have a roland and I gotRoland cutstudio with it. And I don't like that so I use Flexisign pro 7.6 now here is the problem. That software is $1500. You will be kicking yourself if you spend less then $300 and you can't do what you want to do. My suggestion is go with either a copam 2500 or a JSI Cutter. I had the JSI and the software worked fine. The copam is getting good reviews on the forum.


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## tonynjanet (Nov 1, 2007)

The Reason I asked about this cutter was the price range. my limit is $400 and thats pushing it as far as I can go. does anyone know of a site that sells a good cutter for this price range. believe me if I had the chedder to buy the best I would but thats what I'm working with until I make money and expand. so let me know.
what up with a refurbished creation PCut 24" cutter with sign blazer 06 software. from us cutter. can I get info on this. thanx


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## tonynjanet (Nov 1, 2007)

Badlou, can you tell me about the USCutter 12" Refine Vinyl Sign Cutter / Plotter with SignCut X2 LE software? is this a good cutter in my price range. also does it work with corel photopaint and draw?


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

Hey Tony,, I own a copam 2500 from us cutter, its a great cutter no problems with it,,, if you are considering a 12" cutter don't even go there,, the vinyl films you will be cutting are 15"to 19" depending on the brand... You can get some special cut vinyl for that small cutter but the prices are normaly more money so in the long run you have defeated the purpose of buying yourself a inexpensive cutter,, the other thing to consider is are you going to do any injet transfers,, if you are you have to contour cut with either sissors or vinyl cutter,, now if you only have a few at a time to do ,, no problem do them by hand,, but if you get busy a cutter is the only way to go and that 12 inch won't contour cut and neither will mine,, so what I am trying to say is make sure what you want to do before you buy.. 

Hope this helps a bit

R.


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

Charles.... a.... "YUGO".... I havn't heard that in years,,, yee gads,, I must be old!!!!

R.


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## chill (Oct 28, 2007)

I have the Seiki Tech and it works well for me.







plan b said:


> Charles.... a.... "YUGO".... I havn't heard that in years,,, yee gads,, I must be old!!!!
> 
> R.


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## tonynjanet (Nov 1, 2007)

Hi - I found a 24" Creation PCut, does anyone know anything about this vinyl cutter? The software that comes with this is either Sign Blazer Elements or Whisqu Signcut x2 - is there anyone who knows anything about the two software? Thanks for your input!


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## billm75 (Feb 15, 2007)

I have that cutter and the SignBlazer software as well. It works great so far, no complaints!


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## tonynjanet (Nov 1, 2007)

another question what software works with bitmaps cause the sign blazer elements tells me that it wont cut bit maps? all of my files are made in bitmaps and jpg. so I'm not in another confused dillema. what software can I use for this cutter and not have to sell the car and everything else I own.


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

Hey Tony, vinyl cutting software will only read vector images,, if say you import a bitmap or jpeg into your cut program you won't see anything on your screen,,, so you have to convert your bitmaps to vector, you can do this in corel draw..

Hope this helps

R.


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## billm75 (Feb 15, 2007)

In SignBlazer, you can import your bitmap, go to Image -> Mode -> Monochrome 1bit

Then Go to Image -> Mode -> Vectorise

This is how I do all of my conversions, as I can't afford Corel right now. It works really well, just need a very clean, JPG or BMP file to work from.


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## badalou (Mar 19, 2006)

tonynjanet said:


> Hi - I found a 24" Creation PCut, does anyone know anything about this vinyl cutter? The software that comes with this is either Sign Blazer Elements or Whisqu Signcut x2 - is there anyone who knows anything about the two software? Thanks for your input!


They make the JSI which I had for a year and the software was great to use. But you may beed to buy ear plugs... You can buy a JSIP24 on ebay for about $550. -$650.. They sell it on their site JSI Sign Systems - Sign Making and Digital Printing Equipment, Software, Supplies and Technical Support for about $900.


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

and Tony...remember you must have a cutter with optic eye or other registration to cut around the jpg...


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## billm75 (Feb 15, 2007)

Charles, you only need the optic eye to cut out a transfer that has been printed prior. To cut vinyl designs, you need only a cutter and software, no optic eye necessary. Don't confuse a JPG with a printed transfer.


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

Hey I have the signcutx2 and have tried the signblazer,,, the scx2 works pretty dandy if you are designing in corel draw as it is a plug in to transfer your design to the cut program,,, signblazer is ok I think flexi is a better program,, but hey just starting out either program will be ok for you..

R.


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## tonynjanet (Nov 1, 2007)

I purchased a Refurbished Creation PCut 24" with SignBlazer Elements, so from what I'm understanding. "Lets say I print a transfer, can I cut out the transfer, around the outside of the transfer, like weeding it, I believe its called. so If I print out a transfer I cant cut it with the PCut 24"?


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## billm75 (Feb 15, 2007)

I think if you are trying to trim a digital transfer you would need a plotter/cutter with an optical eye and would need to use registration marks on your transfer to line it all up properly.

The USCutter plotters are more for first time cuts into vinyl materials. For those it's top notch!


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

As I understand the Pcut 24...no it will not cut around the image as it has no optic eye or registration system.

Yes I know you dont need an optic eye to cut vinyl...I do it all the time BUT if you want to cut around and image...to use an example..like Josh does around the superman logo in his video...then you do need optic eye and I don't think the PCut will do it


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## Chani (Jun 18, 2007)

If you want a cutter that will cut around bitmap images you want the Graphtec CraftROBO or CraftROBO Pro. The CR will cut anything up to 8.5 inches wide and the CR Pro will cut any material up to 19" wide (tho the actual cut will be about 14.7" wide).

You can find them both for the best price at http://www.speciatly-graphics.com

They also offer a 5% discount to forum members and free shipping! 

The CraftROBO (not Pro) is within your price range.


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## patchmaster (May 10, 2007)

USCutters sells a LaserPoint 24" cutter that will contour cut.
It's a manual registration system for contour cutting but is a decent start.
I understand the updated SignBlazer Elements software is being released with new cutters to enable contour cutting with the built in laser, making us previous purchasers wait a bit longer - go figure.

Bill


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