# HELP! I am looking for a compatible Vinyl Cutter for a MAC



## Suze430

Hi Guys, im new to all of this and the site so i apologise now if im asking this question AGAIN or in the wrong place. 

I have recently bought a heat press to use with transfer paper, but then i saw vinyl on t shirts which looks better (as after the 1st wash using transfer paper the image cracked, and im hoping to sell some).

I have looked at the 24" refine vinyl cutter which is about my budget, but the supplier said it wasnt compatible with a MAC so now im back to square one.

Ive read on some posts that the Roland cutters are good, but they seem to be out of my price range.

Also, are they easy to use for a complete beginner to the machines and the software (i dont even know what software i would need)??

Can anyone help me PLEASE??


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## IYFGraphics

Hello,

:welcome:While I don't have a answer to your question I did want to welcome you to the forums.


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## Suze430

IYFGraphics said:


> Hello,
> 
> :welcome:While I don't have a answer to your question I did want to welcome you to the forums.


THANKS!! Im sure i will have more questions soon that you will be able to help me with...


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## moe_szys1ak

I have a Mac and the USCutter Laserpoint 24". It works well on my Mac. I'm running Snow Leopard. If you go to the USCutters forum, there's a thread that explains exactly how to install it on your Mac.


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## Suze430

Thanks for your reply, ive just had a quick look on Ebay and they have one from a US shop, ill have to see if i can find one in the UK.


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## buehrle

use cadworx live. it will load on to your mac and works with most cutters. i have it on my macbook pro and my pc. works on both.


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## adub47

I use a RolandGX24. I found a used one for $950 and I use the cut studio plug-in with Illustrator and it works great....on my mac of course


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## Reeko

adub47 said:


> I use a RolandGX24. I found a used one for $950 and I use the cut studio plug-in with Illustrator and it works great....on my mac of course


 
I don't use a mac, but I do use a GX24, and according to Amir it does works on the Mac. Its an awesome cutter. I've tried a couple different cheaper ones and I wish I had just spent the extra money up front and gotten the GX24...well worth the investment. Save you money in the long run...

Lorton VA...I used to live there too...the Amtrak auto train horn would keep me up all night...


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## adub47

Yup the train is still here! Luckily its not close to my house . Another thing about the vinyl cutter...I bought a new blade for $16 and it works wonders! After I installed the new blade it runs like new...being used and all. 

Adub-47


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## Suze430

Thanks guys, ill see how much a Roland GX 24 is!!


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## Suze430

Ive had a look for a Roland GX 24 but they seem to be out of my price range! Can anyone recommend a cheaper cutter that will do me for now, then if i can work that and make some profit i can look into buying a more expensive one. Thanks in advance...


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## Suze430

Me again, ive just had a quick look on Ebay and have found lots of Kingcut cutters which are in my price range, hoorah.
There was the Kingcut CA 24, Kingcut CA 630, Kingcut Pro 24 and the Kingcut CT 630, are these cutters any good for what i need?
Also, they say they come with Plugin's, K1 - K9 - what does that mean, and which should i choose??
Thank you!!


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## jrhinson3

Graphtec CE-500-60 or Craft Robo Pro, Cutting Master 2 Plug-in with Adobe Illustrator.


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## jrhinson3

Sorry, typo... CE5000-60.


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## Nick Horvath

Suze430 said:


> Me again, ive just had a quick look on Ebay and have found lots of Kingcut cutters which are in my price range, hoorah.
> There was the Kingcut CA 24, Kingcut CA 630, Kingcut Pro 24 and the Kingcut CT 630, are these cutters any good for what i need?
> Also, they say they come with Plugin's, K1 - K9 - what does that mean, and which should i choose??
> Thank you!!


These are all Creation cutters. They do not have an optic eye, so you will not really be able to contour cut transfer paper. They will all do a decent job cutting vinyl.

Other things to note are that they do not come with a true driver, and will only work with software that is set up to run the cutters. Make sure that the cutter you are looking at comes with software and research what the software capabilities are.

Also, these cutters are sort of quirky and have occasional hiccups when operating them.


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## Suze430

What does contour cutting, and a true driver mean, sorry if im sounding a little dumb, all this technical talk is new to me as you can probably tell. I spoke to the supplier of the kingcuts on ebay and he said they were compatible with a mac, and could sell me signcut software for 1 year for an extra £20, and said plug ins dont work on a MAC. Again, what is a plug in???

Thanks!!


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## Nick Horvath

Suze430 said:


> What does contour cutting, and a true driver mean, sorry if im sounding a little dumb, all this technical talk is new to me as you can probably tell. I spoke to the supplier of the kingcuts on ebay and he said they were compatible with a mac, and could sell me signcut software for 1 year for an extra £20, and said plug ins dont work on a MAC. Again, what is a plug in???
> 
> Thanks!!


With an optic eye you are able to read crop marks. For instance if you have printed an image on a transfer media, and want to contour cut (basically cutting an outline around an image), the best way to do this is with an optic eye, as it reads the crop marks that are printed around your design to determine where to cut.

What I mean by a true driver is that there is not a way to set up those cutters in windows as a printer. What that means is that you are not able to send jobs directly from graphic software such as Corel Draw and Adobe Illustrator and are somewhat limited to what you can drive the cutter with.


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## moe_szys1ak

What he means by a plug-in is a little program that is installed into Illustrator, Photoshop, Corel, etc. For cutters like these without true drivers, what happens is a plug-in, such as SignCut offers for Illustrator, exports the vector file to the main cutting software like SignCut Pro. Then from SignCut Pro you send your image to the cutter. It adds a step in between, not to mention you have to learn the ins and outs and what-have-yous of the cutting software...


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## Suze430

Thanks for your help on this guys, im beginning to think its all a bit too complicated!!!!


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## tdeals

Suze430 said:


> Thanks for your help on this guys, im beginning to think its all a bit too complicated!!!!


Hi Suzanne,

It's not complicated what you're asking for. Cutters themselves connect to Macs just like any PC and most current models connect via USB. The true challenge has been finding Mac OS-based cutting software or plug-ins that's not only affordable, but can handle a lot of contour cutting steps. I have yet to find it, but I'm not doing a lot of contour cutting either. It's too manual of a process for me and I find it frustrating.

With that said, and as some others have shared, it's the cutter "plug-in" or cutter software that you are needing to be Mac OS X compatible in using your cutter with a Mac. I am a Mac user operating with a Summa Vinyl Cutter. I actually use an old dual Power Mac with a PowerPC processor, as it's still holding strong and handles my needs.  

I currently use MacSign Cut that came with it and although it does not have heaps of bells 'n whistles, it gets the job done. I have also used a couple of demo versions of SignCut and SignCut Productivity Pro. I REALLY like SignCut but for contour cut tests, I've run into issues, so no more testing for me with it at this time. 

Here are your native cutter plug-in and software choices for Mac OS X that are independent of the cutter brand you use:



 SignCut Pro (affordable for most, lean yet powerful little app)
 


 MacSign



MacSign Cut
 


 NCS MagiSign
 


 Flexi Software for Mac (they have an under $200 version though it's the more expensive versions that have strong contour cutting capabilities)
Your other option is to run Windows on your Mac to then have access to all of the Windows-based cutter plug-ins and software.


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## Suze430

Thanks for that!! Im not giving up im going to give it a go, fingers crossed ill be able to do it.

Just need to decide on which cutter to buy now!!


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## ramin666777

hi
kingcut works with mac
it comes with one year signcut software
it does contourcutting even with out optical eye by using your blade or pen holder
check the video
1- print with regestration mark from coreldraw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGBtni9LusY
2- ca contourcutting video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5IDwwUog0o

all kingcut models does contourcutting


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## Will61

I had this problem and solved it with running parallels 5.0 and a copy of windows 7. ( older copies of windows work best like XP, support for windows 7 has gotten pretty good)( Vista is something i stayed away from, bad ju ju)

You do all your graphics on your mac and then in your windows virtual window you run ANY PRINTER you like just install whatever drivers the cutting/printing machine.

Then just open the print job in windows, just like you would on the mac finder. I do this with my VP300I versacamm rip program.

Option 2: My Roland GX24 set up with my illustrator CS5 with plugin from rolandDG. (No need for windows)

Hope my ramble helps i'm fairly new to this as well, it's been a roller coaster of learning curves


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## pyrophire

The Refine works with Mac, I have the 30" Refine using SignCut (comes with the cutter if you buy it from USCutter) with the Illustrator plugin (cs4)


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## AQHA1041

xingywl said:


> Hi, Easy Cut Studio can works with mac; as well as the pc version.


Your answer sparked a question with me. You say that Easy Cut Studio works with a MAC or PC. Ok that's fine and dandy. But what if you purchase for example a US Cutter Plotter that is not MAC compatible. If you purchase the Easy Cut Studio - make your designs - send your design from ECS to the US Cutter Plotter - will the US Cutter Plotter understand and be compatible with ECS coming from a MAC? I thought you have to use the software that corresponds to the plotter itself. I'd hate to invest in both products and then find out that they don't like each other.


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## AQHA1041

moe_szys1ak said:


> I have a Mac and the USCutter Laserpoint 24". It works well on my Mac. I'm running Snow Leopard. If you go to the USCutters forum, there's a thread that explains exactly how to install it on your Mac.


This is good to hear.How do you like this machine? What software are you using to run this machine? I have come across Easy Cut Studio which is suppose to be able to work with both Mac and US Cutter brand vinyl cutter plotters. You're insights are greatly appreciated. TIA.


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## xingywl

You can download it and try it. You don't need to buy it to see its compatibility and incompatibility. Isn't it?


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## FlashDave

I have the GCC AR24 cutter and using Sure Cuts A Lot software on my Mac. I do all the artwork in Adobe Illustrator, save as pdf then import into SCAL. It works well.
https://www.gccworld.com/goods.php?act=view&no=49
Sure Cuts A Lot: Download Software to cut fonts with your Cricut, Silhouette, Pazzles, Gazelle, USCutter, GCC, Gazelle, eCraft


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