# Print & Cut Command in CutStudio



## threadartist (Dec 18, 2007)

Good morning. I've been practicing this morning with printing on transfers and then having the Roland GX24 contour cut the transfers.

Is there anyway to change the perimeters of the black alignment dots. It appears that no matter what page size I am using, the dots are static at a certain size that cannot be changed. This is wasteful because I loose a great deal of the transfer trying to fit the design inside of those marks. There must be a way to change this but I've gone through the help file and haven't found anything. 

Has anyone else experimented with this feature?


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## amv101 (Jul 16, 2007)

It clearly states how to set up the crop marks in the 1st step of the Print and Cut guide, supplied by Roland. "Step 1. Create the data."

Refer to the Print and Cut document to get a full detail.


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## threadartist (Dec 18, 2007)

amv101 said:


> It clearly states how to set up the crop marks in the 1st step of the Print and Cut guide, supplied by Roland. "Step 1. Create the data."
> 
> Refer to the Print and Cut document to get a full detail.


My apologies for the post. I didn't realize there was an online guide until I read your post. I will review that now... Thank you.


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## 2STRONG (Oct 17, 2007)

I had the same problem i have the guide but it doesnt state how to move them. please let me know if you find the answer.


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## amv101 (Jul 16, 2007)

2STRONG said:


> I had the same problem i have the guide but it doesnt state how to move them. please let me know if you find the answer.


Yes, maybe not too clearly, but it does state how to move them.

All you have to do is change the number values in the crop mark dialogs. Close the dialog and the crop marks will move.

Open Roland CutStudio..... File > Printing Setup

The screen in CutStudio only shows you the cut area.... not the whole page layout.... go to "Print Preview" to see what the whole page looks like.


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## 2STRONG (Oct 17, 2007)

Yes i did that but the marks do not change i noticed the top crop mark is something lik 2.2047 and i changed it to what the botoom one say's which is 0.5512 so it says that on top and bottom but nothing happens it still prints the crop mark half way down the page i dont know what else to due


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## amv101 (Jul 16, 2007)

If you look at the diagram to the right of the numbers, you would see that Top, Bottom, Left, and Right are you page margins. They dont change the position of the crop marks. They change the space from the crop marks to the edge of the paper. Your paper needs to have margins from the edges, because the Roland will not cut right to the edge of the paper.

The light purple color is the margin of the paper. The white box is where the crop marks are.... and the shaded middle area is the cut area.... where the roland will cut.

You must adjust "W" width and "L" length to change the position of the crop marks.


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## 2STRONG (Oct 17, 2007)

Yes but every time i try to adjust the W & L it doent let me go past W 6.9291 and the L 7.5984 which is the default setting and the marks are way in the sheet also when i go to fine adjust and change the W, L it doesnt change anything im missing something here.


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## amv101 (Jul 16, 2007)

You have to understand CutStudio allows you to print and cut, which both require page set-ups.

It appears your print area, which is the grey dotted border in the page view, is set to a certain size. You cannot set your crop marks beyond this printable area.

Open up CutStudio

Type some basic text

click "Print and Cut", you should see the crop marks show up

Click "Printing Setup"

Click "Set up the Printer" on the bottom of the dialog box

Click "Properties"

Now set you page size (Cutting Area), if its 8.5 x 11, then set W to 8.5 and L to 11

Hit OK twice to close the 2 windows

Now your page size it setup for printing.

Click the top buttom "Fit into shared are", this will align the crop marks to where they need to be. It should read W 6.9 and L 7.5

Hit OK to close that window. Your crop marks should be aligned to the corner of the dotted outline print area.

Now the crop marks will NOT go beyond the dotted outline "Print Area"

Since the Roland needs page margins, or space on the edges of paper, it cannot place the crop marks on the edges of paper. On and 8.5x11 sheet of paper the max print area IS 6.9" x 7.5". You need about 2.2"s clear in the top of the paper so the Roland can have room to feed the paper. And about .75" on the bottom.

Again, The light purple color is the margin of the paper, this needs to be clear of any ink. The white box is where the crop marks are, this also needs to be clear of any ink, except the marks.... and the shaded middle area is the cut area.... where you can print, and where the Roland will cut.

It seems your software is setup right but you are trying to get it to do something it cant. The crop marks WILL not ptint to the edges of the paper. Unless you change the margins to .1" on Top, Bottom, Left, Right.... but if you print the crop marks to the edges, the Roland will not read them.

Best thing to do is set it up and experiment.


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## 2STRONG (Oct 17, 2007)

i guess i am doing it right but it just seems like i lose alot of space on my sheet. i am messing around with it but that was taking alot of time i for the cutter needed room on the edges for cutting. i also got stumped with needing a baking sheet to cut transfers they did not tell me that when i bought it all the demo is opaque transfers since it has the backing it looks simple and it also prints right side reading and not mirriored which is another problem but i figured that out.by chance do you no whats the biggest sheet that it can cut like 11x17 im assumming yes but you no what happens when you asssume. I apreciate your help.


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## amv101 (Jul 16, 2007)

Cutting size depends on your Roland. I have a GX-24 so it will cut up to 24" wide. The real question is how big your printer will print. Espon and HP both make wide format printers.

Yes you do lose lots of paper when using the crop marks. I can give you one secret I came up with.

Adjust your front and back margins closer to the edges of the paper, print, and use masking tape to add more length to the paper. This will give the Roland some more room to feed. Since masking tape is cheaper than heat paper.

Once you figure out how it all works you can experiment with it.

You can also cut strips of paper and tape those on too.


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## threadartist (Dec 18, 2007)

2STRONG said:


> i guess i am doing it right but it just seems like i lose alot of space on my sheet. i am messing around with it but that was taking alot of time i for the cutter needed room on the edges for cutting. i also got stumped with needing a baking sheet to cut transfers they did not tell me that when i bought it all the demo is opaque transfers since it has the backing it looks simple and it also prints right side reading and not mirriored which is another problem but i figured that out.by chance do you no whats the biggest sheet that it can cut like 11x17 im assumming yes but you no what happens when you asssume. I apreciate your help.


Manny, what do you mean by you must use a baking sheet to cut transfers? I just received my Roland and no one mentioned having to buy a baking sheet??? How do you use it? I'm primarily using the cutter for transfers, twill, and the Eco-film.


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## threadartist (Dec 18, 2007)

amv101 said:


> Cutting size depends on your Roland. I have a GX-24 so it will cut up to 24" wide. The real question is how big your printer will print. Espon and HP both make wide format printers.
> 
> Yes you do lose lots of paper when using the crop marks. I can give you one secret I came up with.
> 
> ...


Great idea! Thanks so much for all of the detailed instructions on this feature. I printed your notes out and was able to make all the changes you mentioned.


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

Some papers come with a backing sheet...others do not..if you are going to cut contur on a printed image..you need the paper that has the backing sheet (contact Coastal Business Supply) or put your paper on a backing sheet. I use Coastal so I dont have a source for the backing sheet


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

The reason why the crop marks can't go all the way to the edges of the paper is that the cutter's pinch rollers need to be outside the crop marks in order to move the paper. Thus, adding extra strips to the side of the paper will still allow the cutter to move the paper and let your crop marks be inside the pinch rollers. This is a good trick that not many people know about. But, it does add a little extra time to the production side.


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## amv101 (Jul 16, 2007)

DAGuide said:


> The reason why the crop marks can't go all the way to the edges of the paper is that the cutter's pinch rollers need to be outside the crop marks in order to move the paper. Thus, adding extra strips to the side of the paper will still allow the cutter to move the paper and let your crop marks be inside the pinch rollers. This is a good trick that not many people know about. But, it does add a little extra time to the production side.


This is true... I generally only do it with the more expensive vinyls, when not doing so many runs or when I have a piece of scrap I want to use the whole piece for.

In production, you make more money an hour than it costs in materials, so its actually cheaper to take the loss in material waste.


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## w-cheese (Mar 21, 2009)

I'm having an issue with using crop marks but it lies in the GX-24's length limitations in using them (not width).

I have a production job where it would greatly benefit me if I could use crop marks to auto-align many individual sheets of a specific size material I am required to cut for the job at hand. 

I have already printed the crop marks to one of the sheets, so the problem doesn't lie in printing the crop marks at this point. The issue seems to lie in the GX-24's predetermined length limits when using them.

The third crop mark fails because the GX-24 only travels approx. 20" to look for it (as confirmed in MENU> CROPMARK > MANUAL....settings on the cutter as well as in the GX-24's Reference Manual. The latter states "Material greater than A4 size" as having a maximum width of 24" & 19-11/16" length).

Crop mark to crop mark = 32" in length with the actual material sheet being 41" long. Having the GX-24 even get near the area to find the last crop mark is what I am trying to resolve here.

Anyone know of any kind of hack or workaround for dealing with the length constraint I'm describing? I'm not feeling optimistic on this one. 

Please avoid steering any discussion towards the specifics of my need for working with sheets of material for this job...I'm only inquiring about the possibility of getting around the length limitation once I have the file printed properly with appropriate crop marks.

Thanks in advance.


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