# Vinyl Cutter Help!!!



## TaylorTees (Nov 8, 2006)

Ok.. we are trying to set up the vinyl cutter.. have it hooked up.. the software installed.. words on the screen.. and trying to send it to the cutter.. for some reason I cannot get it to send to the cutter.. I have it plugged into a USB port on the back of our Laptop, When I do the Set up.. the choices are COM1 -5 LPT 1-3... TCPIP.. no USB as the choice.. 

I've called Tech support a few times, no one has returned my calls in hours.. =( I just want to get it working so I can play around until I know exactly what I'm doing hehe.. But I cant even get it to cut.. It shows its sending.. just says it cant reach the cutter... any ideas or help would be wonderful..

Even when Tech support calls, I dont know how much they are going to be able to help me, because I have no voice at all barely.. =( LOl Had the Flu for almost 2 weeks - got better - THEN lost my voice.. been close to 4 days without it so far = / Alls I want to do is play with my vinyl cutter now that I can get out of bed!! LOL

Thanks!
Ambrelee


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## hammered (Apr 14, 2006)

Which cutter and software are you using? In many cases its a matter of having the drivers set for the machine youre running.


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## MotoskinGraphix (Apr 28, 2006)

I agree the correct driver for the machine and obviously the correct port.


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## TaylorTees (Nov 8, 2006)

I am using the Enduracut cutter with the Lxi software it came with....


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## TaylorTees (Nov 8, 2006)

MotoskinGraphix said:


> I agree the correct driver for the machine and obviously the correct port.


The actual machine didnt come with any driver disks.. etc... But.. it did come stock with a serial port only, so we had to call the company and they sent us a specific serial to USB cable, that came with drivers - which I installed... 


Whats weird.. is the ports.. its not showing the USB ports as a choice.. = /


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## TaylorTees (Nov 8, 2006)

hammered said:


> Which cutter and software are you using? In many cases its a matter of having the drivers set for the machine youre running.


 
When I open the LXi Software.. the first time I went to send.. it asked.. which machine - So I chose the vinyl express which is the sticker on the unit.. then it popped up.. and a choice was the Enduracut.. so I chose that.. - the only thing is the Com1 Com2 etc.. that I cannot figure out - so I chose the first one.. and went down the line and did each and every one to see if it would send.. and each time it has an error.. 

Still no call back from tech support.. /sigh...


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## hammered (Apr 14, 2006)

Im not famillar with LXi but if you go into your device manager and open it up
-Click start
-Right click My Computer
-Click Controll Panel
-Click Printers and other Hardware
-Click Printers and Faxes
-Right click on the Printer/plotter and select Properties
Here is where is should tell you the port this plotter is located. 
From that you should be able to get a step or two closer to making a vinyl mess all over 
Hope that helps some.


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## cottagecraftsmen (Oct 28, 2006)

As a former LXi plotter owner from the sign business, all I can say is good luck. 
I now have a Graphtec CE-3000. It was a lot of money to swallow. My software is still LXi Apprentice 6.6. This is basically re-branded Flexisign. I am running from the USB port on my plotter to my PC. No serial to USB adapter. Its not the LXi software that determines what ports are available. The plotter doesn't have a USB port??? I had a 24" Lynx. I remember it didn't. I would think the newer plotters do.


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## TaylorTees (Nov 8, 2006)

cottagecraftsmen said:


> The plotter doesn't have a USB port???


It does have one.. but the directions say DO NOT use it - in huge red letters lol - It says that it is used only for the manufacture to install stuff onto the cutter... ??...


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## TaylorTees (Nov 8, 2006)

Ok... Well I have figured out what my computer called the port.. and I have it set up right.. Now.. this is whats happening.. 

Ok.. I have words in the LXi Software typed as a text graphic.. I go to Cut/Plot and it acts like its sending it to the Production manager.. Yet the Production manager stays blank.. I tried to Add job - and choose the file I saved (the words in the LXi) yet it doesnt show up.. Its on "all readable".. I see nothing.. LXi doesnt give me the option to "save" the file any other way.. I know the files must be in Vector format.. Am I missing something - does LXi not save in vector format?? I tried to mess around in Photoshop, but it doesnt let me save as Vector either.. 

I'm so lost.. Thank you for putting up with me =)

Ambrelee


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## TaylorTees (Nov 8, 2006)

hammered said:


> a step or two closer to making a vinyl mess all over


Ahhh If only =)

LOL


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## cottagecraftsmen (Oct 28, 2006)

Later today If I have time, I will try to screen capture a few points so you see the clicks. If you poke around sign warehouse's web site, you might find something like this. 
My Lynx plotter was purchased in 2000. From the day I owned it, it was nothing but trouble. It was a lot more expensive than its successors. They are all very cheap Chinese machines. They might have some based on Graphtec now there as well, but the Chinese ones are trouble.
One is much better off with things like Roland, Summa, Graphtec or Ioline. If you cut signage, the first thing you will notice is these cheap cutters track poorly. My Lynx was incapable of making a rectangle with rounded corners over about 3' long. The start and end point should be the same, but they'd end up .25" apart, _diagonally_. Layering multiple colors? Nothing lined up. I was not a newbie. I worked as a production artist in a vinyl shop for nearly 10 years. When I started there, we only used Gerber, because that was basically all their was. By the time I left, we were using mostly Graphtec, because it's one of the best. This was not a question of not knowing. This was a question of not having good equipment. 
In the sign industry, Sign Warehouse has a reputation for the BEST marketing and some of the worst stuff. I learned the hard way. I struggled three years with this plotter. Two years were moonlighting. When I sold it in 2003, I lost about 50% of its cost, despite being in very good shape. Then I purchased my Graphtec. I wouldn't even consider replacing it. Its like comparing a Mercedes to a Fiat.


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## hammered (Apr 14, 2006)

TaylorTees said:


> Ok... Well I have figured out what my computer called the port.. and I have it set up right.. Now.. this is whats happening..
> 
> Ok.. I have words in the LXi Software typed as a text graphic.. I go to Cut/Plot and it acts like its sending it to the Production manager.. Yet the Production manager stays blank.. I tried to Add job - and choose the file I saved (the words in the LXi) yet it doesnt show up.. Its on "all readable".. I see nothing.. LXi doesnt give me the option to "save" the file any other way.. I know the files must be in Vector format.. Am I missing something - does LXi not save in vector format?? I tried to mess around in Photoshop, but it doesnt let me save as Vector either..
> 
> ...


Try hold right mousey button and drag across the whole screen. It may, and say may have saved in the same color as the background. Reason Im even mentioning this is my silly *** changed the setting in my software to do this . Once you hold and drag, if anything highlights, change its color. And not to start anything with any companies, who are you trying to call and not getting any help?


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## MotoskinGraphix (Apr 28, 2006)

try and uninstall the production manager and re-install it.


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