# affordable vinyl cutter for cutting heat transfer designs?



## Tshirter

Can anyone recommend an affordable vinyl cutter that works well with heat transfers? The paper seems to be too thin to be cut by a heavy-duty vinyl cutting machine.

Thanks.


----------



## lauerja

I use the Roland GX-24 and adjust the downforce as needed, and even the blade depth.

This cutter also has an optical eye so registration marks cab be used and images precisely cut. 

It ranges anywhere from 1500 - 2200 depending on where it is purchased.


----------



## Vtec44

I have a CAMM1 and can't figure out how to use the registration mark even if my life depends on it.


----------



## kim turner

Roland also makes Stika V8 for under $500 and Stika V12 under $700.


----------



## Vtec44

I don't think the stika series has the optical "eyes", at least on the older models.


----------



## hammered

Check into the Craft Robo series. Its made by Graphtec so you know its a good machine, has optics on the larger size. And has some cool feature such as ghost cut.


----------



## icewand

hammered said:


> Check into the Craft Robo series. Its made by Graphtec so you know its a good machine, has optics on the larger size. And has some cool feature such as ghost cut.


We use the craft robo and its great! We use it with flex, flock, glitter paper etc. No problems at all.

x


----------



## Tshirter

hammered said:


> Check into the Craft Robo series. Its made by Graphtec so you know its a good machine, has optics on the larger size. And has some cool feature such as ghost cut.


Can the Craft Robo handle both for-white paper and for-black paper well? I'm concerned it may not be able to handle the thin paper.


----------



## Tshirter

puretreats said:


> We use the craft robo and its great! We use it with flex, flock, glitter paper etc. No problems at all.
> 
> x


Can you recommend a dealer for the Craft Robo that will provide some support if needed? I know several sites sell them, but none seem too inviting.


----------



## hammered

Tshirter said:


> Can the Craft Robo handle both for-white paper and for-black paper well? I'm concerned it may not be able to handle the thin paper.


Im not really sure about the paper issue, I run a Designtech. As far as dealers, SSK.com has given me the kind of customer support you only hear about. (kinda like the support Ive come across with Imprintables) Just give SSK a call or e-mail with any question and Im sure they will be happy to help.


----------



## adcoffey

Hi,
The CR can handle transfer paper for light shirts by using the cutting mat and transfers for dark can be cut directly as they are heavier. This machine comes with colored cutter heads that are used for density of the paper or vinyl. It has the robotic eye that reads the design and all the directions for setup are very easy to understand. If a full color design is imported to the CR then you have registration marks that guide the cutting. It also comes with tools that allow tracing of designs then you send to the printer and then do the cutting. The price is $399 at most suppliers and comes with a starter kit. The best place for info on the CR or the CR Pro is the http://www.Craftrobostore.com where they do have the downloadable manuals and lots of tutorials. You can also join scrapbooking forums and learn about entry level cutting. Hopes this helps as I asked lots of questions before I bought the CR and this place gave me the best info.


----------



## Clinton

adcoffey said:


> Hi,
> The CR can handle transfer paper for light shirts by using the cutting mat and transfers for dark can be cut directly as they are heavier. This machine comes with colored cutter heads that are used for density of the paper or vinyl. It has the robotic eye that reads the design and all the directions for setup are very easy to understand. If a full color design is imported to the CR then you have registration marks that guide the cutting. It also comes with tools that allow tracing of designs then you send to the printer and then do the cutting. The price is $399 at most suppliers and comes with a starter kit. The best place for info on the CR or the CR Pro is the http://www.Craftrobostore.com where they do have the downloadable manuals and lots of tutorials. You can also join scrapbooking forums and learn about entry level cutting. Hopes this helps as I asked lots of questions before I bought the CR and this place gave me the best info.


Thanks for the very informative response. Where did you purchase your CR? Did you get good support?


----------



## rags16

How wide cant the Craft get to? And can it make real fine and detailed cuts?


----------



## buck1

I am looking at buying a vinyl cutter to make tranfers. I currently make sublimination tranfers with a hp4550 printer on plain typing paper. I know nothing about vinyl cutters. Is the us cutter co pam cp-2500 any good? How much do i have to know in order to use it. Would anyone recommend a different machine? Will this machine contour cut? buck1


----------



## gmille39

kim turner said:


> Roland also makes Stika V8 for under $500 and Stika V12 under $700.


They really Stika 2ya.

Ha Ha. It's friday and I haven't slept in two days. That just seemed funny. Sorry.


----------



## COEDS

buck1 said:


> I am looking at buying a vinyl cutter to make tranfers. I currently make sublimination tranfers with a hp4550 printer on plain typing paper. I know nothing about vinyl cutters. Is the us cutter co pam cp-2500 any good? How much do I have to know in order to use it. Would anyone recommend a different machine? Will this machine contour cut? buck1


I have heard good things about the copam, I was talking to a gentleman today that has a copam and he also has a GCC machine that he got from Heat Applied transfer vinyl for t-shirt applications. he told me the GCC machine was a lot stronger. I own a private labeled GCC machine and it does a great job. I know there are alot of happy uscutter owners too. .... JB


----------



## srpkinja

puretreats said:


> We use the craft robo and its great! We use it with flex, flock, glitter paper etc. No problems at all.
> 
> x


Newbie here! Quick/possibly stupid question: Doe that Craft Robo cut only the exterior edges, or does it cut all the dead spaces?


----------



## Livety Wear

I was wondering concerning programs for the vinyl cutter what does coreldraw, adobe illustrator and photoshop do, what are they used for concerning the vinyl cutting process?


----------



## charles95405

You do realize this thread was started 2 years ago? and the info is no doubt old but.....

Corel Draw and Illustrator are vector programs...you need vector graphics to cut vinyl...both have trace functions ...I personally prefer Corel...that is matter of choice....like some like fords and others like chevys.

Photoshop is for photos and not really that useful in vinyl cutting

There are two free programs...one is Inkscape. Draw Freely. which is a vector based program and pretty good but there is a learning curve with not much documentation. Next is GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program this is a photoshop wannabe...and pretty good but again not much documentation.


----------



## fbcwear2012

charles95405 said:


> You do realize this thread was started 2 years ago? and the info is no doubt old but.....
> 
> Corel Draw and Illustrator are vector programs...you need vector graphics to cut vinyl...both have trace functions ...I personally prefer Corel...that is matter of choice....like some like fords and others like chevys.
> 
> Photoshop is for photos and not really that useful in vinyl cutting
> 
> There are two free programs...one is Inkscape. Draw Freely. which is a vector based program and pretty good but there is a learning curve with not much documentation. Next is GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program this is a photoshop wannabe...and pretty good but again not much documentation.


Hi Charles I know this thread is old but I was wondering if you can answer yet another question about this topic. I was thinking of purchasing a vinyl cutter to cut my Jet Pro Soft & Jetwear Dark Premium (3g Opaque) transfer paper. I have GIMP (which I am slowly learning, I am not exactly savvy in the graphics art department; someone draws my designs and I add words to them on gimp and tweek them by adding transparency) on 11X17 paper. Can any of those cutters out there work with GIMP or do I need to purchase something else? Thanks!


----------



## charles95405

Anacelia ....all cutters require a vector image.... not a bitmap or raster image that is typical with photos etc.... and Gimp does create a vector image, however you will need software that will communicate with the cutter.... some cutters come with such programs and others don't.. you might look at the GCC line of cutters or the Roland GX 24.


----------



## fbcwear2012

Thanks Charles! Will look into both of those more. I saw a demo for the Roland and a little of the GCC Expert 24 which is cheaper. Thanks again!


----------

