Which Summa.....

[Engstrom Graphics]

Background - I have been using my Roland Versacamm SP300-V for over a decade. I have installed a cut carriage cable, new print heads, servo motor, etc. so I am not afraid to tackle any mechanical jobs on the printer. I do a lot of smaller sized print and cut decals using thick material and the inconsistent cutting (force, and wandering) has cost me more $ over the years then if I would have a separate, dedicated machine just for cutting. Which is what brings me to this post.

I use Adobe Illustrator on my Mac, and a separate Windows run CPU that only runs my Roland Printer. I am looking for consistent and accurate cuts on my decals. I have done some research but looking for guidance on what setup you would run regarding a Summa Cutter for my application.

I have read, but am not familiar with, utilizing a Summa Plug-In for Illustrator for their registration marks. In VersaWorks you can change the quantity of a file to whatever and it will print and cut that amount - am I correct that a Summa you have to DESIGN 20 of the same decals with the Cut Registration marks to make 20, for instance?

Opos required do you think if I do lots of these small print/cut decals (normally use 10mm lam and 6mm vinyl)?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I know nothing about making this change - I would like to make the transition to a dedicated Summa cutter to use with my Roland Printer to maximize my efficiency and to stop wasting thousands of dollars over the years from cuts being messed up by my Versacamm. Thank you!!

 

[Attila Nagy]

Unfortunately Summa software support for Mac is not a good one.
There is a GoSign AI Plugin for Mac, adds registration mark and sends the job for GoSign. But the cutter and GoSign runs on PC
Best Option for Mac users with Illustrator is Graphtec Cutting Master 4 (NOT 5) and a Graphtec Cutter.

 

[Engstrom Graphics]

I'm fine with running the Cutter itself and GoSign on my PC that is currently dedicated to running my printer. That's no problem at all. As long as I can design and add the registration marks in Illustrator on my Mac, I'm good.

Any recommendation on which Summa I should be looking for? I don't really need a very wide one - a 30" would suffice. I want the reliability and precise cutting that Summa offers (so I've heard) - tired of dealing with Roland and their inconsistent cutting capabilities.

 

[jerry369]

I'm fine with running the Cutter itself and GoSign on my PC that is currently dedicated to running my printer. That's no problem at all. As long as I can design and add the registration marks in Illustrator on my Mac, I'm good.

Any recommendation on which Summa I should be looking for? I don't really need a very wide one - a 30" would suffice. I want the reliability and precise cutting that Summa offers (so I've heard) - tired of dealing with Roland and their inconsistent cutting capabilities.

you can also send the job to the plotter directly from illustrator with its plugin.

you already have a drag plotter, your roland, now you need a tangential one

 

[PHILJOHNSON]

As was mentioned previously, there is an Illustrator plug-in that will apply the Summa registration marks(you can download that here - https://www.airmark.com/pages/summa-s2-series-vinyl-cutter-downloads) and that works up through version CC23. Once the marks are applied, you can use MacSign cutting software if you would prefer to run everything on a Mac, or you could use GoSign on a PC to send the cut files to your cutter.

For the cutter recommendation, that would depend on what types of materials you want to cut, how intricate you will be cutting, and how much production you will be doing. If you plan on cutting simple shapes on standard cast vinyl, and won't be cutting high volumes, the S One D Series would be a more affordable option. If you plan on cutting intricate designs, thicker materials, or if you anticipate higher volumes, the S3 T Series tangential cutter would be a better option. The S3 cutters are on sale at the moment, so the price difference is quite a bit less than it normally is compared to the S One models. Let me know if you might be interested in seeing some pricing for one of the 30" models, and I can email you a cost breakdown.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions, or if you would like to compare the different Summa models in more detail, and I would be happy to help however I can.

Best regards,

Phil Johnson
Airmark Corporation
(800)527-7778, ext. 112
philj@airmark.com

 

[Mr.Signboy]

Background - I have been using my Roland Versacamm SP300-V for over a decade. I have installed a cut carriage cable, new print heads, servo motor, etc. so I am not afraid to tackle any mechanical jobs on the printer. I do a lot of smaller sized print and cut decals using thick material and the inconsistent cutting (force, and wandering) has cost me more $ over the years then if I would have a separate, dedicated machine just for cutting. Which is what brings me to this post.

I use Adobe Illustrator on my Mac, and a separate Windows run CPU that only runs my Roland Printer. I am looking for consistent and accurate cuts on my decals. I have done some research but looking for guidance on what setup you would run regarding a Summa Cutter for my application.

I have read, but am not familiar with, utilizing a Summa Plug-In for Illustrator for their registration marks. In VersaWorks you can change the quantity of a file to whatever and it will print and cut that amount - am I correct that a Summa you have to DESIGN 20 of the same decals with the Cut Registration marks to make 20, for instance?

Opos required do you think if I do lots of these small print/cut decals (normally use 10mm lam and 6mm vinyl)?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I know nothing about making this change - I would like to make the transition to a dedicated Summa cutter to use with my Roland Printer to maximize my efficiency and to stop wasting thousands of dollars over the years from cuts being messed up by my Versacamm. Thank you!!

Go Sign isn't going to nest multiple quantities for you like Versaworks will, you'll have to actually layout in your design software what you want to cut. I run both the drag knife and tangential model. I would get the S3 T if i were you. it's really nice to use the flex cut and can make really detailed cuts, also it's really fast. you can still do kiss cuts with it just fine. The plug-in is pretty simple to operate.

 

[DonutSlinger]

We personally don't like the software options for the summa cutters, referring to Macsign, and GoSign. It's not very intuitive and buggy. Gosign doesn't allow the controls needed for our jobs. Gosign only allows the changing of speed, overcut, flexcut and tool.

MacSign is riddled with bugs, and the software hasn't been updated in 4 years. Using Macsign with Flexcut has it's bugs. It works, but randomly changing the cutting order of Kiss-Cut and Thru-cut lines. We want to get another summa but the software execution has us considering another Graphtec.

Any other software recommendations for running a summa with barcodes?

 

[jerry369]

randomly changing the cutting order of Kiss-Cut and Thru-cut lines.

What exactly do you mean by "randomly changing the cutting order of Kiss-Cut and Thru-cut lines"

 

[Mr.Signboy]

We personally don't like the software options for the summa cutters, referring to Macsign, and GoSign. It's not very intuitive and buggy. Gosign doesn't allow the controls needed for our jobs. Gosign only allows the changing of speed, overcut, flexcut and tool.

MacSign is riddled with bugs, and the software hasn't been updated in 4 years. Using Macsign with Flexcut has it's bugs. It works, but randomly changing the cutting order of Kiss-Cut and Thru-cut lines. We want to get another summa but the software execution has us considering another Graphtec.

Any other software recommendations for running a summa with barcodes?

As far as i can tell, the Summa will only flex cut (front to Back) in one direction, regardless of the direction you may have set up in your design software, it will try and optimize the cutting direction and order to avoid feeding material that's been cut back through the pinch rollers. If you were cutting on a flatbed it would keep the directions you assign. Maybe that is why it's Changing the order to something other than you expect.

I believe you can use Flexi to run your barcode workflow.