Contour Cutting in Illi and Versaworks

[blackicefx]

well, this is going to be the stupid question of the day. I've gone through my manuals for my Versaworks and online instructions and can't get this stupid thing to work. This is what I've done:

In Illi, I copy my graphic to a new layer,
hide the new layer,
select all the contents of the first layer, add to shape with pathfinder and expand,
then object>path>offset path
created a positive offset path, deleted the old object so i have 1 cutline,
set the path to a stroke of 1, no fill
add the path to the color palette and name CutContour
save as EPS for Versaworks
Versaworks will not see the cutline...

I noticed that the different instructions do mention that the spot color of the stroke of the cutpath needs to be the correct color so that VW recognizes it... but no mention as to what the color is...?

RolandDGA says to install the CutContour ai file from my Versaworks cd however, in my excitement of receiving my SP300, have misplaced the disc. Any way of obtaining this file any other way? I'm sure I'll find it, but my shop is a mess atm...

Thanks for any advice
Matthew
BlackIceFX

 

[Chad.]

check this out ... it is what helped me A LOT when i got my machine ...

http://www.rolanddga.com/color/resources/pdf/Roland_Mystery_Book.pdf

 

[TheSnowman]

Well, coming from Illustrator, and using Onyx, I have to just basically select what I want cut, and create a new swatch called "CutCoutour", which sounds like that's what you were doing. It doesn't have to be any color in particular, just one that isn't already being used in the design. You do have the cut layer visible right? You shouldn't see any of your design other than your cut path when you hit save, at least if it's the same idea as mine.

 

[Mason]

Question:

When you view your file in VW, does the cutline appear as part of the graphic?

If so you have a transparency that is in conflict with the spot color "CutContour".


The "CutContour" color can be any spot color as long as it is named "CutContour"

 

[blackicefx]

Mason,

VW does not see the cut line at all, even with a 1pt stroke. I'd figure that if I had done something wrong, that it would just show as a printable line? Anyway, I'm doing another test today, hopefully it will work.

Does anyone have a copy of the VW file that you load into your Illi swatch? I still can't find my disk and it's killing me that that file may be the simplest way to correct this issue...

Thanks,
Matthew
BlackIceFX

 

[Bigdawg]

If it's a transparency issue the line should show, but not cut.

It does have to be a spot color to work, but you don't have to use the Roland Swatch. I just make a new swatch, name it CutContour, change it to spot color with a definition of 100% magenta and don't have any problems.

 

[blackicefx]

Thanks Stacy,

I'll try it again. I thought I did it that way, but it WAS 9pm and I was falling asleep at the computer... so who knows..

I'll post if that works.

Thanks,
Matthew
BlackIceFX

 

[jester2kx]

FYI, I read somewhere a while back about a little differnt way of doing it. I am a horrible speller, so this way works better for me

Create a new stroke with the name CutPath
I usualy make the stroke a Spot color CMYK (any color works, I chose C100M0y0k0. Its not a color I see very often, so it stands out)
make sure the path is .25
and the miter limit set to 1

It works everytime. I know that CutContour works, but its too big of a word for me sometimes

 

[blackicefx]

Update:

Finally was able to cut a 10.5' graphic with a full contour cut. Yay!

Thanks all for the help. I recreated the CutContour as a spot color and this time it worked. ?? I won't question it.

Matthew
BlackIceFX