I am utterly ashamed I have been unable to figure this out!

[Osqui227]

I am using Flexi for set-up, Onyx for a RIP, and Summa Cutter Control with barcodes for cutting.
The right side definitely has to be outside the crop, the left side can be inside, and this technique massively improves accuracy with less expensive materials with cheap thin liners.
View attachment 181581

I without the barcodes for cutting, the machine works good? and can you give another trick with the summa?

 

[tulsagraphics]

So you are saying you don't have to have the left pinch roller past the reg mark? How is this possible unless it is not a Summa thing but a Rip thing. I use Flexi and from what I have experienced is that the left and the right have to be outside the rollers. Is there a way you can fake them out?

The right roller has to be outside the mark. The left side doesn't matter for print and cuts. The RIP will tell the Summa to look past it. You really only need the Summa's "extended cut" feature for plain cut vinyl.

 

[tulsagraphics]

Daniel, I am not sure how we accomplish making registration marks throughout the layout.

You can use Summa's plugins for that. They're pretty basic, but actually work quite well. I started using WinPlot because it provided me an easy option to stop a job mid-cut, adjust vectors, resave, and resend without having to re-RIP the job. (This was before I picked up Caldera, but I have quite a few repeat jobs throughout the year and those files are already set up and ready to go via WinPlot). The plugins add reg marks to your Illustrator (and Corel?) artboards. Export that and send to the RIP. (just remember to turn off the cut feature in your RIP if you do that -- since you don't want double reg marks). Not that I'm suggesting you switch software and change your workflow -- just saying -- Summa's plugin can add reg marks to your document if you wanted a one click option for that.

 

[tulsagraphics]

Keep in mind that the flex cut is effectively (mostly) cutting holes in the larger sheet of media. This can affect the stability of the media sheet in real time, so some flex cuts are likely to be more accurate (the ones that cut first) or less accurate (the later flex cuts) due to stability of the media at the time of the flex cut. That is likely why kiss cuts are fine (they cut first) and some flex cuts are not closing properly.

Absolutely this. Flex-cutting is a nice feature, but you really have to manage expectations in terms of your nesting efficiency. Dial in your settings on the machine (decals should NOT automatically fall out, which I expect they are, given the smooth cuts in your photos -- also, those cutting strips aren't cheap!). Decals need to stay in place for the entire job -- just enough to keep them from falling out mid-cut -- but hopefully cut deep enough they are still relatively easy to pop out without leaving much of a perforated edge. Side note: Cutting through paper liner wears down blades faster so you need to recalibrate your blade depth more frequently on longer jobs. Another side note: When I get a flexcut job, I increase my price enough to justify purchasing a new plotter blade.

 

[tulsagraphics]

I without the barcodes for cutting, the machine works good? and can you give another trick with the summa?

You don't need barcodes - they simply make it easier when you get into higher volume production, sending multiple jobs at once, etc.. I wouldn't say there are any "tricks" with plotters. After all, they're "dumb" machines (and by that, I mean, they're only doing what you tell them to do). For the most part, you just need to dial in your blade pressure/depth/speed/overcut settings, keep your rollers clean, and have fresh blades on hand. It's one of those things you just need to experiment with and find out what works best for the media and/or job you're working on.

 

[gabagoo]

The right roller has to be outside the mark. The left side doesn't matter for print and cuts. The RIP will tell the Summa to look past it. You really only need the Summa's "extended cut" feature for plain cut vinyl.

I'm going to have to try this. I always thought that when you ran a graphic that really pushed the boundaries of the vinyl, that when I cut the graphics, if there was any sort of screw up with registration I automatically blamed it on that left pinch roller thinking that because it was on the pinch roller or slightly past that it caused the software to think it had less space to cut the file.

 

[Mr.Signboy]

Have you done any of the blade calibrations on your summa?