New to Summa Cutters... Advise please!

[MikeyG]

Hello to you all!
My company is in the process of deciding whether to install a new Latex printer and Summa D160 cutter.
Our other large format print machines here all run through Shiraz RIP, which can also print to the new latex machine we are looking at.
My question is simply (!) ... What software does the cutter work with?
Years ago, I used a vinyl cutter with FlexiCut, which brought outlined artwork in from illustrator. But that was just with pre-coloured vinyl.
I'm looking to print, say, a company logo, then contour cut it on the Summa.
How does the Summa know where to cut?
The RIP can include different styles and sizes of crop marks, which I understand the D160 can read, but exactly what software does the cutter use to know where to cut?

I hope I'm making myself understood?
Any information will be useful!

Many thanks!

 

[tomence]

You would use the plugin that come with for Corel or Illustrator. You setup everything in Corel or Illy like the contour and the reg marks. Print the job with the reg marks but without the contour line. You should have a separate layer with the contour line and reg marks. And you can print from any RIP you want.

 

[MrSalumi]

The answer is a LOT of different software will run the plotter. The free one being winplot (available from Summa) is very limited but does the job if you can't afford to obtain any other software. It works with the plugin available (again from summa) for illustrator, corel etc...

OR,

You could purchase "premium" software such as Flexi, Onyx, Caldera, Wasatch etc... In addition to being RIPS that will handle your printer they all have cutting options which will run the Summa much better than the standard free option.

Hope that helps.