CE3000CRP and Mac

[Volker]

Hi !
I was browsing your board for the last couple days looking for the best solution for my needs.
My wife is in the market for a cutter/plotter and I act as her personal shopper
It started with looking at these scrapbooking desktop models like Cricut which I don't feels comfy with (limited functions, expensive modules, etc.).
I was looking into a solution that can be connected to a computer and finally ended up looking in detail to the CE3000CRP aka Craft Robo Pro 2.
It seems to be the best solution in functionality, size and quality.

Now, having a Mac household seems to limit the possibilities in using this machine. I saw that Graphtec has a Illustrator plug-in (have CS2) but I'm unsure if this will work on a Intel-Mac (iMac 24").
I also read about the Cutting Master software (is this the same ?) and the website states to contact Graphtec to get the version for Intel-Macs.

Will Cutting Master work with the CE3000CRP ?

And if everything works out, the final question... where to buy ? I found one dealer here on the board but the business seems to be bankrupt

Thanks in advance for your help !

Best regards,
Volker

 

[2NinerNiner2]

Bonjour de Montréal

:Big Laugh ... nope, absolutely won't work on that gorgeous 24" iMac... you'd better pack that up and send it to me... :Big Laugh :Big Laugh

Don't know about the Mac version of CS2 and the plug-ins but the Windows XP version will of course work nicely on the iMac with either Boot Camp or Parallels.

Welcome to S101

 

[mladams7259]

It all depends on what the machine's primary function is. Is it for craft work, cutting paper and scrapbooking materials or is it for vinyl material for signs etc?

 

[Volker]

Thanks for the welcome !
I considered (for < 1 sec) to go XP with boot camp or parallels but we all know what happend to Anarkin when he was tempted by the darkside
Been there, done that
So, no, not an option.

As for the use: wife is an artist dealing mostly with mixed media and is annoyed by the time she spends on cutting her material out of paper, cardstock and vinyl as well. Lots of times several identical pieces.
So the solution should be multi purpose and will certainly extend in T-Shirt and screen printing but in low numbers and not primary.

Primary application is Photoshop, as I said Illustrator is available as well.

Guess my question is really if the Illustrator plug-in is enough to let the cutter do its job or do I need to buy additional software ?

 

[Volker]

And one additional question:
Does the plug-in allow for contour cutting from Illustrator ?
The manuals I found so far only demonstrate the setting of the registration markers but have no example of contour cutting.

 

[Ken]

Welcome from Beautiful BC...
Ken

 

[TresL]

Volker on the PC side, the plug-in works "OK" with CS2, and yes you can cut straight out of CS2.(The Plug-in is a FLEXI front end)

For contour cutting, it will work fine using the REG marks.

 

[Volker]

Thanks for the info TresL !
Now I'm offically confused (being Newbie and all)
Please help me out here.
For some reason I had assumed it would work like this:
In Illustrator I have my graphic, lets say a curved form like a snake. Around the form I have my reg markers in a rectangular shape. I had assumed that I could outline the form of the snake in Illustrator as well and let the cutter follow that form. Does this work ?

 

[TresL]

Yeap, sure does.....

See if this helps...


Instead of a snake, use a circle...(easier)

Draw a circle and fill with the color you wish to use.
Now draw a circle that is .500 bigger than the first.(this will be the cut line)
Stroke that circle with a black line(3 pts)
Center the first & second circles to each other
Add the reg marks
turn off the larger circle
print the first circle with the reg marks
load that print into the cutter & line up reg marks
go back to ILL, turn off the smaller circle & turn on the larger one.

Then send that to the cutter, this should contour cut the smaller circle by .500

Disclaimer: this was written early on a Sunday with very little coffee intake..

 

[Volker]

Awesome, sounds easy enough, thanks !

 

[Volker]

What actually is the difference between the CE3000-40 and the Craft Robo Pro 2 ?