Contour Cut Effect Sensitivity...

[bendeane]

I have a graphic (a .psd file) that has a very light steam coming off of some food. I want to contour cut it for placement on a vehicle, and Flexi doesn't seem to want to cut around the steam, like it is too light and doesn't even sense it is there. Is there a way to make the contour cut effect more "sensitive"? I'm not sure I'm explaining it right. It's like sometimes when I have drop shadows on things that I want contour cut, it won't pick up the shadow and just cuts around the object. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Ben

P.S. Using Flexi 8.6 and have the best luck contour cutting raster images in .psd format 8 bit RGB.

 

[Charlie J]

What are you using to make your contour path?

 

[bob]

Depends on how you're dealing with the bitmap and how you're generating the contour cut.

Contour cutting faded drop shadows is a loser not because of Flexi, you can certainly do it, but because the drop shadow fades to white, Unless you're applying the image to a white substrate it will put the 'w' into weird looking.

Bitmaps is bitmaps, there's no functional difference setting up contour cuts on bitmaps in Flexi no matter what their origin.

 

[bendeane]

In this case, yes, I am applying to a white substrate (a white van in this case).

 

[bendeane]

Bob -

FYI - For some reason when I have a 16 bit .psd file, I can't contour cut it, only 8 bit.

 

[VisualMediaSolutions]

you could always try drawing an invisible contour around the steam creating a definite cut path

 

[bendeane]

Good Idea Visual...I did, however, find another solution. The Opacity was 10% in Photoshop. I increased it to 100% and opened it in Flexi. It put the contour cut path around it and then I used the Transparent lens effect in Flexi to bring the Opacity back down to 10%. Ripping it now, we'll see if it works.

 

[bob]

Bob -

FYI - For some reason when I have a 16 bit .psd file, I can't contour cut it, only 8 bit.

Flexi has a hard time recognizing other protocol's transparencies. When you bring in a bitmap, treat it like an opaque rectangle and create your own transparencies. Or just draw a path where you want to cut and make it a contour cut.