Need Help Contour Cutting for print then cut! Help on illustrator

[Adam24]

Hi guys I require some help on illustrator watched youtube videos however still get confused I want to be able to print and cut images..
i can print and cut like stickers in a circle or rectangle easily but I have no Idea on how to get the outline for a custom shape to print and then put through my cutter (graphtec) to cut..
Thanks

 

[myront]

duplicate the image and move off to the side. Do an auto-trace of that image. Delete the raster (image) whereby leaving the vector shapes. In corel I'd "create boundary" illustrator, I'm sure, has the equivalent. Move the contour over your orig image. Maybe create a "cut" layer and move it to that layer and move the layer above any others. Set the color of the line as needed. Might "clean up" nodes and such.

 

[Johnny Best]

Select vector image you want to cut, Go to Object, then down to path, then to offset path and select distance you need for your cut path. You can use preview to see distance off of your selected vector. The offset path will be saved as your cut path.
If it is not a vector you selected as the image you need to make a cut then follow instructions as myront describes in his first couple of sentences in post #2.

 

[axelmk]

Adam,
We do not have a Graphtec but a Summa S120T and a Colex Router driven by ONYX.
In our case, First create the path you want to cut, make sure to assign a special color as a "SPOT" color and name it (in our case) CutContour. Once we assign the color as such, ONYX recognizes that path to be the cut path and does not print it but generates that cutting path.
Hope this helps.

 

[Adam24]

Cheers guys will have a go tonight!

 

[MGB_LE]

This: CLICK HERE FOR PDF. is also a great resource for understanding how to set up contour cut files, back from when we had a Roland XC-540, but it applies for all cut file setup.

 

[greysquirrel]

YouTube is your friend. Lear live embrace adobe illustrator