Cut Line Off

[Engstrom Graphics]

Keep ruining prints - out of nowhere my cut line is “shifted” towards front of machine. It is perfectly aligned as a file - and even on VW when I zoom in cut line is exactly centered.

If I orient the graphic sideways - the cut line is shifted to the right. When graphic is oriented right side up - it is shifted up. So it is shifting the same direction every time.

I’ve done manual cutting options, done advanced cutting options in VW - no difference. Brand new blade - new cut carriage - and cleaned the encoder strip.

I’m running out of ideas and losing business. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Only thing I can think of is pinch rollers (but other cuts with less force are perfectly fine) - and or the actual small motherboard for the cut carriage. Otherwise I am at the point where I need to look at a Summa for cutting or something to pair with my versacamm. So frustrating. Lots of orders coming up too….

 

[Engstrom Graphics]

I just tried to reflatten the image and save it again in Illy. Then just did a print/cut all in 1 option on VW without laminating or anything - and cut is still “shifted” the same as before.

 

[weyandsign]

You're not using "center on media" in VW are you? That would cause it.

 

[Engstrom Graphics]

You're not using "center on media" in VW are you? That would cause it.

Nope - that box is unchecked. Thanks though!

 

[Engstrom Graphics]

This is how VW sees it - and it’s dead on in Illy as well. But result all of the sudden is not.

 

[Gino]

What's the size of the entire graphic ??

 

[Zoogee World]

Is it only this particular design that is doing it or are others as well?

 

[Solventinkjet]

What model? Looks like you need to run the print/cut alignment on the printer. If it's an older model you would need to run the environmental match as well.

 

[Engstrom Graphics]

Size of graphic is around 5” in height or so - few inches in width.

Have had ongoing issues with cut force for a while - which caused me to install a new (used) cut carriage - has been inconsistent so far. Thinking of installing my old one back on. Original cause for change was having to cut 3x using 300 force for my thick material.

This one cuts it with 1 pass - at 290 with a new 60 degree blade. This file and another file it has done it to - have only cut 2 other files with the “new” cut carriage and it took some tinkering with force but alignment was good.

Roland SP300V - my workhorse. I also always run Environmental Match before cutting as well.

Thanks everyone - just at wits end here when these need to be shipped.

 

[Engstrom Graphics]

After a lot of trial and error I managed (so far) to get my cuts back on track. Did a lot of print/cut adjustments.

It was literally moving the values by 1mm for both up/down (feed) and left/right (scan) to get back to accurate.

What would cause these settings to all of the sudden be that far off? Anyone know? Haven’t had to touch those settings in years and quite frankly forgot about them!

 

[Engstrom Graphics]

Please help - now I go to cut the same file that I tested yesterday and it was spot on - now cutting jumped again and is off.

Anyone?

 

[weyandsign]

How long of a sheet of decals are you cutting? Is it shifted consistently on the entire sheet, or is it progressive? And you say changing the graphic orientation, the shifting follows the orientation? Change your USB cable to the printer. What file type are you importing into VW? Do you set contour cut lines and make sure you don't shift them before you export the graphic? Are you setting the basepoint on the center of the bottom right dot crop mark? Then are you doing Get Media Width in VW before you cut?

 

[Engstrom Graphics]

Thank you for the reply!

The sheet is 1 set of numbers only - and original was 1 set of logo decals - so very small sheet.

Consistently off in same direction. I am not changing the orientation - I did so when I was testing all the print/cut adjustments to make sure it was good and that was it.

I will try a different usb cable to see if that helps.

I always import .eps from Illustrator (add cut-outline, flatten transparency, save as .eps) - so no shifting happens.

Base point always set, then Environmental Match. I do not "get media width," never have in over a decade. So at a loss here - in fact I'm looking at Summa's right now to avoid losing work.

 

[Engstrom Graphics]

Another sample from today - used thinner laminate, 45 degree blade this time.

I was trying to ascertain if there was a difference between using “Enable Advanced Settings” in VW compared to using the panel on the printer itself - and cut is off regardless.

It’s not feasible to “guess” the print/cut adj setting every time I print and lam - then fingers crossed I guessed correctly on those mm adjustments. It was spot on when I changed those - now next time I cut those print/cut adj settings are off again.

What is going on?