Cutting Alignment

[CarolinaCabinet]

Hey, cutting my first really detailed contour cut on my new Graphtec FC-8000 .... it's not cutting EXACTLY on the line, everything is shifted slightly to the lower right... How do I align this perfectly?

 

[907customs]

Does the company that you purchased it from have tech support? I know sign warehouse techs were working on this issue over a month ago while I was down there for some training...

 

[CarolinaCabinet]

According to their sorry a$$... They only have one guy familiar with Graphtecs and he is on vacation his week... very disappointed in them... and graphtec tech support has not called me back yet either, so I was trying you guys out.

 

[dlndesign]

Graphtec Support is really good, I know I've bugged them quite a few times. If you haven't heard anything, its best to just call back until you get someone, or you may be waiting a couple days. Good luck!

 

[Bigdawg]

Graphtec has always responded quickly to us, so I agree with calling them back. How far off is the cut? 1/8"? Less? More?

 

[CarolinaCabinet]

Less... probably 1/16 low and about 1/32 to the right.... small enough that it hasn't bother me up until this certain job that I need 100% dead on.... just a small tweak

 

[Bigdawg]

I don't think you will ever get 100% dead on... what's the graphic look like?

 

[oakcitysigns]

I'll second BigDawg on this one... I have never had anything but great help from Graphtec's support guys...

Also, perfection is relative, so 100% accuracy is almost impossible.

Without knowing what the details of the project are, my only suggestion is to maybe add 1/16- 1/8" bleed outside of the cut line. You could also try adjusting the cut line inward. If you are cutting out of Illustrator, you can try: Object> Path> Offset Path... and type in -0.0675 (or whatever dimension you want). The new path will be grouped to the original path, so you'll have to ungroup and then delete or hide the original path.

Hope this helps.

 

[doug5222]

Axis alignment

In the FC7000, you could do Axis Alignment and get the cut within 0.005" of the graphic. I don't know about the FC8000 but a quick look at the User's Guide doesn't show anything called Axis Alignment. Keep calling the Graphtec folks!

 

[Bigdawg]

That's true in theory (and BTW welcome Doug), but if your printer stretched the print even a little, it all goes out the window. Never had the axis alignment make the difference I felt it should.

 

[jiarby]

I agree with most so far, best to allow for some "trapping" (like in screen printing) to allow for less than perfect registration. With the vinyl stretching and any crooked feed ing issues (either when printed or loaded into the cutter).

 

[CarolinaCabinet]

In the past I used a Roland XC-540... it was so dead on that you didnt need ANY bleeding and you couldnt even tell it was cut because the cut line was so precisely on the edge of the print line.... I am going to keep trying graphtec techs... it's hard to descibe the graphic but bleeding will not help because of the way it meets in a long narrow point... hard to explain... I can get it right by manually moving the cut line so that it is wrong on screen but correct when it cuts.... but I would like to align it more so that I do not have to.

 

[signguy95]

what software are you using? If it's flexi 8.0 or 8.1 they have a patch at SAI for a contour cut problem.


Jay

 

[rockz12]

Add Bleed

 

[CarolinaCabinet]

Wow, you guys love the bleeding. Let me see if I can describe this better. This is a cut decal for a large wall piece that will go in every store of this retail chain in the Country. They are the pickiest people, checking everything up close before it is approved. Bleeding will not work on some of these, as I said earlier, because it has a blank white edge around the print. Normally, this is a good thing because it gives a little bit of play. However, since it is dropping about 1/16", that also means it is missing 1/16" of white border across the top. Since the border is suppose to be 1/16", the result is NO white across the top of the decal, and 1/8" of white across the bottom.....

I'm sorry I am not better at describing it, but being a corporate chain and doing concept designs for them, I am not allowed to put a picture of the decal to give you guys a better idea.

The problem can be easily fixed by nudging the cut line down about 2 notches and over 1 notch within my illy design.... the result is perfect.... i am just wanting to get rid of the need to do that... and I/m also gonna try graphtec support again cuz I was too busy yesterday afternoon to try them back....

Thanks

 

[3dsignco]

dumb Question. How many reg marks you using.

I found out I got more accurate cuts on the FC7000 with 4 reg marks over 3 and on long prints add a few side reg marks.
"Type 2 Array Segmented " In Signlab.

 

[CarolinaCabinet]

I'm using one in all four corners, but adding more wouldn't help in this situation because it is doing it with a small 4"x6" sample as well, not nearly enough room for stretching or skewing or slipping away from reg marks can make a difference. Plain and simple, it just needs to be aligned i think, i just dont know how to adjust it. It cuts in the identical spot every time, so it's not anything causing it besides just being consistently misalligned..... and looking at my clock, its 11am, so the westcoast should be at work by now so I need to call tech support again.

 

[Oakwood]

Did you ever get any luck with this?

 

[Ken1f]

I'm using a FC-7000 and have found that it is much more accurate when I turn off the paper weight. Seemed to be stretching the vinyl and throwing off the rej. a little. The manual says it works better with it but for me its better without.

 

[bob]

Your sensor offset is not properly adjusted.

I don't know where it would be in your FC8000 manual but in my FC7000 manual the procedure you want is section 6-19 "Sensor Offset Adjustment (method 1)" and section 6-20 ""Sensor Offset Adjustment (method 2)".

Both methods involve printing a + on a piece of media and then having the plotter sense the + and cut what it thinks is the center line of both bars of the +. You look at the cut and if either center line cut is not dead center on the + you can input the distance it is off thus adjusting the offset between the mark sensor and the blade.