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Graphtec Bomb Sites in Flexi?

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buggyjr12

New Member
I have a Roland SP-540V and a Graphtec FC4100-130 (it's really old but it does have a red "laser"(?) for manually aligning to bomb sites). I'm running Flexi 11 Cloud and printing out of VersaWorks.

I know that I can RIP and print directly out of Flexi and probably have a better chance of this working but I'd like to keep using VersaWorks because of the ease of use and because the colors look way better. Also, I use the print and cut workflow of the SP-540V but I'd like to have a backup plan in case I run into a problem like I did a while back where it wouldn't track right and screwed up EVERYTHING I tried to contour cut (I eventually corrected it by replacing a pinch roller). It would also be nice to use once in a while from a workflow standpoint.

Here's my question. Is there any way to create Graphtec bomb sites in Flexi 11 (ones that I can save with the file, not the automated ones in the PRINT/CUT screen), send the file to VersaWorks, print it on a Roland, laminate, and then cut it on a Graphtec FC4100-130?

I've exhausted all of the online searches I can think of and actually spoke to someone from Graphtec that told me they think it's possible but I'd have to get ahold of Flexi and so far I haven't been able to do that. I also have an outdated manual that is of no help.

So, does anybody have any advice or knowledge of a way to do this? Any help would be appreciated!
 
P

ProPDF

New Member
buggyjr12 said:
I have a Roland SP-540V and a Graphtec FC4100-130 (it's really old but it does have a red "laser"(?) for manually aligning to bomb sites). I'm running Flexi 11 Cloud and printing out of VersaWorks.

I know that I can RIP and print directly out of Flexi and probably have a better chance of this working but I'd like to keep using VersaWorks because of the ease of use and because the colors look way better. Also, I use the print and cut workflow of the SP-540V but I'd like to have a backup plan in case I run into a problem like I did a while back where it wouldn't track right and screwed up EVERYTHING I tried to contour cut (I eventually corrected it by replacing a pinch roller). It would also be nice to use once in a while from a workflow standpoint.

Here's my question. Is there any way to create Graphtec bomb sites in Flexi 11 (ones that I can save with the file, not the automated ones in the PRINT/CUT screen), send the file to VersaWorks, print it on a Roland, laminate, and then cut it on a Graphtec FC4100-130?

I've exhausted all of the online searches I can think of and actually spoke to someone from Graphtec that told me they think it's possible but I'd have to get ahold of Flexi and so far I haven't been able to do that. I also have an outdated manual that is of no help.

So, does anybody have any advice or knowledge of a way to do this? Any help would be appreciated!
Click to expand...


I know in Flexi 12 you can add a lot of different graphtec crop marks to the file and just send the file where you want.... you can space them however you want on the file itself as well. I don't know if they have the cross hair with a circle style bomb mark if that is what you are talking about. In Flexi 12 just click the check mark and it will apply whatever set of crop marks from the menu while in Flexi designer. I don't have Flexi 12 on me at the moment or I would send screen shots.
 
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woolly

New Member
don't know about flexi or the manual graphtec alignment but do a lot of print roland versaworks cut on graphtec (flat bed and roll) with arms from coral.
the point of the ticks > of the roland marks denotes the corner points of the file but this does include any pdf or eps boarder so the cut path from flexi has to be offset by that amount to compensate.
or surround your art work with a hairline box and group it so the art cant move in side it send and print only from VW no marks.
after lamination reload in to the graphtec and use the 4 corners of the box as your marks find and set the marks.
in flexi set the art work inc the box against the 0-0 origin corner send cut path to cutter. the purpose of the box is to trap the art work in to a known area and position so can go from machine to machine keeping position.
this is more accurate than the marks from cuttingmaster because i am not convinced it does it 100% correctly every time.
 
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buggyjr12

New Member
Okay, thank you for the responses but I just heard back from Flexi. Apparently this was a paid upgrade in v12 and beyond and is not an option in v11.
 
Neil ADS

Neil ADS

New Member
I have been in your exact situation and unfortunately was unable to get the graphtec plotter to work, UNTIL my subscription with flexi went to Flexi19. I have exact same printer. SP540V and Graphtec FC4100-130 plotter.
Now everything works perfectly. We use flexi for design setup, versaworks to rip and print then laminate and cut on graphtec. I also have a Roland VS640 and have printed on that, laminated graphics then contour cut on Graphtec. Have you considered going onto Flexi 19 subscription its around, $50 per month. If you do upgrade I will happily send you a walk through video link of how we print, laminate and cut. I would use my graphtec for contour cutting over the roland every time.
 
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buggyjr12

New Member
Wow, I would really appreciate that. I'm considering the upgrade.

Here's another question. How "bright" is the red pointer light on your FC4100-130? I ripped and printed something with bomb sites out of Flexi just to see if I could get the light to come on and it did but it was really faint. Like where I had to hold my hand over it to make a shadow so I could see it. It was about the size of a pinpoint and really hard to see. I almost thought of turning the lights out just to be able to set it accurately. Is that how yours is or should I try to find a replacement?

Also, after I placed it on bomb site #1 and hit "Okay" Flexi told me to find bomb site #2 but the light had gone out when I hit okay on the first one. It did that every time I tried to align it. I'm sure that isn't normal but I just chalked it up to me not doing something right or incompatability.

Lastly, after I "set" all four positions with the bomb sites I hit "cut" and it cut but it didn't cut anything close to what I was trying to cut. I really didn't mess with it much after that becaue I figured one step at a time but I know that's something I'm possibly going to have to resolve too if the software upgrade doesn't cure it. Any thoughts on that?
 
Neil ADS

Neil ADS

New Member
buggyjr12 said:
Wow, I would really appreciate that. I'm considering the upgrade.

Here's another question. How "bright" is the red pointer light on your FC4100-130? I ripped and printed something with bomb sites out of Flexi just to see if I could get the light to come on and it did but it was really faint. Like where I had to hold my hand over it to make a shadow so I could see it. It was about the size of a pinpoint and really hard to see. I almost thought of turning the lights out just to be able to set it accurately. Is that how yours is or should I try to find a replacement?

Also, after I placed it on bomb site #1 and hit "Okay" Flexi told me to find bomb site #2 but the light had gone out when I hit okay on the first one. It did that every time I tried to align it. I'm sure that isn't normal but I just chalked it up to me not doing something right or incompatability.

Lastly, after I "set" all four positions with the bomb sites I hit "cut" and it cut but it didn't cut anything close to what I was trying to cut. I really didn't mess with it much after that becaue I figured one step at a time but I know that's something I'm possibly going to have to resolve too if the software upgrade doesn't cure it. Any thoughts on that?
Click to expand...
The magic light on plotter is fairly bright, easily enough seen. I'm not sure if the LED bulbs can be replaced. I had similar issues with crop Mark's not reading and not cutting accurately but no issues with Flexi 19. I set contour cut in flexi then use the graphtec 4 point crop marks. The plotter asks you to set point one but after hitting return it automatically goes to point 2, then 3, then 4 respectively. Only minor adjustments needed to allow for Skew caused by slight movement in vinyl after laminating. I will do a little test print and cut and try and put up a video tomorrow. If you want to PM me your email I can send a few screenshots. But as I said previously I think your issue is version of flexi and model of plotter. I know people with flexi 12 and newer plotter say FC 8100 having no issues.
 
Neil ADS

Neil ADS

New Member
Flexi 19 print & contour cut with cropmarks 1.jpg
 
Neil ADS

Neil ADS

New Member
This is a video link to contour cutting using Flexi 19 with Graphtec FC4100-130 plotter once artwork has been printed and laminated
 
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