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New to the cutting world - need help please

L

littleyan92

New Member
Last month I got a Silhouette Cameo to make some vinyl stickers and such. This thing is an amazing tool and I have only touched the surface on its capabilities. With that, it comes complete with its own cutting program Silhouette Studio. The program is super easy and intuitive. I am running this all on my MAC

In search of some vinyl, I went to my local sign shop and, to my suprise, they gave me free vinyl sheets and they offered me a Graphtec FC4100-75 for FREE! I said sure, went back the next week and picked it up. It has a 30" cutting width and is a commercial grade one. It was working when they replaced it with a newer cutter. It as a USB plug on it.

Graphtec FC4100-75
WHERE TO START? My NEWBIE question is that I dont even know where to begin with this. I want to start/try to use this machine however dont know what I need to install to get it up and running. Along the lines of FREE, here are a few of my questions. I am hoping that you can help me out and provide links to software/drivers/....

- What FREE software exists that I can interface and use this plotter? Can I use this on my Mac?
- What drivers/installs/plugins do I need?
- If I cant get this to work, What does a FC4100-75 normally sell for?

Thanks a lot in advance,

Mark
 
OldPaint

OldPaint

New Member
HUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM....a sign shop.......just GAVE IT TO YA????
being from "philly"..........you sure thats how it was obtained)))))))hehehehehehehehehe.
 
Techman

Techman

New Member
you got a nice cutter for FREE. Why not buy a good software to go with it and have a great match you can use instead of getting some cheapo junk software and fight each job every day?.
 
P

player

New Member
Techman said:
you got a nice cutter for FREE. Why not buy a good software to go with it and have a great match you can use instead of getting some cheapo junk software and fight each job every day?.
Click to expand...

What would you recommend?

Corel and the free Graphtec plot/cut driver?

A basic Signlab or Flexi version?
 
DizzyMarkus

DizzyMarkus

New Member
Unsure if you can cut from it or not--- INKSCAPE is a pretty cool free vector program.


What did your parents use, why cant you use that?


Markus
 
L

littleyan92

New Member
Thanks for the replies all!

WHICH SOFTWARE and PACKAGE? CAN I USE MY MACBOOK PRO??
I don't mind spending some money on a nice software, however I dont know where to start. Thus, see question above!

What would you all recommend?

I currently have a Silouette cameo, which has its own software. Its a neat 12" desktop machine that has a lot of capabilities. This was my intro to the cutting world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBaiYCinwh8
 
P

player

New Member
littleyan92 said:
Thanks for the replies all!

WHICH SOFTWARE and PACKAGE? CAN I USE MY MACBOOK PRO??
I don't mind spending some money on a nice software, however I dont know where to start. Thus, see question above!

What would you all recommend?

I currently have a Silouette cameo, which has its own software. Its a neat 12" desktop machine that has a lot of capabilities. This was my intro to the cutting world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBaiYCinwh8
Click to expand...

Look into Corel. There is probably a free cut plugin from Graphtec that lets you run your cutter right from Corel.
 
Jackpine

Jackpine

New Member
CoCut, Cibercut, Viny Master are three reasonably priced programs. CoCut would be my choice. PC's are cheap and CoCut ...you're in the cutting game.
 
WildWestDesigns

WildWestDesigns

Active Member
littleyan92 said:
Just found out that the Silhouette Cameo is MADE BY GRAPHTEC!

:Oops::omg2::omg2::omg2::omg2::Coffee:
Click to expand...


That is true, but a member of my embroidery trade group found out that the proprietary file formats for the Cameo did not work with their newly bought Graphtec. She had to re-do a lot of designs.

I have no first hand experience with that, that is just what she had reported, so take it for what it's worth.
 
I

infinitesign

New Member
littleyan92 said:
Last month I got a Silhouette Cameo to make some vinyl stickers and such. This thing is an amazing tool and I have only touched the surface on its capabilities. With that, it comes complete with its own cutting program Silhouette Studio. The program is super easy and intuitive. I am running this all on my MAC

In search of some vinyl, I went to my local sign shop and, to my suprise, they gave me free vinyl sheets and they offered me a Graphtec FC4100-75 for FREE! I said sure, went back the next week and picked it up. It has a 30" cutting width and is a commercial grade one. It was working when they replaced it with a newer cutter. It as a USB plug on it.

Graphtec FC4100-75
WHERE TO START? My NEWBIE question is that I dont even know where to begin with this. I want to start/try to use this machine however dont know what I need to install to get it up and running. Along the lines of FREE, here are a few of my questions. I am hoping that you can help me out and provide links to software/drivers/....

- What FREE software exists that I can interface and use this plotter? Can I use this on my Mac?
- What drivers/installs/plugins do I need?
- If I cant get this to work, What does a FC4100-75 normally sell for?

Thanks a lot in advance,

Mark
Click to expand...

I use Corel Draw with CoCut. Flawless software. You can get versions of Corel Draw that are 2-3 years old for 75.00 online. With a real serial number. CoCut will run about 550.00 though. I do not know any way around that.
 
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