Roland pnc 1000 for a first timer

[stuartm]

looking at buying a used roland pnc 1000, im fairly fluent with photoshop, but i have never used a plotter of this type before. what other software do i need to run this. From what i have read the roland driver can be tricky to get working.

 

[knucklehead]

Don't know about the Roland drivers being 'tricky', but I've got an operators manual on PDF if ya need one.

 

[round man]

You will not be able to run it from photoshop,that is a bitmap editing program,...you'll need a vector editing program like illlustrator or coreldraw and or a dedicated cas cutting program like signlab,flexisign or many of the others used for cutting vinyl

 

[7oaks]

I used a PNC 1000 for a long time but I bridged it from Corel to the plotter with SignTools program. Old paint cuts directly from Corel. If you are
just starting, then maybe a earlier version of Corel (ie 7, 8, 9 or 10) would be economical to buy and an old edition of Corel for idoits will get you
a long way up the learning curve


Ken

 

[stuartm]

I used a PNC 1000 for a long time but I bridged it from Corel to the plotter with SignTools program. Old paint cuts directly from Corel. If you are
just starting, then maybe a earlier version of Corel (ie 7, 8, 9 or 10) would be economical to buy and an old edition of Corel for idoits will get you
a long way up the learning curve


Ken

thanks, i do have illustrator currently on my mac, its been a while since i have used a pc, im setting up an old tower this week to run the plotter. the current machine owner is running it directly from corel i believe but im not sure what version. Good idea on the idiots book as well i might have to check amazon for a old copy.

 

[Jackpine]

PNC 1000 was my first plotter. Good at the time and cost me $3,200.00 new. Now it is a slow stepper motor, makes a lot of noise and not always "clean cutting...... but I did a lot of work with it and made a lot of money. It should be not expensive and they are built like a brick s*it house. I ran mint on Signlab when it was cadlink for Corel.... and Corel ver 1.

 

[stuartm]

i was looking online at parts like blades and such , and im a little confused by the blade angles, what is the ideal blade angle, im assuming that goes with the thickness of the vinyl or the speed of the machine.

 

[J Hill Designs]

i was looking online at parts like blades and such , and im a little confused by the blade angles, what is the ideal blade angle, im assuming that goes with the thickness of the vinyl or the speed of the machine.

45 degree- solid color cut vinyl only for the most part, possible cast/cast print/lam combos

60 degree - calendared print/lam (thicker), reflective, sandblast resist

 

[OldPaint]

PNC-1000...AHHHHHHHHHH... i called mine ORCA)))) made sounds just like an orca. SLOW, & NOISY. but i cut a lot of vinyl with it. it will cut 15" 18" or 20" rolls of vinyl. dont think you can buy 18-20 today so your stuck with 15". cutting speed is like 34 ips(thats straight line) so doing curves and intricate cuts....way slower. cutting strip and blades are still the same from the pnc-1000 to rolands cx-500 are all the same. i cut from corel to plotter. i use a PC... know freind of mine cuts from a mac........i bought mine in 1992 for $1600, slightly used. sold it for $500, bought a PNC-1100 for $1100. i set up a mobile sign shop and got another PNC-1100 for it. ran it off a laptop, sold both of them for $700, got a deal on a CX-300.........love it))))
running any OS other then windows 98. your going to get an ERROR message on the plotter window..IGNORE IT!!!!