Versa Works Contour Cut is Driving Me Crazy!

[susiestrickline]

Ok, I've tried flattenning the image, then adding the contourcut line, then saved as .eps- and still no marching ants in Versaworks.

About to try SOA way as mentioned above.... but not real sure what the "weeding box" means......

anyone else find ways to make this work?

 

[J Hill Designs]

weeding box is only if you use it...an extra 'cut contour' around everything

 

[susiestrickline]

Ok, the SOA method did not work for me I saved as an EPS with lang 3 & high res options marked.

If i could get my drop shadow off I'd be happy.... I'm using AI CS4.... is it possible to remove a drop shadow, if so can someone tell me how???


Thanks!

 

[Mainframe]

Before you lose the drop shadow, duplicate the file & export it as a tiff,select rgb & medium res when exporting, then create a new illy file & place it in there, now go to your original file & copy the cut line(s), place them over your tiff file & save the whole thing as a pdf,
should work in versaworks

 

[Bobby H]

A number of different "live" effects in Adobe Illustrator will disable Contour Cut functions in VersaWorks. Transparency effects definitely cause problems. Clipping masks are another big pain.

Easiest thing to do:
Open Photoshop.
Copy the Illustrator artwork to the clipboard.
Create a new file in Photoshop (it should automatically size up to the Illustrator art on the clipboard) with the native resolution settings you need.
Paste the Illustrator art as pixels into the new Photoshop document.
Flatten the layout, save as TIFF or PSD.
Place the rasterized file into the Illustrator document under the cut contour path. Delete all the other offending Illustrator art with live effects garbage, clipping paths and other nonsense. In the end you should wind up with a EPS file containing only a flattened raster image with a cut path on top of it. VerasWorks will have no problem dealing with it.

 

[Custom_Grafx]

Could you also do the below perhaps from just within Illustrator?

1) Put your cut path on a separate layer on top of your artwork by itself, lock it.
2) Select all
3) Rasterize

And it should work, no?

I also think if you're printing from illy, it's worth creating a printing preset in which you have "convert strokes to outlines" unchecked. This is actually one of the biggest offenders out there from what I've seen. Next is people using "align stroke to outside/inside" - it should always be centre.

A number of different "live" effects in Adobe Illustrator will disable Contour Cut functions in VersaWorks. Transparency effects definitely cause problems. Clipping masks are another big pain.

Easiest thing to do:
Open Photoshop.
Copy the Illustrator artwork to the clipboard.
Create a new file in Photoshop (it should automatically size up to the Illustrator art on the clipboard) with the native resolution settings you need.
Paste the Illustrator art as pixels into the new Photoshop document.
Flatten the layout, save as TIFF or PSD.
Place the rasterized file into the Illustrator document under the cut contour path. Delete all the other offending Illustrator art with live effects garbage, clipping paths and other nonsense. In the end you should wind up with a EPS file containing only a flattened raster image with a cut path on top of it. VerasWorks will have no problem dealing with it.

 

[Msrae]

I had the same problem but it was as easy as bringing the cut path to the top layer. Seemed to fix it for me.

 

[Malkin]

Ok, the SOA method did not work for me I saved as an EPS with lang 3 & high res options marked.

If i could get my drop shadow off I'd be happy.... I'm using AI CS4.... is it possible to remove a drop shadow, if so can someone tell me how???


Thanks!

To remove a drop shadow (or other effects) in Illy:
Locate the item in the layers palette.
Click on the grey circle (items without effects will be white) and drag onto the trash icon below, ignoring that the trash icon is probably grayed out.

 

[signman111]

I'm having problems with my contour cutline in Versa Works
I save my cutline at .25pts and bring it to front, and sometimes the contour cutline seems to brake up and certain places or partial parts are missing
I notice it seems to be right where the Highlighted box is around my image
ex: its an oval decal and its highlighted by a box around it, and right where the highlighted box meets my contour cut line its missing a piece of it
anyone help
Thx Signman111. I'm also new to Signs101 and I'd like to say hello

 

[spades]

1) Put your cut path on a separate layer on top of your artwork by itself, lock it.
2) Select all
3) Rasterize

I had some initial problems with artwork that included masks, effects, etc and these steps have worked every time from that point. A flattened/rasterized version always seems to go through.

 

[bayviewsignworks]

You need to Flatten Transparency: uncheck convert text and strokes to outlines)you should do that sepertaely); uncheck clip complex regions; line art set to 300, Gradients to 159 and sve the profile so you can use it later (I save as Roland)

 

[rjssigns]

There is an excellent Roland vid on youtube that explains VW and transparencies. I also did a short write up on it.

You need to save a PDF in Acrobat4(1.3) Click Advanced. Click Custom. A menu will pop up. Un-check Convert all Strokes to Outlines.
Slam Dunk every time.

 

[vroongraphics]

Hi All. I was reading this post, and thought I would contribute....turns out that RJSSIGNS beat me to it.....his recommendation worked for me.....when saving your EPS, go to your CUSTOM options and uncheck the boxes....this problem had me pulling my hair out until I discovered this trick....

 

[antant77]

HELLO!!i had is same problem!!Let me tell you how to do this real EASY!!!the problem is caused by transparency layers, i also didnt want to loose them either!all you need to do is select the cut contour and the weeding box (if your using one) group them and bring them to the front of the document,then when saving, make sure you select HIGH RESOLUTION & LANGUAGE LEVEL 3,without doing the last 2 steps you will have the same trouble.(this is for illustrator).
Hope this helps! all the best

I know this is an old thread but I still wanted to say thank you SOA!! I ran into this problem and Google took me to this thread.... I did exactly what you said and BOOM, marching ants in versa works!!!

 

[capitate]

Had the same problem. For me, it wasn't transparency, but I had to align the CutContour stroke to the middle.