Hello Swartz,
I'm not sure if it's clear that you are working with vector art. Do you know? You didn't sound quite sure. Are you using any other program besides the vinyl express to work with the images?
When you say "picture" do you just mean the image on your screen? The artwork? Or do you mean picture like photograph, like you take with a camera?
Part of the confusion may be because there are cutters that simply cut images out of the vinyl for you, and then there are cutters that are also printers as well. Like an inkjet printer combined with a cutter, like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2LHiRXO2C8&feature=related
Which kind of cutter do you have?
Here is an example of a picture of an eagle that is a raster (photo, what alot of people call "picture"). When you use the word picture, do you mean something like this?
http://www.istockphoto.com/file_sea...bleLoupe=1&order=Best+Match&perPage=&within=4
Now here is a 'picture' of an eagle that is a vector image. To avoid confusion, if you are working with vector images, you would not call them "pictures", most people think of the photograph, and not vector artwork like this:
http://www.tshirtclipart.com/freetshirtclipart.html
So I kind of think, still, what everyone wants to know is are you working with a picture (raster) or a vector image?
Here is a video that shows you how to tell. The info is at around the 2 minute mark:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNBbdrauGgk
You said you are new, so if you already knew some of this stuff, sorry about that. I'm new, too, but even I do not understand *how* you are using the words you are using. Sometimes being new, it is easier to understand the confusion someone is having because you learned recently, too.
So here are the questions:
* Are you working with a raster or vector image?
(watch the last youtube video if you are not sure, to find out how to tell.)
* If you are working with a vector image, are you just having a hard time telling the cutter what to cut?
* If you are working with a raster image, what is it an image of?
If I knew more, I could probably help you more, but hopefully, if you can tell a little more information, others can help you easier. There are surely alot of folks on stand by trying to understand what you need.
Hopefully this helps get you closer to an answer.
Good luck.