Vinyl cutters / plotters

OJ46

OJ46

OJ46

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22 Nov 2015
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997
Location
Wales
I know a few people on this forum use vinyl cutters / plotters for making custom logos / cover designs etc and was just wondering if anyone could offer any advice. I'm currently thinking of buying a cheap one for use on future builds but without knowing anything about them it's a nightmare! Any recommendations? Things to avoid? Tips on the best software? etc etc :D

Cheers guys :)
 
You do have a very good point about it being both cheaper & easier to pay somebody else to do it professionally, but the trouble is I'm a proper OCD tinkerer, so would always want everything done 15 times until it was how I wanted it... Then probably decide I didn't like the colour so do it another 3 times! One current idea is to cut out a design from car window tinting film to use on a reservoir as a fancy fluid level window, but can imagine trying out a dozen different levels of tint + designs before deciding what to go with :p

Strange you should mention the Cameo as I was actually looking at one of those, just over the £200 mark so not too bad as long as it works well enough to knock out a few not too complicated designs. Won't need one for a while as I can't afford to do new build for quite some time, just thinking it could be a plan to get all the tools needed before I start ordering any components :)

Cheers for the info though, will give you a shout if I need anything before I can afford my own / if I see sense and agree they're too much hassle :D
 
Starting to see a theme occuring here... :p How easy is the software for complete noobs like myself? Guessing I could just import images from GiMP etc and they'd be OK? When you say they're a pain in the arse to get right do you mean like cutting pressure settings etc or just getting the designs right?

Sorry for all the questions guys, just don't want to ***** £200+ on something that turns out to be useless! Cheers for all the help and advice :D
 
Awesome, plenty there for me to start getting my head around thanks. So if I've got this correct it's Don't get one > If you must the Cameo is OK for home use / small projects > Use Corel rather than the supplied software > Getting vinyl suitable is both expensive and a PITA. Now to let all that sink in before deciding whether to take the plunge... Cheers once again Avalon & davido :)
 
That doesn't sound too bad tbh, quite happy to spend the time getting things redrawn until they're looking perfect... Damn OCD! As long as the end results are decent quality then the time wasted doesn't bother me too much, as long as there's Guinness in the fridge I'm good to go!

I know I can't really justify the price when looking at it like that (sensibly) but I'm looking at it from another (stupid) angle, thinking that if I'm going to spend upwards of £5k on a build then an extra £200 - £250 & a few hours of work to end up with a better end product is worth the outlay, especially when it can also be used on all future builds as well as other random projects :)
 
paradigm said:
I've had a Roland Stika for the best part of a decade now, and whilst I only use it for "messing about", it's served me well.
Click to expand...

Just had a quick Google and looks very nice, but unfortunately one of those would be out of my price range atm :(
 
Will have a quick scout around on the ol' eBay when I get a few minutes, see how cheap they're going 2nd hand :)
 
That's a very good point, not exactly flushed with space as it is so cupboard storable is definitely a priority. It's striking that balance of having a decent sized cutting area & not filling a room, and looks like the Cameo is pretty much right on the mark size wise. Hoping I'll be able to keep it down to vinyl and window tints, I'll tell the missus if it ever gets as far as T-Shirts she's got to put either the Cameo or myself on eBay :D
 
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