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Post by obsidimen1970 on Nov 7, 2011 5:34:50 GMT -9
Any pointers or advice are most welcome. I have looked at some of pinned threads, but anything new or interesting will be helpful.
Thanks!
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Post by nikloveland on Nov 7, 2011 5:54:14 GMT -9
Congrats! I got mine a few years ago and have not regretted it one bit. Aside from using the custom carrier sheets rather than the ones that the cutter came with, I can't think of anything.
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Post by obsidimen1970 on Nov 7, 2011 6:13:03 GMT -9
Congrats! I got mine a few years ago and have not regretted it one bit. Aside from using the custom carrier sheets rather than the ones that the cutter came with, I can't think of anything. Where does one get custom carrier sheets? Thanks!
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Post by nikloveland on Nov 7, 2011 7:05:29 GMT -9
You make them of course ;D I know people use thick cardstock but I found simple plastic folders on sale back in August (back to school sales). I just cut off the pockets and the middle part. Then use a spray tack (very light coat). I usually have to give it another spray after the carrier sheets have sat for a while but they hold up very nicely during the cutting process. These are MUCH cheaper than the replacements they try and sale. You do have to be careful about the alignments since there's no grid to guide you when placing a new page to cut but after some trial and error you can figure out where the page needs to go and how to feed it to the cutter. Attachments:
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Post by josedominguez on Nov 7, 2011 8:12:41 GMT -9
Also, when your carrier sheets that come with the silhouette start to wear out, just give them a wash in warm soapy water to get rid of residue, then spray them with spray tack. I've recycled mine four times so far
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Post by obsidimen1970 on Nov 7, 2011 16:38:54 GMT -9
I cannot get the cutter to recognize the Registration Marks on anything I am loading. What gives? What am I doing wrong? why is this so hard? Thanks for any help!
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Post by pblade on Nov 7, 2011 22:21:26 GMT -9
I cannot get the cutter to recognize the Registration Marks on anything I am loading. What gives? What am I doing wrong? why is this so hard? Thanks for any help! Lots of possible causes, but probably the most common original mistake is not feeding the carrier sheet in correctly. There are 2 short marks on the left side of the machine; be sure your carrier sheet does not overlap the outer one. The other biggest cause is to put the paper in upside down. Generally, the page goes in bottom-first. If those don't fix the problem, it could be printer scaling issues. This usually affects the cuts, not reading the marks, but it's a possible cause. Hope one of these fixes the issue! - Pb
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Post by obsidimen1970 on Nov 8, 2011 3:17:16 GMT -9
We've got everything lined up properly and loaded correctly. I don't think that is it. I am getting some kind of error message in the program that says it cannot read the marks, along with some empty offer to "read the marks manually" or some other rubbish like that.
Of course, that does not work either. Why would it?
On first blush, this technology leaves me deeply disappointed. I only have my wife to thank for me not taking a hammer to that machine last night. I had the hammer in my hand...
Decency and respect for these boards precludes me from sharing how angry I really am. It's dispiriting and has robbed me of my enthusiasm for paper minis.
I guess we'll try again tonight, but I expect not better results.
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Post by nikloveland on Nov 8, 2011 5:27:11 GMT -9
I have found I have more patience for technological things than most people (at least my wife, father and mother). I realize more often than not it takes more than just plugging it in and turning it on to make it work. And the fact that this machine moves a digital product into a physical one allows for more points of failure than traditional software.
That being said, I did have a different cutter (CutOK piece o' crap!) and it was very frustrating before I finally got this one (re-branded as a Craft ROBO). As pblade has suggested, there's a bunch of different reasons that it might not be working. We are just stabbing in the dark since we can't actually be there to help you.
One thing we can't rule out is mechanical failure. If you cannot see a red laser line when you tell the cutter to read registration marks, the laser may be bad. Also if you can indeed see the red laser and you see the laser cross the registration mark without changing direction (it first scans the vertical side of the corner and then the horizontal), the optical sensor could be defective.
Now if the red laser gets nowhere near the registration marks, then you need to change the placement of your carrier sheet. You may have to unload and re-load it (I know you have done this already but I'm just trying to suggest stuff since... you know 'stabbing in the dark'). Even after two years the auto-read doesn't always work for me on the first go.
As for manual registration, it's usually not too bad. Make sure the cut pen is 'inside' the left registration mark before trying to read the registration marks (the pen does move when you use the on screen arrow keys right?). I think Silhouette Studio has a picture of a sheet with a small green area to help clarify where it should be (yes it's picky).
Lastly, the registration marks printed and the ones in the cut file should match exactly. That's typically the case but you never know. All the HOARD cut files should be fine (at least when I tested them last).
This is just a few suggestions. Sorry you are having such frustration with the cutter. Just stick with it and you'll get there eventually.
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Post by Floyd on Nov 8, 2011 6:03:46 GMT -9
Ok, have you made you you have "Use Carrier sheet" checked in the settings? I know my first couple of times I tried and failed was because I had loaded the print onto the carrier sheet but forgot to check Use Carrier Sheet, and for some reason it would not Detect properly.
Second thing, are you printing on a shiny or glossy paper stock? If you are there is a possibility the reflective nature of the paper is not allowing the electronic eye to detect the reg marks properly. If this is the case....here are a couple of things you can try:
1. open the cutter cover and try it the detect again. (what we are doing here is trying to see if the ambient light in the room can help over-come the issue. It works sometimes. 2. take a piece of matte clear celephane tape such as the type you use for wrapping presents and lay it over each of the 3 Reg marks. The non-reflective material can help cut down on glare. I've done this for some prints I was cutting that I did on Metallic paper.
After working some of the beginning issues out everything runs pretty smooth. Occasionally I'll have a misalignment or slip or a weird issue off the software deciding I meant A4 instead of USLetter... but it's all part of the process. You will get familiar with the quirks, but it does take a little time. No way around it.
Hope you get your issue resolved. The cutter is a wonderful thing. And not just for cutting out paper minis!
Will
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Post by obsidimen1970 on Nov 8, 2011 9:14:59 GMT -9
I'll try some of this advice, but none of it sounds like it really gets at the "issue", what ever it might be.
I do appreciate it, but after last night, I am pretty much done with this machine and the aggravation it causes me.
I just thought the tech was better than this. Having to worry about exact placement of a doc and carrier on a device that has no raised guides? agonizing over placement of the printed card on the aforementioned carrier? Give me a break.
I guess for $275 I expected plug and play capability, and that is not what I got.
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Post by pblade on Nov 8, 2011 17:02:46 GMT -9
Looking at the thread, I just realized that there may be a much more basic issue. Which machine did you get, Obsidimen? A Silhouette SD, or the new Cameo? We're all assuming here that it is an SD. If it is a Cameo, then the problem is that it uses a different style of registration mark. Check this thread fatdragongames.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=gsd&action=display&thread=2215&page=2 for more information. - Pb
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Post by Sirrob01 on Nov 9, 2011 2:54:13 GMT -9
I've had this problem the first time I used my cutter as well and several times since. Most of the issues that cause it have been mentioned above but I'll list the ones I know of so you can try them and see if any help. The SD can be a bit temperamental think of it like you would a 2 stroke engine it'll work fine for a long time then suddenly play up for a bit then work fine...irritating as all heck. Can it read any of the marks ie does it the read the first okay then fail on the 2nd or read the first two but fail on the third? (I'm running the old Robo software not the new studio) All Fails. ~ Check for dust on the optical eye can cause it to basically go blind (doubtful if it's new, just blow around the cut head a little). ~ Page has had some crushing effect in the printer, some printers print out of scale even when everything is off, the rego marks on the Sanity Studio's Foot soldiers are - bottom two are 19cm apart inside of line to inside of line, side two are 23.45 cm apart from inside of lien to inside of line. ~ Printer started printing to far up the page between the edge of the page and the bottom mark (the one with the dot) there should be about 1.3cm or 1/2 an inch if it's a lot more than this take your scissors to the bottom edge and trim a bit off (I needed to do this to the above foot soldier page otherwise I got continual failed rego mark error, I've noticed this seems to occur a bit for me as I print on A4). Some fail ~ Check for mess around the rego marks other small black lines etc or miss prints these will confuse the eye. I use liquid paper to go over any that occur. ~ Rego marks are faded or appear part printed or a little thin, use a ruler and fine black pen to ink the marks back in. Let me know if any of the above help or any other info and I'll try and help out further. I will say once you get the sucker working and learn it's little quirks you can get it to cut fairly consistently.
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Post by obsidimen1970 on Nov 9, 2011 3:14:35 GMT -9
At my wife's urging, I tried again last night. No luck. Again, she is able to cut her applicaes and other cloth stuff, but I cannot cut any paper minis.
This is the only thing that has kept this machine from being smashed to bits at this point.
I've tried cutting prints from different printers, so it does not appear to be the printer at issue. It simply will not read the marks, and most times, it won't even try before I get the failure notice. I have to say that at this point, even if I get this working, I could never recommend this product (with a clean conscience) to anyone.
It is absolute junk technology. And since by the time I get home from work no one answers the company's customer service line, I have been unable to get any direct assistance.
I appreciate the suggestions, and I am trying them all in turn. More important than that, having this forum to vent on helps a bit, so I apologize if I'm bringing the hate a bit too strong. I keep coming back to the same point here, for $275 this should not be this hard.
Anyway, thanks for the opportunity to get this out. If I manage to get this going, you'll all be the first to know!
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Post by obsidimen1970 on Nov 9, 2011 3:45:59 GMT -9
It's a Silhouette SD. Thanks!
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Post by obsidimen1970 on Nov 9, 2011 15:29:12 GMT -9
Managed to call customer service. The guy insisted that my problem was that the Silhouette SD was not compatible for cutting PDF printout files.
Thing is, these are files from Chelsea (an artist well know around these parts) and she knows what she's doing! She even printed a set on her SD and sent me the pics to prove it!
So I told this guy that, but he insists the problem is the files. I sent him the files and he said he could not print them there in their office. I don't know what the hell to do now.
Are you guys all cutting printed PDFs?
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Post by oldschooldm on Nov 9, 2011 16:49:07 GMT -9
Are you guys all cutting printed PDFs? Yup - on an SD. Almost daily. :-) Perhaps you could upload photographs of your process? Showing quality of printout (close up of reg-marks), mounting on carrier sheet, pointer to cutfile (.gsd/.studio), showing the orientation of the cutfile on the screen and in your cutter, etc. Maybe a video of what happens when you click "auto-find registration marks" and what happens when you use the manual method... Perhaps we might spot something that we all figured out by banging our heads against a wall and not admitting it publicly.
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Post by oldschooldm on Nov 9, 2011 16:50:42 GMT -9
Oh yeah, and screen shots of your printer settings while you're at it.
I know I had problems with every single one of these factors...
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Post by obsidimen1970 on Nov 9, 2011 16:55:23 GMT -9
Would the manual option help me in the short term? finding the regs manually?
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Post by Sirrob01 on Nov 10, 2011 0:11:13 GMT -9
Feel free to grab one of the hoard files and try one of those, you can pretty much point the customer support at any photo I've uploaded, there printed and cut PDF's via the Robo/SD. If you like I'm happy to make up a simple page with a circle and a cut file you can use as a test. Let me know if your running studio or old Robo Software. Another way to test is grab any piece of clipart and import it into the robo software, do a trace around the clip art, print with rego marks to your printer and then load it into the cutter and see if you can get it to auto rego mark detect. Give the manual option a shot although I've always found the aligning it accurately a little tough. I'm surprised by the Customer service comment as one of there selling points for the SD was cut around any clipart shape you like. www.silhouetteamerica.com/faq.aspx?solutionid=225
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Post by Parduz on Nov 10, 2011 1:07:25 GMT -9
As a programmer of automation devices, i'm surprised that there's not any diagnostic tool to check a key component like that sensor.... While i don't own one of them, reading the various posts always give me the idea that the firmware/software of that cutting machine is very weak.
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Post by obsidimen1970 on Nov 10, 2011 3:13:24 GMT -9
Last night I was able to print from the Silhouette SD, then successfully cut those shapes out. But it still will not cut PDFs I feed into it.
I have printed PDFs from two different printers--not sure why it is not reading the marks.
What registration setting s are you guys using?
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Post by obsidimen1970 on Nov 11, 2011 3:26:18 GMT -9
As I've been working through this, I've been relying on printouts from two printers, a home one and a work one. Well, last evening I stopped at Staples and got some high-quality printouts of the minis I have been trying to cut. I mounted them on the carrier, loaded them, and they cut! Don't get too excited, though. They did not cut properly. They were close, but not close enough, so something in my settings are off. It is also a little disappointing that I am going to have to buy high-quality prints from Staples at $.98 a pop to print and cut properly. But if that is what it takes... Sorry I have not had time to do screen shots and the like. That's a ton of work, and I have been busy with other game and non-game stuff. All the advice has been much appreciated. As I said, I am not there yet, but I guess I am closer. The hammer has been put safely away for now. Anyway, just an update. S.
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Post by oldschooldm on Nov 11, 2011 9:25:03 GMT -9
Last night I was able to print from the Silhouette SD, then successfully cut those shapes out. But it still will not cut PDFs I feed into it. I have printed PDFs from two different printers--not sure why it is not reading the marks. Here's a problem I had when I first started papercraft buildings from PDFs: I accidentally print them out of scale! I build 40 pieces of FDG's Winterhawk building blocks before I noticed. I had to print the remaining 20-some at the same smaller scale to make it all fit, but now it isn't compatible with my later builds (such as Winterhawk Ruins), which I all robocut.
The problem was a simple checkmark in the PDF printing built into adobe acrobat: "scale to fit". Beware also "auto rotate and center".
These options do NOT appear when printing from Studio - only when printing from Adobe - and would produce the results you are reporting. It also explains why the print-shop run is working for you - they don't make that kind of mistake.
These are the kinds of problems that getting screen shots of your process would help us find.
We've all been there - even before we had cutters. :-)
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Post by obsidimen1970 on Nov 11, 2011 9:38:39 GMT -9
Alas! I wish this were the problem. I've turned off all scaling. But I do hope to put some screen shots together at some point.
Thanks!
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Post by Sirrob01 on Nov 11, 2011 12:50:48 GMT -9
Any chance you could print out the foot soldiers on your two test printers and check the measurements against mine above? Or let me know what sets your printing and I'll print those out and likewise do a center to center measure for you to check against. (or do a measure comparison between the staples printouts and the ones from the two printers)
I'd be curious to know what printers (make/model)your printing from so I can avoid those in the future when looking for a new one.
On the plus side at least you know the sd reading eye etc is not faulty.
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Post by noremorse on Nov 12, 2011 12:19:43 GMT -9
It is hard to diagnose the problem without physically being there but here are few things that might be the problem.
If the prints from the silhouette are working fine, it would suggest that the registration marks on your page are wrong OR silhouette is looking in the wrong spot for them. Two ways to check are physically measuring the registration marks on your page to make sure they are correct, second; make sure the .studio file has the correct reg. mark distances inputted.
I completely understand your frustration with Studio, I have fought with the program since day one and have contacted support with so many bug issues they must have me blocked by now lol.
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