How to print from another program and contour cut with SCALP

[atomicimprints]

Not sure if this has been covered before, but after some trial and error I've figured out a way to print your image from another program and cut it in SCALP. I have a CIS setup with my printer and it came with ink profiles to use when printing. SCALP does not give me the ability to choose a profile when printing, but Illustrator does. I'm not sure if the below steps will work in other programs, but they might. If so, post back here for others to see.

My specific setup:
Illustrator CS5
Epson Stylus 1400 with Pigment CIS
SCALP 3.053
US Cutter Laserpoint I

Steps in Illustrator
I'm using a total vector graphic, no jpg, png, gif, etc.
- Make sure your Artboard/Canvas is set to the same size paper your using
- Be sure your document units are inches
- Create your artwork and give the layer its on a name - "Artwork". If you used several layers for you artwork, make a copy of everything and paste it to a new single layer called "Artwork"
- Duplicate that layer and drag it below the original "Artwork" layer
- Name the new layer "Outline"
- Hide the "Artwork" layer (and any original artwork layers)
- Select everything on the "Outline" layer and go to Window -> Pathfinder -> Unite Button to weld everything together creating a solid object.
- If you want a thick border the color of your paper around your artwork, go to Object -> Path -> Offset Path
- Enter the thickness of the offset you desire, hit Enter
- Offsetting the path creates the thicker shape but also leaves the original. You will need to select the original and delete it
- Duplicate the "Outline" layer and rename it to "Reg Marks". Drag it below the "Outline" layer
- Hide the "Outline" layer
- Select the object on the "Reg Marks" layer and choose Effect -> Convert to Shape -> Rectangle
- Leave Shape set to Rectangle, choose Relative and put .25 in the Extra Width and Extra Height box. Hit OK. The .25 is critical for SCALP. That's the amount of offset SCALP uses when printing it's own registration marks. You can test this in SCALP by doing a preview and seeing how far the offset of the registration marks are from your image.
- Select everything on the "Reg Marks" layer (you'll notice that you can't choose the rectangle just yet) and choose Object -> Expand Appearance. This creates the actual rectangle.
- Change the stroke to 1pt and no fill. The corners of this box will be the registration points in SCALP
- Turn on the "Artwork" layer
- Print
- Turn on the "Outline" layer
- Choose File -> Scripts -> Send to SCALP (make sure you have the Illustrator plug-in installed from SCALP)

Steps in SCALP
- Your image should now be in SCALP
- Make sure your document is the same size and orientation as it is in Illustrator and that your ruler units are set to inches
- You should see your artwork, the outline, and the rectangle
- Position everything so they are close to the same location as they are on the printed page
- Expand the layer in the layers pallet and you should see the 3 layers named "Artwork", "Outline" and "Reg Marks"
- Turn off everything except the "Outline" layer
- Choose Cutter -> Preview. You will see that the registration marks are the same distance from your image as the rectangle you created that's hidden. If you turn on the "Reg Marks" layer, the registration marks will be in relation to the rectangle, WE DO NOT WANT THAT. The rectangle was only printed to use as the new registration marks when lining up the cutter
- Under the program Preferences, I left the defaults - Margins = .625, Mark Size = 20 mm, Mark Thickness = .50 mm
- Follow the usual procedures to contour cut your image
- Use the top left of the rectangle as Reg Mark 1, the top right of the rectangle as Reg Mark 2, and the bottom right of the rectangle as Reg Mark 3

I hope this help someone. If you have any questions about anything in my setup, I'd be more than happy to help the best I can. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to test this with any other software or cutter. I haven't even tested it yet with raster image (jpg, png, etc.). If someone does, please let me know how it works.

[talanhart]

Wow. That is a detailed tutorial. I use Illustrator and you taught me a couple of things that I didn't know about the program. Thanks for posting this.

[atomicimprints]

You're welcome. Hopefully others will find this helpful.

[thelibster]

Conceptually, I understand everything going on with the tutorial, but I'm running into an issue where I'm not being asked to cut with registration marks. The marks exist in the preview, but I cannot get SCAL3 Pro to even look for them...it just cuts wherever the blade is aligned.

This has to be a simple fix, I just can't seem to figure it out.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

[dougmorford]

Libster: Sounds like you are just using the "cut" function if I were to guess. You need to use the "print and cut" function. Once in the "print and cut" menu, you should be able to click "next", and it will run through the registration mark alignment process. It will assume you've already printed the picture with registration marks using SCAL.

Conceptually, I understand everything going on with the tutorial, but I'm running into an issue where I'm not being asked to cut with registration marks. The marks exist in the preview, but I cannot get SCAL3 Pro to even look for them...it just cuts wherever the blade is aligned.

This has to be a simple fix, I just can't seem to figure it out.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

[dougmorford]

And thank you atomic. I'll try this with corel to see if I can get it to work. Hopefully I didn't buy these cobra cartridges for nothing.

Do you know if there is other cutting software that is able to use color profiles? I was really hoping I could get the printer drivers to use the right profiles, but that seems to be a dead end so far.

[dougmorford]

Ok, I played around with this and there is a MUCH easier way.

My setup:

-SCALP 4 (I think at least SCALP 3 has this functionality too, but not sure)
-CorelDraw x7 (Should work with Elements, Illustrator, and Photoshop as well)
-Epson Artisan 1430
-Laserpoint2

What I did:

-Create your image in SCALP with cut lines. However you usually do it.
-File>Export
-Save as SVG
-Click "show registration marks".
-Click ok.
-Open the exported file in Corel (or whatever software you are using to print with a custom color profile)
-Size it as desired.
-Print using your color profiles.
-Go back to SCALP and use the "print and cut" function, and it should come out great. It did for me.

It's important to resize the registration marks and the image as "one" so that the ratios are not lost. It doesn't matter what size you make it because the cutting software adjusts accordingly during the calibration process.

I feel this should be a sticky. It's important to know if you're going to be using refillable cartridges.

[craftedge]

Here is a way you can print your design from another program and contour cut with SCAL
http://www.craftedge.com/tutorials/impo ... gmarks.php