Help with cutting a vinyl project

[TheresaTT]

DEFINITELY go for the longer mat. It will make application SO much easier not having 2 pieces. Also, just for knowledge sake, are you going to remove the letters so that the bike shows thru or leave the letters on.?

[pastda3]

Jay - Please understand that this is in no way a commitment from me. I had to satisfy my curiosity to see how this would cut and especially weed. I couldn't help but notice that some of the words were pretty small. I took a small portion of your design and cut it out with my Cricut Expressions which is not the most accurate cutting machine (but it works well for my purposes).

As suspected, some of those small words lose a lot of their detail at that size. Notice the "e" in "alive." Do you see how thin the line is in the "u"? It was very difficult, to almost impossible (for me), to remove the inside cuts on some of those letters. Some of those issues can be removed by deleting them in Inkscape. But I have to be honest, the weeding was very time consuming and unfortunately, the Cricut sometimes doesn't cut a nice clean cut completely around the letter which makes the weeding process a little more difficult. I thought I would share some of those problems I encountered.

inspiration.jpg (89.22 KiB) Viewed 4109 times

I'm sure there are the masters of cutting out vinyl that wouldn't have an issue with this, but for me it was a challenge. One more thing. Have you considered going to a printing shop to see if they can print a "wrap" for you like the kind that they do for cars? Maybe it can't be done on something that small, but it was just a thought. Good luck on your project.

[jrasmusson]

OH WOW!!! Okay.. I'm not going to get my hopes up!!! THAT LOOKS AWSOME!

I dont know what "weeding" is... other than something you do to the keep the flower beds tamed???!?

The fonts other then the big "inspiration" are all negotiable. I only wanted to fill the space with words with different fonts and sizes to give it some dimension, and easy to tell that each word was standing on its own. They dont necessarily HAVE to be those particular fonts, after seeing the first ever partial cut.. this is completely acceptable to me. Originally I was thinking I wanted the letters to be stuck on, and then the bike painted, and then the vinyl pulled off leaving the color underneath showing, however, after doing some taping off on another portion of the bike, thats just dumb to think I want to pull ALL THOSE LITTLE PIECES and pray the paint doesn't mess up.... so.. I am now leaning more towards just white vinyl letters applied OVER the green part and spraying the clear coat over the top.

I was thinking I could also do this with water decals, but my printer will not print white, so I would have to use the white paper and not the clear which would force me to use a different color.

Here is a picture to kind of show you all what I'm doing.. My bike is the same colors, basically the same places, However, where it has the brand "CENELLI" it will have my design wrapped around it, (not the little one on the bottom)with the word INSPIRATION being the name of my bike. You'll notice in the design that half of the words are upside down, and thats because once applied they will be on the other side of the tube "right-side-up". Thanks everyone!! I hope this works!

[papasue]

Bravo pastda, this keeps the ball rolling and we all learn as a result.

Maybe we ought to find Todd, if he is lurking perhaps he will jump in or LadyWolf seemed interested in it.

Now that I see where it wants to be placed, the weeding would take forever.

I sure hope we see the final project, I'm fascinated.

[pastda3]

Here's an example of what "weeding" is. Keep in mind how much larger those letters are compared to yours!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX89R5mr9zY

[TheresaTT]

it would also help to change the font of those smaller words to something basic without the weeding in parts of the letters. Seeing how you say they are negotiable. that makes it so much easier. Great job everyone.

[jrasmusson]

If the font needs to change, I'm okay with that.... something more blocky and easy to do... whatever it takes! As long as words side by side are not the same font and/or the same size, thats all that matters!

If this works the way I hope it does... I will make absolutely sure pictures are posted, and give credit to those involved. Plus, if this works out, there very well could be some repeat business!!! hahahaha..

[gj1]

You could be right...I love this word art and would like to have one, but I think it is going to have to be printed on a material with a sticky back long rectangle for easy application. If you don't apply the vinyl right it will just be a big mess maybe to the vinyl and the bike. I have been trying all afternoon, printing this on contact paper and laminate...the ink won't dry. Is there something it can be printed on? If so...I would change the color and do that. JMO.

[gj1]

Working with what I have and know how to do...my bike is done. Now I can not show you my whole bike because you would get sick and this word art is too special to really be put on this bike or even how I have done it. But what I did was to print this on paper...I know how to print on paper and it is only about 9 inches long by 3.75 to perfectly go around the bar. Then I covered the paper with certificate laminate self stick clear stuff that is 9 x 12 inches and I got it at the office supply store and put the sticky side on the words and left a little more that a half inch on all sides. I peeled off the backing and wrapped it around the bar...this is not good enough for your bike, I know, but should you have no other way to accomplish this...this does work and would for a time be weather resistant. I have had fun playing with it. Next I am going to print the words and frame them. So thanks jay for sharing.

Also, perhaps you could have all of these words embroidered on one othe those bar wrapping foam covered things that sometimes people have on their bikes. Sewing machine embroidery might be another avenue and there are different online companies that do this. Not sure if they would do a special order like this, but you could investigate it.

Removed the pictures of my ugly bike...hahaha. I am waiting now to see Jay's bike...hope it happens :)

[jrasmusson]

ahhhh.. THIS IS TERRIBLE... someone got to see it on thier bike before me?!??!?/ hahahahah

I thought about that very thing, but I am really trying to get just the words to be thier first.... if I have to exacto knife everyone of them, one by one........ grrr.... I think were getting closer!

Jay