Print and Cut on my Mac

[Indigo Envelope]

Hello there,

I've been trying to use SCAL to get my Black Cat Cougar to do a print and cut now since last year. We suffered through two small jobs and have let the machine collect dust. We just upgraded the software and are trying again.

I have iMacs running Lion, and the latest version of SCAL that was downloadable. When I get to the part where you are supposed to be able to move the machine around to find the registration lines you have printed, my cutter does not respond. Also, at that point, the software hangs the Mac and I have to reboot.

Does anyone know what's happening or what I am doing wrong?

Thanks for any advice.

[dragonlord666]

does the cutter work fine when doing normal cutting?

Print & Cut (PnC) requires two way communication so it could be the cable. try a different one. most printer cables will work (just remember which was the original )

some find for PnC they require a serial to usb converter like the keyspan as USB is NOT the best in the world (serial was a lot better)

who did you buy your cougar from? they should also be able to help you

Gaz

[Indigo Envelope]

working on it... with the new driver...

[Indigo Envelope]

The cutter can cut and communicate with the printer when not on print and cut...
I can't remember off the top of my head where we purchased it from... There was only one outfit selling them in the US at the time...
Does anyone out there want to buy another Black Cat Cougar? Because after these two jobs are done, I would definitely consider selling this thing.

[Indigo Envelope]

I just downloaded the new driver, and it might have worked!! Now I am feeling so much better... Maybe two years later, we'll finally be able to start using this machine!

[Indigo Envelope]

Well, it sort of worked. The cut was a bit off.

I think I may try to get this to cut with the "origin" feature. That seems dead accurate.

[dragonlord666]

in scal, with a black cat, you set the origin.

normally you set this at the bottom right as you look at the machine. when you use the cut feature you get a graphic of what you should see.

my mat is 12X15 in portrait and I placed my text, but could be anything, to cut at the top left

if I use WYSIWYG when I click cut I get what I see (as WYSIWYG stands for) as I would place my media top left of my mat and cut

Screen shot 2013-08-26 at 16.06.11.png (250.14 KiB) Viewed 3684 times

if I use Origin Point when I click cut my text (or whatever) jumps to the bottom right so I would place my media on the bottom right of the mat.

Screen shot 2013-08-26 at 16.06.28.png (255.84 KiB) Viewed 3684 times

now, if I have a big mat (12 X15 is quite big for what I'm cutting) scal does not know that the bottom right is NOT where it says on screen. I.E. not the actual bottom of the mat - so I could set the media in the centre of the mat and set origin to the bottom right of the media and say OK, it will cut a little bit up from the origin.

Gaz

[dragonlord666]

Well, it sort of worked. The cut was a bit off.

I think I may try to get this to cut with the "origin" feature. That seems dead accurate.

did you calibrate the cutter?
without this they can be a little off.


I think your may have purchased from that'sscrap (sherri) if so, contact her and she can grant you access to the forum she runs.

They can help with the cutter and here with scal and you should get sorted in no time

Gaz