Hi,
Does anyone know how you can use SCAL5 to Print & Cut using a separate printer and cutter?
I print stickers on adhesive vinyl using a Canon Pro-2100, but I then need to cut them out using my new Refine Cutter/Plotter (with an optical laser).
From what I can see, the normal Print & Cut features on SCAL5 allows you to print registration marks onto your paper, ready for the machine to then cut. However, I can't do this. The Canon software doesn't allow you to add registration marks when printing, therefore, the Refine cutter can't align up properly to cut out the stickers.
I've tried other ways to get around this, but I'm struggling to find a reliable way to do it without cutting through all the stickers. Is there a way to add custom registration marks or alter the existing ones on SCAL5? I added my own registration marks to the document on Photoshop before printing - if there was a way to then add registration marks on SCAL and align them, then I could contour cut the stickers?
Any suggestions would be welcome!
(Also, my cutter produces this loud and very deep kind of scraping noise when cutting - but only when cutting via the laptop. It doesn't usually produce such a nasty sound when cutting. It sounds like it's breaking, or like the blade is scraping against the plastic beneath the paper but it's not - it cuts the top layer of the adhesive paper completely fine without going through, and cuts designs perfectly fine. It's quite odd and rather concerning.
Kind Regards.
Sam
Print & Cut (using a separate printer and cutter?)
Re: Print & Cut (using a separate printer and cutter?)
Absolutely! The key is figuring out the most efficient option based on your restrictions. For example:
(1) The Refine cutter is available from within SCAL 5 (( assume you've already added it, though) and has Print+Cut available in the Cut Settings window. So, you can do all of it from within SCAL...print to your printer and cut to your cutter with whatever registration process is used by your cutter. There shouldn't be any kind of restrictions on printing reg marks to your Canon printer. You just need to make sure the Use registration marks option under File>Print is turned on.
(2) If you prefer to print from outside of SCAL (perhaps because you need to select certain printer profile settings), then you can set up the reg marks within SCAL and then export them in a number of different ways to import into whatever program you want to use for printing, such as Photoshop or maybe your Canon program? I don't really know what that is. But with something like Photoshop or Illustrator (or other graphic programs), there are definitely ways to print from those programs WITH reg marks in place but then do the scanning and cutting from within SCAL or even from the cutter directly if it has the firmware built in.
Since I'm not familiar with any Canon printing program (even though I do own a Canon printer), I can't give you any steps for this. But note these things that could prove helpful to you:
(1) If your program can import SVG files or PDF files (usually under File>Import but sometimes File>Open), then from SCAL you can export your Reg Marks... just make sure to mark the Show Registration Marks option.
(2) Always set up your Document size in SCAL AND in the receiving program to be the same as your printout dimensions. This will help with reg mark placement consistency between all three.
(3) In SCAL, go to Cutter>Cutter Settings and you'll see in the upper right corner the registration mark settings for your cutter. For alignment purposes, I recommend switch to Mark Inset from Print Bounds which will then place the reg marks a certain distance from the outside edges of your printout. This SHOULD then, place them in the correct location in, for example, Photoshop.
Regarding your cutter making the loud scraping noise, you'll need to contact the manufacture or find a forum for Refine Cutter. Until today, I'd never heard of that brand but Google is your friend when you're trying to get information on something like this. Maybe even a You Tube video might help. Good luck!
(1) The Refine cutter is available from within SCAL 5 (( assume you've already added it, though) and has Print+Cut available in the Cut Settings window. So, you can do all of it from within SCAL...print to your printer and cut to your cutter with whatever registration process is used by your cutter. There shouldn't be any kind of restrictions on printing reg marks to your Canon printer. You just need to make sure the Use registration marks option under File>Print is turned on.
(2) If you prefer to print from outside of SCAL (perhaps because you need to select certain printer profile settings), then you can set up the reg marks within SCAL and then export them in a number of different ways to import into whatever program you want to use for printing, such as Photoshop or maybe your Canon program? I don't really know what that is. But with something like Photoshop or Illustrator (or other graphic programs), there are definitely ways to print from those programs WITH reg marks in place but then do the scanning and cutting from within SCAL or even from the cutter directly if it has the firmware built in.
Since I'm not familiar with any Canon printing program (even though I do own a Canon printer), I can't give you any steps for this. But note these things that could prove helpful to you:
(1) If your program can import SVG files or PDF files (usually under File>Import but sometimes File>Open), then from SCAL you can export your Reg Marks... just make sure to mark the Show Registration Marks option.
(2) Always set up your Document size in SCAL AND in the receiving program to be the same as your printout dimensions. This will help with reg mark placement consistency between all three.
(3) In SCAL, go to Cutter>Cutter Settings and you'll see in the upper right corner the registration mark settings for your cutter. For alignment purposes, I recommend switch to Mark Inset from Print Bounds which will then place the reg marks a certain distance from the outside edges of your printout. This SHOULD then, place them in the correct location in, for example, Photoshop.
Regarding your cutter making the loud scraping noise, you'll need to contact the manufacture or find a forum for Refine Cutter. Until today, I'd never heard of that brand but Google is your friend when you're trying to get information on something like this. Maybe even a You Tube video might help. Good luck!
Sandy McCauley
Owner of http://www.iloveknk.com/
Owner of http://www.iloveknk.com/
Re: Print & Cut (using a separate printer and cutter?)
Thank you Sandy!
Your response was all extremely informative! Thank you so much. As you've suggested, next time I will probably try exporting it from SCAL5 with the registration marks, ready for printing!
However, this doesn't help me this time. I already have a small roll of stickers printed and ready to be cut out. Would it be possible to have SCAL5 show the registration marks on the document while designing it so I can see the measurements (distance from everything) of the registration marks. Maybe I could then measure and mark it on the paper, and see if that works. I don't know though, what do you think?
Also, where do I find the 'Show Registration Marks' option on SCAL5? Is in the cut preview box?
Kind Regards.
Sam
Your response was all extremely informative! Thank you so much. As you've suggested, next time I will probably try exporting it from SCAL5 with the registration marks, ready for printing!
However, this doesn't help me this time. I already have a small roll of stickers printed and ready to be cut out. Would it be possible to have SCAL5 show the registration marks on the document while designing it so I can see the measurements (distance from everything) of the registration marks. Maybe I could then measure and mark it on the paper, and see if that works. I don't know though, what do you think?
Also, where do I find the 'Show Registration Marks' option on SCAL5? Is in the cut preview box?
Kind Regards.
Sam
Re: Print & Cut (using a separate printer and cutter?)
You're welcome! 
To show the reg marks on the cutting mat, click on Show Reg Marks on the Document Panel on the right. And then, again, under Cutter>Cutter Settings, you can then control the various properties of the marks, such as where you want them located.
To show the reg marks on the cutting mat, click on Show Reg Marks on the Document Panel on the right. And then, again, under Cutter>Cutter Settings, you can then control the various properties of the marks, such as where you want them located.
Sandy McCauley
Owner of http://www.iloveknk.com/
Owner of http://www.iloveknk.com/