Vinyl signs

[bob pfohler]

We too have been thinking about adding vinyl to our arsenal of sign equipment but don't know much about the machines.

We are looking for more than just a cutter, I would like a printer cutter so when people mention a plotter is this just a cutter?

We don't have a ton of calls for vinyl so it won't be running 8 hours a day. Which machines would make a good 24" entry level machine?

[Joe Pelonio]

Plotter is a fairly general term, that can refer to a vinyl cutter or a large format pen plotter that does technical drawings. Most cutting plotters can also be used with a pen rather than the knife. They will cut and draw lines only, from vector files. I/m on my 4th one now, and for hard daily use have found the Graphtec to be great. While mine was over $4,000 5 years ago they now start at about $1,500.

Another kind is the printer/cutter which will print full color images much like an inkjet printer, but will also cut with a knife. They are very useful for stickers, where they are printed then contour cut. As a multi-tasker they may not be as good for heavy duty use printing or cutting as a dedicated machine. For that I'd look into the Roland Versacamm SP-300V.

Whatever you decide on look at software, which can cost more than the plotter for a full featured package. Some plotters come with a basic program that may or may not suit your needs, others have only drivers
and you must buy software for design. For the vinyl cutting only plotters there is a product that allows you to cut from Corel:

http://www.cocut.com/index.dml?unten=produkte/CoCut-Standard-e.htm&von=html