Andy Fitzsimon wrote:
Guys, I'm actually looking into buying a vynil / sticker cutter right now. knowing whats most supported and whats in need of testing will help with my decision.
Finding where to buy the actual things in south east asia is quite hard also. seems both the US and UK are the only places to buy. Andy
Note: Looking for low end less then $500 cutter, read on... other wise skip.
I'm only familiar with the old (blue) wishblade and the like. These represent the bottom of the Graphtec line and are usually less then $500 (more like $300). They are for craft work and are mainly used for cutting paper. They have a small format and can only cut to the width of a standard sheet of notebook paper (about 7 1/2 inches). Their blades are not articulated (i.e. they rotate freely but are not controlled by a motor). So sharp turns will nick the media.
Wishblade's are marketed by Xyron in the US. This company has a terrible reputation for late product introduction. Add to that, Xyron is not a technically savvy company. They are "scarppers" and shipped me static sensitive supplies in plastic bags that were certainly not plated with nickel. Wishblade's PC based software does not allow for importing DXF files. It only works with GSD files.
In the rest of the world (perhaps in your part as well) I think Graphtec markets something called a Robo CRAFT. This is essentially the same cutter however the software allows for importing DXF files.
Xyron markets a newer version of the wishblade that is pink. I don't know what the differences are. The first people who buy it will be scrappers. No offense, but they are not likely to be able to comment on technical aspects (i.e. does the plotter under stand anything beyond pen up/down and move to here).
From this list and my experience, inkscape can produce DXF files that the Robo CRAFT PC based software can import and send to a Robo CRAFT plotter. Note, the Robo CRAFT PC based software will not talk to a wishblade - probably by design (i.e. cripple ware). Also, it has been mentioned in this list that inkscape's DXF format isn't (completely??) compatible with other software.
I think the blue wishblade software support from Xyron is dwindling (i.e. no path forward to Vista AFAIK). If you get this type of cutter I would use inkscape on a Linux platform with a modified version of graphtecprint. You can get graphtecprint here along with the instructions to modify it to work with both a wishblade and Robo CRAFT cutter (the down loadable version only works with a Robo CRAFT): http://vidar.gimp.org/graphtecprint/.
...hope this helps.
P.S. Hey, there's a good comment here regarding these cutters. They recommend (I assume because vinyl cutting is thin) you go with the next version up of graphtec cutters or a Roland:
http://www.specialty-graphics.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2...