Most often the problem is your graphic is a raster image or contains raster effects. Rasters are graphics made up of pixels. In order to work on a plotter these graphics need to be converted to vectors. Vectors are made up of points lines and arcs.

to convert your graphics you may use the auto trace functions in your design software or manually redraw your grapphics using vector tools.

On the Mac platform you will need to download and manually install the plugins from the download section of our website at www.signcutpro.com

To cut text open Inkscape click the text tool layout your text, size it center or justify it then click extensions>export>send to SignCut and it will open in SignCut ready for cutting.

Once you have installed the drivers open SIgnCut click the cutter buttonn then check the output device. Generally in windows your correct port will be com 3 or 4 and it might be labeled serial com port, you can confirm this in device manager. On a Mac you will be looking for a port dev/cu... but not bluetooth. Select the correct port, leave your baud rate at the default (must match the setting on the plotter) and then close that dialog.

Load your plotter and make sure it is set online then try test cutting the SIgnCut logo by clicking the scissors icon and choosing cut out.

First open SignCut on your existing machine and click help then choose about SignCut and copy down your license number.

To transfer download the software to your new machine, install it then enter your current license number. SignCut will verify your license with our server and transfer the software automatically.

SignCut checks a unique hardware number on your computer to verify your license.
When it finds a new number it transfers your license. Should you run the
software on the original machine it transfers back. To avoid this please
remove SignCut from the secondary machine. Should you need to use SignCut on
more than one machine you will need to either purchase a second license or use
our Dongled (hardware key) version.

In windows:

Activate the screen or program you want to capture by clicking on it then click Alt-Print Screen, start a new email to the support desk at support@signcutpro.com click in the field in the email and click Ctrl-v

1. Alt-Print Screen

2. New Email to helpdesk

3. Ctrl-V

On a Mac

There are few ways to do screen capture in Mac OS X.
Follow the steps below and you will be able to do a screen capture in Mac OS X.
 

• Switch to the screen that you wan to to do screen capture
• Hold down Apple key ⌘ + Shift + 3 and release all
• then use your mouse to click on the screen
• Done. You will see a picture file in at your desktop. That’s the screen capture picture.

You can also do a screen capture for a portion of your screen.

• Switch to the screen that you wan to to do screen capture
• Hold down Apple key ⌘ + Shift + 4 and release all key
• Now, You will see the mouse cursor will change to +
• You can start to drag your mouse to select the portion you wish to capture.
• Once finish, you will see a picture file in at your desktop. That’s the screen capture picture!

If you want to do a screen capture for a particular application window, you can follow this:-

• Switch to the screen that you wan to to do screen capture
• Hold down Apple key ⌘ + Shift + 4 and release all key
• Now, You will see the mouse cursor will change to +
• Press the space bar once
• You will see the mouse cursor change to a camera
• Now you can use the camera to select which application window to screen capture
• Once finish, you will see a picture file in at your desktop. That’s the screen capture picture!

No need to open any program like Paint to paste the copy from clipboard. Then start a new email to support and attach the Screenshot from your desktop.

The problem you have reported may be caused by several things.

1. Communication loss, we recommend using a Keyspan adapter http://www.tripplite.com/en/products/model.cfm?txtSeriesID=518&txtModelID=3914  as it solved most communication problems.

2. Static electricity build up. Sometimes static electricity causes the servos to release the hold on the blade and causes it to drop where it should not creating random cuts. You can try grounding the plotter to the stand with a ground wire from the plotter to the stand. You may also try spraying some anti static spray around your machine.

3. Memory overrun, many import plotters ship with only 1 mb of internal memory. To solve this you may contact your dealer about a memory upgrade. Relatively inexpensive upgrade usually around 20 dollars. You may also try powering the plotter off and then on prior to cutting to clear the buffer and in SignCut in the cutout dialog box uncheck the option for weeding frame to reduce the information sent to your machine.

You may rest assured that SignCut does not contain a virus, we scan our server 3 times a day with state of the art server side software and consistently update the definitions. We suggest you make an exception for SignCut in Virus Software or turn it off and then install SignCut once it is installed you may turn your virus software back on. The problem arises because in order to install the scripts to allow the plug-ins to work with your design software it is necessary for SignCut to modify the files in another programs directory, which some virus software companies see as a false potential virus.

Topbar and its features for logged out users

If you're logged out, the topbar doesn't make that much of a difference, it simply allows you to login, or register. When you enter your username and password, and click the login button, you'll be taken back to the startpage - but now with a bunch of new features, especially in the topbar.

Topbar and its features for logged-in users

This is when the topbar becomes extremely handy - when you're logged in. Suddenly, it opens a whole new world of features. When you're logged in, and have access to SignCut Social, you have a forum, you have a community, and you have some of their features in the red navigation-menu.

But this menu does not contain all features - not at all. It contains only some of the most commonly used features, but to access all the features, you need to look in the topbar. Here, you can find features such as Video upload, image upload, blogging capabilities, and so on. Virtually every single feature can be accessed through the topbar - you can even navigate the Main Site through the top menu.

Summary

The topbar is your key to navigating the SignCut website and get the most out of SignCut Social, once registered and logged in.

What is SignCut Social?

SignCut Social is an integration of the OpenSource community platform elgg, the OpenSource Content Management System Joomla!, the forum platform SimpleMachines Forums, and the standard SignCut system. With these powerful platforms combined and integrated with the SignCut platform, we can now offer our members abilities such as:

• Community: Chat with other users in real-time, without installing anything on your computer
• Community: Create and manage a blog
• Community: Facebook'ish status-updates, activities and general overview (Dashboard)
• Community: Find and add friends
• Community: Find other users blogs, files, images, videos - community is all about sharing!
• Community: Invite friends to join
• Community: Join groups related to your interests, and make new friends
• Community: Send private messages to other users
• Community: Share files, images, videos (Files, Photos, Videos).
• Community: Read other users blogs - and let them read yours
• Forums: Discuss with other users on the different forum-boards
• Forums: Discuss with other users on the different forum-boards
• Forums: Search for topics to see if somebody has already posted what you're looking for

So how come you differ between Community and Forums?

Since the community and the forums are actually two completely different platforms that we've optimized for seamless integration, they are in reality two completely different sites. Actually, the whole website is a complex joint of several platforms, and can be seen as four different websites - the eshop, the forums, the community and the start-website. 

To make this integration as smooth as possible for the end-user, we've decided to integrate the forums and the community into what seems to be a single section of the website, sharing the same looks with eachother (the green background stripes, representing SignCut Social), utilizing the same navigation menu, and so on, whilst the eShop and the main website each have their own menus and slightly different looks (gray stripes, yellow stripes).

How do I know if I'm on the community or the forums?

Most features in SignCut Social comes from the community - only the forum and the forum boards belong to the forum-section. However, you're not supposed to be able to tell the difference between the Forums and the Community, only between the features they offer. And, you really don't need to tell them apart either - see it as one section; SignCut Social - forums and community in one.

Summary 

To put it short, SignCut Social is the combination of two platforms, a community and a forum platform.

SignCut is available in two ways, a subscription version which requires and internet connection to verify your license and a Dongled version. A dongle is a hardware key that is inserted into a spare USB port on your computer. SignCut will detect the presence of the dongle and will allow the program to be run on any machine as long as the dongle is present. Unlike the subscription versions a dongled version is a purchase and you are licensed to run SignCut on any machine you want as long as the hardware supports it. The Dongle is cross platform and will allow you to run on both Mac OSX and Windows XP or Vista. Also unlike the subscription version which is limited to 5 transfers you may transfer the dongle between machines as often as you like. 

Most often difficulties like this are associated either with a file problem or an incomplete or non-default installation location.

To be able to send files to SignCut, please make sure you're using the Application Launcher, and choose the Send to SignCut from the drop-down menu.

If Corel was installed after you installed SignCut, you may have to install the plugins. To do so, please open SignCut, and select Reinstall Plugins from the Help menu.

If this doesn't help, please try follow these steps:

1. Open an image in Corel

2. Select Export from the File menu, and manually export it as a .ai file, with text converted to curves, and leave compression unchecked.

3. Try the application launcher again.

If this doesn't help, you may have a problem with the image itself, so please try this with several images, and if you get the same result everytime, we recommend a complete reinstallation of Corel, and then a reinstallation of SignCut Productivity Pro afterwards. Should this not solve the problem, don't hesitate to submit a support ticket to support@sc-x2.com.

As result your SignCut-X2 license subscription will be disabled and it can no longer be used.