Welcome to The Hand Lettering Forum! This is an interactive Bulletin Board on the topics of Sign making, design, fabrication, History, old Books and of coarse Letterheads, Keepers of the craft. The Hand Lettering Forum features links to resources, sign art history, techniques, and artists profiles. Learn more about Letterheads at https://theletterheads.com. Below you'll see Mchat has been added as a live communication portal for trial, and the Main forum Links are listed below.
Hello everyone. This is my first post. I have been a glazier for the last 11 years. During that time I have taught myself how to etch glass and do various projects for Christmas gifts and such. I have recently decided to broaden my horizons with glue chipping and glass carving.
Here's the problem. Normally, I have to wait for a few days at best before my sign shop can cut a stencil for me, so I pruchased a plotter to speed things up. It came with an el cheapo Flexi Starter software that I am not even close to knowing how to use (yet). The sign shop owner is not willing to help me learn the process, so I am on my own. I have Corel Graphics 11 and Paint Shop Pro. I have tried a few different ways to cut a file, but I get a message telling me that there is nothing cuttable in the file. Is there a online resourse that will help me train myself on how to use my plotter and which program works best?
I am very excited and enthusiastic about learning the art. After I get glue chipping and carving down pat, I intend to attack gold leaf. It is too bad that I don't have anyone around here to lean on. Southeast Alabama is not exactly overflowing with Letterheads.
Ironic, what you say about a dearth of Letterheads in your area, tho. A fantastic signpainter/designer was from Dothan...Chester Cunningham. When his work first appeared in Signs of the Times... it knocked me(and lots of others too!)out. He then had a small book of his work published by SOTT, in 1982, the Chester Cunningham sign design notebook, a treasure!
Unfortunately, he passed on , to the Big Sign Shop in the Sky(where your best brushes never go bad). I'd think you could maybe find some of his work around even now. So, you've got good roots there, have fun, sounds like you do!
Thanks for the reply. I'll have to look up some of his relatives if they are still in the area. I don't know many people into glass art around here other than stained glass shops, and there seem to be plenty of those around, so there is no sense in trying to get into that corner of the local market. I'll stick with the glass carving (assuming I get good at it).
I'll have to master this plotter before I can master the rest though. I'll get it sooner or later. Preferable sooner.
Joe
...Joe, Could you possibly HAND CUT your stencils. Then you could chuck the plotter. (haha)
As you learn the various techniques used in sign making, don't forget to study up on (the single most important aspect of the business) layout and design. That's where the true quality comes from. A good book (I always recommend) is MASTERING LAYOUT by Mike Stevens.
I purchased an xy 300p made by Vinyl Master. It is a 24" low end model. I made a successful cut just using text, so I know that my computer is communicating with the plotter. i just need to learn how to convert images into cuttable files.
How can I do that in Corel? I am sure that it is a simple process, I just have not had time to drag myself through any tutorials yet. Too many honey do's.
What do I have to do in Corel to convery an image to a cuttable file?
I have finally gotten this thing running! It was a daunting challenge for a non geek such as myself, but I managed to figure out a way to vectorize the images so that I could cut them with my plotter.
I started out with Paint SHop Pro so that I could open the files and save them as a bitmap. Then I opened them with Corel Trace to trace them into a "cuttable image", then I opened them with my scaled down version of Flexi (Flexi Starter) to send them on to the plotter. *whew*
I know that it sounds convoluted. I am quite sure that some of you pro's are reading this and chuckling at me....but I don't care. I found a way to make it work. I'll refine the process soon enough when I learn how to use the programs a little better.
Denver Chapter of the Letterheads