Getting Started with a Vinyl Cutter

There are 4 important factors to consider when getting started with a vinyl cutter.

1. Heat Press

If you don’t already have a heat press, you will need one to heat apply the designs that you cut with your vinyl cutter.

Getting Started with a Heat Press Checklist.

2. Vinyl Cutter

A vinyl cutter cuts heat transfer material, vinyl decals, rhinestone transfers, and twill appliqué. When selecting a vinyl cutter, you’ll want the ability to cut the widest range of products with accuracy and efficiency.

See the 5 Reasons Your Business Needs a Vinyl Cutter

Vinyl Cutter Benefits:

• Most cost effective for quantities under 24 pieces, including as little as one personalized item.
• Cut materials when needed; don't have to wait for production or shipping time.
• Ideal to create individual names and numbers for athletic uniforms.

Compare All Vinyl Cutters

3. Design Software

You may already have experience with Corel® or Adobe® software; if not, consider one of the following options for ready-to-use artwork:

Graphtec CE6000 24" Fast Accurate Versatile

4. Heat Transfer Materials

The material choice is typically based on the type of fabric of the garment/piece being decorated.

Be aware of polyester fabrics; they tend to bleed through heat transfer materials. When decorating polyester fabrics, select CAD-CUT® Thermo-FILM® to prevent dye migration.

Regardless of the heat transfer materials, start with basic colours. White, black, red, royal, navy, and athletic gold are top sellers.

For help with selecting the best materials for your project, review this chart of popular heat transfer material and fabric combinations.

View all Material & Fabric Combinations