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.
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.
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:
| CadworxLIVE™ |
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CadworxLIVE™ features an online design studio and Easy Teams® creator for generating cut-able artwork, fast and easy. There are hundreds of predesigned layouts that feature editable text and clip art. |
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Graphtec CE6000 24"
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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.
| Popular Heat Transfer Materials and Fabric Combinations |
|---|
| Best for | Sports/ Uniforms |
Lightweight Fabrics | Stretch Fabrics | Special Effects |
| CAD-CUT® Heat Transfer Material | Best for: Thermo-FILM® |
Best for: Fashion-LITE™ |
Best for: Premium Plus™ |
Best for: Glitter Flake™ |
| Benefits | Benefits: Blocks dye migration |
Benefits: Great for T-shirts |
Benefits: Great for performance wear |
Benefits: Hottest selling special effect material |
| Suggested Fabric Types | Suggested Fabric Types: Polyester |
Suggested Fabric Types: Cotton |
Suggested Fabric Types: Lycra®/ spandex |
Suggested Fabric Types: Cotton or polyester |
Videos for Materials, Services & Equipment
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