[niguy]

Hey

I have Roland BN20 and do my designs in Photoshop. I have a trial of Illustrator aswell but not sure whether to use this or coral draw ?

The issue im having is what file to save as in Photoshop ? Iv tried pretty much them all and tried to open them up in AI but it doesnt seem to work (works with png).

I also done the trace image thing to turn the image into a vector which i can but then when i go to put the cutline on the graphic i click expand and nothing happens :S

Iv saved every file i can in AI and tried them all but it doesnt want to expand the selection out to the line where i need the cut line.

Maybe its because i have text then image and then more text ? Its doing my head in ! iv been at this for the past 4 hours can anyone help me out on how to save your designs in PS (high quality) and then get a cutline onto it on AI or coral ?

PS i done a trial the other day with a little png image i found online to test the printer without issues, changed it to vector inside AI and then put the cutline on it without issues.

Thanks for any advice
Chris

 

[Industryps]

Which version of AI are you using?
You should be able to save PS files as .psd, .pdf, or .jpg if you need to place raster images into AI.
When you say "try to expand" are you meaning the final step in the tracing process, or are you trying to enlarge your path for cutting?

 

[niguy]

Hi its the latest AI as iv 2 days left of the trial.

Its the last step when i select all and then click expand to get the line.

Nothing happens everything just remains selected.

I dont think i rasterized it so il try that now.

Any other ideas ?

 

[Industryps]

Im going through the steps you are talking about in the same version of AI.
When you expand, it just makes the objects editable, it won't really change the appearance.

To make sure your object was vectorized, just unclick it after expanding, then use the white arrow (Single Selection Tool) to click on a part of the design and it should highlight just the area of the object.

Adding your cut path is a whole different process.

 

[niguy]

This is what im doing.

First time i done this with a simple small png it worked without issues, turned it to a vector and then followed the video below.

Now with my own text and image design it doesnt work, the 2nd time i expand the box option doesnt show up and then when i click unite it doesnt show the cut line it on the outside it stays all selected in a circle :S

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES58KrViVo8

 

[Amw]

When we use Photoshop to create art that will be printed and contour cut here is what we do:

1)Make the design in PS
2)Make the cut line in PS which will contour cut the art
3)Save the file as a EPS (It will give you the option to save the vector data...make sure that is checked)
4)Open in AI
5)Select the cut line and switch the color to "contourcut" spot color.
6)Re-save as PDF or EPS
7)Open in Versaworks ....etc.

Been doing it this way for about 15 years (since we bought our first Roland printer) and works every time.

 

[niguy]

Just done it with a small vector file i have on my computer and it worked fine just like in the video :S

 

[niguy]

Ok il try that now, thanks

When we use Photoshop to create art that will be printed and contour cut here is what we do:

1)Make the design in PS
2)Make the cut line in PS which will contour cut the art
3)Save the file as a EPS (It will give you the option to save the vector data...make sure that is checked)
4)Open in AI
5)Select the cut line and switch the color to "contourcut" spot color.
6)Re-save as PDF or EPS
7)Open in Versaworks ....etc.

Been doing it this way for about 15 years (since we bought our first Roland printer) and works every time.

 

[niguy]

do you just add a 1px stroke to the outline of your finished text and images in Photoshop ?

I have pretty much no knowledge in AI so any help would be great.

Cheers

When we use Photoshop to create art that will be printed and contour cut here is what we do:

1)Make the design in PS
2)Make the cut line in PS which will contour cut the art
3)Save the file as a EPS (It will give you the option to save the vector data...make sure that is checked)
4)Open in AI
5)Select the cut line and switch the color to "contourcut" spot color.
6)Re-save as PDF or EPS
7)Open in Versaworks ....etc.

Been doing it this way for about 15 years (since we bought our first Roland printer) and works every time.

 

[Amw]

do you just add a 1px stroke to the outline of your finished text and images in Photoshop ?

I have pretty much no knowledge in AI so any help would be great.

Cheers

When designing in PS, yes we do everything except change the spot color of the line.
Then open AI to just select the cut line and change the spot color.
If you design in PS you only need to open AI to make your line cutable in Versaworks.

When you have the layer you want to use to make your cut path...
Select that layer...then click the "box" next to the layer name while holding ctrl (this will put the "dashed lines" around the art.
then...Switch to the path window and at the bottom is "make work path from selection" click that while holding Alt change the tolerance to 1.0 and hit OK...you should now have "work path" under the paths window.
Make sure that is highlighted, make sure your layer is also still highlighted...then top menu "layer" and select "vector mask" and the fly-out menu select "current path" and save as EPS.

If you saw it done it is fast and easy...written it sounds more complicated.

 

[niguy]

There is 3 eps options to save it which one do you use ?

I also get a warning message when i save it, here it is -

Save warning

The current file format must be saved as a copy because:
- It will not save all the document layers
- The working space profile cannot be embedded

I selected the vector data like you said and saved it as a EPS.

Tried to open it in AI and get another error message saying i can only open this file with a link :S so i can not open the EPS file.

So much trouble with this unreal !

 

[niguy]

Error trying to open the saved EPS in AI =

DCS EPS files cannot be opened or embedded. Please place this file using the Link option.

 

[Amw]

There is 3 eps options to save it which one do you use ?

I also get a warning message when i save it, here it is -

Save warning

The current file format must be saved as a copy because:
- It will not save all the document layers
- The working space profile cannot be embedded

I selected the vector data like you said and saved it as a EPS.

Try to open it in AI and get another error message saying i can only open this file with a link :S

So much trouble with this unreal !

The one that says "Photoshop EPS" (not the Photoshop DCS 1.0 or 2.0).

 

[Amw]

Error trying to open the saved EPS in AI =

DCS EPS files cannot be opened or embedded. Please place this file using the Link option.

You can also save it as a PDF...but make sure in the PDF options that pop up you look for "compression" and then change the drop down list to "none" and also change "down sample" to "do not down sample".

 

[niguy]

Yea thats the one i tried cant open it in AI now :S error message above.

The one that says "Photoshop EPS" (not the Photoshop DCS 1.0 or 2.0).

 

[niguy]

PDF seems to mess the circle up in my design.

What PX do you use for the cut line ? I used 10 and a green colour so i could see it but colours are all over the place and very hard to see in AI.

 

[into the T]

this is old, but may help you
it seems versacamm and illy have not been on speaking terms for a long time

 

[niguy]

Photoshop info i have been using -

300 resolution
RGB / 8 bit

I haven't uploaded any roland colours apart from the cut contour in AI

this is old, but may help you
it seems versacamm and illy have not been on speaking terms for a long time

 

[niguy]

New to forum and didnt pay attention to the blue link thought it was a roll over ad.

Il have a look at it tomorrow morning as getting late here in the UK, anyone else that has came across this problem id love to hear from you.

Think il download a trial of Corel and see how it goes with uploading EPS files to there.

Very frustrating this is turning out to be, thanks for the help you guys have given so far very much appreciated and hope to get printing tomorrow all going well.

Chris

this is old, but may help you
it seems versacamm and illy have not been on speaking terms for a long time

 

[niguy]

Ok great the marching ants one seems to be working so far.

One question i have is - whats the best way to keep the best quality when designing in PS ? Im looking to keep the best quality of course.

save as ? tff ? PDF ? then import to corel or AI, i already have the cut path in corel so just need to be able to keep the best graphic i can before printing.

Also il put a step by step on here for anyone else having these issues as it has been doing my head clean in.