Force Guidelines: There are different levels of force required for various kinds of self-adhesive vinyl and
heat transfer vinyl. Generally speaking, thicker or coarser materials such as reflective vinyl or glitter-flake
HTV require more force than standard 3 mil sign vinyl.
The recommended or optimal force varies for different materials. The ideal force setting may even
change for different colors. White vinyl sometimes requires more cutting force than other colors, due to
the density of the pigment. It’s always a good idea to perform a test cut before proceeding. This can be
done using the TEST button on the control panel.
Speed Guidelines: In commercial signs and graphics, the faster you get a job done, the better. Time is
money and speed saves time. So, it’s tempting to run your cutter at top speed all the time, but this is not
always the best approach.
Think of the cutter making vinyl graphics as if you were drawing, holding a fountain pen, or cutting with a
hand-held X-Acto knife. If you were cutting or drawing a large square, you could go very quickly. If,
however, you were cutting an intricate image, you might want to slow down and make sure you got all
the curves and corners right.
The same holds true for vinyl cutters. You can cut large simple graphics at maximum speed. Cutting small,
intricately detailed graphics requires more care and should be done at lower cutting speeds.
Just as you would do manually, if you’re cutting something thick or tough, you would slow down to make
sure you’re cutting with enough force. Likewise, when using your ARTisan, cut thicker or tougher films on a
lower speed setting to ensure good cut quality.
Force and Speed
2.2.1
In this mode, you can now use the X+, X- buttons
to change the SPEED and use the Y+, Y- buttons
The settings from 1 through 4 are the slow speeds and should be used when cutting dense
difficult materials.
The settings from 5 through 8 are medium speeds and should be used for easy-to-cut materials,
such as cardstock, vinyl, iron-on transfer, and rhinestone template material.
Changing Speed and Force: To change the
speed and force settings on your ARTisan:
From the Main Screen, press the FS button
the current SPEED and FORCE settings will
be highlighted:
Before presenting the Force and Speed guidelines, note that a table of suggested
settings for various SignWarehouse materials is available in Appendix A.
to change the FORCE. Note that you can hold down a button to make faster changes.
The SPEED displayed is on a scale from 1 to 13:
Press FS to highlight
SPEED and FORCE
Press TEST to cut a
small square
X-/X+: change SPEED
Y-/Y+: change FORCE
OK return to normal mode
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