Using Xara and a cutter

I have read responses to this question on this forum and others and all of them DO NOT WORK...............so I really looking for someone to help me here.

I use Xara to create various vinyl stickers etc and then I send them to my Roland Versacamm.

I have never been to be able to cut around the outside edge of the artwork (ie follow the outline shape) and instead I only get the option to cut the image boundary which cuts a squeare or a rectangle around the image I have just printed. The option "Cut all Paths" is always greyed out so I can never opt for this choice. I have tried importing the artwork in every single file format that xara recognises and it still doesnt work.

People have spoken about spot colours, cutcontours etc etc but at this stage I am lost....

Is ther anybody out there that will tell me step by step what I need to do to be able to do this.

to cut it you should use the pen tool to draw the contour of the artwork when you sourronded all the artwork, select the artwork and the shape made with pen tool and arrange-combine shapes-intersect shapes

Welcome to TG Forums,

I've never used the Roland Versacamm so have no knowledge of it or the software used.
However I have used Xtreme to create work to be sent to the plotter software (SignLab and Gerber Omega).

This is how I prepare work in Xara for those programs.
Files are exported as .ai when the work is all vector.
If a bitmap is involved, the shape is cut in Xtreme as explained by Jvila (though I would choose the shape editor rather than the pen tool), the cutline is then produced the same way. The cutline is saved as .ai and the bitmap as .bmp for the Gerber. The Omega software imports both files and positions the cutline ready for the plotter.

Thanks so much guys...............

I am going off later to try both options.

I actually have signlab software so I might just try to send the artwork to it and then on to the Roland RIP software that comes with the versacamm.

Thanks again for the help.

Hi People,

I am really freaking out here when it comes to this whole creating cut lines in Xara and getting them to work with the Roland Versacamm 540...............I am having very little success whatsoever.

I really need someone to tell me step by step including formats etc on what to do?????


PLease PLease Please....................

I am on my flippin knees here people....:confused::confused:

Not being familiar with the hardware you are talking about and having absolutely no idea what the issue is really makes it hard to help. Can you not get the outline created? Can't export the objects? Objects export but then can't be read in other application?...etc

"it doesn't work and I'm losing my mind" is unlikely to attract any helpful responses.

VP 540 VersaCamm Demo

The answer is that you can create a "cutline" in Xara but the RIP software used by the Roland will not recognise it. The contour to be cut has to be a named colour called CutContour or CutPath which can be exported and correctly recognised from Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator but not, unfortunately, Xara.

As a work around you can export your artwork to Corel/Illy, re-name the path to be cut and export to the RIP from there.

It's easy to export a cut path from Xara to Roland Versaworks.

Step 1. In VersaWorks, double-click the 'A' or 'B' folder icon (top left of screen) or from the top menu > Edit > Queue A Settings.

Step 2. In the Queue settings dialogue, select 'Cut Controls' on the left.
Tick the 'Cut all paths' option.

Step 3. In Xara, draw a shape and add an outline to it in any colour. This outline will not print but it will be cut. The downside is that any outlines you have drawn for printing will be cut instead.

Export to VersaWorks as a Xara EPS. In VersaWorks your loaded graphic will have a marching ants (flashing dotted) line to show the cut-line.