I have a Summa D610. I own it and it works well. It is 3 years old.

I have a Roland PNC 1210. We aren't familiar with it. It has a stand, blades but no software or documentation. It works. It is 3 or 4 years old.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[ December 10, 2001: Message edited by: old paint ]

Thanks Glenn and Karen!

Kevin, please be sure to check out ours and Roland's sites:

http://www.summausa.com
http://www.rolanddga.com

I'm not sure if Roland has documentation online, but they do have Windows Print drivers that support the 1210 (free).

At our site we have documentation, firware upgrades, lastest-greatest versions of Summa Cutter Control, and cutting software for all Summas (WinCut). They're all free to Summa cutter owners.

Best Regards,

Is the cheque in the mail???

Thanks everyone for the input. I agree about the Summa. Our Summa has never broken down and has given us 3 solid years of service. The reason for considering the change was the ability to cut directly from Corel without purchasing another 5 hundred smackers for CoCut. I want to decrease the number of different programs we use. Not to mention another bit lock that plays serious games with my Edge.

CoCut is pretty dang elegant, and well worth the $500 Canadian smackeroos. But, we offer other no cost solutions:

1. WinCut, an EPS/AI import-and-plot program for Summa cutters, is free. http://www.summausa.com/support/downloads/WinCut.exe

2. Summa Cutter Control, plots HPGL data via the Serial, Parallel or USB port. Moreover, Cutter Control can setup a Hot Queue that auto-senses plotable files, then automatically send them to the cutter. In CorelDRAW, you can export an HPGL file (the correct setting are here: http://www.summadirect.com/tips/tip9.html ) to the Queue directory as easily as you can hit the Print button. And plotting this way gives you some really useful options, such welding and removal of intersecting lines.

Best of all, neither WinCut nor Cutter Control goes through the Windows Print Manager. Thus it's not subject to ...

Cut and past from our message board:

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Windows printer drivers have following disadvantages:

Quality: By default Windows drivers use a 500 spi (steps per inch) for vector data. Summna cutters have a resolution of 1000 spi (0.001"). The inferior resolution is most visible in small fonts.

Size Limits: 65 inches, because vector information in Windows drivers is limited to 16 bit, and the max resolution of 500 spi. When cutting at beyond 65 inches, the resolution has to be scaled down even lower. So larger images are lower in quality as well.

Users that are satisfied with Windows printer drivers are probably not cutting smaller text, or long jobs. That's unacceptable to us, because Summa cutters are known worldwide for their accuracy with small text and long plotting ... and our fear in offering a printer driver is that users might blame the cutter for lousy quality on small type and large jobs.

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Regards,

[ December 11, 2001: Message edited by: Jim Doggett ]

Oops, should have qualified long plots, et al.

Our most affordable cutter, the SummaCut D60, is guaranteed accurate to a MINIMUM of 26 feet, or we'll replace it. A SummaSign Pro cutter, like Kevin's, is guaranteed accurate to a minimum of 40 feet. I routinely cut full rolls with either one -- at top speed. It's so good that we patented it, and put the same tracking system in every Summa cutter - Cut or Pro.

Moreover, dead-on tracking, combined with some nifty firmware trickery, cuts tiny stuff ... such that 1/2 tall, is tall! (Summa was the first to introduce flashable ROMs ... even cutters older than Kevin's are upgradable, for free, to the latest firmware trickery).

Precise tracking also enables Summa cutters to run at higher speeds -- with confidence, whether cutting a few feet, or an entire roll.

Okay, I'll admit, not every material tracks perfectly at top speed. But for 90% of the stuff folks run through our cutters, let 'er rip and go get some coffee.

I'd hope that our tracking alone (forget speed, down-force, OptiCut, OPOS, Tangential, etc.) would render insignificant the printer driver vs. cutting software argument. Not babysitting plots is a huge convenience/easy-of-use feature, I would think.

IMH(okay not this time)O,

I'm not questioning your ability to cut small text, or even that you'll be satisfied with the result.

You will, however, get even better results if your plot directly (bypass Print Manager), becuase you'll use your cutter's maximum resolution. Windows' Print Manager is limited to 500 spi, about half your cutter's maximum resolution.

Perhaps we're over-thinking it. But I can't fault our engineers for being too detail oriented. And this is what they're telling me.

Regards,

Jim

First of all, I would like to mention a part of my product is purposed as freeware on my website ! So perhaps the question of software is not only a question of $$$$, but of advantages to use one or another way. For me, it's like tools. It's possible to use a single brush to paint during many years while some painters will have a full truck of brushes per year. It's your choice to use them or not, to bill or not for one, many or none. I would just mention that a sofware development cost is not only limited to to the cost of a CD and a box. There are so many extra-cost. It's a myth too to believe software company are rich. Bill Gates is an exception. Take Corel : they make loss from few years.

About devices, I would like to bring here some technical details about devices.

• Roland uses HPGL-based language. Nearly the same that HPGL, with few additional commands. The resolution of HPGL is 40 steps by millimeter.

• Summa uses both HPGL and DMPL language. DMPL is richer than HPGL, despite the fact less people are aware of it. If you drive your plotter in HPGL, there is not a big difference between two modes. But there could be, as the tracking is not the same on both device. DMPL offer use of a higher resolution (until 100 steps per mm). More some command allows a deeper control of tool movement after each segments. Those command allow better results in the design of curves, and far more if you use a tangeantial head. The T model from Summa for example.

Now compare the plot files of few sign software or drivers and you will be surprised : you will see some similar commands, but not the same values and the same length of file for the same design.

Meaning there are subjective appreciation of the job. Meaning the interpretation can vary. This is a technical fact, so never a software company will advertise on this fact. But in practice, it means that a developper which care about signmaking and is paid for would produce a better job that a guy which develop quickly something for a large brand of plotter at low cost.

it's the same that for your own signs : you know about the quality of your job and the one of your competitor. I commonly define me as an letterhead too, despite my job lead me to be artist for the "development of codes".

Small letters ? Possible with all the plotter drivers. But what's about the weeding ? This is the other hidden problem of vinyl cutter. More fine is the setup of a plotter, easier will be the weeding. And you all knows how long it could be. Believe me : a right setup depend of a good plotter, a good software and more parameters you have learn to manage, faster and better will be your production. There are far more parameters that the velocity of the pen ! Sure, if you prefer to place any foil on your cutter, press the "send" button and wait the result, it's possible too.

My job push me to try lot of plotter models and to look at my competitors. All seams good to produce vinyl. But I din't love all of them. Why ? Probably because in fine, there are subjective opinion about plotter : the design, the noise (Roland is specialist of the music world, but of the noisy cutter), the price, the personnality of the salesman, the situation, the stability and the serious of the companies involved in the sales process.

Ever seen an old model of cutting plotter ? Its weight ? Do you believe all the plotters the same when you compare their inner composants ? Ever compare the longevity of some models ?

Somebody wrote here : "belive half of what you SEE, and none of what you HEAR."

I was simply asking what plotter to keep. We have decided to keep the Summa and the reason has been stated here but also "why change something that ain't broke." So if you have anything to add I enjoy reading the posts.

It was good seeing you in Atlantic City ... hope you had a good show, but not too good

What began as "which plotter to keep?" thread, morphed into a "printer drivers versus cutting programs" thread.

Do you guys have a printer driver? What's your thought on them.

We had one, but dropped it for the reasons stated above. In lieu of that, we bought an unlimited license on WinCut and offer it for free with our cutters. But I still, WAY prefer CoCut. On the Mac side, MagiSign is the only program to consider, IMHO (and I think the opinions of a plurality of Mac users).

Please jump in old friend.

Keep both! (Sorry OP)

I got an old Roland PNC 1050 6 years ago. It helped me build my business for two trouble-free years. I upgraded to my Graphtec CE1000-60 so I could cut 24" material. It has worked out great as well & the roland is in storage.

I was messing with some Dacron one time & put the blade way too far out in hopes of getteing better results. Instead I got a badly damaged Teflon strip.

But, if you trash your cutting strip and need to keep cutting while the new one is en route, try flipping it over. On the Summa (I'm guessing others too), pry the strip up and remove/clean all the adhesive from the strip and the cutter platen. Then apply an adhesive to the bad side of the strip and reapply it to the cutter. This isn't ideal, but it is a stop gap measure that works OK.