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Makerspace: Vinyl Cutting

Vinyl Cutters

The Makerspace has a vinyl cutters!

Ever wanted to create your own logos? Cut intricate paper patterns? Add decals to your 3D prints? Or cut felt?

Our vinyl cutters have a variety of capabilities to help you complete your projects.

Titan 3 Vinyl Cutter

The Titan 3 vinyl cutter is a large scale cutter that can accomodate a variety of projects.  It has a maximum width of 24 inches, but can cut banners that span however long you want.  The Titan also has very accurate cutting abilities, easily producing intricate details on items.

Titan 3

Cricut Maker

The Cricut Maker is the perfect hobby level vinyl cutter.  Come in today to learn how to use it, or bring in the design that you would like created!  Keep reading for directions.

Champagne Cricut Maker

Materials

The Cricut Maker accepts the following materials: 

Felt

Paper

paper card project

Vinyl

Cardstock

Vellum

vellum

Step by Step Instructions

1. Create the design that you would like to have made on the vinyl cutter.  This design should be created as a vectored object, have easily distinguishable lines and be a solid color.  Realistic pictures are not a good source for a cut object.  Consider creating a stylized version of those types of images.  Good programs for creating vectored objects are Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop (available in the Digital Media Studio), or free tools Inkscape and GIMP.  Take a look at the examples below:

The first image is acceptable for the vinyl cutter.  The second would not be usable.

Vectored AppState "A"Appalachian Mountains

2. Make sure that your design is saved in one of the following formats: JPG,PNG, BMP, GIF, or TIF for the Cricut Maker, or SVG or AI for the Titan 3.

3.  Once you have your file, bring it to the makerspace.  The student assistant can help you with cutting.  Materials will be available to purchase for a small fee if needed.

The Cricut and Titan 3 do more than just cut vinyl and paper!  The Cricut Maker can also use pens to draw out exact designs on paper and has compatible heat adhesive vinyl to create custom mugs. The Titan 3 can emboss and engrave on certain materials.

Inspiration

Need some inspiration?  Check out these ideas!

Image credits

Silhouette Cameo 3: Vinylcuttingmachines.net

Titan 3: uscutter.com

Appalachian "A": appstate.edu

Appalachian Mountains: srl.appstate.edu

Felt animals: Cat and Dog plushies by Tina D

Paper card: Makezine by Natasha Dzurny

Vinyl laptop sticker: California College of the Arts Hybrid Lab

Cardstock: 3dprinterworld.com

Vellum: Craftychicboutique on Etsy

Librarian