ULTRAGRAPHICS
Instruction
Manual
Tel: 01332 855 085
Technical Support: 01332 858 333
Fax: 01332 855 080
CONTENTS
Section 1
Page 1
Section 2
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Section 3
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Installation & Setup
Setting up the Epson CX6600 Printer
Using CorelDRAW
An introduction to CorelDRAW and its tools
Common tasks using CorelDRAW
CorelDRAW's most common tools
Ultragraphics
Roland CX-24 Front Panel Overview
Using the Roland CX-24
Setting the Media sizes on the Roland CX-24
Pages 8 to 9
Section 4
Page 10 & 11
Section 5
Page 12
Section 6
Page 13
The Ultragraphics process
Producing cut lines
Using CorelDRAW's Drawing tools & Drawing
cut lines
Scanning
Scanning using the Epson CX6600 series printer
Troubleshooting
General troubleshooting
Instructions in this manual refer to Windows XP and CorelDRAW 11 or 12. Other versions
may differ.
Setting up the Epson CX6600 printer
XP4052
To get the best results from the Inkjet Dark paper, you will need to change a few settings on the Epson
CX6600 driver. In Windows XP, browse to your Printers and Faxes folder, right click on the Epson
CX6600 and click on Properties then click Printing Preferences. Follow the instructions below to set
up the printer driver.
Click Advanced
Change to Photo Papers and
Photo. Change colour mode
to Epson Vivid.
Click Save Setting and name
it 'Inkjet Dark'
You have now completed the Epson CX6600 setup for Inkjet Dark transfer paper.
Click OK twice to close the Epson CX6600 properties down.
1
Introducing CorelDraw
& its tools
CorelDRAW is an extremely powerful program of which you will probably only need to use half
of the tools and features of the program. In this section we will introduce you to the tools in
CorelDRAW and what they do and also take you through the most common tasks you will need
to complete in CorelDRAW.
Below is an image of the toolbox in CorelDRAW with explanations of the tools.
Pick Tool
Shaping Tools
Zoom Tools
Drawing Tools
Rectangle Tools
Ellipse Tools
Polygon Tools
Basic Shapes Tool
Text Tool
Interactive Tools
Eyedropper Tools
Outline Tool
Fill Tool
Interactive Fill Tool
Each of the tools shown here except the Pick tool and the Text tool
have extra tools hidden in what are called flyout menu's, to access
a fly out menu hold the left mouse button down on the corresponding
button and the menu will pop out allowing you access to the extra
tools.
Each of the flyout menus are shown below giving you a breakdown
of where all the tools are stored, on the next page we will go over the
most common tools and their functions.
Shaping Tools
In order:
Shape Tool, Knife Tool, Eraser Tool, Smudge Brush, Roughen Brush,
Free Transform Tool
Zoom Tools
In order:
Zoom Tool, Pan Tool
Drawing Tools
In order:
Freehand tool, Bezier Tool, Artistic Media Tool, Pen Tool,
Polyline Tool, 3 Point Curve, Interactive Connector,
Dimension Tool
Rectangle Tools
In order:
Rectangle Tool,
3 Point Rectangle
Interactive Tools Eyedropper Tools Outline Tool
In order:
Blend Tool, Contour Tool,
Distortion Tool, Envelope Tool
Extrude Tool, Shadow Tool,
Transparency Tool
In order:
Interactive Fill, Mesh Fill
Ellipse Tools
In order:
Ellipse Tool,
3 Point Ellipse Tool
In order:
Eyedropper Tool,
Paintbucket Tool
Fill ToolInteractive Fill Tools
In order:
Fill Tool, Fountain Fill, Pattern Fill, Texture Fill,
Postscript Fill, No Fill, Colour Docker Window
Polygon Tools
In order:
Polygon Tool,
Graph Paper Tool,
Spiral Tool
Basic Shapes Tools
In order:
Basic Shapes Tool, Arrow Shapes Tool,
Flowchart Shapes, Star Shapes, Callout Shapes
In order:
Outline Pen Tool, Outline Colour Tool, No outline,
Various widths of line, Colour Docker Window
2
Common CorelDRAW
Tasks
Grouping & Ungrouping
CorelDRAW allows objects to be grouped with other objects this means that when one object is
moved or resized and other objects grouped with it will also have the same action applied to them.
To group objects, use the pick tool to select the objects and either go to your arrange menu, then
select "Group" or click on the button in the menu bar labelled "Group", to Ungroup do the same
action but select the "Ungroup" option.
Duplicating an Object
To duplicate any object onscreen, select the object and press Ctrl + D to duplicate or click on the
Arrange menu and select Transformations then position.
Notes
3
CorelDRAW's most common tools
The Pick Tool
This is the main tool that you will use in CorelDRAW, it is used for manipulating anything onscreen
in the main window and also for selecting and using any of the other tools, holding the left
mouse button and dragging a box will select anything within the area that you drag over, clicking
an object onscreen with a single left mouse button click will select individual objects.
The Zoom Tool
When you select the Zoom tool your cursor will change to a magnifying glass with a plus sign in
the lens, to zoom in on an are click the left mouse button, to zoom out click the right mouse
button, to zoom in on a certain area click and drag around the area with the left mouse button
and you will zoom to the selected area.
The Bezier Tool
The Bezier Tool is the main drawing tool that you will use with the Ultragraphics system, for more
details refer to page 10 & 11 which goes through the tool in more detail.
The Shape Tool
This tool is used in conjuntion with the Bezier Tool to curve lines that have been drawn as per
the section on page 10 & 11 which deals with the drawing tools.
This tool can also be used to alter the shapes of objects and to change the spacing on text.
The Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon & Basic Shapes Tools
All of these tools work on a very simple basis in that you clickand hold the left most button down
and drag out the shape that you would like to the sizes you require.
The Text Tool
Simply click on screen with this tool and then type as normal with the keyboard, you will see that
you have all the standard options at the top of the screen such as font type and size as well as
the standard formatting options.
The Outline Tool
This tool lets you change the properties of any object on screen to change the width of the
outside edge by selecting the object first with the Pick tool and then choosing the Outline tool
to make your changes.
The Fill Tool
The Fill tool works in exactly the same way as the Outline Tool but alters the properties of the
inside of an object i.e the colour fill of it, by selecting the object first then choosing the Fill tool
to make your changes.
The Interactive Tools
These tools are a collection of tools that will allow you to add artist effects to any object in the
main CorelDRAW window such as shadows, contours and transparancies etc.
4
Roland CX-24 front panel
overview
1
1. Display Panel
The display panel indicates settings,
functions and error messages.
3
5
2
7
4
6
2. Jog Wheel
This wheel is used for adjusting any
settings and modes on the machine
in conjuction with the display panel.
3. Menu key
This key will allow you access to all
of the settings for the machine and to
adjust the settings within menus.
4. Enter Key
This key is used to confirm your
selections.
5. Test Key
This key will produce a test cut into your
material and let you check the cutting
pressure is high enough.
6. Origin Key
This key is used to set the start position of the blade when loading a new piece
of material into the cutter (textile vinyl only - not for Ultragraphics use).
7. Cursor Keys
These keys are used for moving both the material forward & backward in the
cutter and also to move the cutting head from side to side (textile vinyl only not for Ultragraphics use).
5
Using the Roland CX-24
The Opus eye on the Roland CX-24 needs to be turned on before you use it to cut full colour
images using the Ultragraphics process. Refer to page 5 for button positions, and page 7 for
media sizes.
1. Turn the cutter on, you will see SELECT | ROLL on the display
2. Press the MENU button on the display
3. Rotate the BLUE jog wheel clockwise until you see CROPMARK | <OFF> on the display
4. Press the MENU button until the cursor is flashing on <OFF>
5. Rotate the BLUE jog wheel clockwise until you see <AUTO> on the display
6. Press the ENTER key. You will now see CROPMARK | <AUTO> on the display
7. Rotate the BLUE jog wheel anticlockwise until you see SELECT | ROLL on the display
Loading the material into the cutter
1. Ensure the material clamping lever is in the down position
2. Load material from the rear of the machine making sure the
two bottom cropmarks on the paper are lined up with the grey
grey cutting strip. Pull the above lever up to lock material in position.
Grey Cutting Strip
Cropmarks
3. Press the ENTER key on the panel. The cutter will now read all three cropmarks. When
finished the head will rest on the bottom left corner of the material. DO NOT press ORIGIN
6
Roland CX-24 Media Sizes
Before inserting your A3 or A4 sized media into the cutter, you will need to check whether it
is set up correctly. To change this, follow the steps below (XXXmm represents the sizes in
bold below).
The Ultragraphics media sizes are as follows:
A4: Width 170mm x Length 247mm
A3: Width 257mm x Length 360mm
1. Turn the cutter on, you will see SELECT | ROLL on the display
2. Press the MENU button on the display
3. Rotate the BLUE jog wheel clockwise until you see WIDTH | XXXmm on the display
4. Press the MENU button until the cursor is flashing on <XXXmm>
5. Rotate the BLUE jog wheel clockwise until you see the correct size required on the display
6. Press the ENTER key to save your size
7. Rotate the BLUE jog wheel clockwise until you see LENGTH | <XXXmm on the display
8. Repeat the process above (section 5) to set the appropriate length size
9. When you have entered the correct sizes in, rotate the BLUE jog wheel anticlockwise until
the display reads SELECT | ROLL
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Ultragraphics
Over the next few pages you will learn how to place your images into CorelDRAW, print
them, then cut them out on the Roland CX-24 cutter.
You will need to use the templates that were provided during your installation or on your
installation CD, they should be saved to your PC in a folder called Ultragraphics or Xpres
on your desktop. To use the templates open CorelDRAW and click File | Open, and browse
to the above location to open the template.
Ultragraphics
A4 Template final XP.cdr
Open
(Step 1)
Select either the A4 or A3 template depending
on the job that you are producing, then click open.
(Step 3)
Position your design then produce a
cut line. See page 12 & 13 for
instructions on how to do this.
(Step 4)
Once you have produced your cut lines, you can either save
the image and use at a later time or continue. If you need to
produce more than one image, press Ctrl + D on the keyboard
to duplicate, then position on page.
(Step 2)
This is how the template will look once
it has opened. Import your design into the
template by clicking on File | Import. Select
your design and import this into the template.
8
Ultragraphics continued...
Once you have the desired number of images, you need to group the cut lines together (for
information on grouping objects to page 3). Once you have the cut lines grouped together,
select one of the cut lines then press delete on the keyboard to temporarily delete them prior
to printing.
Click
EPSON Stylus CX6600 Series
Print Preview
Print
(Step 5)
Click print and select your printer in the list
as shown above, then click print preview.
(Step 6)
Check everything is laid out correctly as above,
then click print.
Return to CorelDRAW and close the print preview if it is still open, undo the deletion of the
cut lines to bring them back to your design, the cut lines will be automatically selected, hold
the shift key on your keyboard and click on one of the three registration points, now click print.
Select the Roland CX-24 driver. Under the 'Print Range' area, click 'Selection', then click on the
'Print Preview' button. Making sure you have the Cut Lines and the three Crop marks selected,
select 'Bottom left corner' as in (Step 8) below.
Roland CX24
Select bottom
Selection
Left Corner
Print Preview
(Step 7)
Select the Roland CX-24 driver,
then click the button next to selection,
finally click on the print preview button
Images should
be here
(Step 8)
Select "Bottom Left Corner" in the layout menu, your display
should look like the one above, now click print to cut your
designs out.
9
Using CorelDRAW's Drawing tools & Drawing
cut lines
To produce cut lines around your designs within CorelDRAW you will need to use
two different tools, the "Bezier tool" and the "Shape tool". these are located in your
standard tool bar.
The bezier tool is in the fourth tool down and is the second tool in the flyout menu
as shown here.
When using the bezier tool every time you click the mouse CorelDRAW will place
a "Node" on screen and join a straight line to the next node that you place on
screen.
Example 1.
Click 1
Click 2
Click 3
Click 4
Click 5
Click 6
When you are drawing around a logo by clicking the bezier tool as in example 1,
once you have placed your points in a rough shape around the design and
have reached the first point you placed down the cursor will change showing
that CorelDRAW will close the curve.
This is how the cursor will
look when CorelDraw is going
Example 2.
to close your curve.
If you were drawing a cut line around the logo below you would place a point
in the top left corner to begin, then a point in the top right corner, then click the
centre at the bottom, once you have clicked the point at the bottom you would
then return to the top left corner and close the curve as in example 2.
Click 1
Click 4
(to close curve)
Click 3
Click 2
10
Now that you have a basic cut line positioned over the logo you now need to
curve the lines to match the shape of the logo.
You now use the "Shape tool" which is the tool directly below the "Pick tool"
(second in the list).
Once you have selected the shape tool you then need to click on the straight
line that needs to be curved, you will notice that the whole line you have drawn
will turn dotted this means that you have selected the line to be shaped,
you then need to click on the line again, now you will notice that a spot has now
appeared on the line where you have just clicked, this means that the line is now
active.
Now you will notice that since you have made the line active the toolbar illustrated
below has appeared at the top of your screen.
Convert to Curves
The tool highlighed above is the next tool that we will use, the "convert to curves"
tool. Once you click on this tool the line will turn into a curve and you will now be
able to click and drag the line to make it match the shape that you are drawing
the cutline for, you will see that there are also two handles that move with the
curve as you manipulate it, these handles allow you to fine tune the curve to
exactly match your requirements.
You will then need to repeat the process for any other lines in the design that
need to be curved to give you a nice smooth curve all around the design.
This will then give you a nice clean cut when the job is sent to the Ultragraphics
cutter.
Adjustment
Handles
Click and drag here
to curve the line
11
Scanning using the Epson CX6600 Series printer
Before proceeding with this section ensure you have installed the Epson scan software supplied
with the printer.
In CorelDRAW Click on File | Acquire Image | Select Source
Click on 'WIA-EPSON Stylus CX6600 1.0 (32-32)' then click select.
Click on File | Acquire Image | Acquire
Click on 'Adjust the quality of the
scanned picture'
Position your image (face down) under the scanner unit then click Preview.
When the image has been previewed it will automatically crop the image and will be displayed
in the grey window on the right.
Now click scan. Your image will now be automatically imported into CorelDRAW.
Change the Resolution (DPI) section to 300
then click OK
12
General TroubleShooting
The cutter is not doing anything when I send a job to it but the fan comes on?
Check that you have set the outline to the thinnest possible line, for example 0.076mm or Hairline.
The cutter stops before it has detected all of the registration marks?
Make sure the two registration points are straight on the cutting strip and that the rollers are not
fouling the registration marks before you clamp the material down and start the detection process, and the sizes
are set correctly on the Roland CX-24 Cutter. For example A4 is: W:170mm L:247mm and A3 is: W:257mm L:360mm.
The cutter is not cutting through the material correctly?
Check the force setting, if that does not work try a new blade or cutting strip in case the old ones have become
damaged or worn.
Can I adjust the Template myself to use more of the sheet?
No, The template is set at its maximum area that the machine is capable of reading without any problems feeding
the sheet through the machine or any problems with cutting off line. Please note: Make sure you are using the correct
template for your version of Windows. For example: for Windows 98/98se and Me use the 'A3/A4 Template Final 98'.
For Windows 2000/XP use the 'A3/A4 Template Final XP'.
My cutter is displaying 'Error Bad Position' when loading media?
Ensure the rollers are withing the white markers (see page 6) and there is no strong light (i.e. sunlight) shining onto
the machine.
If you have any further questions or problems please contact the
Xpres Technical Department on 01332 858333 or visit WWW.XPRES.CO.UK
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