Hi all,

New to vector imaging. I downloaded Inkscape 0.92 an hour ago therefore my first time using it and I also received my new Roland BN-20A printer cutter this week.

This printer can only use VersaWorks (installed) which only supports the following formats:

EPS, JPG / JPEG, PDF, PSN / PRN, TIF / TIFF and VW / RVWD / RVW.

Apparently, from the extensions above, only EPS supports vectors and this is what enables a transparent background and this is what I need in order for to make the cutter cut around the shape I will draw.

At the moment, all I want to know are the steps to create a "vectorized" red circle, for example, with a transparent background, save it as an EPS file and import it in VersaWorks.

The thing is that I can do all of this but when I import it, I guess there's something I'm not doing right in Inkscape because when I load the image in VersaWorks, the image appears like a big white square with a red circle in the middle. There's an option in there to show where it will cut and it always shows around the square, not the circle. I want to cut only the circle.

Can anyone provide the exact steps in order for me to accomplish this? I'm sure it'll be of great help for others as well.

Many thanks!

Ben from Canada

I'd try saving a copy as PDF to see how that works.  PDFs support vector and raster.

Feel free to share an Inkscape svg file that is having the problem.

Hello Tyler,

Thanks for the reply. I did try to save as PDF but still that didn't work. In my initial post, I indicated I was new to vector imaging. I'm not in this line of business but was handed this printer at work and asked to figure-it out. So I need guidance. If I want to print an odd shape other than a square or rectanlge, do I need to make my drawings using multiple layers where one layer is the image and the other is the "cut" layer? If so, in Inkscape, what do I need to do exactly? I've seen that the SVG file is for vector graphics. But where do I go from here? The problem is that the Roland VersaWorks only supports the formats stated in my previous message (EPS, JPG / JPEG, PDF, PSN / PRN, TIF / TIFF and VW / RVWD / RVW) and SVG is not in there.

Thanks again!

Ben

[EDIT] Here you go, I made a simple image and saved as an SVG. From here, I'm not sure how to make it a vectorized image so that when I load it into Roland VersaWorks, it shows me the image contour (head, eyes and mouth) rather than just a big square all around it.

Inkscape do not support spot colors.

In this video from Roland support they are using Illustrator to define a path as a cut path.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG_L8mF0c8M&t=1s

Hi Aero,

Thanks for the reply. As I stated, I'm new to this. What is "spot color" and what does this mean? If Inkscape is in fact able to save vectorized images, then why is it not working? Where does the "spot colors" come into play? What if I want to print and cut just the most basic thing like a plain circle. Let's say the circle is just a black circle, nothing more. Just black on white. How would I go about in Inkscape in order to create the vectorized circle and save it as EPS and where does the "spot color" in this example come into play and prevent Inkscape from accomplishing what I want to do?

Thanks,

Benoit

Use software that supports spot colors. Set an outline color defined as a spot color named CutContour for your cut path. Save as PDF.

Maybe this extension will be useful.  I see that it was updated 8 mo ago.

https://github.com/mgmax/inkscape-roland-cutstudio

Benski_QC

This printer can only use VersaWorks (installed)

Sample files and training videos for your printer software is found here:

https://www.rolanddga.com/support/products/software/versaworks-6

Inkscape version 0.92 is quite old. Is there a reason for not using the latest Inkscape version?

Hi Tyler,

I simply typed "Inkscape download" and that's what was presented to me. I didn't bother questionning if this version was the latest because I thought Google was smart enough to give me the latest... But still, does the latest version support spot color and will it give the the ability to name a color as CutContour, make it 100% magenta so that I can import in VersaWorks?

Because I found another way of doing it and I'm almost 100% there. In Inkscape, once you've determined where to cut by making the cut-outs as a single magenta line, save as SVG. Then open the file in Scribus (free program) and load the SVG file. Then, go to Edit > Colors > New, give it a name (CutContour), check the Spot color checkbox, set the magenta to 100% then do Export > Save as EPS and save the file.

When the file is loaded into VersaWorks, everything that is magenta will now have a blinking red contour (Roland refers to this as "marching ants") and that's where the cuts will be made.

Now, back to the begining of my second paragraph where I say I'm almost 100% there, it's because in Inkscape, I cannot figure-out how to get only the contour of an image. For testing, I've downloaded the NASA logo which has a blue circle, the word NASA in with white stars and a ellipse along with a red wave across it. If I do "Trace bitmap" and change all to 'no fill' and all lines to magenta, I end-up with everything outlined with a magenta color (stars, letters, red wave etc). The problem here is that the red wave is made-up of single lines that go through the image therefore if I erase them, it erases all the line therefore affecting the contour. I just want the outline of the image, nothing inside because if I leave what's inside, then VersaWorks thinks that I want to cut inside as well. That's where I'm at. Note that I've only been using Inkscape and graphics software for 3 days so the learning curve is steep.

If you have any suggestion on how to get only the outline of the image, please let me know.

Thanks again for your time and help, it's appreciated!

Ben

OK, the Scribus workflow sounds like a good option.

The NASA meatball is widely available as an svg vector file. (attached) No need to trace a bitmap.

Here's one way to get the contour of all objects: 

Ohhh... you rock!

It somewhat works. When I do the union thing, in my case, the entire image is one color versus you where only the outline is colored. Then I must click on the "Edit colors" (Shift+CTRL+F) and change the in-fill to nothing and stroke paint to magenta. But now, after I save as SVG, when I import it in Scribus, Scribus complains and says "SVG file contains some unsuppoted features". Could that be with the version of Inkscape I'm using?

My test was successful without error using Inkscape 0.92.5 (2060ec1f9f, 2020-04-08), Scribus 1.4.8.

Attached is my test file

Alrighty, here are the steps I have followed thoroughly to ensure they are all correct. As I am writing this, I have print jobs running and they all used images off the internet. You will need Inkscape and Scribus. Thanks to Tyler Durden for helping-out.

So.... In order to get Roland Versa Works to recognize where to cut your images, a color must be specified and for this example, pure magenta is used. This is what is referred to as a spot color and not all software will recognize such colors.

Also, the color must bear the name CutContour in order for Versa Works to recognize it.

Below are the basic steps to accomplish such task if you are not using Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw.

You will need to install Inkscape and Scribus (both free ) as they both support vector files; Inkscape will be used to save your drawing in SVG and Scribus will be used more or less to save in EPS for the cutting profile.

1. Open Inkscape

2. Click File > Import and chose an SVG (vector) file

3. Click Edit > Select All In All Layers (CTRL + ALT + A)

4. Click Duplicate Selected Objects (CTRL + D)

5. While still selected, click Ungroup Selected Groups (SHIFT + CTRL + G)

6. While still selected, select from the top menu Path > Union (CTRL + +)

            - Image should all be of same color

7. While still selected, click Edit Object's Colors (SHIFT + CTRL + F)

8. In the Fill tab, click X to erase all fill color

9. Select Stroke paint tab, click the second icon (Flat Color), select CMYK and set C, Y and K to 0, set M and A to 100

            - This will make the image's contour magenta color

10. Click Edit > Select All In All Layers (CTRL + ALT + A)

11. From the top menu Path > Trace Bitmap then chose which options are required (e.g. select "Colors" and check "Remove background") then click OK and close the window with the top-right X button

12. Click File > Save As, select Inkscape SVG (*.svg) format, give it a name and save

1. Open Scribus

            - If a new page is not present (e.g. white page with red border and blue frame   inside), click File > New

2. Click File > Import > Get Vector File chose your file and click OK

            - It may complain with "Warning - SVG file contains some unsupported features", just ignore and click OK

3. Position the image on the screen and rescale it if necessarry or, alternatively, the page size can be changed to fit the image size

4. Select the image then click Edit > Colors

5. Click Remove Unused

6. Select the sort of magenta color labelled FromSVG#ff00ff and click Edit

7. In the Name field, type CutContour

8. In the Color Model drop-down, chose CYMK

9. Check Is Spot Color

10. In the color sliders, make CYK as 0% and M as 100%

11. Click OK and OK again

            - The image contour color will have slightly changed to the real magenta

12. Click File > Export > Save as EPS and chose a name and the destination

1. Open Roland VersaWorks

2. Drag and drop EPS file into one of the queues

            - If all works fine and depending on the size of the file, left of the file loaded in the queue may show a rapid progress bar -     this most likely means that it worked

3. Double-click the file and now, the image contour should be highlighted with the red 'dancing ants pattern' therefore this is where the image will get cut

4. Press the printer icon in the bottom and let the printer do its magic!

Ben