Figure 2. A before-and- The main issue with artwork and the heat press is design complexity related to different edges and shapes that need to be cut out. If a customer is requesting a cut vinyl solution for a yoga design, for example, he needs to know immediately if it must be dramatically simplified or changed for production (see Figure 1). A design with a lot of small lines or closed shapes with cutouts will not be ideal for heat pressing. Discussing this during the sales process will eliminate a lot of client stress and avoid a possible production nightmare. A before-and-after guide can help you demonstrate a few edits for clients that show how designs can be made cut-vinyl friendly. This also will make these jobs far more profitable (see Figure 2). after guide can help you demonstrate a few edits for clients that show how designs can be made cutvinyl friendly. PROPER SETUP Whenever possible, avoid weeding or at least minimize the amount that is needed. Time estimation for this process is a numbers game, so be cautious of underestimating projects and always try to understand your customers' potential demands, as well as their current orders. You don't want to sell four shirts and end up with a repeat order for 75 if the design takes a long time to weed. In this case, you occasionally can sell customers on a screen-printed design. But the cut vinyl can be a difficult match for a high-volume screen-printed order or may not work on a heat-sensitive item that can't go through the dryer. A great way to set up artwork for the heat press is to subtly alter it to help avoid weeding. Some of the ways to do this include: making the logo into a stencil-style font; adjusting the line widths in a design; simplifying the complexity of an image; and changing a graphic into a symbol instead of a detailed image. To convert a block font into a stencil using CorelDRAW, you just have to study how this font style is created and then apply overlapping rectangles to the right areas. Once the cutouts are approved, the final design can be trimmed so that the cutter will follow the remaining font areas, but leave the insides of each attached so they can be pulled out as one big piece in a single step (see Figure 3). This same process can be used effectively in script fonts and logos as long as the resulting images have cut-outs that impressionsmag.com Use Info*Action #24 at impressionsmag.com/infoaction October/November 2015 | Impressions 61http://www.sourceone.nazdar.com http://www.sourceone.nazdar.com http://www.impressionsmag.com/infoaction http://www.impressionsmag.com