Vinyl Plotter Cutters by Graphtec: 24" CE5000-60 and the 15" Craft ROBO Pro

Looking for software to design with? Check out i-DesignR

Graphtec CE5000-60 Size - 24" cuts 23.7" wide, up to 164' long List $1,995 - Our Price $1,595 In stock - same day shipping (order below)

A vinyl cutter can be a very profitable and useful tool in the T-shirt decorating business. Like the inkjet printed heat transfers you have learned about, being able to decorate garments with vinyl and flock letters, numbers and designs, as needed, can add to your success.

We thought long and hard about what brand of vinyl cutter to offer. There are many choices. After much research, testing and comparing, we selected two Graphtec cutters as our cutters of choice (more will be added later). This is what we would pick, were we to go back into retail.

Why? Because during our former retail years we always wanted equipment that would "get 'er done!" The Graphtec CE5000-60 vinyl plotter cutter is just such a piece of equipment. For those who need a very good cutter, at a more economical price, we offer the Graphtec Craft ROBO Pro (see below).

You can skip the entire cutter plotter section and continue your tutorial by clicking "Next" at the bottom of the page.

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Graphtec CE5000-60
24" cutter - Cuts 23.7" wide

For a top-line vinyl cutter, the Graphtec CE-5000-60 is very reasonably priced, has an excellent reputation and comes with a great many useful features. Features, of course, are only interesting talking points unless they give you benefits that help you stay productive…and profitable!

To help understand the relevance of some of the important benefits, see the below chart. We have compared the Graphtec CE-5000-60 to another popular vinyl cutter, the Roland GX-24

	Graphtec CE-5000-60	Roland GX-24
List Price	$1,995	$2,195	The difference stays the same, even with discounts
Avg. Sale Price	$1,695	$1,795	A hundred bucks is still a hundred bucks
Comes with stand	Yes - $0	No - $295	Vinyl is easier to handle, with the cutter on a stand
Our Price	$1,595	$1,990	The difference buys over 13 - 5 yd. rolls of vinyl
Max Speed	24"/sec.	20"/sec	On big jobs, seconds save minutes and often hours
Max Cut Pressure	300 grams	250 grams	Extra available pressure can mean smoother, cleaner cuts

We've deliberately kept the list short just to give you a sample. However, there are many other important specs if you want to read about them.

Click Here For Full Specifications

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The CE-5000-60 cutter (and Craft ROBO Pro below) easily handles five different types of jobs:

• Vinyl Heat Transfer Cutting - Design a layout, using graphics and/or lettering on your computer. When you send the job to the vinyl cutter, it outline cuts the entire job. You remove the layout from the vinyl cutter, weed it (weeding is easily removing the vinyl that is not part of the graphic) and apply the design to the garment with a heat press.
  "How is that done?"

• Heat Transfer Cutting (opaque film)- Print a graphic, along with registration marks, on opaque heat transfer paper with an inkjet printer. Remove the completed print from your printer and place in the cutter. The CE-5000-60 "reads" the registration marks and perfectly outline cuts the graphic. Our Alpha Gold Dark opaque paper works perfectly with the cutter. "How is that done?"

• Heat Transfer Cutting (clear film for white shirts) – Print graphics and even words, along with registration marks, on Alpha Double Green heat transfer paper with an inkjet printer. Remove the completed print from your printer and place in the cutter. The CE-5000-60 “reads” the registration marks and perfectly outline cuts the graphic. “How Is That Done?” Important Note – A great many heat transfer papers for white shirts cannot be cut and weeded (peeled) like Alpha Double Green.

• Vinyl Sign Cutting - Although we only sell heat transfer vinyl, the cutter easily handles cutting sign vinyl (Note: The back of sign vinyl is already sticky and is applied with pressure. Heat transfer vinyl becomes sticky, when applied with heat). If you ever start cutting sign vinyl, the big 23.7" cutting area of the CE-5000-60 is also a plus, as a common sign size is 18"x24".

• Etching and Sandblast Resist Stencil Cutting - The stencil material used in this process is very similar to vinyl sign material and cuts very nicely on the CE-5000-60.

FREE Software that you get with the CE-5000-60

Compatible Software to use with Cutting Master 2
*Note - full version is required, student and trial versions will not work.

Graphtec i-DesignR dedicated software program ($349.95)

i-DesignR™ is Graphtec’s new exclusive vinyl cutter software for the 24” CE-5000-60 and 15” Craft ROBO Pro vinyl cutters.

The boxed program includes the software CD and a separate Training DVD. It also includes a USB Flash Dongle that goes into your USB port before using or installing the program (this is the “Open Sesame” key that lets everything work).

Yes, this dedicated software program cost more than using the free software and CorelDRAW or Adobe Illustrator, but it also has some tremendous advantages.

The FREE Training DVD teaches you how to use all of the functions in the program, step by step, and best of all, in plain English! Even better…all of the functions are specifically designed for use with the Graphtec cutters; see it, do it!

Here are just a few pictures of the really neat things i-DesignR™ does for you…

This is a fraction of what i-DesignR™ can do.

Click Here for a full spec sheet - Purchase

Why do I have to have a separate graphics program, to run the cutter?

Neither inkjet printers nor vinyl cutter plotters can move, without being told what to do and how. That's the function of all programs.

Graphtec provides two excellent choices: if you already know CorelDRAW or Illustrator, then use it, along with the free software plug-ins and you are good to go.

If you don’t have a graphics program (or are maybe not the sharpest knife in the drawer using it) then i-DesignR™ gives you a first-rate program and free Training DVD, to shorten the learning curve.

You're probably getting a little tired about now, so this seems like a good place to wrap it up.

Our Final Thoughts - We are very keen on the CE-5000-60. If you want to get serious about heat applied vinyl opportunities, this cutter plotter will serve you well and grow with you.

If you are serious, but the budget is a bit limited, then consider the Graphtec Craft ROBO Pro, in the next section. It is smaller and cheaper, but still a fine cutter, with all the software choices of the big cutter

There is no absolutely no doubt that printed heat transfers and vinyl cut decorations provide more T-shirt transfer business opportunities

Should you start your T-shirt business with just printed transfers (Alpha heat transfer paper and TransMagic! inks), just a vinyl cutter or…both. We don'no. All three choices are workable.

• Inkjet printed transfers only – Lord knows, there is always a market for nicely printed, full-color photos and graphics. Churches, family reunions, schools, civic organizations, charities, teams, individuals and others, provide excellent year-round opportunities. You can use flock letters and numbers and uniform numbers (learn about these, later in your tour) to round out your decorated T-shirt offerings.

• Vinyl Cut transfers only – There are many profitable jobs best done with a vinyl cutter. These include extensive lettering and numbering, offering specific font sizes, styles and colors, highly decorative fashion work using neon, metallic, prismatic, etc. vinyl colors and solid object designs, with nothing but the design on the garment. Many also use their cutter to put quotes and sayings on garments.

• Combining inkjet printed and vinyl cutting – This is a very complete setup. What advantages one method doesn’t offer, the other does, and vice versa. Also, the ability to contour (outline) cut inkjet printed transfers (like we showed above) is a real winner with many customers.

Consider your situation, budget and desires carefully. Consult with us anytime at 800-908-9916. We've got a lot of experience and will give you honest answers. Above all, remember the old pilot's saying, called the 5 P's: Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance. We want you to succeed!

Continue on and read about the Graphtec ROBO Pro or
I'm done with cutters, skip to the vinyl - I want more technical details - Skip Cutters, go to Flock

Graphtec Craft ROBO Pro (CE-5000-40) Size - 15" cuts 14.8" wide, up to 164' long List $1095 - Our Price $995 In stock - same day shipping (order below)

The Graphtec Craft ROBO Pro is a 15" desktop plotter cutter. However, don't let the small size and much cheaper price fool you: this is a serious, professional cutter.

It's really just a smaller, cheaper version of the big CE-5000-60. The three biggest differences are the smaller roll size (15") and slower cutting speed (although I wouldn't call the maximum 16" per second cutting speed of the ROBO Pro exactly slow) and cheaper price.

In the most important aspects of a cutter (cutting quality and ease of use) the ROBO Pro is the equal of its big brother. It easily cuts all types of vinyl and flock and outline cuts inkjet printed heat transfers (both the Alpha Gold Dark, for colored shirts and Alpha Double Green for white shirts, work very nicely in this cutter).

Software for the ROBO Pro includes ROBO Master and the Cutting Master 2 plug-in for CorelDRAW and Adobe Illustrator.

Here are some points to consider, if you are thinking about the Craft ROBO Pro:

• Being able to print heat transfers and cut vinyl is a great combination, providing more sales opportunities. If the budget is tight, consider the Craft ROBO Pro.

• If you need portability, the cutter only weighs 21 lbs.

• If space is limited, the 24" wide cutter easily fits on a small table in the corner of a room.

• If your work is part hobby and part business, the cutter may be a very logical choice.

• Also, if you only do seasonal work or limited special event decorating (where most of the year you are not using the cutter) the ROBO Pro may be more than enough cutter.

Our Final Thoughts - All in all, the Craft ROBO Pro provides a very good and useful package of benefits, at a very reasonable price.

Essentially, the Craft ROBO Pro is just a smaller version of the big CE-5000-60. Here’s the proof: the entire name of the cutter is- Craft ROBO Pro CE-5000-40. That’s a lot to write or say, so the name has been shortened to three words.

If budget or other considerations leads you to the Craft ROBO Pro, get it with confidence. It will serve you well, for many years.

Click Here for a PDF brochure with full specifications

The Next Pages includes information about little tools and accessories that help you stay efficient with your cutter. You should at least skim the page to familiarize yourself with the contents.

Alternate Study Guide:

Go To Vinyl and learn about 19.5” CADtex Vinyl or go learn about 15” ThermoFlex Vinyl.

Skip vinyl info and go to Flock Letters & Numbers. Sooner or later knowing how to do just lettering and numbers will come in handy.

Updated: Friday September 10, 2010