Roland BN-20A Cutlines

Using new equipment and software, while exciting, can sometimes be overwhelming. To help improve your printing experience, we've gathered some tips for using the Roland BN-20A.

Adobe Illustrator

• Open a new tab.
• Go to your colors (Window > Color > Click the three lines on the top right corner > Create New Swatch).

• Make swatch name CutContour (it must be named this) > Make the color type spot color > Make the M at 100% and the K at 0% (everything should be at 0% except for M).

• Add the file you want to print and cut (File > Place).
• Adjust the sign of your image how you want and then embed it (Properties > Embed).
• Click on your Curvature Tool and begin “drawing” around your image how you want it to be cut.

• Make the fill None, and the Stroke your CutContour color.

• Save your file as a PDF to bring into the Vera Works software.

• To make sure that it will cut – double click on the file in the Versa Works software and you should see a red moving line where the printer will cut. See image below:

• Print

Affinity Designer

• Open a new document.
• Make a Cut Contour Line (Swatches > Click the three lines in the top right corner > Add Global Color > Change name to CutContour (It must be named this) > Change from HSL Color Wheel to CMYK Slider.

• Put C at 0, M at 100, Y at 0, and K at 0.
• Check off Spot then hit Add.

• Go back to the three lines on the right side > Rename Palette > Save As VWCutContour.
• Three lines on the right side > Export Palette > save to your files.
• Three lines on the right side > Delete this Palette > Yes.
• Three lines on the right side > Import Palette > As Application Palette > select the file to open.

• This saves the cutline feature into Affinity and only needs done once.

• Add in your image (File > Place). Adjust to your desired placement and size.
• Click on the Pen tool, go to Mode at the top and select Smart Mode. Start outlining how you want the printer to cut around your image. You can cut out spaces from inside the image too.
• Drag and select everything to highlight.
• File > Export

• Export as PDF > Change area to Selection Area > Export

• Open Vera Works > Bring in your PDF File

• To make sure that it will cut – double click on the file in the Versa Works software and you should see a red moving line where the printer will cut. See image below:

• Print

• Silhouette Studio

• You must be in Business Edition (Help > View > Business)
• Opening SVG File (already vectorized so do not need to do the next step)

• Opening PNG / JPEG file
• Open trace panel > select trace area > drag across entire design > increase threshold until the whole image is yellow
• Select trace and detach > drag image over > highlight the canvas area and clear any random shapes > return image back to canvas

• You must be in Business Edition (Help > View > Business)
• Opening SVG File (already vectorized so do not need to do the next step)

Corel Draw

• Open a new document.
• Add in file (File > Import). Adjust to your desired placement and size.
• Window > Color Palettes > Palettes

• Opening PNG / JPEG file
• Open trace panel > select trace area > drag across entire design > increase threshold until the whole image is yellow
• Select trace and detach > drag image over > highlight the canvas area and clear any random shapes > return image back to canvas

• Window > Dockers > Effects > Contour.

• You can either use the Freehand Tool or the Shape Tools to make your outline.
• Set your Contour Alignment to Outside Contour (The square on the right at the top).
• Leave steps at 1.
• Adjust the Offset to how far out you want the cutline to be from your image.
• Right click the white box with the red line in the middle to keep the fill empty.
• Left click to make the outline the CutContour color. /li>

• Export File as PDF when done.
• Bring file into Versa Works.
• To make sure that it will cut – double click on the file in the Versa Works software and you should see a red moving line where the printer will cut. See image below: