Colour Separation Tool

Use the Colour Separation Tool to ready a design of several vinyl colours, each cut from its own vinyl and laid one on another. Draw each colour on a layer of its own (the layer's colour as the vinyl's); the tool puts the same registration marks on every colour's layer, so the colours line up when they are applied.

Usage

1. Select the whole design, every colour of it (click, drag a box round it, or Shift to add).
2. Fill in the Registration mark size and the Registration marks' distance from the design.
3. Click Apply.

Each mark is a cross in a circle, at three corners of the box round the whole design (bottom left, top left and bottom right: the missing corner shows which way round a piece is). They are drawn on every layer the design uses, so each colour's cut carries the same marks. A note on the Dimension layer lists the colours in order.

Cut each colour by itself: export, or plot, one layer at a time (in HPGL each layer is a pen). Then weed each colour, and lay them up on the marks with application tape.

Marks that follow the design

The marks' points are on the design's extent (EXTENTMIN, EXTENTMAX): they move with the design. The size and distance are variables (RMS1, RMO1).

See this in action

See also: Registration Mark Tool, Tiling Tool, Vinyl cutting.

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