Muse ARTisan User manual

User Manual
REV 2/8/2022

Introduction and Safety
1.0 Support
1.1 Safety & Warnings
For ARTisan support, please go to
https://techsupport.signwarehouse.com/muse-vinyl-cutter-support-resources/
Please read the following safety guidelines regarding use of your Muse cutter:
Symbols inside triangles represent important notes that warrant your full attention. There are
different symbols denoting specific warnings. The symbol at left, for example, warns of a
possible danger of electric shock.
The cross-bar indicates activities that are prohibited because of risk of injury or possible
damage to your equipment. This particular symbol at left warns against the use of tools to
remove parts of the equipment.
Don't use with an electrical power source which doesn't meet the required voltage rating.
Using with substandard sources of electricity may result in fire or electric shock.
Don't use your ARTisan if it begins to emit an odor or smoke.
Don't un-plug your ARTisan while powered on. Doing so may damage the equipment.
Make sure your ARTisan is grounded. Using your ARTisan without it being grounded may
result in risk of equipment damage or electric shock.
1
Thank you for choosing an ARTisan vinyl cutter.

Don't disassemble your ARTisan or attempt repairs unless directed
by SignWarehouse technical support.
Don't drop any liquids or metal objects into your ARTisan. Liquids or impact
from hard or heavy objects may damage the equipment.
Touching your ARTisan’s blade with your finger may result in injury.
Don't damage or replace the power cable supplied with the vinyl cutter.
Don't excessively bend, pull, or fold the power cable or place weight on it.
Crimping the power cable may result in risk of failure or electric shock.
If you're not going to use your ARTisan for a long time, unplug the power
cable from the outlet.
Placing your hands on the cutting platen during operation may result in injury.
Place your cutter on a stable surface. Operating the vinyl cutter on an
unstable surface may result in a fall that can damage the equipment or
internal components.
To unplug the power cable from a receptacle, always grasp the
plug instead of the cable. Pulling the cable may damage it and
increase the risk of fire or electric shock.
Don't operate during an electrical storm where lightning is present. For protection
against power surges, a surge protector is recommended.
Don't physically move the cutting head while your ARTisan is powered on.
Manually moving the cutting head during operation may damage the main board.

1.2 Warranty
1.3 ARTisan Contents
The ARTisan cutter comes with a one-year parts warranty. If you have any questions about your cutter’s
warranty, please contact SIGNWarehouse via our warranty claim form at techsupport.signwarehouse.com.
It is recommended that you keep your original box with the Styrofoam packing materials in case your
ARTisan must be shipped or returned to SIGNWarehouse.
Besides the ARTisan cutter and cutter stand, your box should also contain the following items:
Accessories Box
Power Cable
USB Cable
Media Bracket
Stand Assembly Parts
Blade Holder
45° Blade
60° Blade
Test Pen
Cutting Mat

1.4 Parts of the ARTisan Cutter
Front of the ARTisan Cutter
Front of the ARTisan Cutter with Cover Open
1.4.1
1.4.2
Blade Holder
Control Panel
Carriage Right Cover
Pinch Rollers
Alignment Marker
Grit Roller
Cutting Strip Ruler
Left Cover
Alignment Marker
LED Light Control Panel Cable
Carriage Belt Head Cable

Back of the ARTisan Cutter
1.4.3
Sides of the ARTisan Cutter
1.4.4
Right Cover Left Cover
Pinch Rollers
Pinch Rollers Lever
Power Port Power Switch USB Flash
Drive Port
Rest ButtonUSB Port

1.5 Accessories
1.6 Pinch Rollers
The test pen is used in calibrating the Scale (Section 2.6) and is also
recommended for test drawing while you are learning where shapes will
cut based on various software settings. Note that a small piece of wax
needs to be removed from the pen’s nib before use. You may also wish
to cut off the very top of the pen refill so that it more easily fits into your
ARTisan:
Your ARTisan is designed for cutting rolls and sheets of adhesive-backed films such as vinyl, stencil mask
and sandblast etching films. It can also use the included cutting mat for non-backed materials such as
paper, cardstock, magnet sheets, and Mylar.
There are individual levers on each pinch wheel which are lifted to raise the rollers or gently dropped to
lower the rollers onto the material or cutting mat.
Insert the media into the space between the pinch rollers and grit rollers and pull out the media far
enough to ensure that it is loaded straight. The edges of the vinyl should be parallel to the left and the
right frame of the cutting platen. (A ‘platen’ is the lower plate that supports the vinyl as it passes through
the cutter.)
Slide the pinch roller assemblies left and right so that the pinch rollers are centered over the grit rollers.
The positions of the exposed grit rollers in the platen are marked by white rectangles above the platen.
The 45° red capped blade is well-suited for cutting thinner
materials such as heat transfer vinyl and wall/auto/decal vinyl
The 60° blue capped blade has a longer cutting edge and is well-suited for cutting thicker
materials like reflective vinyl, some heat transfer film, sandblast stencil, magnet sheets, light
chipboard, etc.
1.
2.
Test Pen
1.5.1
ARTisan Blades
1.5.2
There are two kinds of blades that came with your ARTisan:
Installing the blades into the blade holder is covered in Section 2.1. Blade Offset and Overcut
are covered in Section 2.2.

1.7 Control Panel
When you first power on the ARTisan, the following
SPEED and FORCE Screen or Home Screen will be
displayed after several seconds:
The functions of the buttons on this control panel are:
RECUT: Recuts the last job which is stored in the
ARTisan’s memory.
UDISK: Opens the UDISK window allowing access to files on a USB thumb drive plugged into the
ARTisan’s USB Flash Drive port. Files must be saved in .PLT format to appear in the menu (See Sections
1.9.6 – 1.9.8 for details).
MENU: Opens a menu of additional functions (See Section 1.7.1 for details). It can also be pressed in other
modes to return to the SPEED and FORCE Screen.
FS: Press this button once and the SPEED and FORCE settings will light up indicating you are in FS set
mode. The X- and X+ buttons can now be used to change the SPEED. The Y- and Y+ buttons can be used
to change the FORCE. (See Section 2.2.1).
TEST: Press the TEST button to cut a small square. This is recommended to ensure a clean cut is achieved
with the current settings before proceeding with a cut job.
PAUSE: Pressing this button will pause the cutting process in case any changes need to be made.
Pressing again will resume the cut.
Xand Yand OK buttons are used in the following ways:
Once the pinch rollers are in position, lower them to keep your media in place. When using the
cutting mat, you need at least two wheels near the outside edges of the mat, thus center the mat
inside the cutter (versus having it all the way to one side).
The X- and X+ buttons move the carriage left and right, while the Y+ and Y- buttons move the grit
rollers. This allows you to start cutting anywhere on the media (i.e., establish an origin).
As mentioned above, these same buttons will change the SPEED and FORCE settings when the FS
button has been activated. Pressing OK (or repressing FS) will then deactivate FS mode.
In some of the other control panel screens, the Xand Ybuttons will be used to select other options
and the OK button will accept these options or settings changes.

Menu
1.7.1
Pressing the MENU button provides access to
the following five options:
TO START: return the blade holder to the origin (the location immediately before the cut was started)
TO END: advance the blade holder to the top of the completed cut with the option to move an
additional distance
To LEFT: advance the blade holder to the left of the completed cut with the option to move an
additional distance
LANGUAGE: This screen offers a choice of three languages: Mandarin, English, and Spanish. You can
choose one of these for the language in which all settings and menu communication are displayed.
SYSTEM: This screen displays hardware and firmware versions, Baud rate, and other settings that should
need no adjustment unless directed by a SignWarehouse technical representative.
WIFI: Connect the ARTisan to your home or
office router for wireless connectivity
(refer to Sections 1.9.4 and 1.9.5).
SCALE: This setting is used to input the sizing calibration (refer to Section 2.6).
ADVANCE MODE: Three options for where the blade holder moves at the end of a cut:
Depending on which software you purchased with your ARTisan vinyl
cutter, there are two ways to set it up:
1.
2.
You’ll find complete step-by-step instructions on our Product Support
Blog for LXi 12. Please click here to access the setup tutorial or go to
https://techsupport.signwarehouse.com/
To install Create Space, download the software from the following
link (note there are separate links for Mac and Windows users). You
will also find a video to assist you with installation and activation of
your registration number:
https://techsupport.signwarehouse.com/create-space-software-support-resources/
1.8 Registering and Installing the Design Software

Place your ARTisan on a sturdy horizontal surface or mount to the included cutter stand. Keep the area
around the ARTisan free of clutter and unnecessary items. This will prevent other objects from
obstructing normal feeding of media through the cutter. Impacts with items around the cutter can cause
a material to lift off the platen or feed incorrectly. Either of these can negatively impact cut quality
and/or tracking.
Connect the power cable to a wall outlet or power strip and the other end into the power outlet on the
left cover. To turn on the power flip the switch up on the same left cover. The same switch is used to
power off.
The ARTisan will take a few seconds to power up. The LED light will come on and the tool carriage will
engage. IMPORTANT: Once the cutter is on, do not attempt to move the tool carriage manually. This can
damage the tool carriage and/or main board. Use only the buttons on the control panel to move the
tool carriage.
There are 3 ways that you can connect your ARTisan to the computer:
You may choose any one of these three connectivity options. You can also change from one to the
other at will, but for best results use one at a time. Here are the benefits of each connectivity option:
1.
2.
3.
1.
USB Cable
Wi-Fi
USB Flash Drive
The USB cable is the simplest and most reliable connection. Setup is quick and easy. See Sections
1.9.1 or 1.9.2 for instructions.
1.9 Connecting the ARTisan to Your Computer
USB Connection in LXi
1.9.1
Turn on the ARTisan before connecting to your computer. Using the USB cable that came with the
cutter, plug the wider end into your computer’s USB port and the squarish end into the cutter’s USB port
which is on the right cover.
2.
3.
Wi-Fi takes a little more time and care to set up but offers a wireless environment in which the
cutter can be used without being connected to the computer on which the software is installed.
See Section 1.9.3 and Section 1.9.4 or 1.9.5 for detailed instructions.
The USB flash drive option allows you to use the cutter without being connected to the PC. Files
can be saved from the design station computer in .PLT format and transferred to the cutter using a
USB thumb drive. See Sections 1.9.6 - 1.9.8.