US Cutter Copam User manual

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Contents
Welcome ........................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Cutter Parts ...................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Front View ...................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Detail of Carriage Arm ................................................................................................................................................. 5
Right Side View .............................................................................................................................................................. 5
Back View ........................................................................................................................................................................ 6
Detail of Pinch Roller ................................................................................................................................................... 6
Control Panel .................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Measure Screen .............................................................................................................................................................. 7
Paper Size Screen ............................................................................................................................................................ 7
Function Select Screen .................................................................................................................................................. 8
Setup Screen .................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Jog Screen ...................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Pause Screen .................................................................................................................................................................. 11
Setting up ....................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Selecting a Location for the Cutter .......................................................................................................................... 12
Connecting the Cutter to a Computer .................................................................................................................... 12
Installing SignBlazer Software ................................................................................................................................... 14
Installing SignCut Software ........................................................................................................................................ 15
Installing a New Blade ................................................................................................................................................. 16
Replacing a Worn Blade ............................................................................................................................................. 17
Installing a Pen Carriage ............................................................................................................................................. 18
Preparing for Cutting .................................................................................................................................................. 20
Step By Step Instructions ....................................................................................................................................... 25
Starting SignBlazer for the First Time ...................................................................................................................... 25
Making a Simple Cut in SignBlazer .......................................................................................................................... 27
Importing in SignBlazer .............................................................................................................................................. 29
Converting a Raster Image to Vector Image in SignBlazer.................................................................................. 32
Starting SignCut and Inkscape for the First Time ................................................................................................. 35
Creating a Simple Design in Inkscape....................................................................................................................... 37

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Cutting a Simple Design in SignCut ......................................................................................................................... 41
Converting a Raster Image to Vector Image in Inkscape .................................................................................... 43
Specifications ............................................................................................................................................................... 47
Troubleshooting ......................................................................................................................................................... 48

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Welcome
Thank you for choosing a Copam cutter from US Cutter. The Copam cutters provide a
professional level, high quality cutting experience for a fraction of the cost of most cutters of this
quality. This manual is here to help provide a starting point in the learning process of the Copam
cutters or to vinyl cutting in general. Please read it thoroughly and follow the steps carefully to help
insure a trouble free experience with your new machine. If you have any questions along the way,
we have provided a few locations to go to get those questions answered. You can post on the US
Cutter forums at forum.uscutter.com, submit a request for support on the support website at
support.uscutter.com, or call customer service at 425-481-3555. We hope you enjoy your experience
with your new cutter and the US Cutter family.

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Cutter Parts
Before you start cutting, you should familiarize yourself with the cutter and its basic parts and functions:
Front View
Control Panel
Used to provide input directly to the cutter. Covered in detail in the
“Control Panel” (page 7) section of this manual.
Carriage Arm
Holds the Blade (or Pen) Carriage. Shown in detail on page 5.
Pinch Rollers
Holds the media tightly to the feed roller below. Shown in detail on page
6.
Feed Roller Guides
Shows the location of each feed roller so that the pinch rollers can be
properly positioned to make contact with the feed rollers.
Feed Rollers
(Not Pictured. Located below
each Feed Roller Guide.)
Positions the cutting material during operation.
Right Side Cover
Contains the Power Switch and the Parallel, Serial, USB and Power
cable ports for the cutter. Shown in detail on page 5.

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Detail of Carriage Arm
Right Side View
Blade/Pen Carriage
Slot
Holds the Blade or Pen
Carriage in place.
Locking Knob
Allows access to the
Blade/Pen Carriage Slots for
exchanging/replacing
Carriages.
Parallel Cable Port*
Used to connect a
parallel cable from the
cutter to a computer.
Serial (COM) Cable
Port*
Used to connect a serial
cable from the cutter to
a computer.
USB Cable Port*
Used to connect a USB
cable from the cutter to
a computer.
Power Cable Port
Used to connect a
power cable from the
cutter to a wall outlet
or surge protector.
Power Switch
Main power switch for
turning the power of
the cutter on(1) or
off(0).
*Only one of the connection cables should be used to
connect the cutter to a computer.

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Back View
Pinch Rollers
Holds the media tightly to the feed roller below. Back view shown in detail below.
Detail of Pinch Roller (Back View)
Tension Screw
Adjusts the tension of how tightly
the pinch roller is held to the feed
roller below.
Release Lever
Allows you to release Pinch Rollers
(either so they can be moved from side
to side or to allow media to be easily fed
below them) by pulling up on the
Release Levers.

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Control Panel
Measure Screen
The Measure Screen is the first screen that you will see when starting up the cutter. Select your media
type from the menu and then confirm your selection. The cutter will then measure your material and
report the cuttable area (in millimeters) on the Paper Size Screen (Next). If „Scroll‟is selected, only the width is
measured. If „Sheet‟is selected than both the width and length of the material will be measured.
Paper Size Screen
The Paper Size Screen will display after a measurement has been made from the Measure Screen. This will
display the cuttable area that the machine has detected for your media (in millimeters). You can record the
dimensions and use them as a reference on your cutting software to ensure that you are creating designs
that will fit within the cuttable area of your material.
Left/Right
Buttons
Selects between the „Scroll‟ and „Sheet‟ media types. If you are cutting from a single sheet
of media, select „Sheet‟. If you are cutting from a roll of media, select „Scroll‟.
Enter Button
Confirms the selection between „Scroll‟ and „Sheet‟.
All other buttons have no function on this screen.
Enter Button
Exits the Paper Size screen and continues to the Function Select Screen (Next).
All other buttons have no function on this screen.

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Function Select Screen
The Function Select Screen is the main screen for the cutter. From this screen you can access the Measure
and Setup Screens, make test cuts, make a repeat cut of the last cut made by the cutter, or adjust the origin
of the of the next cut to be made.
Measure
Button
Accesses the Measure Screen (page 7) where the material loaded in the cutter can be
measured and the size of the cuttable area can be displayed.
Test Button
Cuts a small test pattern to demonstrate the current settings of the cutter and allow you
to see if they are appropriate for your current material. After the test cut has been
made, the cutter will display the Setup Screen (page 9) to allow the option of changing
any settings.
Setup Button
Accesses the Setup Screen (page 9)where the main settings of the cutter can be
viewed/changed.
Pause Button
Has no function on this screen.
Enter Button
Has no function on this screen when used alone. Can be used with the right and left arrow
keys to perform advanced functions (below).
Enter Button
+
Left Arrow
Button
When the Enter Button is pressed simultaneously with the Left Arrow Button a detailed
test cut is made. This detailed test cut can be used to test the current settings of the
cutter when the small test pattern is not sufficient for testing and also for more advanced
troubleshooting.
Enter Button
+
Right Arrow
Button
When the Enter Button is pressed simultaneously with the Right Arrow Button a repeat
cut is made of the last cut that was sent to the cutter. This is a simple way to make
duplicate cuts of the same design. The repeat cut function will only retain the last cut
information until the cutter is powered off. When the cutter is powered off, the last cut information
is removed from the cutter memory and the repeat cut function will not be available until a new cut
has been made.
Up/Down/
Left/Right
Arrow
Buttons
Pressing any of the arrow buttons will access the Jog screen of the cutter (Page 10)
where a new starting position can be entered for the next cut.

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Setup Screen
The Setup screen allows you to view/adjust the main settings for the cutter. You can adjust the speed at
which the cutter moves while cutting, the amount of force used to make cuts, and the blade offset which
compensates for slight variations in blade sizes. You can also make a test cut to see if any of the settings
need to be changed, or to check if the changes you are making are improving cutter performance.
Speed Setting: The Speed Setting will adjust the rate at which the cutter operates while cutting. On
smaller or more detailed designs, the speed should lowered to increase the precision of the machine. On
larger or less detailed designs, the speed can be raised to decrease cut time.
Force Setting: The Force Setting will adjust the amount of pressure that the blade uses when cuts are
being made by the machine. This setting should be used in conjunction with proper blade depth (page 16)
to allow the blade to fully cut the material, but not cut through the protective backing material of your
selected media. Your blade depth should be adjusted to approximately;
The height of your cuttable material + ½ of the height of the backing material.
This will allow the blade to fully cut the material without fully penetrating the backing. Once you have
blade depth properly adjusted, change the pressure setting until you are getting smooth cuts.
Offset: The Offset Setting allows the cutter to adjust for slight variations in different blade sizes. If your
cuts are not fully closing, or are overlapping, you can adjust the Offset Setting to correct it. Standards for
blade offsets are often found on the packaging of, or in the instructions that come with, the blade.
Left/Right
Arrow Buttons
Selects the setting to be changed.
Up/Down
Arrow Buttons
Adjusts the parameters of the selected setting.
Enter Button
Accepts the changes made and returns to the Function Select Screen. If you accessed the
Setup screen from the Pause Screen, the Enter button will return to the Pause Screen.
Test Button
Cuts a small test pattern to demonstrate the current settings of the cutter and allows
you to see if they are appropriate for your current material. After the test cut has been
made, the cutter will return to the Setup Screen and further changes can be made. If
you cut a test shape after entering the Setup Screen from the Pause Screen, the current cut will be
canceled before the test cut is made.
All other buttons have no function on this screen.