Salt Lake City, Utah, USA – SA International (SAi), the leading provider of software solutions for the professional signmaking, wide-format digital printing and CAD/CAM for CNC machining industries, has announced a worldwide agreement with cutting technology giant, Graphtec, to supply three newly-created cutting software packages with the company’s entire range of large format vinyl cutters.
Driven by SAi’s market-leading Flexi software, the feature-rich cutting solutions – Cutting Master 4, Graphtec Pro Studio and Graphtec Pro Studio Plus – have been designed to meet the varied requirements of print service providers and sign & display companies.
The new three-tier offering replaces Graphtec’s previous software solution, also named Graphtec Pro Studio, and provides users with access to the specific design and cutting tools to suit their respective needs.
Commenting on the agreement Hiroyuki Takahata, Senior Managing Director at Graphtec, said: “Our goal is to provide our customers with full access to a complete workflow to ensure that they can maximum the potential of our cutters. With the enhanced design and editing functions, the new SAi software solutions work in conjunction with our cutters to deliver greater productivity and incredible output. This partnership brings with it fantastic opportunities to expand application offerings and improve business operations for users.”
As a world leader in cutting technology, Graphtec’s portfolio includes flatbed, roll- and sheet-fed cutters, which deliver cutting widths of up to 162 cm / 64 in. The new software packages comprise:
Graphtec Pro Studio Plus
Driven by FlexiSIGN, Graphtec Pro Studio Plus offers users the most comprehensive offering with a haul of new tools including smart nesting for designs that are larger than the substrate. Graphtec Pro Studio Plus will automatically nest the sections of the design that exceed the material into available vacant space. This ability to maximise material usage ensures that print service providers and sign & display companies can enjoy greater capital saving. The Animated Cut Viewer tool allows users to view and analyse the cutting order and amend this ahead of the cutting process for optimum productivity. This solution is available as a payable upgrade from Graphtec.
Graphtec Pro Studio
Graphtec Pro Studio offers a vast catalogue of options when creating original designs. It includes enhanced functions such as auto-shapes. This enables faster and easier output of sign and display applications and crucially, reduces the time-consuming barriers of designing from scratch. Using the new Advanced Registration Mark Sensing System (ARMS), users can easily achieve highly accurate results. Graphtec Pro Studio is included with all Graphtec cutters.
Cutting Master 4
Designed as a Graphtec plug-in software for Adobe Illustrator and CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, Cutting Master 4 enables users to drive the cutter with minimum input. New capabilities enable simple creation of registration marks to locate the design, which improves accuracy and allows users to enjoy greater production efficiency. This tool is included with all Graphtec cutters.
Mark Blundell, CEO at SAi concludes, “We are proud to join forces with Graphtec and add it to a roster of leading strategic partnerships. With almost 70 years’ experience, Graphtec has built a reputation as the number one for pioneering cutters which is complemented by our industry-acclaimed Flexi-driven bundles. This collaboration provides Graphtec customers the opportunity to enhance their business performance by increasing throughput and achieving premium quality applications.”
Available now, Graphtec Pro Studio and Graphtec Pro Studio Plus are compatible with Windows, and Cutting Master 4 is accessible on both Windows and Mac platforms.
Mark Blundell, CEO of SAi (left) and Hiroyuki Takahata, Senior Managing Director at Graphtec (right)