Roland VersaWorks

Roland Versaworks is the software used to control the Roland BN-20 Vinyl Printer/Cutter.

What can I do with this?

Custom cut and printed stickers, posters, and more!

Follow How To Create a Cut Contour to learn how to cut stickers out.

How To Create a Cut Contour

This will allow you to cut out an outline using the BN-20's built-in cutter. Think custom-shaped stickers, etc. The video below shows how to create the cut outline in Adobe Illustrator, which is currently the only supported program for this. When imported into VersaWorks, the pink line will not be printed, but rather cut out. More details about that coming eventually - for now, ask a technician!

Written guide for CutContours (rough)

Note: the instructions below are over-complicated, but do work.

Digitized Scanned Document

1. Open up Adobe Illustrator

2. If you have a path/svg and an image already, proceed to step 11.

3. If not, open up your bitmap file (png, jpg, bmp,...)

4. Resize it to be within the artboard.

5. Duplicate the Image so you have one to trace.

6. Click Window -> Image Trace

7. Use the tracing to create paths around your image.

   1. (The settings I use are: Grayscale (or b/w), 1% paths, ignore white)

8. Trace!

9. Select the Image Trace by clicking the small dot to the right of it's name in the layers menu.

10. Click Object -> Image Trace -> Expand

11. Delete any extraneous paths you don't want to cut, and align the path over the image you want to cut.

12. Select the Cutline Path.

13. Rename the Path CutContour.

14. Make sure it is in its own layer, one that is above the general artwork.

15. With the path selected, go to the top left outline color picker and select the pink color named CutContour as the outline color

16. Save the file by doing File -> Save As

17. Select filetype Illustrator EPS (.eps) as the file type.

18. Change the EPS settings to the following:

    1. Version: Illustrator CS4 EPS

    2. Preset: High resolution

    3. Embed Fonts: Checked

    4. PostScript: Language Level 2

19. Export!

20. To open in VersaWorks, you must be launch the program as an Administrator and add the .eps from the file dialog.

21. To do this with a perforated cut line, all you need to do is name the color swatch PerfCutContour

If the color does not exist on the device you're using:

1. Open the color pallette and click New Swatch.

2. Make sure Spot Color is selected, and it's in CMYK.

3. Name the color CutContour or PerfCutContour.

4. Make it any color you want. Ideally one recognizable and different.

Scan of original document on the wall:

372KB

Roland versa works sticker cutter instructions.pdf

pdf