BeAM Vinyl Cutter Practice Project: Style Sticker

YOU MUST COMPLETE THE ONLINE VINYL CUTTER MODULE BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO MAKE THIS PROJECT AT THE BEAM MAKERSPACES.

After completing the online Vinyl Cutter training and earning 100% on the final quiz, you must complete a training practice task. This guide will walk you through one option for completing your Vinyl Cutter certification.

Objective: To cut and finish a simple vinyl sticker for a waterbottle, laptop, etc. Use it as a custom label or as decoration!

• Adobe Illustrator (UNC students - download Adobe Creative Cloud for free)
• VinylMaster Pro (found at Murray, Hanes, or Carmichael makerspaces)
• BeAM Roland Vinyl Cutters (found at Murray, Hanes, or Carmichael makerspaces)
• Oracal Sticker Vinyl (colors provided by BeAM: black, white, Carolina blue)

Please note: this Instructable is written with a focus on using Adobe Illustrator, but you can alternatively use a different vector design software if if you prefer.

Let's choose an image to serve as the base of our sticker and import it into Adobe Illustrator. Remember that the vinyl cutter can only read vector graphics - images that are made up of a series of paths and points. Images that you get from Google Image Search are usually raster graphics, meaning they're made up of pixels and don't have a clear path for the vinyl cutter to follow.

Check out the video in this section to see two methods for incorporating images into your sticker (Image Trace and The Noun Project.) If you'd like, you can add other elements to your sticker using tools like the Type tool or the Shapes tool. Remember: the more complex your design is, the harder it will be for the vinyl cutter to cut. This practice sticker will be small, so keep it simple - try searching for a favorite animal, food, logo, etc.

Want a more detailed walkthrough? This workflow will take you step-by-step through creating your design.

At this point, you’re ready to head to a BeAM to use the vinyl cutter. There are Roland vinyl cutters at the Murray Hall, Hanes Art Center, and Carmichael Residence Hall makerspaces.

YOU MUST RESERVE TIME ON THE VINYL CUTTER BEFORE YOU ARRIVE AT THE MAKERSPACE. To make a reservation, head to the BeAM reservations page and select the makerspace you wish to work in: https://beam.unc.edu/reservations/

Want a more detailed walkthrough? This workflow will take you step-by-step through making a BeAM tool reservation.

Find a piece of vinyl that will fit your design. You must use a piece of scrap vinyl for the practice project. You may need to resize or alter your Illustrator design slightly after finding a piece. For a refresher on operating the vinyl cutter, check out the BeAM Vinyl Cutter Quick Guide here: https://beam.unc.edu/files/2020/09/VinylCutterQuickGuideFinal.pdf

After you cut and finish your sticker, show your finished practice project to BeAM staff and they will update your record in the BeAM database. Make sure to clean up and turn off the vinyl cutter.