Cut vinyl lettering is cut-to-shape and requires a special file format to produce that effect.
Cut vinyl lettering is comprised of letters, numbers or shapes that are cut to the actual outline of the character with the remaining vinyl material weeded (removed) away to leave just the characters in tact without a background. There are two ways to make cut vinyl lettering both of which will require certain specific files to achieve the desired "no background" cut vinyl lettering look.
For solid spot color cut vinyl lettering we load up our vinyl plotter machine with a roll of either intermediate or premium solid colored vinyl. The plotter will then read the outline of the letters and in turn will cut the letters to shape, but to do so, it requires a "vector" file outline format. A vector file can be formatted to turn all the text into outlines that the vinyl plotter recognizes to cut the lettering to shape. Typical vector file extensions include .AI, .EPS and .PDF which are predominantly generated from the Adobe Illustrator software.
For cut vinyl lettering that has shading, gradients, drop-shadows or special Pantone color call-outs we can digitally print vinyl lettering as well. But again, to achieve the "no background" look so that your vinyl looks as if it was painted on the surface, a vector file is needed. And "raster" files (see below) will have to be printed on clear vinyl to achieve the cut-to-shape look or be re-created in a vector format to be able to cut-to-shape.
"Raster" files, which are basically images and contain no outlines for cutting, can't be used for cut vinyl lettering. The typical extensions for raster files are .JPG, .TIF, .PNG, .GIF or .PS. If you only have a raster file available to you, ask your sales representative about our design services, and we might be able to re-create the file for you in a vector format that can be cut-to-shape (design fees will apply.)
