DTF MultiCut Pro - RIP Software (EN)
Please note: This document is only provided for your convenience and does not replace the
official manual of your chosen RIP software. The official manual of your RIP software may
contain more up-to-date information. Secabo does not offer customer support for general
questions about your chosen RIP software.
Fiery DigitalFactory
This guide makes the following assumptions:
You are already familiar with DigitalFactory
You are using the latest v11 build (or newer) of DigitalFactory
You have installed the driver and added the Secabo DTF MultiCut Pro as a device
Cutting Processes
We expect most customers to use a combination of cutting and perforating while processing
jobs with the Secabo DTF MultiCut Pro. To set this up, you need to modify your cutting
processes:
Make sure the correct Cutter and Process are selected and adjust the settings as shown
below for both “Knife” and “Perf Cut”. Please take special care of the units while entering
values, as your installation may have different default units configured. Depending on your
chosen knife the “Trailing Blade” values may differ.
Please note: When specifying the drag knife offset here make sure the offset is disabled on
the machine itself. Otherwise the offset gets applied twice, which leads to various problems
and unsatisfactory results.
Queue Manager
To use the Secabo DTF MultiCut Pro as a cutter in any of your queues you will first need to
configure it as the cutting device in the Queue Manager. The following steps will need to be
repeated for every queue that you would like to use with the Secabo DTF MultiCut Pro.
Select “Secabo DTF MultiCut Pro” as cutter and make sure “Port” is set to “FILE”. Click the
three dots next to “FILE” to open the Port Settings.
The “Output folder” specifies the directory in
which the generated cut files (“plt” files) will be
put. In general this should be set to the network
folder (“hot folder”) that the Secabo DTF MultiCut
Pro also has access to, but for testing purposes
you can set this to any folder you want.
Make sure “Use Barcode Value” is selected, as
the generated cut files won’t have the proper
name otherwise.
Make sure the “Default extension” is set to
lowercase “plt”.
Queue Properties
The remainder of settings is located in the “Queue Properties”. You will have to repeat the
following steps for every queue that uses the Secabo DTF MultiCut Pro.
Settings > Media Setup
Make sure to select an appropriate medium, as the maximum cutting width is 600 mm. Using
wider media is not supported. For best results we recommend staying slightly below 600
mm, so the positioning of the media gives you some leeway. During internal tests we found
580 mm to be a good and reliable value.
Do not limit the Cutter page size here.
Settings > Layout Manager
On this page, make sure jobs are mirrored on import. Set the layout mode to “Auto Nest” in
order to automatically close pages when a length of 880 mm (maximum cutting length) is
reached. While not required, we also recommend adding some spacing between jobs.
Settings > Production Markup
Set the markup system to “Secabo DTF MultiCut Pro - DTF Mode” when working with DTF
media. When working with other media, such as sublimation paper, you may also select the
other option. Set the mode to “Per Page” and make sure QR codes are enabled.
You can modify the additional settings to fit your needs:
X-Offset should be set to 0.00 mm, as this allows you to get the most out of your media.
Y-Offset depends on the size of the QR Code, as this setting ensures that your print content
does not overlap with any of the production markup.
QR Codes should be enabled at all times for our recommended workflow. Depending on
your needs you can also tweak the QR Code Size here. On a well calibrated printer you can
go as low as 10.00 mm to produce readable QR Codes for the DTF Cutter. However, if your
print heads already show signs of aging or your process requires to to use high amounts of
ink (eg. for use on sports textiles) you might want to increase this to keep the QR Codes
readable. Values up to 15.00 mm can generally be read by the cutter.
Cutter > Weed Borders
The setup on this page can be adjusted based on your needs. We expect most customers to
want to perforate around each job and fully cut out pages, so that you can easily ship the
transfers to your customers in an envelope, for example.
Cutter > Sorting
This only needs to be adjusted if you followed our previous recommendation with the “Weed
Borders” set up. By sorting the operations by color and making sure that the highlighted
entries are at the top, you are modifying the order of operations.
With settings as shown below the Secabo DTF MultiCut Pro will always perforate jobs before
cutting out pages, leading to better media retention and results.
Using Spot Colors for Contours
Fiery DigitalFactory supports using spot colors for contours. The following example shows
you how this can be achieved by using Adobe Illustrator 2024.
We create a new blank file in Adobe Illustrator and add some content:
Next, we use any of the available line or shape tools to define a contour that we would like to
have cut. In this example we are using a polygon, but any shape or combination of lines is
valid. Our Artboard now looks something like this:
Next, we need to create a spot color for our contours that will later be picked up by Fiery
DigitalFactory. Please note that we will only have to define this once, as the same color can
be reused many times. To do so we click on the appropriate color button and select “New
Swatch” from the dialog:
In the following dialog you specify the name of your spot color - This is what Digital Factory
will use to recognize it. You can choose this name yourself, but in our example we stick to
the predefined “CutContour” that works in Digital Factory by default. The color itself (in our
case light blue) does not matter and can be chosen freely. Make sure “Spot Color” is
selected as “Color Type”.
Afterwards we can see that our contour now uses the spot color we just defined and is
displayed in whichever color we chose for that:
The last step in Adobe Illustrator is to simply save the file. In our example we simply saved it
as “demo.pdf” using the default options for saving PDF files.
Now we can double-check our Color Actions in Digital Factory, which are located in the
Queue Properties. As you can see, the default “CutContour” (1) we chose to use earlier is
included in this list as well and has its action set to “Perf Cut” (2). If you have chosen your
own name earlier, you will have to add it to this list now (3). You are also able to change the
action attached to each color.
Now all that is left to do is to simply drag the demo.pdf file into Digital Factory and watch
everything play out. Since we chose “Perf Cut” for our spot color earlier, we can see that
Digital Factory picked it up right away and displays it as a dotted line in the preview:
Ergosoft
This guide makes the following assumptions:
You are already familiar with Ergosoft
You are using version 17.4.1.9394 (or newer) of Ergosoft
Cut Queue & Environment
Make sure to select the correct driver in your Cut Queue and Environment settings.
“Port” refers to the folder where generated PLT files will be placed. Ideally this folder
matches up with the network share configuration on your Secabo DTF MultiCut Pro, so it can
automatically access any files generated by Ergosoft.
You can now apply device-specific options in your Cut Environment. For our standard DTF
workflow with QR codes we recommend the settings shown below, though you may be able
to further tweak QR-Code Size depending on your print quality (between 1,00 and 1,30 cm).
Lastly, make sure that your default job preset:
Activates Contour Cut
Specifies the “Secabo DTF MultiCut Pro” environment and has cut settings
Verify your configuration before printing
You can verify your settings before printing using the “Job Preflight” feature of Ergosoft. You
should be able to see the markup (mark points as well as QR code) for the Secabo DTF
MultiCut Pro in the white color channel:
SAi Flexi
This guide makes the following assumptions:
You are already familiar with SAi Flexi
You are using the latest version that includes support
1. Installing the Cutter
Open the Production Manager and add the device by selecting “Setup → Add Setup.” Locate
the device under “SECABO” and proceed to the next dialog.
Ensure the file extension is set to lowercase “plt,” as this is what the cutter expects. Set the
default file location to the “qrplt” folder within your shared network folder, which should
already be accessible to and configured in the cutter. For guidance on how to set up the
shared network folder please refer to the Secabo DTF MultiCut Pro manual.
2. Creating a sample file
This section provides a step-by-step guide for creating a basic file compatible with the
Secabo DTF MultiCut Pro.
2.1 Configuring page size
Open the Flexi Editor and make sure that the page size in DesignCentral
stays within the machine's maximum working area (600 mm x 880 mm).
To make it easier for yourself when inserting the printed document into
the machine later, it’s best to stay slightly below this limit (e.g., 580 mm x
860 mm).
In this example, we’ll use A3 size for simplicity.
2.2 Adding Page Contour Cut Marks
Next, we have to add the necessary page markup, including four mark points and a QR
Code. This will allow the machine to automatically load the correct job and adjust for
document rotation.
To do so, we have to open up the dialog under “Effects → Page Contour Cut Mark”. There
you will be able to select “Secabo Mark” as a mark system. Doing so should already produce
a result similar to this:
At this point it is very important to remember that the Secabo DTF MultiCut Pro supports two
different operating modes that use a slightly different markup. There is the “Standard Mode”
for non-transparent media (e.g. sublimation paper) that utilizes black markup (as seen
above).
In addition to that the machine also has a more specialized “DTF Mode”, which is used when
working with transparent DTF film. You can freely switch between both modes using the
“Options” button at the bottom of the dialog.
Do not be alarmed if the visible markup suddenly disappears - As this will be printed in white,
you will not be able to see it in the editor without highlighting the elements:
You will find a more detailed explanation for both modes in the official Secabo DTF MultiCut
Pro manual.
2.3 Adding Content
Now you can add content to the page we have just set up. You can utilize all features of the
Flexi Editor to create and layout your page. For our example we will stick to a simple text for
which we have also added a simple Cut Contour.
2.4 Generating Cut File
The next step is to export the cutting data for the Secabo DTF MultiCut Pro. You can do this
from the “File → Cut Contour” dialog. For our example the default settings will work just fine.
You can adjust the settings as required for your workflow.
After clicking “Send” we can see that the cut file has been successfully generated and
placed in the folder that we specified earlier:
2.5 Generating Print File
You can export the print file using “File → Export”.
2.6 Printing
You can import the previously exported file in Production Manager using “File → Add Job”.
When double-clicking the newly imported file in the “Hold”-Section we can take a look at and
make some adjustments to the job properties.
As with all DTF transfers we need to make sure that the document is mirrored during
printing. It is important that mirroring only happens once and at this point, to make sure that
the markup for the Secabo DTF MultiCut Pro stays intact.
The next settings will very likely depend on your specific printer setup. We will try to cover
the basics that should apply to most (if not all) printers.
Make sure that “White” under “Separation” is set to “Spot_1” rather than “Process”.
In “Printer Options” make sure “Spot_1” is set to “Under color”.
With these settings in place you can go over to “Output Channel Preview”. After enabling the
preview for “Spot_1” your preview should look similar to the image below, with visible
markup for the Secabo DTF MultiCut Pro.
At this point everything should be set up properly. We encourage you to create a preset with
the appropriate settings so you don’t have to repeat this for every document. You can go
ahead and print the file now.
2.7 Testing
With the printed document in your hand you can now go to your Secabo DTF MultiCut Pro
and process the printed file. As long as everything has been set up properly, it should
essentially “just work”.
Please refer to the official manual for more specific operating instructions.
