As simple as it seems, a major reason for poor tracking is improper alignment of sign vinyl. Long runs will be impossible to accomplish without learning to load and align vinyl properly. Take at least 30 minutes when receiving cutter / plotter to learn its 'personality'. Discover the cutter's alignment marks and how to use them with different vinyl films.
Allow the sign vinyl material to fall away from the cutter in both the front and the back.
Make sure desktop cutters rest on a table no more than 24" wide. The table should be at least 8" from the wall
Check Down Acceleration, the speed at which the cutter comes to a halt, Up Acceleration, the speed the cutting blade moves from one letter or graphic to another, and actual Cutting Speed. All can effect tracking. Running any plotter or cutter at an extremely high speed can cause slipping
Do not permit your cutter to pull vinyl off from a heavy 50 yard
roll. Since most cutters do not have an auto unroll feature, they will pull on the heavy roll of vinyl at their usual working speed. The snapping that results could have a disastrous effect on tracking.
Make certain you are using the correct sign vinyl film. Some vinyl materials are designed to work better in cold climates, others in warm areas. Know which ones are appropriate to use under your conditions.
Not all vector images are vinyl ready. Although it's true that vinyl-ready designs must be vectored, they must also have paths that are closed and cutting lines that don't intersect. So be sure to ask whether the designs in the clip art package you're considering are vinyl ready or you'll end up spending precious extra time cleaning them up!
