How to Make a Print-and-Cut File for a Roland
A Roland print-and-cut job needs two things in the file: your printed artwork and a separate cut line the machine can recognize. That cut line has to be a specific spot color named CutContour, and VersaWorks looks for that exact name to know where to cut. Get the spot color wrong and the machine prints your cut line instead of cutting it.
What CutContour actually is
CutContour is a named spot color, not just a color you pick. VersaWorks treats any path assigned to that spot color as a cut path. The traditional way to set it up is in Illustrator or Flexi by creating the spot swatch, drawing or offsetting the path around your art, and assigning the swatch.
The faster path from a PNG
If you start with a transparent PNG, the cut path is just an outline of the opaque pixels. That is a mechanical step a tool can do for you in seconds: generate the contour, assign the CutContour spot color, and export a print-ready PDF. That removes the slowest and most error-prone part of the job.
Before you send to the machine
Check that the contour sits slightly outside your artwork so you keep a small bleed, and confirm the spot color name reads exactly "CutContour" in the file. Then load it into VersaWorks and run your print-and-cut.
CutContour
Upload a transparent PNG and get a print-ready PDF with the CutContour spot color already set.
Learn more about CutContourFrequently asked questions
Why does VersaWorks ignore my cut line?
Almost always because the cut path is not assigned to the CutContour spot color, or the name is slightly off. VersaWorks matches the exact spot name.
Do I need Illustrator?
No. If you start from a transparent PNG, a tool can generate the contour and the correct spot color for you and export the PDF.