Cut Contour Tool

The Cutcontour tool prepares cutting paths for print‑and‑cut workflows. It detects and maps spot colors used for cutting to named cut layers, and can generate contours automatically from page content when none exist. 

Overview

Use Cutcontour to standardize and validate cut paths. You can map incoming spot color names to your house cut layers (e.g., CUT1) and optionally generate contours from the artwork. The step then passes a job with correct cut layers to downstream steps like nesting or export‑to‑cutter.

Opening the Tool

1. Open the Workflow Editor.
2. Add or select Cutcontour.
3. Click Configure to open the dialog.

Cutcontour Setup Dialog

PDF Bounding Boxes

• Print — Select the PDF page box used as the printable area (e.g., MediaBox).
• Cut — Select the PDF page box to used as the Cut layer. Pick the target Cut Layer (e.g., CUT1) used for contours.
• Offsets — Optional X/Y offsets to nudge the cut geometry relative to the print box.

Tool Mapping

Map spot color names present in the PDF to a cut layer. Each row in the table links a Spot Color Name to a Cut Layer, with an optional Required flag.

• Spot Color Name — Enter the name to match (e.g., CutContour). Wildcards are supported: use * to match multiple names (examples below).
• Cut Layer — Choose the cut layer (e.g., CUT1) where matching content will be placed.
• Required — If enabled, the job must contain at least one match for this mapping; otherwise processing can be halted.
• + — Add a new mapping row.

Require at least 1 spot color mapped — When enabled, at least one row must match to proceed.

Contour from page content

Generate a new contour when the PDF lacks a cut path.

• Layer — Target cut layer name for generated contours (e.g., CUT1).
• Accuracy — How closely the contour follows the artwork (e.g., Low / Medium / High).
• Distance — Offset from artwork edges (mm).
• Create inner Cut Contours — Also generate interior (hole) contours.
• Rope Cut Contour — Adds a "rope" style cut contour to the image, instead of creating a path directly around the images edges. Perfect for DTF stickers.

Other controls

• Manage Cut Layer list — Edit the global list of available cut layers.
• OK — Save configuration; Cancel — discard changes.

How It Works

At run time, the step scans for spot colors and applies your mappings (including wildcard patterns). Matching objects are assigned to the selected cut layer. If Contour from page content is enabled, a new vector outline is generated according to Accuracy and Distance. The resulting cut‑ready geometry is written into the working job for the next steps.

Using in Workflows

1. Place Cutcontour before Nesting or Export‑to‑Cutter.
2. Set the page boxes under PDF Bounding Boxes.
3. Add Tool Mapping rows and use * where helpful to cover naming variations.
4. (Optional) Enable Contour from page content to auto‑generate outlines.
5. Click OK and run the workflow. Verify contours in the preview/output.

Tips & Best Practices

• Use consistent cut layer names (e.g., CUT1, CUT2) across workflows.
• Leverage wildcards to catch naming differences from multiple design apps.
• Validate auto‑generated contours on a sample before production.

Summary

Cutcontour detects or generates cut paths and maps them reliably to your cut layers.