Odd question about cutting a vpd file in vw

[Mrteajunkie]

This is complicated enough so I’ll try to keep it simple.

i print a lot of rectangular stickers in a grid 3x3. (2000-5000 a day)
at present I have a vdp setup which is a 3x3 rectangles grid.

in AI I copied the 3x3 and named one 3x3 VDP_image and applied a spot colour for the vdp.
the second 3x3 I named CutContour and applied the cutcontour spotcolour.

i then created a rounded rectangle outside the 3x3 grid and named it PerfCutContour and applied a spot colour to that.

when I save the design to print I edit the vdp.csv file to the image name and save it.
reload the vdp.csv and my images load up perfect.

the issue I have is the 3x3 boxes have overlap so the centre lines are cut twice making them a little too deep.
do I just erase the overlaping lines in AI and resave or is there an easier way to do this?

Im rubbish with AI and PS

[GoldRapt]

I was intruiged by your problem to the extent that i thought i would ask my mate Claude.

Apparnetly hes a very clever chap who can sometimes get things wrong, so not so clever then!!! BUT he said

(mrteajunkie) Your instinct is right - erasing the overlapping lines is the correct fix, but there's a cleaner way to do it in Illustrator than manually deleting lines.

**The quick manual fix**

In your CutContour layer, instead of having 9 separate rectangles (which creates double lines where they meet), you want a grid where each internal line exists only once.

The easiest approach for someone who finds AI tricky is to just use the **Line Segment tool** to draw the grid from scratch on the CutContour layer - draw the outer rectangle, then add 2 vertical and 2 horizontal lines inside it. No overlaps possible that way. Delete your existing 9 rectangles and replace with this simple grid. Apply your CutContour spot colour to all the lines.

**The slightly smarter fix**

If you want to keep your rectangle approach, select all 9 rectangles on the CutContour layer, then use **Pathfinder > Divide** (Window > Pathfinder, then the Divide button). This merges everything and eliminates duplicate lines. You may need to ungroup and reapply your spot colour after, but it gives you a clean single-path grid.

**Which is better for your volume**

Given you're running 2000-5000 a day, the Pathfinder Divide route gives you a cleaner file that your cutter will handle more consistently - double cuts at that volume will wear your blade faster and potentially cause registration drift over a long run.

One thing to double-check after either fix - make sure your CutContour spot colour name exactly matches what your RIP software expects (usually case-sensitive), as Pathfinder operations can sometimes reset stroke/fill attributes.

[Mrteajunkie]

Awesome Thank you i'm going to go try this in a bit

Thank you to Claude also.

[Mrteajunkie]

update:
It didn't work

What i have done.
split each box into separate lines
Joined the outer box into one single square
then joined the three vertical right, left and same with horizontal lines

I'm left with a box with a tic tac toe pattern in the centre, which is great with one issue.
It cuts in an odd way not line by line but outside box then a random path.

How can i change the cut order?

[GoldRapt]

How have you gotten on with that problem?

[Mrteajunkie]

It’s cutting everything once which is great but not in order.
I think if it went in order it would cut a lot faster.

IMG_3021.jpeg (21.3 KiB) Viewed 50 times

[GoldRapt]

My mate Claude said----That cut order (1→2→3→4→5→6→7 as shown) is the classic "path optimisation" doing its own thing - the cutter is just jumping to whichever path end is nearest at each step.

**To fix it, reorder your paths in Illustrator's Layers panel to this sequence:**

The most efficient order for a 3x3 grid is to cut all the way across in rows or down in columns without backtracking:

- Outer rectangle first
- Top horizontal line (full width)
- Bottom horizontal line (full width)
- Left vertical line (full height)
- Right vertical line (full height)

That way the blade travels logically and lifts as few times as possible.

**To reorder in the Layers panel:**
Open the Layers panel (Window > Layers), expand your CutContour layer, then just drag the paths into the order you want top to bottom. The cutter reads them in that sequence.

**But the faster fix** is in your cutter software - look for an option to **disable path optimisation** or set cut order to **"as drawn"** or **"document order"**. That forces it to respect your Illustrator stacking order exactly rather than recalculating its own route.

What software is pushing the job to the cutter - is it Flexi, Onyx, or something else? That'll help pinpoint exactly where the setting is.

[Mrteajunkie]

I use AI and send to VW5.
I’ll have a go reordering everything later and see how it goes.

[GoldRapt]

Look forward to seeing it.

[Mrteajunkie]

I gave up and re-made the file.

I created a new box then four lines selected all lines and named them all CutContour.
I put the box at the top of the layers and named the rest H TOP, H LOW, L VERT, R VERT.

Tested and it's only bloody cut it in order and working perfectly.
I have no idea what happened before but it's working now lol.

Thanks @GoldRapt for the advice