An example for multi-colour cutting and pressing with HappyFlex
Open the file in Silhouette Studio. To be sure that every part gets the right colour it's best to open the original picture as well for comparison.
Now it's time to find the right colours. For this picture we used HappyFlex black, white, brown, cream, red, signal red, green and yellow.
We cut the design using a Silhouette Portrait cutter. It is about the size of an A4 sheet.
Place the vinyls inside the cutter with the matt side facing up. You can use a cutting mat but you don't have to. Just make sure to use the correct drawing in settings of your plotter.
To get the outlines of the design we cut the entire picture from black HappyFlex and weed away everything we don't need until there's nothing left but the contours.
If you only want to cut certain parts of the picture from your vinyl, there are two possibilities:
Possibility 1: clear everything you don't want from your working area. This way you can arrange single pieces to minimise cutting scraps.
Possibility 2: only choose the parts you want to cut.
Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + A (cmd + a on Mac) to choose all parts of the picture and select "Do not cut" in the menue Cut Style. Now no part of the picture should be cuttable. In the next step you select the inner parts (see picture above) that you want to have cut. Hold the SHIFT key to select several parts.
For small parts of a single colour it is especially useful to arrange them for minimal cutting scraps. If you have several small pieces that you will print with only a small space between them it might be better to keep them as they are in the template. This makes it easier to place them on the garment at later point.
We recommend using the HappyWeeder for weeding. Tweezers can be especially helpful with small parts.
Once you have cut and weeded all parts you should place all of them over each other to make sure nothing was forgotten or incorrectly weeded.
Before pressing the first vinyl, pre iron the garment for a couple of seconds to get rid of residual moisture and get a smooth surface.
Place the first part of the design on your garment and print it with the appropriate settings, in this case for HappyFlex. Important: Always cover your design with a cover sheet. Let the design cool for a couple of seconds then peel off the cold carrier.
Once this first step ist done proceed the same way with the other parts. Place the vinyl, check the placement, secure it if necessary (using the HappyFix Thermo Tape), cover with HappyCover, print, let cool, peel carrier.
If the vinyl takes too long to cool off by itself you can speed up the process with a HappyCooler.
Up to now we have fitted together the parts like a Jigsaw puzzle and printed one part after the other. But you can also print HappyFlex vinyl one atop the other. Just keep in mind that the entire design is going to be thicker and not as flexible.
In the end you have a beautiful and colourful design and with a bit of practice you can turn a plain shirt into an eye catcher in no time!