Is Flexi Still Free with Roland? No! (And here's what to use instead)

If you bought a Roland recently you probably noticed the software that's included has changed. Flexi does not come free with a Roland anymore. That's the cut line creation program that's been included with the Roland BN2 series since it's launch.  

The good news is - you don't need it. Roland has replaced Flexi with their own free web-based software called Designer that can create cut line and perf cut lines. Plus it syncs right into VersaWorks.  

I've been using it for sticker sheets and I'll show you exactly where it shines and where it falls apart. 

Getting Set up in Roland Designer

The Roland software suite has gotten a little complicated. There's Roland DG connect. There's DG Connect Hub. There's the utility. There's Versaworks and now...there's Designer.  You need to be signed into all of them to have a successful connection to your print and cut machine. 

Designer runs in your browser as part of Roland DG Connect, so there's nothing to install. But you do need to log into Roland DG Connect. Then you'll navigate on your dashboard to Designer and (for some odd reason) log into that too. 

Before you start: you need to make sure you're have the current version of VersaWorks installed (so it syncs with Designer) and you'll need to make sure to keep DG Connect Hub and Versaworks open on your computer so the platforms stay synced. 

How to Use Roland Designer

Once you're in Designer, upload your design. Ideally you want to use a PNG file with a transparent background. Designer will put a cut line around whatever is not transparent. So a transparent PNG gives you a contour that follows your artwork. 

A JPEG can't have a transparent background so adding a cut line would put the line around the border of the image rather than contoured around the design itself. 

Adding Roland Cut line

With your transparent PNG on the canvas, select it and open the Contour panel from the right side.

Set your offset distance first. You have three options for distance.

• Offset distance of 0.0 - Puts the cut line direct on the edge of your design so it prints edge to edge but with no bleed. 
• Offset distance > 0.0 - Creates a gap or border around the edge of your design. The design will not be printed edge to edge
• Negative Offset Distance (eg -0.05) - Puts the contour cut line inside the printed area to create a bleed

Then you also have two options for the type of cut line. You can select contour cut line (kiss cut) or a perf cut line for die cuts with tabs.

It's fast and easy when the design is pretty straight forward..but as you know plenty of designs are not just one solid shape and this is where it can get complicated. 

Where it gets complicated

If you have designs that have elements that are not all connected and you try to create a cut line you'll see that the cut line doesn't necessarily autoweld like you'd expect (whyyyyy though?!). You can get stray cut lines or what I like to call "islands".  And if you have designs that have some white but also a transparent background it's like the software isn't sure how to handle it. 

In this new Silhouette U video I go through how to tackle the tougher design in Roland Designer - how to get rid of the cut lines you don't want, how to turn that mess of overlapping outlines into one clean border, and how to stack a cut contour and a perf cut on the same design so you end up with proper kiss cut stickers on a die cut sheet.

You can preview that and all our Silhouette U videos here before you even join! 

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