Roland Finally Released Its Own Free Cut Line Software (And It Actually Works)

For as long as most of us have owned a Roland print and cut machine, adding contour cut lines has meant paying for extra, third party software just to get a line that VersaWorks could actually read.  

There are nearly half a dozen different cut line workflow options and I've covered most of them including Affinity, Silhouette Studio, CorelDraw, Flexi and Illustrator. All of them get the job done, but they all add either cost or added steps or both. 

Finally....Roland has quietly released its own cut line tool called Designer, and it is free, browser-based, and built right into Roland DG Connect.  And we all said...AMEN!!!

Roland Not Printing Red? How to Color Correct Orangey-Red for Roland BN2 and BN-20A

If you're struggling to get your Roland BN2-20A or other Roland CYMK printer to print red you're not alone. 

Printing red ink on Roland BN or BN2 often comes with an orange tone.  This is not an issue with the ink. While it's incredibly frustrating if you're trying to print and match brand or team colors, with a few settings adjustments you can get true red. 

Read on to learn how I finally got my reds to print true red rather than reddish-orange with Versaworks 7 and my Roland BN2-20A. 

Why Canva Designs Print Wrong Colors on Roland (and the one fix)

If you design in Canva and print on a Roland BN2, you may have experienced frustration when you pull your file into VersaWorks and the colors look nothing like what you designed.

Your design is beautiful in Canva. Then VersaWorks shows the PDF preview and you're wondering if your file is corrupted or if the colors did not export correctly. 

The good news is there's one setting that fixes this instantly. Read on for the 10 second fix! 

What To Do When Roland Utility Won't Open (And You Want to Pull Your Hair Out)

If launching the Roland software suite has become a source of frustration between DG Connect, DG Connect Hub, the print utility and Versaworks - you are not alone. 

Half the time some of them are grayed out, the other half of the time the status probably says "Setup Incomplete" and you're likely left spending a lot of time asking WHY!?! 

Part of the issue is if the applications aren't opened and launched in a specific order there are errors and miscommunications between them. Read on for how to avoid the errors and for the best Roland startup workflow.

How to Fix Roland Versaworks "Incomplete Setup" Error

You've got your Roland printer plugged in, powered on, and connected — and VersaWorks is still showing "Setup Incomplete." It sounds like something is broken. It's not. 

"Setup Incomplete" doesn't mean there's a problem with your machine or that the machine itself is not set up fully.  The oddly-worded error actually means you haven't set up the material you want to use for - this session. 

Recommended Roland BN2 Workflow for Mac Users

If you’re using a Mac to run your Roland BN2 there’s a new (yes already) recommended workflow for creating cut lines.

The issue is that license version of Flexi Designer that comes free with the BN2 series does not work on MACs. In addition the one built-in cut line tool Roland Mac users did have in DG Connect’s Designer has frustratingly been removed.

I won’t even get into here why both of these facts are so frustrating and feel like two steps forward and one back…

But I will share my recommended Roland BN2 workflow for Mac users.