For shops: cutting film on your own plotter and software

How shops cut ARK

ARK has no in-house cutting software and no pattern platform of its own. Most of what ARK sells is rolls to professional install shops, and those shops cut the film on the plotter and the pattern software they already own.

The position on the cut spec is one line: bring your own platform.

What that means for a shop

You keep the plotter, the pattern library and the workflow you have. Adding ARK does not mean opening a new software account or retraining anyone on a new cutting tool.

It also means there is no ARK pattern library to lean on. The patterns are your software’s, and any adjustment for the film is yours, made from your own test cuts.

The cut spec

The cut spec is the set of values a plotter needs for a film. The backing comes first, because the liner is the layer the blade must stop at. Each value is measured on a real roll before it is published, and until then it shows as pending.

• –Backing (liner) thickness: ⟨ pending ⟩.
• –Blade depth: ⟨ pending ⟩.
• –Offset: ⟨ pending ⟩.

Before you cut a full job

The one figure printed on the roll is the film’s thickness: 8 mil for Defender. Start from the settings you use for film of that thickness, then prove them on an offcut.

• –Cut a small test piece with tight corners and narrow relief cuts.
• –Check the blade has gone through the film and adhesive and has only marked the liner.
• –Weed it. Clean corners and no tearing mean the settings hold.
• –Note the lot number from the roll label on the job record, so a roll traces back to its batch.

Where pre-cut kits fit

ARK offers pre-cut kits as well as rolls. A kit arrives cut, which suits a shop that would rather not cut a particular job itself.

Tell ARK the work your shop does, and a person replies about rolls, kits and becoming an authorized dealer. See the installer page.

No platform recommended

ARK does not name or recommend a pattern platform. The right one is the one your shop already cuts well with.