Brush n Bake Installation Instructions

The Brush n Bake Rhinestone Transfer System from Colman and Company is a great way to get started in the Rhinestone Transfer or T-Shirt Business.

Many of our customers are new to all this, and since it’s a collection of the BEST rhinestone design software, Hotfix Era, and a very capable, powerful new plotter/cutter from Graphtec, the CE6000-40, we’ve decided to create a document and series of videos to make installation as easy as possible.

We strongly recommend you read through this information before getting started. We have arranged it in the order in which you should proceed.

Setting up the Graphtec CE6000-40 Plotter

Graphtec provides some great software along with the CE6000 (and the CE5000 RoboPro before it). You’ll get a CD with the Plotter drivers and all the software used to create vinyl designs, etc. in your box.

The CE6000 comes with Graphtec Studio design software (Mac & Windows compatible) and the completely new Cutting Master 3 Production Manager and Plug-in for the latest versions of CorelDRAW^® and Adobe^® Illustrator. While we have focused mainly on cutting rhinestone templates with the CE6000-40 plotter, it is more than capable of cutting a wide variety of materials. This opens up many more money making opportunities for you!

Step 1: Install the Software and Drivers per instructions on the CD. With new computers and drivers, make sure your plotter is hooked up before you install the drivers. Here’s a link to installing the plotter from Graphtec: http://www.graphtecamerica.com/FAQs/CE6000-Install.html

If you are using Windows 8 you may need to install an updated driver.

The CD that came with your plotter has an excellent tutorial on it. Take a look at it and familiarize yourself with the type of information that is provided. If you have never used a plotter for cutting vinyl or doing contour cuts on preprinted transfers, take the time to work through the exercises and examples provided in the tutorial.

If you have questions about cutting vinyl or other materials, please contact Graphtec directly at: 888-318-3247

Step 2: Configure your Plotter for Sticky Flock. The Graphtec printer drivers that are installed with their software only include sizes for paper and vinyl, so you will want to configure it for the sizes of sticky flock you intend to use.

Colman and Company also provides a set of printer drivers for the Graphtec specifically for use with StickyFlock. With these installed, it’s simple to pick the right sized “paper” when you output your design. If you haven’t gotten the file mentioned in the video below, just let us know.

If you’re using a different Graphtec or other plotter, you may need to do your settings manually on the control panel on the front of the plotter. Your settings for using StickyFlock should be:

• Down Force: 19
• Tangent Emulation: Mode2
• Set your overcut to Start: 0.000 End: 0.002
• Initial  down force: 3
• Also, you’ll need to make sure the plotter language is set to GPGL or Auto
• Setting the blade is going to be the same on all – make sure that the blade is exposed enough by comparing it to the edge of a credit card. It should reach just about the entire width.
• Refer to your Graphtec Manual for “how – to’s”

Once your Graphtec software is installed and your plotter is all set up, reboot your computer just to make sure you’re ready for the installation of Hotfix Era.

Installing Hotfix Era

Your Hotfix Era software actually comes in a box marked Design Era, shown below.

Design Era is actually the combination of Hotfix Era for Rhinestones and Stitch Era for Embroidery, but each are delivered in this box. If you ordered Hotfix only, that’s what’s in the box! Please note: Your system MUST be connected to the internet to install and receive updates relating to Hotfix Era. 

Inside you’ll find the CD with the software on it as well as what looks like a USB drive, but is actually the “dongle” or security device for the software. It will not run if that dongle is not attached to your computer.

Insert the hardware key into an available USB  port on your computer, then run the installation program on your Hotfix Era CD. Either during installation, or when you first launch your software you will be prompted to register.

The registration process is a little unusual as you are provided with some of the required information on the software box, but your password will actually come directly from Sierra. You will be prompted to either enter your password or request one. The password is an actual file that can only be sent to you by Sierra, so after you fill out the prompts you will receive the password by e-mail as an attachment.

Just download this to a location you’ll remember and follow the instruction for loading it into your software.

Once this is done and you reboot your computer, you should be ready to go!

Check your Set Up

Just to make sure the driver loaded properly, please follow this video to make sure your plotter shows up in Hotfix Era properly.

Once you’ve verified this, you are ready to use your Brush n Bake! For more videos on using the software, StickyFlock and Rhinestone transfer materials please visit our YouTube Channel and choose the Brush n Bake or Hotfix Era playlists.

CUSTOMER SUPPORT TIP – Thanks Robin!

Robin had installed her Hotfix Era software and notice that after working for 15 or 20 minutes it would “freeze up”. How did she fix it?

She updated the graphics drivers on her computer. Once she updated her VGA/Display Cards drivers to the latest version, Hotfix Era Rhinestone Designs Software worked like a charm!