I cannot create cut lines in Illustrator to use on my Roland Versaworks.

Hi There,

I created an image with texts, shape and a png on illustrator. 

When I try to add my cut line around the image, I am always failing to do so. 

I have watched numerous videos, and I have been trying for days on end to learn what might be the problem. 

The one step that seems odd, is when I select image trace, everything is blacked out and it does not allow me to image trace my image at all. I am able to find my CutContour swatch and pathfinder. Is the image trace an issue? Or maybe it is the actual image. Do I need to save it as a PNG, JPEG or PDF and then open in Illustrator? I have tried saving as a JPEG and PNG but to no avail. Whenever I try to then open in Roland Versaworks, the cut line does not appear. 

I cannot fathom what I am doing wrong and I am literally pulling my hair out trying to figure it out but I am unsuccessful. 

Please, Please, Please can someone advise me.

I would be very grateful for any help at all.