does signlab 6.0 allow you to revert to the old 4.95 text?

[Brian Hays]

In a word no!

Don’t you get along with entering the text directly on screen? If it’s a case of you sticking with what you are used to I would give the new way a go. I have met very few who prefer the old way.

They have done away with most of the pop up dialog boxes in e6. Stuff like the outlining dialog box, acuscan box, fit text to arc etc have been replaced by a toolbar at the top that appears when you use them. It makes things much simpler & quicker when you get used to it honest! 😆

[Robert Lambie]

yip your right is is really just a prefference thing.
i tried the new set-up in 5 and so did a couple of guys in our place. but all had same opinion, but again it may just be ignorance on our part to learning somthing new.
i prefer the pop-up though its as though thats were i sort myself regarding fonts, sizes, kerning etc etc then when im happy it lands on a fresh window for me to start designs from…
i can hear a few opf you laughing at me here so ill shut up now 😆 😆 😆 😆

[Brian Hays]

Seriously you should give it another try, I guarantee after a couple of weeks you won’t want to go back to the old way. It’s far more long winded! 😮

[Bob Gilliland]

Robert,

I can’t speak to older versions of the software specifically, but the new does allow for a much more “visual” way of designing. On screen, real time, hot previews of outlines, drop shadows, text kerning, etc. with limited to no dialog box interference. Very productive! Since most designers would rather work “visually” as opposed to “mechanically”, this new approach has been well received once given the chance. And mechanical can still be done, just in another location (smart bar area).

There were many “screams” when Gerber went from the long standing and comfortable interface of Graphix Advantage to Omega, but given the chance, most would not return to the “old” way. Change does take time. Hopefully, for most, the change is in a positive direction. I’m with Brian’s comments, give it another go with earnest and you/the shop probably won’t look back. (Unless reflecting on how unproductive things use to be) 😉

[Robert Lambie]

well ok… i guess i should really give it another go.. ill reset my v5 signlab to the new way and give it another go. see if i can get my head round it…
thanks guys!
moving up another peg on the signlab ladder is somthing ive always done over time. since purchasing v5 colour master ive kinda thought im settled here for now.. maybe time to move on again.. who knows 🙄
i appreciate the feedback, thanks! 😉

[Phill Fenton]

I would say it’s a case of prefering what you are used to and a reluctance to try new ways.

I learned Signlab as version 5 – and find the text entry method of the old 4.95 option very cumbersome and inferior. I certainly believe that the method in Signlab 5 is better.

Similarly I have spent most of my signmaking career using Casmate Pro and have only fairly recently begun to use Signlab. For quite some time I considered Signlab to be inferior as I much preferred the way Casmate allowed me to work. However, having gradually become more capable with Signlab I have begun to see some of its virtues and abilities that are lacking in Casmate. I’m now glad I perservered with Signlab.

As with most things, there is quite a steep learning curve when trying to master a new piece of software. And it does take perserverance and effort to get the best out of it.

I am constantly amazed at how often inventions that are difficult to master can catch on in a big way. Good examples are the Bike or Car – just think how difficult these are to use by anyone who has not learned to drive or ride a bike. And yet somehow, they have caught on in a big way. This just goes to show that even difficult to operate inventions still have a mass market appeal.

The only flaw in my thinking is how come tightrope walking, sword swallowing, speaking Gaelic and fire eating aren’t more popular 😳

[Robert Lambie]

not to mention tiddly-winks… tiddly-winks (?) did i say that out loud?
never ever got the knack of that… 😆

[Neil Kelly]

Im A 4.95 text addict never got to grips with 5. Let me know how you get on Rob and you may convince me to try again, it just seems dificult to grab hold of text and change it and if its not all in view you end up altering half the line, and scrolling down all fonts takes forever can you set up a favourite fonts folder any tips would be appreciated. A good topic for Sign School maybe ?
Neil………

[Robert Lambie]

PHEWWW thought it was just me mate! 😉

ill let you know how i get on…

neil! wheres your picture mate.. what happend? 😆

[Neil Kelly]

got fed up of looking like jasper carrott il find another in the next few days
neil………

[Brian Hays]

Neil….

When you click the text tool you will see a blue F appear next to the list of fonts. If you click it the “font detective” dialog box will appear. You can then go to “options” & “add group” Give the group you wanna create a name then click “which is intially empty” then “ok” Then you can go to “options” then “edit group” then you can add your most used fonts into the group. You can create as many groups as you like and save scrolling through 1000’s of fonts all the time.

[Bob Gilliland]

So how goes it Mr. Lambie? Did you or anyone else in the shop give it another go yet?

[Robert Lambie]

hi bob…
ive been meaning to mail you mate… thanks very much for taking the time to mail the demo to me..
i have loaded it and andrew at our place has also.. only did it thursday and havent had a chance to have a good play around with it yet. i will keep you posted! 😉

[Neil Kelly]

Hi Bob If there’s a demo about id like to see it as this text thing is still not familiar to me any help would be appreciated.

Regards Neil

[coolinshot]

I think Cadlink screwed up big time removing the old 4.95 text editing option. Even corel draw has a separate text editing screen if you prefer to use it. If you are working with a very long line of text you have to zoom out to try to highlight all or some of it – which makes it very hard to select up to a certain letter as you can’t read them on screen anymore – (it no longer scrolls the page across as you get to the window limits as the text compose module used to 4.95).
I use e6 now but have version 5 available if I want to do something quickly.

(?) Question to all you signlab experts:
Can anybody tell me how to constrain a line of text to (say) 90% of it’s natural width without fixing the line length so that you can add as much text as you want and it will have the same compression and doesn’t “wrap”.
I can do it in 4.95 mode (ver 5) but can’t see an obvious way of doing it in e6 – perhaps I should read the book.

[tony winterbottom]

to compress the text without fixing line length or ‘wrapping.
type your text on screen, select the text (not highlight)

on the smart bar you will see horizontal scale next to the object width
and a padlock on the other side of it.

unlock the padlock by clicking on it, and enter a % in the horizontal scale
window, 90% 50 etc and your text will compress by that amount.
the padlock denotes proportional / non proportional

at this point you can type as much as you want all with the same compression.

to highlight text that may be off screen

once you have finished typing the long line or paragraph of text
but still have the text cursor on screen hit F7, this will zoom out to selected objects showing you the full line or paragraph, hit Shift and Home
and the whole line or paragraph will be selected / highlighted ready for font or case change.

[coolinshot]

Thanks for that – it’s one way to deal with it but it doesn’t quite give you the same flexibility that you had previously. If you had a paragraph of maybe 12 lines and only the top line and the sixth line were compressed to 90% – the rest were at 100% you couldn’t do it unless you un-grouped the entire paragraph. Then the customer decides he doesn’t like the font and you have to select 12 lines of text individually to change them all. (?)
Give me your email address – I will send you a file created in Signlab 5 and see if you can re-create it in e6 (I am hoping to solve a puzzle not prove you wrong)
Col

[tony winterbottom]

you dont need to send a SL 5 file, I understand what you meen..
I have just tried it in 6.1 and you are right, multi line changes
make it difficult without un grouping, I will discuss the issue with CADlink and have it put on the wish list

[tony winterbottom]

Col, I have just spoke to the ‘Guru’ at CADlink (thanks ray) who has told me how to do exactly what you want.
do the following –
type your lines of text –
use the Shift select to highlight lines 6 and 12 ( which ever lines you want to compress)

right click on the button ‘ proper character width ‘
this is the last button on the lower line of the text compose icon tray
indicated by a vertical line, the letter A and another vertical line

choose ‘ relative width % and say OK
then type the % required in the box prior to the icon
and the lines are then compressed without having to un group etc.

if this doesnt make sence I will E Mail you some screen shots,
let me know

[coolinshot]

Thanks Tony – just tried it and it seems to be right (I had tried left clicking the button but didn’t think of trying the right – doh!!)
I really should learn to read user manuals
Col

[tony winterbottom]

I learn stuff in Signlab every day (!) and I have been using it since Signlab 3.1 😮

[Bob Gilliland]

Neil,

Drop me a PM or email with your post information and I’ll get one out to you. Or, do the same to Tony as he may be able to get one in your hand sooner then one coming from me.

Cheers