How can I set up SignLab on two PC Computers?

[Peter Normington]

Hi Helen,
yes you will need another dongle,
but I think you can get just a "designer" dongle, which allows a second user to design and save but not to cut or print.
You can access from both Pc’s using the same dongle by installing the prog on both, and plugging in the dongle as required.

Peter

[Helen_au]

Thanks for that Peter…thats what I expected but the boss didnt want to hear it 🙄 he had grand ideas of just plugging the one dongle into the external hard drive and everything would be fine 🙄 Oh well I will tell him the good news in the morning 🙂

[David Rowland]

yep.. its to stop piracy… thing is, do signlab resellers offer multi user licencing where it is a bit cheaper, i don’t know.

[Rod Young]

quote Helen_au:

How can I set up SignLab on two pc’s??? I have all my files on an external hard drive which both computers can access. Do I need to convince the boss to buy a second dongle or a whole new program??

quote Peter Normington:

yes you will need another dongle,
but I think you can get just a “designer” dongle, which allows a second user to design and save but not to cut or print.

Peter is correct. There are Designer versions of both SignLab Vinyl Pro and SignLab Print and Cut, which can be used with the expectation that output is sent through a full SignLab package, either at work or on your computer network.

You probably want to contact your SignLab dealer (or CADlink Sales) and explain your configuration (network setup, printers and/or cutters). They should be able to provide suggestions.

Regards,

Rod at CADlink

[Ian Bingham]

hi
there is a way to run it on 2 pcs
not sure if its legal, if please delete
if you have a parallel dongle, you can plug it into a manuel switch box and switch it over to theone you want to use, you carnt use 2 pc at once but you can use it without swapping the dongle from one to another
Ian

[David Rowland]

when i looked at signlab many moons ago on someone else’s PC… i remember it had something like 15 clicks of the mouse and then it checks the dongle…

so illegal it is..

modern dongles are normally USB now

[Peter Normington]

quote Ian Bingham:

hi
there is a way to run it on 2 pcs
not sure if its legal, if please delete
if you have a parallel dongle, you can plug it into a manuel switch box and switch it over to theone you want to use, you carnt use 2 pc at once but you can use it without swapping the dongle from one to another
Ian

Thats perfectly legal Ian.
being that only one pc can use the dongle at any time, in practice, much simpler just to unplug the usb dongle and plug it into the other machine…

Peter

[Phill Fenton]

Better still – just buy a drawing package such as Corel which isn’t restricted by the use of a dongle (dongles I believe should be made illegal anyway since they effectively "cripple" software you have bought in good faith 😕 )

[Peter Normington]

quote Phill:

Better still – just buy a drawing package such as Corel which isn’t restricted by the use of a dongle (dongles I believe should be made illegal anyway since they effectively “cripple” software you have bought in good faith 😕 )

Hows that Phil.
I was aware that signlab had a dongle before I bought it. dosnt cripple anything that I know off.
are you saying we can all share your copy of corel or illustrator?

Peter

[Phill Fenton]

What will you do if a few years from now Cadlink decide to no longer support Signlab.

No problem you may think … until a static charge wipes the memory from your dongle rendering it useless.

What will you do then when you have a number of years of customers designs that you can no longer use because the design software that you used to create them is no longer functioning and you can no longer obtain support to fix the problem?

This is not a hypothetical question – this has happened to me in the past when my design software (Casmate pro) was no longer supported (hot)

[John Childs]

quote Peter Normington:

are you saying we can all share your copy of corel or illustrator?

Peter,

When you install Illustrator it won’t work until you have activated it on the Adobe website. Therefore they know exactly how many computers a single copy is used on.

I don’t know for certain, but I would bet good money, that the application is programmed to report periodically to the mother-ship so that Adobe know whether one copy is in multiple use.

Good point Phill. Rely on third parties at your peril.

[Peter Normington]

If cadlink decided not to support signlab anymore, that would probably mean they have gone bust, in which case, I would not be restricted or morally bound to using a dongle.
It would be unlikely that my dongle packed in at exactly the same time as cadlink decided to not give support, so it is an hypothetical question.
If cadlink withdrew from the market, I would only need to convert my files to ai or other format to carry on. I have two dongles as well, so I am not to worried…

Peter

[Chris Wool]

also happened to me i have a low end embroidery machine i cant use .
was not a dongle but copy protected software that when defraged thought it was copied so closed down. then not supported any longer.

chris

[John Childs]

quote Peter Normington:

I would only need to convert my files to ai or other format to carry on.

Converting twenty years worth of files from one format to another is not a task I would undertake lightly

[Gavin MacMillan]

quote :

When you install Illustrator it won’t work until you have activated it on the Adobe website. Therefore they know exactly how many computers a single copy is used on.

In adobe’s ideal world, but lets be realistic, there are hacked versions of all software out there for the download. It’s up to the individual conscience.

G

[Rod Young]

quote Chris Wool:

also happened to me i have a low end embroidery machine i cant use .
was not a dongle but copy protected software that when defraged thought it was copied so closed down. then not supported any longer.

Out of curiosity, what was the machine model, and what was the software?

1. By coincidence, there is a Letterville thread that raises some pertinent points about dongle protection.
2. Go to http://www.letterhead.com/ubb/
3. And look at thread titled: Broke My Gerber Omega Dongle…And got the program to run ANYWAY!

quote Phil:

What will you do then when you have a number of years of customers designs that you can no longer use because the design software that you used to create them is no longer functioning and you can no longer obtain support to fix the problem?

What will you do then when you have a number of years of customers designs that you can no longer use because the design software that you used to create them is no longer functioning and you can no longer obtain support to fix the problem?

This is not a hypothetical question – this has happened to me in the past when my design software (Casmate pro) was no longer supported

In the case where software is no longer viable, one would trust that there is a convenient means of bringing older designs into an alternative package. Traditionally, this has been the reason for SignLab being provided with various import filters to help load designs from older applications, including CASmate files.

Qualitatively, transferring files between systems is immensely more convenient than it was back in the late 1980’s and early ’90s. Not only did you have to contend with different application file formats, but with people using different operating systems as well. Microsoft helped this situation with their marketing of Windows 95, though it should be interesting to see how Apple helps to improve the tech landscape. The following are an insightful series of articles about operating system development over the past twenty years, fortunately in a digest form.

• SCO, Linux, and Microsoft in the History of OS: 1970’s
  http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Te … 906AF.html
• SCO, Linux, and Microsoft in the History of OS: 1980’s
  http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Te … 324E9.html
• SCO, Linux, and Microsoft in the History of OS: 1990’s
  http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Te … A9B14.html
• SCO, Linux, and Microsoft in the History of OS: 2000’s
  http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Te … 024E3.html

Perhaps slightly off-topic, though useful perspective.

Cheers,

Rod

[Phill Fenton]

Thanks for your reply Rod.

One of the reason why I bought Signlab software was because of its import filters that allow older Casmate files to be opened (I originally bought Signlab 5 and recently upgraded to 7). This works quite well although there are some formatting issues – but these can be overcome.

However, I remain concerned about the use of dongles simply because in my experience I know they can fail, and if the original software vendor goes out of business you are left with an unusable system.

To be honest, I don’t know what the answer is. Obviously software companies need to protect their investment against piracy in which case the use of dongles are an obvious solution. But equally, the end user can get his fingers burnt when backup ceases. For this reason, I would now advocate the use of design software such as Corel and Illustrator that do not require dongles. This is my view from this side of the fence, that’s all.

I fully appreciate that we are all partners in the sign business and without specialised software like Signlab our job would be more difficult. Companies like Cadlink need to continue making profits in order to re-invest in developing new software specific to the sign industry so should be supported by professional sign companies.

Like I said earlier – I don’t know what the answer is – I only know that from an end user point of view, the use of dongles have their downsides, but equally I can appreciate why they are needed. But If I was starting out in the business now, I would buy and learn to use Corel.

This is a problem I think companies like Cadlink need to address if they are to remain in business.

[Nicola McIntosh]

well said phill 😉

nik

[Chris Wool]

quote :

Out of curiosity, what was the machine model, and what was the software?

rod its a poem and the software by emnet. singer badged the poem also but they dont want to help either.

dongles bother me also and decided a long time ago to stick to stuff that was fairly open architecture.

also little things like rolands colour rip had no further development when they bought out versa works and you cant upgrade easily.
at present i can drive all of my machines from all the computers.

the thought of spending thousands of pounds then being tied to one computer because of a dongle does not impress me.
i have a high regard for SL but the dongle says no.

chris

[Nick Minall]

Yes I agree with the dongle for SL, even Microsoft and Adobe let you run their software on 2 computers at the same time I think.

Nick.

[John Childs]

I actually read Adobe’s Illustrator licence agreement. How sad is that? – I must have been very, very bored that day! 🙂

Anyway, as far as I could tell, I am perfectly entitled to install it on two computers, but I’m not sure whether I can use them both at the same time. I think Adobe’s reasoning is that their customers are likely to want to, for instance, have it on their desktop computer for work but may also need it on a laptop for use out of the office. If so, I think that is enlightened thinking and to be encouraged.

Software developers have a difficult balance to reach between protecting their intellectual property and alienating their customers and are perfectly entitled to come to their own commercial decisions. We do the same as end users, and mine is to avoid dongled programmes wherever I can.

On a similar note, it is interesting that many in the entertainment industry are pressing for the removal of digital rights protection from music downloads. That’s not the customers, but record company executives, who you would have thought would have wanted to keep it secure. I’m not sure of their reasoning, but they obviously consider removal of DRM to be beneficial to them.

[Stephen Morriss]

I can add to Phil’s dislike of Dongles, a few nights ago I took the dongle into the house to work on some designs on my laptop after dinner.
Come to put the dongle into the laptop and couldn’t find it, any it turned out my son had tidied the table and the dongle got lost among the stuff off the table.
Talk about panic until I found it 🙂 anyway it was my own fault but it could have been so easy for it to have gone in the bin and then I’d have been left with years of designs on Signlabs and no dongle.

Steve

[Gareth.Lewis]

I found my flexisign dongle in my trouser pocket in the washing machine. Dry. Only because I had delayed putting the w/machine on until after a shower, while I was in the shower it all came back to me! Close one that.

[Tom Hurley]

Hello,
Can anybody recommened pricing software.We are a small sign shop
with 3 people employed, looking for a more consistant and precise way of pricing. Also want your advice on what is the best colour printer to buy at the moment, 90% in favour of going for the new 54” roland versa camn. upgrading to Signlab 7.
Any comments would be appreciated.
Regards,
Smart

[Martin Pearson]

Smart, try using the search at the top of the page as pricing software has been discussed a few times and that way you will get answers a lot quicker.