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Newbie – requesting info on 1st software to use
Hi people…
1st proper post after my "hello" efforts 😀I’m basically just starting out – not even got a PC at home yet.. yes that new ! 😮
I’m looking to purchase a cheap basic plotter along the lines of a PCut (not sure they even sell in the Uk anymore!) but was wondering if people could recommend a plotter but more importantly which software to "plump" for.
Baring in mind I’ve not used any before and I really am just "pootling" about at home for the 1st year and getting used to things after i come home of an evening.
appreciate any info.. possibly a link to some demo’s ? but would like to hear your views on which software to go for as a complete newb just about to step on the HUGE learning curve ! 😳
thankyou
Frank…. 😀 -
4 Replies
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hi Frank,
i had no previous experience with design software before starting out for my own race car stuff (a long way back down the road now !).
i bought coreldraw 12, it’s now superceeded by coreldraw X3 i think, just the same with a few improvements,
many people will advocate their own preferred choice of software, but after trying several, i plumped for corel, it will take a while to get used to the tools etc, but it’s a very powerful piece of software once you get the hang of the basics.
cutters ? personally, and it’s only an opinion based on what i’ve seen and experienced…
i wouldn’t buy one fo the cheaper chinese cutters, pcut, rabbit, etc, there does seem to have been a number of reliability and software issues, you’d need to do a search on the pcut section of the forum to make your own mind up,
I use a summa summacut d60, great machine, 3yrs old now and still (touch wood) in perfect working order. costs around £1400 if i recall, though no doubt there’ll be cheaper if you look about.
equally as good are the roland, graphtec, etc, your best bet would be to go for a used machine of higher quality, than a cheap new one.
hope this might help !
Hugh
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thanks for the info Hugh 😀
I’ve just managed to buy a £600+ fujistu seimens PC for £185 so buying used but quality is the way forward on the plotter too I think ! 😎
Where would be the best place in your opinion to look out for used quality Plotters ?
I was thinking along the lines of Corel too so that’s good to know…. can most plotters be fed direct by Corel Draw ? – I’ve heard things about "dongles"… what are they ?? 😳
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Frank, if you are just starting out then Corel seems to be a very good choice as far as software goes. There are a lot of users on the boards and it seems to do pretty much everything that the users want it to.
A dedicated sign package like signlab or flexisign costs a lot of money and a lot of people would say offers no real advantage. The truth is a lot of it is personal choice, what suits some best doesn’t suit others. I use a program called inspire pro which was made by scanvec prior to flexisign. It does everything I want it to even though it is now very dated and although I sometimes think it would be nice to upgrade the truth is I don’t really need anything else at the moment and can’t really afford to spend money on what would really be just a luxury.
Dongles by the way are hardware keys that plug into either a serial or USB port on a computer and work with certain software, if you have a genuine copy of signlab for example it won’t work if the dongle is not plugged in. Its a form of protection used by software manufacturers. -
thanks for the info Martin..
Looks Like Corel Draw X3 for me then… steep learning curve.. will get my crampons at the ready 😀
Can Draw directly feed a Plotter ? – ie i need no other software ?
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