tip: how to put shortcut on working with another page

[Robert Lambie]

cheers for the tip mate. ill give it a go on monday 😉

[AaSk4Stickers]

Hey thats a brilliant tip – found it rather frustrating only being able to have one window open – I’ll give it a go on Monday too.

[evox]

Just had a go! If you hit it three times or four guess wot?

Great tip, thanks for sharing!

[Alan Drury]

Not sure what having 3 or 4 instances will have on your memory but I always have 2 of Signlab along with Corel and others open, I am on Win 2000 at that definately makes a difference on stability over Win 95/98.
There are many functions in Signlab that don’t seem to be used as regularly as I would of thought ie align to baseline, I’ll mention a few more as I think of them – my appologies to those who already know Signlab inside out.
Alan

[Phill Fenton]

I’ve always thought one of signlabs main drawbacks was the fact you can only open one file at a time. I’m surprised Cadlink haven’t rectified this yet. Corel draw and many other drawing packages allow you to run with multiple file windows open. Cadlink keep adding more features (some useful, some not so useful) but still haven’t addressed this issue.

Thanks for the tip Alan 😀

[Alan Drury]

I am a huge fan of Signlab and have been using it since I upgraded from Sign Studio in early 90s unfortunately it, along much software is written by programmers and not signmakers therefore we are given what they think we need. To be fair it must be very difficult but if Cadlink were to have a newsgroup for general discussion I’m sure they would get the constructive comments which would enable them to produce upgrades that would sell better. I’m on Signlab V5 – could someone point out the extra bits they put in V6 that would increase my productivity and warrant the £500 odd that the upgrade is? Just a thought.
Alan

[sammyr]

i’m the same as you, alwasy had signlad, even electric sign studio before that, have bought all modules & upgrades as they arrive, however, e6 i do not rate a present, so save your 500 & take the missus out, you’ll have better results.

i feel it was mostly cosmetic, a few ‘e’e features for the net etc.

anothet thing that annoys me is all the upgrades they bring out they want to charge for, but they never notify you when the a simple bedug updates, its up to you as a customer to try & keep track to chase them……..i thought technology meant they could simply email all registered users with one press of a button?

signlab 5 is alive, well & growing into a big boy now !

[Gordon Forbes]

Don’t find anything wrong with E6

Goop

[Kevin.Beck]

e6 works for me too.

why don`t you wait a bit longer and upgrade to Signlab 7…

can`t be long know. who knows it might be timed for release for the UK Sign show.

[Alan Drury]

If they bring in better eps and AI import and export filters and support pdf properly I may do, if they just tart up and rearrange what is already there than my money will go to Easysign and Corel. Out of interest does anyone know if Cadlink or any other software company look into this newsgroup or any other, if not perhaps they should be encoraged they could learn things to their financial benefit.
Alan

[Bill Dewison]

Humble opinion, but I think alot of suppliers could learn alot by reading these forums. If not about product ranges, software design or product quality, a big factor often overlooked is service.

On the subject of SignLab, I’ve just started the learning curve so I’m not what you would call ‘qualified’ to comment on the merits or pitfalls of it. I’m just happy if it’ll help me cut shapes atm 😀 I’ve used the trick of opening more than one instance of a program with other packages, so its cool to know you can do the same with SignLab. Is it just me, or would a hybrid of SignLab & CORELDraw be the ideal for sign makers or??

Cheers, Dewi

[Bob Gilliland]

Just as a FYI, opening multiple instances of SignLab may cause stability issues if you start changing interface attributes (modifying toolbars, toolbar positions, shortcuts assignments, etc.). Doesn’t mean it will happen, and may not happen all the time, just be aware of the possible consequence.

Alan comments on it further above, but performing under these conditions does become a resource hog to the system. Again, system stability may become a factor. If limited on the amount of system ram, using older operating systems, etc. this may be more apparent then others with plenty of ram or newer OS.

Yes CADlink, other manufactures, and dealers monitor the various boards. Some are a bit more aggressive then others with monitoring activities, some put greater value on what is said then others, and some boards receive more attention then others. I encourage you, if you want to make sure your message gets some “eye” time, is to write directly to the manufacture. If you clearly communicate why you like or dislike something, what changes you would like to see and why, or other issues, chances are it will have a greater impact to those that can foster change then just stating it on a forum board. These folks write software code, they don’t mind read.

Sammyr, I’m in agreement with you regarding update notification. This is one of many items I have discussed with various folks at CADlink and believe some changes may be happening in the future.

Alan, what deficiencies are you referencing regarding ai, eps, and pdf?

[Alan Drury]

I have ran multiple instances on Win 98 and Win 2000 machines with very little stability problems, having said that I have never changed workspaces both have been kept the same. Corel on the other hand was complete pig in 98 and moving to 2000 cured 95% of stability problems in general, to me 2000 is a VAST improvement and I only run 256meg of ram.
As I understand it Signlab E6 and V5 for sure does not import or export pdf – eps import does not import any font data. For a good idea of how an eps import filter is for signmaking look at Corel’s postscript interpreted filter, fonts may be imported as text or curves, Pantone spec. is retained. If Cadlink and Co do monitor the boards why don’t they let themselves be known? I get the impression that Cadlink would rather you speak to a dealer than them direct, so Cadlink/others if your out there let us know.
Yes Dewi for many a Signlab/Draw hybrid would be spot on. As I understand it Corel and Cadlink are not that far away so who can say there is not already some shared resources, maybe now Corel has new owners there maybe more collaboration with others.
Sorry if I ramble.
Alan

[Bob Gilliland]

quote Brushman:

As I understand it Signlab E6 and V5 for sure does not import or export pdf – eps import does not import any font data. For a good idea of how an eps import filter is for signmaking look at Corel’s postscript interpreted filter, fonts may be imported as text or curves, Pantone spec. is retained.

Correct, currently, there is no pdf support within the package. For those with Acrobat installed, or a third party knock off, printing out to PDF is quite achievable. Doesn’t relieve the pain in bringing such data files in, but does allow pdf to happen from an outbound perspective.

Since CADlink has no licenses agreements with PANTONE, you wont find direct PANTONE support anywhere within the program, import or not. If this is something critical for you, let your voice be heard.

I think you will find, with proper setup, imported/opened/linked files with PMS references map out very, very close. In fact, those using spot color devices can map a PMS reference to a specific spot color or duotone color. Very handy and not something that is supported in many other packages.

Are there other issues with ai or eps filters, or just the above mentioned PANTONE and font support?

quote Brushman:

If Cadlink and Co do monitor the boards why don’t they let themselves be known? I get the impression that Cadlink would rather you speak to a dealer than them direct, so Cadlink/others if your out there let us know.

There can be arguments made for and against a manufacture or dealer to identify themselves on a board, to which “they” would best be suited to answer “why” they operate the way they do.

Then again, if they don’t respond in public….

Not sure why the impression CADlink wanted “interface” to happen with a dealer was planted on you, but if you want to know for sure, contact them directly. That can be said about anything, not just for CADlink, other manufactures, etc. If you want to know for sure, contact the other party. It can go a long way reducing wasted time, ill feelings, misunderstandings, etc. If you receive a reply stating to discuss matters with your dealer, then you’ll know for sure and not have to wonder.

[kev hoy graphics]

My opinion, and nothing more is that unless speaking to cadlink or similar type company direct you don’t get the type of support/answer you really needed anyway.
This is not aimed at cadlink or any one company in particular. I just mean that we end up knowing far more about the software that we use than any sales rep that sold us it to begin with.
My feelings is that sales reps should really only deal with the company for the first year, maybe more. After that it maybe an idea to introduce an advanced support team.
This way it separates the trivial day-to-day teething problems with real problems & questions.
Maybe this way the support teams would learn a bit more about the downside to their software quicker & can advise their software production teams of reoccurring problems before they get out of hand.

for the record, i use signlab 5 daily and do not have any problems. 😀

[Alan Drury]

Regarding Pantone support for signmaking not a big deal I was listing it as something else that Corel’s filter did. For PDF I use Acrobat and printing to the Distiller produces pdfs made of hundreds of lines, an eps distilled is fine but not as handy. Other eps issues – an eps which opens in Corel/Illustrator doesn’t in Signlab not all but some, not a huge deal again but shows up occasionally. As for ‘planted’ inferences I was told first to speak to a dealer when I had a question, this was some while ago to be fair so things change if it is no longer the case fair enough, and I have no ill feelings neither have I misunderstood and for the the record I am as big a fan of Signlab as you abviously are, we are in good company with our software and here on the board. My regards to you Bob
Alan

[Gordon Forbes]

I find that eps files saved in Illustrator 8 format open no problem in E6

Newer one don’t

Goop.

[Alan Drury]

I find that I am upgrading software as much for the better import/export filters than the main programme. Corel’s postscript interpreted filter has come along way and now often is the bridge between incoming disks and files and Signlab/Easysign.
Bob is also right about Acrobat or similar (Jaws pdf Creator is a good one)having an application that produces pdf is a useful addition to have.
Alan

[coolinshot]

quote becky:

e6 works for me too.

why don`t you wait a bit longer and upgrade to Signlab 7…

can`t be long know. who knows it might be timed for release for the UK Sign show.

Hi Becky
Did you ever use signlab 5? – I can’t believe you find E6 to be ok – There are so many bugs and annoying little quirks in it. ie The decorative borders are not parallel and you have to adjust them manually.
Even the signlab 6 tutorial CD shows a guy struggling to make the thing do what it’s supposed to – so what chance have we got.
I have been using signlab for many years, since version 3.1 in fact, and can’t believe that they have made so many VERY POOR changes to what was a fantastic piece of software. The most annoying thing, even though I have demonstrated dozens of faults to the signlab rep, is that they swear blind that it is perfect.
Col

[Kevin.Beck]

Colin
yep I used Signlab 5, but had to up grade when I bought an edge. Couldn`t stand Omega. (:)

I`ve got version 10 (I think) up to yet the only fault I`ve found is when you press F5 for the zoom tool. when you click on the screen to get rid of it, its still there.

there may be more faults but I`ve not found them yet. I struddled for 3 weeks with Omega for the edge. Bought E6, installed it and started to earn money straight away.

I spoke to someone the other day and ask about SL7, he said the main changes was on the rip, they are looking to serve the new roland printer/cutter.

[coolinshot]

Hi All
Anybody out there know how to export fountain fills / graduations etc from signlab into illustrator successfully – I end up with a black solid colour. I have tried native illustrator (ai) and eps exports but to no avail. Pretty pointless designing in Signlab if you lose all the information when it’s sent to another graphics programme.
Alternatively is there a way to save the output as a post script file that can be opened by illustrator.
I print “full colour” using the “Shiraz” RIP – this deals with eps / jpg / tif / etc but not signlab files – this means that anything I do in signlab has to be exported as an eps file then printed as is, or preferably, modified in illustrator first.
If I render the image to bitmap this removes the ability to edit.
Col

[RayW]

Just to re iterate Bob’s comments, if you have grief with Signlab then the place to go is http://www.cadlink.com click on the envelope and you can e-mail your comments direct to the HQ. As a company we do monitor the forum (maybe not as often as we should) and will post replies where we can help. Another comment was that a caller was re-directed back to their dealer for support, the dealers take a healthy profit margin for selling the product and are expected to support the customers. We at cadlink are supposed to support the dealers, by working that way the dealers are then expected to glean some knowledge of the product, if we deal direct with the customer the dealer is out of the loop and does not gain the product knowledge.

For Becky – if you use the zoom tool (f5) the spacebar will close the tool.
For Colin – i have answered your other post on the fills export.