Trying to source sign making software?

[Peter Normington]

if you have nothing to speculate, you will not accumulate.
eps files can be exported from most design progs, what are you using at the moment

Peter

[Brian Hays]

If you have "a few designs" already what did you use to create the designs??

[Matthew Main]

cheers for the replys im using inkscape at the moment and wondered if there is better software out there thats free.

once im making money i can spend money

[Simon Strom]

Here’s a list to look over.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ve … cs_editors

Recommendation is to use one of the big 3 pro apps out there listed below though.

1.) CorelDraw – Which you’ll find a large number of people here use.

2.) Illustrator – Probably largest user base professional app out there. It will cost you a nice chunk of change though. Recommend maybe buying an older version off of ebay or the like. Just make sure that it will run on whatever system you have. Never liked version 10. Buggy in my opinion. Go for 8 or Whichever CS version you can afford.

3.) FreeHand MX – We still use this because of the multi-page function. It is a dead application though, meaning it will never (most likely) be updated again.

[Peter Normington]

quote Matthew Main:

cheers for the replys im using inkscape at the moment and wondered if there is better software out there thats free.

once im making money i can spend money

chicken and egg cart and horse spring to mind.
I am sorry but if you want to create a business you do need to invest in the raw materials, we, as professionals spend a good amount on software, if we could get it for free, dont you think we would have gone down that route?

best of luck with your quest, hope you find your free program.
What hardware will you be using? will that be free?

Peter

[David Rowland]

looks like Ink Scape is more then capable of doing the job…. to be quite honest I like to spend a few hours with it to see how it copes vs corel draw, it seem to work with the major format ai/eps/pdf so it just ‘learning’ that is the problem i bet.

[Simon Strom]

Yeah, Inscape looks promising. I try it out every few months to see how it’s progressing. Of course it’s not as well polished as a paid for app. Some of the features are non-existent or to complete them it is more trouble than it’s worth to deal with in a professional environment. I especially don’t like having to run it in X11 on my Mac. There is no native version for the Mac yet, but has supposedly been in the works for a while. ???

Here’s a comparison chart of what it can and can’t do yet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison … cs_editors

I’m not really hating on the app. I’ve seen some really cool stuff done with it. Just not ready for prime time use for serious professionals. (One large downside is it has no color management for print. This is a must for people printing raster images.)

[Mike Fear]

Best bet is to look on Ebay for either an older version of Draw or Illustrator.

You can often get version 8, 9 or 10 of Draw for under a tenner, and the basic program is the same as X4 ( the latest version ) and will do 99% of what you want.

I used 9 for years before upgrading recently to 13, but wont bother buying 14 as it isnt any better than 13.

[Ian Muir]

exavtly as Mike says, versions of corel graphics from 6 up to 10 can be had for a tenner and when you’re ready to upgrade it is cheaper than buying new of course.

The earlier versions are plenty good enough for basic design, later ones just have more bells and whistles to design better and faster….

Ian :lol1:

[Karl Williams]

What really gripes me, and many others on here is when people come on and ask for free software. It’s not on. You make the decision to run a valid business so your making your bed so to speak. Will you be giving your clients free signs? No you won’t. Stop being a numpty and pay out or get out and don’t expect a free ride.

[Matthew Main]

thank you to everyone i will have a look around. i already have a good stock of vinyl and i also have my cutter its just a case of pulling it all together now and running of some good designs.

i will look on ebay and see what i can muster up

cheers all

p.s really makes me laugh when some people are really nice and friendly to new people on the block, i have run a sucessful business before this one although i sold this years ago. Times are hard for everyone and everyone needs to start somewhere, Now after dropping the last of my savings to buy the equipment and stock im sure its valid to ask what is the best free software out there, a genuine thank you to those people that have been welcoming and helpfull

[Alan Drury]

Be aware that X3 SP2 is the earliest certified for Vista and V6 or thereabouts may notwork well with XP. Avoid V10 it was a dog.
Alan D

[Chris Wool]

quote :

Avoid V10 it was a dog.
Alan D

thats my weapon of choice, so got to go and do some barking

[Alan Drury]

Good one Chris, when I was using it if you were using any amount of text ie setting terms or conditions it crashed constantly but was just generally unstable. In Win 98 it barked loudly and often – in 2000 it yelped frequently, by the time I had XP V10 was long gone.
If you are using V10 now X3 or X4 will be a quantum leap even if only for pdf support, colour management and contours being beziers instead of straight lines. Go on Chris part with your money, you know you want to :D.
Alan D

[Chris Wool]

yes do use x3 but only for the bits you mentioned, just find v10 fast and convenient for normal use.

as a by the way been using it for years and did have problems till i started using asrock motherboards bin wonderful since, one machine i just changed the MB only and never a blue screen.

chris

[Owen Lees]

strangely enough (and I don’t know if it’s my imagination) but wasn’t V10 the last version with the ‘older’ interface?

since the X’s came along the interface and the route to doing the common things seems to have changed a bit (like hiding a lot of in dockers)..

However some things don’t change in Corel like the (ALL HAIL!!!) right click duplicate.. which has to be the most useful shortcut ever conceived in an app when doing quick copies! Mind you the amount of times I have ‘gone for the right mouse button’ when using x14 on the Mac is untrue 🙂 – so used to it was I that I had to go figure out that a quick CTRL-click after starting the drag did the trick!

Oo

[Alan Drury]

Try dragging an object and pressing the space bar.
Alan D

[David Rowland]

The big + button on the keypad, instant duplicate.

[Owen Lees]

quote Dave Rowland:

The big + button on the keypad, instant duplicate.

try doing that on my keyboard 🙂 🙂

http://www.apple.com/keyboard/

Oo

[Owen Lees]

quote Alan Drury:

Try dragging an object and pressing the space bar.
Alan D

wow!! like it!! old dog = new tricks!

Oo