Radioactiveman 2 Posted May 23, 2012 Hello have a chance to buy cs5 for 70 bucks tomorrow, I run signblazer with my plotter on a xp system. Is it worth the price? Will it play nice with signblazer? Will I be able to make a sign on cs5 as far as just letters and cut it with signblazer. I'm running into to much compression of letters for size and would like to knock that problem off possible? Never used adobe Before is it fairly easy? Instructions on YouTube? Thank you Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ballistic 28 Posted May 23, 2012 Are you talking about a Master edition (all CS5 programs) or just adobe illustrator? I still do most of my design work with Photoshop and illustrator. But i think that's because there are things i don't know how to do in Flexi that i know how to do in Adobe programs. There are a lot more videos on Adobe programs than SB or even flexi. Will I be able to make a sign on cs5 as far as just letters and cut it with signblazer. Yes you can even cut from illustrator with a plugin Hope this helps you! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jay2703 704 Posted May 23, 2012 What do you mean by "Too much compression of letters"? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Radioactiveman 2 Posted May 24, 2012 the whole works, i picked it up tonight. i figured it was worth it to play around with, by to much compression i mean for example, Im doing a 4x8 sign and he wants the letters to be 22in high, well with the font and the way he wants it layed out my letters seem like they quish to much and become thin. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BannerJohn 1,324 Posted May 24, 2012 the whole works, i picked it up tonight. i figured it was worth it to play around with, by to much compression i mean for example, Im doing a 4x8 sign and he wants the letters to be 22in high, well with the font and the way he wants it layed out my letters seem like they quish to much and become thin. YEah I get that all the time. I just tell them that on the size sign, if they want the letters that tall..that's how it's gonna be. You can only fit so much into a space without making adjustments. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jay2703 704 Posted May 24, 2012 the whole works, i picked it up tonight. i figured it was worth it to play around with, by to much compression i mean for example, Im doing a 4x8 sign and he wants the letters to be 22in high, well with the font and the way he wants it layed out my letters seem like they quish to much and become thin. Are you using Node Edit to change the kerning in SignBlazer. Other than that, I don't see that Adobe will do anything that SignBlazer won't. Like John said, "There is only so much room". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wildgoose 4,200 Posted May 24, 2012 I totally love Illustrator CS5, that was a real deal for $70. I think it retails for $600. Takes a long time to learn the program but once you know it it rocks! You will probably have to save the file properly for sign blazer. Use the type tool and type out your text. If you then switch to the black pointer (the normal select arrow) the text will then have a blue line under it and you can open up the text options dialoge box by clicking the blue word "Character" right beside the text box up in the top of the toolbox. That will let you do all kinds of expanding and stretching, changing fonts etc. Once you have the text the way you want it then you will need to convert it to curves. Just click the "type" option and part way down it has the otion to "create outlines" at this point you will have objects rather than live type so you want to be sure you are done with the font and all the basic mods before you create outlines. Once its converted to outlines (curves) you will probably have to save the file to illustrator 8 which is a lot older but almost any cutting software can read it. (You can only have one artboard when you save to older versions also) I draw with my artboard to the exact size of the work I am building and then save it and the final product turns out exactly the right size. No guessing in the cutter settings. I use signcut rather than sign blazer but I bet they react similar. Thats a quick rundown but hopefully you can figure out how to use it and enjoy the benefits of illustrator. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Radioactiveman 2 Posted May 25, 2012 sweet, thanks everyone, i look forward to playing around with it!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites