1rogerl2

Buying a second cutter - graphic format issues

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Hi Everyone,

I current use a Graphtec CE6000-40 and love it, but I want to go to a 24" machine. My issue is the graphics that I already have (1,000+) are all cut jobs with .gstudio extensions.

If I go with a Roland, or other brand how much trouble am I getting in to trying to use my existing cut jobs on a different brand of machine.

I'm finding some good deals on way cheaper machines than the Graphtec line.

Thanks for any help you can render here.

 

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Another member was having trouble using gstudio files. We could not get those  files to work in any other Graphtec program..   I downloaded Robo master and Cutting master, they would not work...  No way for another cutter,,,

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Hi Roger ---  When I hear that people have thousands of old files, I wonder how many of those files actually are required for existing cutting projects? Over the years I have tons of .SBD jobs saved, but rarely do I need to go back and use one of them (repeat jobs are not common in my sign business -- I make a sign, it goes up, done).

Anyway, perhaps you can evaluate how many of the 1000's you really need to cut again ---  it's not too hard to open a required file, Export it as .eps, and then just Import to another program..

 

 

 

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17 minutes ago, slice&dice said:

---  it's not too hard to open a required file, Export it as .eps, and then just Import to another program..

 

 

 

In Graphtec studio you could save a file, but not export a file,  and only save as Graphtecstudio..That is the version I have. .   There was supposed to be GraphtecStudioPro, to be sold later,  but I have not seen it.  

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In your third sentence- you mention other cutters that are cheaper...

i think after using the graphtec for so long...a thousand files..you may be displeased with lower tier machines performance.

why not the 6000-60? 

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pretty sure if you do fine detail you will miss the graphtec - I have had several roland and graphtecs and my personal favorite is graphtec - I replaced my ce6000-60 with an identical unit this year as part or my normal equipment updating.  but we all have our preferences 

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6 hours ago, MZ SKEETER said:

In Graphtec studio you could save a file, but not export a file,  and only save as Graphtecstudio..That is the version I have. .   There was supposed to be GraphtecStudioPro, to be sold later,  but I have not seen it.  

That is crazy!  Even the outdated and lowly SignBlazer can export .eps and I consider that an essential function of any design software. What were the Graphtec executives THINKING????

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5 hours ago, slice&dice said:

That is crazy!  Even the outdated and lowly SignBlazer can export .eps and I consider that an essential function of any design software. What were the Graphtec executives THINKING????

They are thinking about trying to corner the market on people but are really just building a bad name for themselves. Total proprietary but in fact limiting overall usability too. If I remember correctly its a little complicated to IMPORT vectors too. Frustratedinhawaii forum member uses Graphtec studio and seems like he had issues with a few files I was trying to help him out with due to finicky import.

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It's not just Graphtec... Flexi, VinylMaster, Corel, Adobe, etc all offer saving files in Proprietary file formats.

The important thing for the user is to not corner yourself by limiting your saved work in those formats.

We don't know what tomorrow holds and whether we will still have and use their product or if it's  even

still available for use, to open our files.

I like VinylMaster's 'vDoc' format and the bells & whistles their use provides but I save my files in svg or eps as well.

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I think graphtec studio was created as the free included software with the various graphtec craft cutters and they later added drivers for the bigger ones.  it is kind of like the software that cricut includes with it's cutters  - it is free with the cutter but limited to their products.

 

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Scott's right and I am pretty sure you can't save your files into any useable format. That's the suck.

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What version of GS do you have ? After some heavy  heavy research etc i think i might have found an answer for you .Ill post back after you respond. Fingers crossed..

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 ill just post it..What i did was i downloaded Gs studio and created a simple image, and seen where it does not let you save it as anything but a gs file.Which is what your problem was......... .After some digging around .I came across a new update for gs that lets you save the file now as a PDF which i tried and loaded into Ai ,which will then let you save the file as what ever you may possibly need .

So the version i downloaded originally was like 2.1.263.111  and the new version is now 2.2.1174.001 which lets you save as a PDF which opens up a new world for you hopefully...  .  I found this by clicking update in the help menu of GS and it took me to the update website ........ here is the 2 files to download and update to.. they are both labeled as needed for you.. It will take some time but all you need to do is re save every file ( LOL ) into a pdf and do as needed ( If the new program you are going to use will open a Pdf to edit..Otherwise you will need something like Ai or similar...

GS_V2.1_263.111_STU.exe.zip

GS_V2.2_1174.001_STU_update.exe.zip

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15 hours ago, slice&dice said:

Hi Roger ---  When I hear that people have thousands of old files, I wonder how many of those files actually are required for existing cutting projects? Over the years I have tons of .SBD jobs saved, but rarely do I need to go back and use one of them (repeat jobs are not common in my sign business -- I make a sign, it goes up, done).

Anyway, perhaps you can evaluate how many of the 1000's you really need to cut again ---  it's not too hard to open a required file, Export it as .eps, and then just Import to another program..

 

 

 

From  what i seen in Gs it does not have an "export as" feature. only a Save as .....And originally it was a "save As GS only " but after the update, it added a PDF save..

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15 hours ago, MZ SKEETER said:

In Graphtec studio you could save a file, but not export a file,  and only save as Graphtecstudio..That is the version I have. .   There was supposed to be GraphtecStudioPro, to be sold later,  but I have not seen it.  

Download the new update i posted to get the new Save a PDF Feature...

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That's a big improvement that will make it a more viable program for sure. Save As rather than Export is how AI is for your typical vector formats like svg and eps. Export is used for raster versions of the image with the exception of DXF and DWG files so that nomenclature is not that unusual either.

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Another tip; with the new "save as PDF" option, you can go to this site and convert it to EPS (or other filetypes but EPS is the only one I care about): http://image.online-convert.com/convert-to-eps

I tried to convert the pdf to eps using other sites and this is the only one I could find that works. The eps from other sites would either fail to load or load as a single graphic that couldn't be ungrouped.

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On 3/29/2017 at 3:18 PM, Primal Decals said:

 ill just post it..What i did was i downloaded Gs studio and created a simple image, and seen where it does not let you save it as anything but a gs file.Which is what your problem was......... .After some digging around .I came across a new update for gs that lets you save the file now as a PDF which i tried and loaded into Ai ,which will then let you save the file as what ever you may possibly need .

So the version i downloaded originally was like 2.1.263.111  and the new version is now 2.2.1174.001 which lets you save as a PDF which opens up a new world for you hopefully...  .  I found this by clicking update in the help menu of GS and it took me to the update website ........ here is the 2 files to download and update to.. they are both labeled as needed for you.. It will take some time but all you need to do is re save every file ( LOL ) into a pdf and do as needed ( If the new program you are going to use will open a Pdf to edit..Otherwise you will need something like Ai or similar...

GS_V2.1_263.111_STU.exe.zip

GS_V2.2_1174.001_STU_update.exe.zip

Thank you. I haven't check here for awhile, but appreciate your time and efforts. I've downloaded the files and will try this.

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