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castironrobbie

Linux Mint Assistance Needed

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Hello, my desktop was recently having troubles so I installed the linux mint operating system as windows was a crash fest. Now I can't figure out how to install the software I need to cut using my r-series. I know the recommended is Inkcut for Inkscape, but I can't get the extension to install. I tried visicut as well with no result.

Can anyone offer up any assistance? Not urgent. Just would like to be able to use my machine at some point on this OS.

 

Thanks a bunch

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I gave up on using a Linux desktop for design.  I got Inkscape to communicate with my cutter once.  Inkscape has an extension in recent versions, built in.  No need for Inkcut.  The extension is under Export>Plot.  I think both Inkscape and Inkcut will fail if you don't have pygtk, gtk, pyserial and librsvg2-common.  Those dependancies might have new names or have changed.  Inkcut adds more options, namely preview.  The serial port must be working.  It only works with a serial port, no usb.  A usb to serial adapter should work.  Best way I have ever found in all the ages to test a serial port is a old school serial dial up modem.  You open a terminal to the port and send an AT command.  If the modem comes back with OK, its working.

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1 hour ago, dcbevins said:

I gave up on using a Linux desktop for design.  I got Inkscape to communicate with my cutter once.  Inkscape has an extension in recent versions, built in.  No need for Inkcut.  The extension is under Export>Plot.  I think both Inkscape and Inkcut will fail if you don't have pygtk, gtk, pyserial and librsvg2-common.  Those dependancies might have new names or have changed.  Inkcut adds more options, namely preview.  The serial port must be working.  It only works with a serial port, no usb.  A usb to serial adapter should work.  Best way I have ever found in all the ages to test a serial port is a old school serial dial up modem.  You open a terminal to the port and send an AT command.  If the modem comes back with OK, its working.

This sounds like the most horrible thing ever. I think I might just buy a cheap laptop running windows. Thanks for the reply

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20 hours ago, castironrobbie said:

This sounds like the most horrible thing ever. I think I might just buy a cheap laptop running windows. Thanks for the reply

That much fun would even make your cast iron turn to jello. Linux is pretty cool for the true computer guru's and they have definitely made a LOT of headway in the last few years but to give up all the love from the good cutting software out there is not something I would entertain. I Tried out Linux but am not savvy enough to deal with Linux. I ended up with a mac for design (I am AI friendly). SignCut Pro for cutting utility because it will run on both pc and mac. I have a couple windows laptops and a desktop iMac. The mac has been going strong since 2010. The main laptop did the blue screen thing 6 months in. Has kept running but I don't trust it and rarely use it online. 

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As far as cutters go, Inkscape is fine for design, even great, and runs well on Linux.  It's is just there is no commercial cutting software.  The free cutting software is that Export>Plot function in Inkscape or Inkcut.  If I remember right, it does HPGL, DMPL, and KNK, which covers many cutters.  It only does serial, which covers many cutters.  It could be a go if you got all of it to run.

Those dependencies I listed like pyserial aren't hard to meet.  Just search in the package manager and add them.  They may get added automatically, depends on Linux version.

What the free choices for Linux fail at are if you go beyond cutting and need screen printing or offset printing.  Gimp has a plug in that will do separations in CMYK, but is very primitive.  I don't think it can handle spot colors.  Inkscape can work in CMYK, if you have the right ICC profile and set it up in document properties.  I don't think Inkscape was a way to deal with spot colors.  But it can't output any kind of file with the embedded profile, making it near pointless.  It can't output to PDF with CMYK colors and the ICC profile embedded.  Worse, there is an unfixed bug where some ICC profiles with special characters, (like spaces,) don't load at all in Inkscape, such as US Uncoated SWOP.  It seems more prevalent on Windows that Linux.  There is a way to get somewhat around it with a hex editor and hack the ICC Profile file.

Scribus, will import an svg from Inkscape with attached color profile.  As far as I know, Scribus is the only program that will see the profile riding with an svg.  Scribus can output a pdf with the profile embedded.  But it is many steps to get there.  I don't know of a way with Inkscape to do separations.  Scribus can do separations, supports varying color modles and I think spot colors, but I haven't tried.  Scribus is also a bit wonky at times, from my limited exposure.  Outputting a PDF trying to use a certain ICC profile, it would instead output the default profile and not the one I selected.

Solutions using ghostscript, convert colors rather than preserve, and I am not sure it can deal with spot colors either.

It's not like I am doing alot of things that require color profiles, cmyk support and separations, but I might one day and I want tools up to the challenge.

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I've been using Linux for nearly 20 years, most of that time using Slackware, which can be a real pain at times. I've tried a few times over the past few years to get the cutter working but have given up on there ever being good cutter support. I guess there's never been much demand for it.

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