BigDon

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Posts posted by BigDon

  1. Posted

    Apparently this file was created with a new version of Illustrator - newer than my CS6 version anyway!!  I could not open it with my Illustrator although I was able to open it with CorelDraw. Once opened, I saved it as a 1.0 version EPS. This file then imported into SB with no issues except that the color did not come in as blue.  I believe that can be easily remedied in SB however.

     

     

    Logo-Octane-2.eps

  3. Posted

    Rpguns,

     

    Photoshop doesn't do EPS!  (E)ncapsulated (P)ost-(S)cript is already a post-script file . It sounds as if they may have exported as "paths to illustrator" (an option from within photoshop) but if my memory serves - this will only export an "outline" of the object. Had their file actually been a vector file, you 1-would not have needed to "convert" to vector, and 2-it should have ALL of the paths including the centers of the letters already there.

     

    You may try importing the file into Corel and then do a bitmap trace to see if that will give you the paths of the centers of the letters. Otherwise, if the font is a fairly common one, you may have to retype their lettering to get the centers to cut. Another option is, if you're good with the pen tool, you could try drawing the paths by hand and see how that does for you.

     

    -DON-

  5. Posted

    LDR,

     

    What type of image do you have?  JPG, SVG, BMP, EMF, etc?:huh:  It helps to know these things, not only for posting here, but for helping you with the steps to get the image into SB.

     

    Also, which state are you trying to outline?  I have several states already in vector format to help you out if your time is running short for this project.

  6. Posted

    Lenny,

     

    Have you tried to vectorize the image directly inside signblazer?  If you convert the image to a b/w, 2-color and then vectorize it, usually signblazer does a bang-up job of converting without any broken lines or vectors.... Just my three-cents worth!

  7. Posted

    Waldow1 - I presume you tried to attach a file to your post from your comments.  However, there is no file there.  Could you be a bit more SPECIFIC about what the problem you are experiencing is?  Do you get an error message when importing the file?, does it import and nothing shows?, what file format are you trying to import?:huh:

     

    If you can't import it directly, I am sure someone here, myself included, will be most willing to help.

  8. Posted

    If you have an old computer you no longer care about whether it gets infected or not - or you could rebuild easily - do a restore of your files to THAT machine, locate the files you need and copy them to a USB drive and onto your production machine! Running a restore against your production machine, even though it is to only restore graphic files, runs the risk of reinfecting it. (Those virus coders are sneaky little bas8$%ds!!!)

     

    When I was using MacIntosh on my laptop, I created a virtual machine into which I would copy all files destined for my Windows machine. I downloaded them, scanned them, installed them and gave them a test before they ever saw my production Windows box. If they were safe, I copied them to a USB drive and then did whatever I needed to. When I closed the virtual machine down, any virus that may have infected the OS was deleted because the virtual machine only existed for as long as I had it running. Mac wouldn't let anything get outside the virtual machine to infect anything else. The same concept will work with Linux using WINE.

     

    Merry Christmas to you and yours.  May your New Year be bright and your wishes come true! (Perhaps the virus coders will develop a perpetual case of rotting fingertips so they can no longer type!!)  :rolleyes:

     

    Cheers!

     

    p.s.- Tell Santa I have been as good as I possibly could be this year - not perfect - but good, and still working on it!

  10. Posted

    My experience with SB is only a couple of years, so perhaps someone with more knowledge of the innermost workings can chime in. I have SB running on a Windows 7 Ultimate laptop with no issues I am aware of! There are some who have tried running it on Windows 8 and have encountered some issues.

    I know when I open a SB file on my desktop a file remains behind after I save a file. I don't know if that file may contain the images you're looking for or not. I'm not at my computer right now so I can't be of much more help (if I was of any help at all!!)

    Good luck with getting off of XP. It has been a workhorse for me...probably the best OS Microsoft has put out in a long time in my opinion!

  11. Posted

    :o Sorry to hear of your tragedy!  I have also been victimized by an occasional virus - but it has been quite a while. I understand the miscreants who create these bugs are becoming more and more devious in their programming to the extent they can actually lock your files and demand a ransom to unlock them. I have also heard they rarely ever provide the key to unlock your drive, so in effect, they have wiped you out and are stealing your money too!

     

    Anyway, I'm sure you've already thought of this, but have you looked in the SBD folder in the root of your C: drive?  If, during your virus cleanup, you didn't delete that folder, there should be the original SBD files as well as some backups. If the originals were deleted and there are no backups, then you may have to resort to some sort of file recovery program. Although I have never had 100% success with them, they can be useful and may help you recover a portion of the files you may have lost...

     

    Also, check your trash can, unless you have emptied it already. There may be some files there you can restore. If your virus removal program removed the files thinking they were - or perhaps in fact were - infected with a virus of some kind, then there is no recovery option available because of the way those programs delete the files...they don't want someone accidentally restoring an infected file and re-contaminating the system.

     

    I gather from your tirade against the computer, the coffee cup, and the pooch - there were no backup files stored off-line??? :unsure:

     

  16. Posted

    This may have been a topic of conversation earlier, but having only been her for about a year I will be the kicking boy and ask the question anyway.

     

    I realize the developer of SB passed away several years ago. It seems that since that time, there have been lots of folks who have found a way to modify the .exe file to permit using it without having to enter an unlock code - don't have a problem with that, sometimes you have to do what you have to do. I enjoy using SB and often will fire it up before any other app I have available just because it works, it's easy to use and the user base and support base here is quite extensive.  But, has anyone contacted the developer's wife/estate to see if the original code can be obtained so we can bring it up to the 21st century???

     

    It's sad on two fronts - first because such a talented individual was taken from our midst, and second, that the work he obviously put so much time, effort, and care into will just wither and die because operating systems continue to change.....just sayin'

     

    -DON-

  17. Posted

    I use Macs exclusively and have also been looking at the VE Qe-6000 and the Graphtec CE6000.  Based on this thread I guess I'll spend the extra and go with the Graphtec for ease of use and conversion.  I was wondering about the plug-ins though?  Do they allow you to use the ARMS system or is that exclusive to the Graphtec Studio program?  What about cutting multiple copies of the same design?  Do you have to manually step them in Illustrator when using the plug-in or does it take you to a program that does it for you.  I currently use SignCutPro and it handles stepping and weed lines etc and the plug-in basically just sends that info from Illustrator to the program and it takes over from there.

    Bossman,

     

    I realize this comes a few months later than your OP, but I thought I would inject my 2-cents worth. Both the Qe-6000 and Ce6000 have ARMS. The difference is the Qe-6000 does NOT have a plug-in for CorelDRAW nor do they plan to make one!! (after going back and forth with CS about that issue)  The Graphtec Studio program works just like SignCutPro in that it will hand the image off to the Studio program and it is from there that you access the functionality of the plotter.

     

    I have the Qe-6000 and my ONLY regret is it does not support the Graphtec Studio program and no one has been able to tell me HOW to get it to work with the Qe!  I put a ticket in with Graphtec and they forwarded it to SignWarehouse who called me on the phone to work through a couple of questions I had and confirmed the Graphtec program looks for a different USB port than the one the Qe is setup for.

     

    If the Graphtec program could "see" the Qe, then the program would work... and I would be ONE HAPPY CAMPER!!!

     

    -DON-

  19. Posted

    9R,

     

    I have had better luck letting SCAL trace the drawing on import rather than importing an .SVG file.  I have had some that came over just fine, others not so fine!  If you have a good, hi-def drawing, go to SCAL and do a "TRACE IMAGE" and point it to your jpg file. Let SCAL do the trace and see if that will do any better. You can add thicker outlines, blackout, etc. within SCAL itself after the tracing is done.

     

    -DON-

    • Like 1

  20. Posted

    Robert,

     

    I am still able to go directly to the video tutorials from within SCAL as of this morning.  Have you checked your firewall settings?  MS performed their monthly update this week and that may have had some impact on those settings.  When all else fails, do a reboot so you get a "fresh" version of windows and try again... :-\

     

    Hope this helps solve the problem.

    • Like 1

  23. Posted

    Thanks all for the info. I had version 7.xx installed, but it was the US version. I removed it and installed the UK version 6.xx.  I'm not sure if there are any new features in this version or not.  I'm not super proficient with it yet, but I don't see that any of the weld functions are enabled except for "Total Weld" and "Punch Through."  I'm not sure how to test the other options (color weld, etc. - I tried making two objects of the same color and welding them, but the color weld option still was grayed out!) to see if they are available - guess I'll just have to keep working on it.  I know that some other minor options are still grayed out - like mail, poly stars, etc.

     

    -DON-

  24. Posted

    Is there another version of SB available other than Elements?  I have noticed there are quite a few of the options within the program are dimmed/grayed out in the SBE version and would like to get the whole shootin' match so to speak, if available.

     

    -DON-

  25. Posted

    I do not believe the "Text to path" option is available in SB Elements. It is grayed out on my copy.  You can do fit text to path in CorelDraw, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Inkscape however!! ...and like Jay2703 says!