KristenMarie 2 Posted January 6, 2015 Been using SCAL 3, and just got a new laptop and was thinking i wanted to try a new program. What is everyone's favorite software program, and why? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wildgoose 4,200 Posted January 6, 2015 I'm a huge fan of Illustrator but it comes with the price of a large learning curve. Great payoff after you pay your dues though and I find myself using it for all kinds of other things too that normal people don't have the program to build as quick or as customized. A great thing to try out would be Inkscape. It's a free vector program that is very capable. I am totally spoiled by AI so I rarely mess with Inkscape but I have a copy. Everyone should. Anything you get will have some learning to utilize and you are moving in the right direction to start drifting toward a true design software. You'll still probably want to use SCALP or something similar to cut with but the design side if SCALP is lacking. I use AI (CS5 version) to design and cut with SignCut Pro which is a subscription based program or you can buy the dongle for about $400 which is the way I went. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slice&dice 2,450 Posted January 6, 2015 Without question, SignBlazer ELEMENTS ---- It provides a quick and efficient experience for whipping together a decal, and the cutting drivers are pre-loaded for almost every cutter out there in the market. Is it as full-featured as Adobe ILLUSTRATOR? Nope. Can you bang out a routine text-based project from start to finish in three minutes and have it running into the cutter and ready for weeding quick as a bunny? Yep. http://support.uscutter.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/GetAttachment/190/24198 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jaybyrd 3,770 Posted January 7, 2015 I just jumped on the vinyl master wagon and so far I'm liking it but I haven't had it long enough to make a final decision. What drew me away from corel draw was the design and cut all from the same program. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VinylRevamp 93 Posted January 8, 2015 @slice - is sign blazer a free software like inkscape? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Moody Blue 505 Posted January 8, 2015 I use adobe illustrator for everything I do. Im a graphic designer so I have it mostly for design purposes, but in conjunction with the Signcut Pro plug-in I can layout all my decals exactly how I want them to be cut/layered/registered and simply "send to sign cut" and almost instantly start cutting. Saves time of having to design then format for cutting in seperate programs...but yes as Wildgoose stated it takes time, Illustrator and Photoshop are very complex programs learn. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
arty-rc 719 Posted January 8, 2015 @slice - is sign blazer a free software like inkscape? Signblazer is free. Download it from the US Cutter site. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slice&dice 2,450 Posted January 8, 2015 @slice - is sign blazer a free software like inkscape? The SignBlazerELEMENTS application was a retail product of the ChromaColor company, which no longer exists since the owner, Jerry Bonham, passed away. The edition that's currently available is technically 'abandonware' and no longer has any development or support. It is what it is. My posting above provides the link for a version that disables the registration and trial countdown screens, so those don't 'nag' you upon startup. I ran my sign store for years using ONLY SBE, including vectoring simple raster graphics right inside the program itself. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
