Corel X4

[Ernie DeMartino]

In Corel X4 is there anyway to duplicate a design to cover the entire page and minimize wasted space? I will be cutting the same design on the whole page which usually involves rotating in order to fit as many as possible. Any help or suggestions is appreciated.

[Mike Null]

Ernie

I'm not aware of a way to do that in Corel. There are several sign making programs that nest the work to make maximum use of material, vinyl, for example. SignLab is one which has as an offshoot EngravLab.

[Ernie DeMartino]

Thanks Mike, I had to ask, seems like it should be a basic function.

[Mike Null]

Ernie

There may be an add-in for Corel from a company like Graphtec or others which will add the feature you want plus something like weeding lines.

[Pete Bejmuk]

hmm, sounds like a very handy feature. let us know if you find a plug-in.

otherwise use my version: print out a few copies of the design on paper at the end of the day, and that evening at home have the kids cut them out and figure out how to arrange as many of them into a 18"x24" (or whatever) rectangle without overlap. kids (a 6 year old, in my case) seem to like doing that sort of thing, and can come up with some remarkably efficient layouts! ;)

[Martin Boekers]

Here's one that's not too expensive, (I haven't used it so I can't recommend it) I do like some of the options on it such as a choice
of rotating the pieces (to save additional space) or keep them in
the same rotation as created for inlays. Seems pretty slick.


http://macromonster.com/index.php?mod=descr&id_desc=109


Marty

[Scott Shepherd]

Just a note about the one Marty linked too. It looked decent until I hit the part that says you are buying it for 1 machine. If you upgrade your computer, it will not work and you will have to buy it again. Wow, now that's an agreement I've never seen before. Buy a new copy every time you have a computer upgrade.

No thanks, I'll pass.

[Bruce Volden]

Ernie, I have had to do this also :(. What I ended up doing was using the nudge feature in CD, ie if my design/shape was say 2"H X 1.5"V I would set nudge to 2.005" and copy the design and nudge it over. If an irregular shape is involved I had to duplicate and position and then nudge etc. It would be a good feature to have nesting on board CD but I haven't seen it and I started with Ver. 4 :eek:

Bruce

[Robert Walters]

Just a note about the one Marty linked too. It looked decent until I hit the part that says you are buying it for 1 machine. If you upgrade your computer, it will not work and you will have to buy it again. Wow, now that's an agreement I've never seen before. Buy a new copy every time you have a computer upgrade.

No thanks, I'll pass.

Scott,

I can't agree with you more.

Adobe is doing the same thing with their products. You have to un-register it from one computer, and re-register it on another. Gawd help you if the hdd crashed and you try to install on another computer, then you have to call adobe to get a validation code.

The REALLY bad thing is what they are doing is mucking with the MRB on the hdd. This is where your computer stores the information for booting up.

I don't have an issue (per se) with a company trying to protect their products from piracy, but not to the extent that it can interfere with the functionality of the rest of the system or to the point that it just becomes an annoyance to use/install (don't get me started on 'dongles').

Now, the work around to all this is just install all of it on a virtual machine.
Then, you can backup the VM, copy it to another computer, or even copy it to another host OS such as linux or osx.

You can even test upgrades, plugins, trail software, etc. If it doesn't work or you don't like it, just delete the VM, and go back to your original "good" one.

[Robert Walters]

In Corel X4 is there anyway to duplicate a design to cover the entire page and minimize wasted space? I will be cutting the same design on the whole page which usually involves rotating in order to fit as many as possible. Any help or suggestions is appreciated.


I found this ($199 USD)
http://eng.e-cut.ru/index.php?get=enest

Ernie,

If you need a one-time deal, I could nest a flat (no layers) DXF file for you.
PLEASE be sure the vectors are closed and the are no loops in strange places (commonly near where vectors have been crossed and closed).

Make sure to make the sheet (model) size, the size of the raw material you want to cut them from. Include the kirf (minimum space between pieces) you want.

[Martin Boekers]

Just a note about the one Marty linked too. It looked decent until I hit the part that says you are buying it for 1 machine. If you upgrade your computer, it will not work and you will have to buy it again. Wow, now that's an agreement I've never seen before. Buy a new copy every time you have a computer upgrade.

No thanks, I'll pass.

I guess I look at things a bit differently on software than most. If it makes my job easier
I look at the savings in time. If I needed a program to do this type of work the
price seems pretty reasonable. (about an hour of billable laser time @$60 per)
I'm still using an 8 year old computer so I don't
upgrade computers that much:D so that wouldn't be an issue for me. Yes I do
have Photograv and Photoshop older versions, but they have paid for themselves
many time over in the time I saved using them. I don't have much of a need for
nesting, maybe if I did more vinyl cutting it would be of use. They do have
a lower end version for about $10 which isn't bad either. I believe the upper end
even calculated linear inches which would be nice.

As I said I don't use this, but I tossed it out there so those who may have an
interest on an add-on as such as this.

Me personally think nesting should already be in Corel as this software is used by
many that would find this a great addition!;) (Hint Hint)

Marty

[Martin Boekers]

Robert,

I believe that is the same one that I listed, but for 4 computers
a single computer was about $60 I believe.


Marty

[Robert Walters]

Robert,

I believe that is the same one that I listed, but for 4 computers
a single computer was about $60 I believe.

Marty


Ah, ok. was just a quick google search.

I already have a method to nest, but I too believe CorelDraw SHOULD have this feature built in.

[Pete Bejmuk]

hmm, the program looks promising, but the company for e-cut is based out of Russia, which makes me wary. i've had some bad experiences with software out of Russia, customer support in general can be very difficult.

the fact that one of the FAQ anwsers requires you to do your own program editing in VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) doesn't make it sound easy to use...

[Ernie DeMartino]

Thanks for the help and suggestions, I appreciate it. Robert Thanks for the offer, after listening to me gripe, my wife decided she would take care of it. It only cost me a dinner which will end up costing more than the plugin.
The 69$ plugin would be nice but I'm not sure how much I would use it, plus my experience with computers I would be repurchasing it often. Being new to Corel, I thought maybe it was me. I also feel it should be included in the program. Thanks again, Ernie

[Scott Shepherd]

I guess I look at things a bit differently on software than most. If it makes my job easier
I look at the savings in time. If I needed a program to do this type of work the
price seems pretty reasonable. (about an hour of billable laser time @$60 per)


I have no problem paying for software. We bought CS4, which as you know, isn't cheap. $1,800 for the full package, I think. I have no problem paying for software. What I do have a problem with is someone charging me for software and then telling me I can't even upgrade to another computer. So if my computer dies for some reason, then I have to repurchase the software. We have 4 or 5 computers here, and if I'm the one that's doing all the nesting on my machine and then we hire someone new or delegate that to someone else, we can't remove it from my machine and put it on their machine. That's the first and only time I've ever seen that kind of restriction on software.

If it was a software key and you needed to log into your account and request another key or anything of the sorts, I'd have no issues with it at all. I just don't think you have the right to charge me repeatedly for the same thing I purchased already.

But I'm all for spending money on software that helps you do your job better.

[Martin Boekers]

. That's the first and only time I've ever seen that kind of restriction on software.

If it was a software key and you needed to log into your account and request another key or anything of the sorts, I'd have no issues with it at all. I just don't think you have the right to charge me repeatedly for the same thing I purchased already.

But I'm all for spending money on software that helps you do your job better.


I do understand where you are coming from, I suppose they are just
trying a new way to market it. Maybe they thought that they would sell
more if the price was lower and put limitations on it's use? It would
be nice to have an option though, to pay a bit more and have it more
portable. It wouldn't surprize me though if other software vendors would
do this as most say you are limited to one computer with the product anyway.
From what I read, it is updatable and updates are free.

What I would like to see with Photoshop for instance, is to have an option
to pay by usage. That way if I needed to use the latest version, that
I could buy a block of minutes to use it. That way if I didn't want to
spend $700 - $800 dollars for the full version. I could use it by the hour.

I just have the stand alone versions, as basically I'm a 2 man shop and
don't really have the need for the whole suite. Actually I could get by
with just the Photoshop Elements, But I do a fair amount of photography
too so it's nice to have the extended version.

Marty

[Vicki Hayden]

Maybe I don't understand correctly, but when I want a page full of some design or graphic I copy the first one and then use PASTE until the page is full. Some times I have to drag them around a bit for optimal fit, but it's pretty quick to do.
Vicki

[Robert Walters]

Maybe I don't understand correctly, but when I want a page full of some design or graphic I copy the first one and then use PASTE until the page is full. Some times I have to drag them around a bit for optimal fit, but it's pretty quick to do.
Vicki


Hi Vicki,

Nesting is usually multiple different parts that are not always the same size or shape.

For example, I'm in the process of making an air scrubber (a big wooden box). I need to make sure that all the pieces of the box can be cut from a full sized sheet (48 x 96) of wood. There are about 10 pieces I need cut.

Nesting can rotate the pieces and position them so that I can have the minimal amount of loss, minimal amount of cuts, as well as space them to account for the saw blade and any margin I may need.

I might need to build 5 or 50 boxes, a nesting function would let me buy the minimal amount of wood I would need to make them without excessive waste.

[Martin Boekers]

Just a note about the one Marty linked too. It looked decent until I hit the part that says you are buying it for 1 machine. If you upgrade your computer, it will not work and you will have to buy it again. Wow, now that's an agreement I've never seen before. Buy a new copy every time you have a computer upgrade.

No thanks, I'll pass.

Scott,

One thing I just thought about with this, it would be nice if the nesting also combined adjacent lines to save time. I know, probably asking too much:rolleyes:

I have only used a nesting function years ago on a Durst Lambda (laser-exposing) photographic device, so it was only print but not vector.


Marty

[Vicki Hayden]

Hi Bob,
Thanks for explaining. I have Corel Draw, but use it more for photo work so wasn't aware of such a function. I can see the usefulness for ww's.
Vicki

[Robert Walters]

...after listening to me gripe, my wife decided she would take care of it. It only cost me a dinner which will end up costing more than the plugin.

Ernie,

But you'll be getting brownie points for the dinner too!
As the saying goes... Happy Wife, Happy Life! LOL

(The one time nesting offer still stands btw =)

[Robert Walters]

Since the mention of software license/registration funkiness (ie 'one machine only for life') came into play...


I use a Mac running OSX primarily, and my XP + Corel and other Windows based software runs in what is called a "Virtual Machine".

What a VM (virtual machine) is an operating system (OSX, Windows, Linux, etc) running within another, and they don't have to be the same either.

You could be running Windows 7, and need to run Windows XP on the same computer, at the same time. Or in my case XP running in Mac OSX.

Now, the benefit of this in respect to software licensing/registration, is that the software is not aware that it's running in a VM.

VM's on the host computer are just one big fat file, and can be copied to another computer or even a different Host OS and run with no changes.

This also allows you to backup your VM's as easily as copying a file (mind you a 20 to 60 GB file), and as often as you want.

This is also good if you happen to get a nasty virus or hardware failure.
Just grab new computer, copy the VM to it, and your up and going again.

You can even test new software and if you don't like it, just hit the "Revert to snapshot" button and you're back where you were before. No more uninstall residue left over.

Hard drives are cheap (1TB for $60), and this saves so much grief of installing, uninstalling, repairing, making backups, copying to another computer, etc.

The only caveat is that many do not support serial and parallel ports.
You would have to do some research before selecting one to use.

If you have a spare computer, you can play with this one:
http://www.virtualbox.org/

It's free for non-commercial use, no limitations at all.
Commercial use requires to purchase a license of usually under $100 USD.
There are others, this one is just the most popular free one.

[Ernie DeMartino]

Robert,my wife finished the project over the weekend. It only cost me 100$, she's happy and she didn't mind doing it. I appreciate your offer, it's an awesome gesture. I look forward to the day when I have enough experience to offer help as others on this forum. I have a long way to go but I'm learning every day. Thanks again, Ernie

[James Leonard]

Have a look at MyNesting. It only costs for nests that you use. You can export a DXF from CorelDRAW then import the DXF from MyNesting.

http://www.mynesting.com/

-James Leonard