Photo Programs...

[Josh Jelinek]

Hello to all!

I am new to the forums...been lurking for a few months now gleaning all I can from your old posts.

I finally need some help.

I have an Epilogue Zing 60 watt laser which is used in my classroom, I am a CADD teacher in a High School. We primarily have been using AutoCAD to send things to the laser for cutting and engraving. We have done some really great things so far thanks to the members on this forum!

I do however need some input of working with photos. I don't have any more budget money to buy a program like Photograv or Corel Draw. My question is are there any FREE programs out there that I can use to get some Photos engraved?? We have done acrylics, corian, ceramic tile, wood, anodized aluminum, glass, and mirrors...not to mention a few fun things like a pumpkin, apple, and cookie dough! Let me know what you recomend to get started with photos as we have a few requests to do some mirrors with photos!

Thanks in advance!

[Larry Bratton]

Try Gimp. It is a pretty good bitmap editing program and it's free. http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

[Richard Rumancik]

Josh, you don't have to have the latest version of CorelDraw. Even if you are a couple levels behind, it will probably be fine for the classroom. Many people here don't use the latest version. How many copies would you need? You might be able to get something down-level from eBay. CorelDraw includes Corel PhotoPaint; I think Gimp is strictly bitmap so you still need something for vector cutting. Gimp may be fine but you need to be able to cut. Also you might qualify for an educational rate. Why not contact Corel and see what they say? More of the info on this forum will apply to you if you are using the Corel products, and it will be easier to get manufacturer assistance.

[Larry Bratton]

Richard has a good point there. Although your outputting from your other program now, it would be best to have it all together. A full version of Corel on a previous release can be had pretty cheap. Check with Corel on that since it's educational.

[Amy Shelton]

I echo the replies here, to look for an educational copy of Corel, even if it's an older version.
I think I saw some on Amazon a while back.

[Bruce Clumpner]

Josh,

Since you're in education, you can get educational pricing on coreldraw, last time I looked it was around $100 for a full package of the latest version. Just look at journeyed.com for pricing as a teacher.

Good Luck!

[Dan Hintz]

See my signature... Inkscape for vector, Paint.NET for raster, both free and in active development.

[Josh Richard]

I like your pumpkin idea, gotta try that. I was afraid of the mess in the cabinet...

Marshmallows also are great when you vector something on them!

The best aspect of freeware is students can use it at home for free.

[Martin Boekers]

As others said that Educational version is the way to go. Sometimes you can pick Corel Draw up for $50. It has Photo Paint within the suite. (similar to PhotoShop)

Also if you are looking to engrave photo search this forum Rodne Gold posted an action that works well. Others have had good luck with using different dithering in the Epilog driver.


As for generating funds. The laser is a great tool, come up with some items to sell at the school as a fundraising tool. You ought to be able to come up with stuff that the kids
will jump on. Maybe work together with a business and marketing teacher as a school project.


Marty

[Richard Rumancik]

Marty has a good idea to fund the software aquisition by selling some laser products. Maybe there are some of the LaserBuzz products that would work - mainly vector cutting and some finishing. Or get some inexpensive wood items from the dollar store (picture frames, boxes?) and engrave some text/designs. Or maybe you could design your own "medallion" in the LaserBuzz style, using the school logo or mascot as the theme.

I would not start them on lasered photos until you have had the machine for a while and are fully familiar with the basics.

I bought a new version of CorelDraw X4 for $50 recently on eBay. You might have to be patient till someone comes along with a dozen copies or whatever you need, then jump on it. But I'd still try Corel first, and see what they say. Many companies offer steep discounts to get young people using their software (as they know these young people eventually graduate, get jobs, and buy software . . . )

[dave hensley]

Hi,

I picked up a copy of CorelDraw X5 Home and Student Suite for $92 on Amazon. The license states that it's not for commercial use, but other than that, my understanding is that it has everything the full version has. There's also no printed documentation with this version.

Dave

[Dan Hintz]

Hi,

I picked up a copy of CorelDraw X5 Home and Student Suite for $92 on Amazon. The license states that it's not for commercial use, but other than that, my understanding is that it has everything the full version has. There's also no printed documentation with this version.

Dave
VB scripts won't work...

[James Terry]

I think it might be good to add into this thread not only what to use but HOW to use it. And to start that path, I am going to ask the group how to go about working with photos using only CorelDraw/Paint with an end goal of etching them to wood and lighted acrylic. Is there an existing discussion for this? Is there a solid tutorial for this? ...

[Dan Hintz]

There are probably 500 discussions from the past... look for various search terms (photo engrave, Gold method, etc.).

[Bill Cunningham]

Mike Clarke has some excellent information on how to use Corel & Photopaint to prepare photos for engraving. He has also got a reasonably good technique for engraving photos into plain glass..
http://www.engrave.ca/