Vinyl cutting software

[Bruce Dorworth]

OK, I know this probably not the place to post this, but so many replied to "my goto font" post about the font that they use when vinyl cutting. I have to ask.. What software do you use on your vinyl cutter..

Thank you to all the people that posted on the GOTO Font post!!!!

Thanks,
Bruce

[Mike Null]

Bruce

I use Corel with a plug in for my Graphtec. I have EngravLab also but it is not my favorite program.

[Bruce Dorworth]

Thanks Mike, I was thinking about buying the laser version of Engravlab and thought it did Vinyl cutting also.

[George Carlson]

I use WinPCSign Pro 2010. It seems to be quite reliable.

[Rodne Gold]

Mostly Corel via a Wasatch RIP to a Roland printer/cutter.
Corel and the RIP are not optimal for vinyl cutting (tho there is a plugin for Corel specific to vinyl cutting , CoCut) I have Signlab as well , It does more than Corel with respect to specific needs for vinyl cutters, is expensive and is not as nice to design in..so I often use Corel , import to signlab and then cut. It has a better interface with the machine than the Corel driver. I don't do a lot of cutting only , mainly print and cut so am not up to date withe the latest and greatest stuff in this area...

[Mike Null]

Bruce

I find Engravlab to be very difficult for anything but text. Given it's excessive price ($1600) in comparison to Corel I consider it to be a rip off. I had to buy it for my other engraving machine.

Engravlab is a derivative of Signlab.

[Bruce Dorworth]

Thanks again Mike, you saved me some money!!!

Bruce

[Gary Gardner]

I use Flexi Pro for my Graphtec and Roland cutters. It is a very powerful program and most sign shops use it so when I get a file to cut on the CNC and don't have to worry about importing files.

Gary

[Martin Boekers]

Corel with plugin from Roland's CutStudio.

[Scott Shepherd]

Corel Plug-ins. Most good plotters have them. Our Graphtec and Summa both have them and they both work well.

[vic casware]

I have always used Signlab for vinyl cutting for nearly 20 years which is why i use Engravelab for rotary engraving

[Joe Pelonio]

When I started about 1993 I had Anagraph Design Art. I have been using Gerber Composer since about 1996, it has a lot of features including a much better vector edit program than Corel, rip for digital printing and router drivers, and even a font designer. It cost $10,000 back then, and the newest version, Omega is $2,000-$3,500 depending on additional add-ons. I have also tested something called SignCut that requires an internet connection when running it for security, and you subscribe for a period of time, $8/week to $350/Lifetime. I was not impressed with it after using Gerber.

[Hilton Lister]

I use a Corel plug-in for my Summa Cutter. Works fine for what I do,. We use EngraveLab for our rotaries and also have a laser version which has no cut function (print only) Hardly a day
goes by when I don't swear at EngraveLab for crashing unexpectedly (Usually in the text module). Wish I could use Coreldraw for rotary engraving, but that would require an expensive controller
upgrade. That being said however, EngraveLab does allow you to modify a font and save it(albeit in it's own format), which can be very handy.

[Mike Null]

More on EngravLab. I do all my artwork in Corel and save it as a plt to use in EngravLab with the rotary machine.

[Hilton Lister]

I use EPS files saved in Corel and imported into EngraveLab occasionally. Used to use PLT, but sometimes they appear somewhat jagged. When all is said and done, I guess we should count ourselves lucky
that we can exchange files in this way. I really cringe when a customer gives me a Microsoft word file to use, though they are less problematic with the later versions of Coreldraw.!