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Chuck Burke
05-25-2005, 8:11 PM
Hey Hi Gang,

In keeping with my reputation for "bizarre" problems, I am encountering one right now. I thought while I WAIT for Pinnacle tech support to call me back, I would post here to see if anyone else has the problem.
Using the laser to make rubber stamps, using CorelDRAW12, when the laser "prints".... it immediately goes to the cut the VECTOR line and then stops. It does not engrave the "stamp" at all. When I remove the "vector" and try to engrave it, I get "Graph clipped...blah blah blah...) Interestingly enough, it worked YESTERDAY just fine, and suddenly has developed this problem. It only seems to happen in "Stamp" mode.
Yes I have uninstalled and reinstalled the driver.
Any clues?

Thanks
Chuck

Jeff DeVore
05-25-2005, 11:39 PM
Hi Chuck,
Does it go back to the home position when it stops or just stop in the right as soon as it finishes the vectoring? I don't know how the Pinnacle works but on my Epilog it rasters first and then engraves. Is it possible that the vector and raster are on different layers and the raster layer has printing turned off? Just trying to elimninate the easy to eliminate stuff (is the laser plugged in - ha - ha:) ). Jeff.

Chuck Burke
05-26-2005, 12:24 AM
Jeff,
I'll check to see if it is plugged in :) (Ha Ha )
It goes to the home position. It is all on one lay, but I wonder if I inadvertantly did turn off print for the raster part. I'll take my cold beer and go check that right now.
Thanks

Chuck

J Porter
05-26-2005, 2:15 AM
This can also happen when you have something which is outside the page to be printed.

Is everything the same color? Do you have the proper parameters checked for raster and vector? For obvious reasons, most items use different speeds and power for raster vs vector. See below.

Make sure you don't have something laying around outside the print area. In Corel, use the Zoom In/Zoom out drop down and select "to fit". That should tell you if there's anything there. Even a dot, can mess you up. I often put copies of things outside and put them in a different layer.

Can you print the design to a regular printer?

Make your vector line(s) red and your engraved portion black. In the print driver, give each color their own parameters. Set Black for raster and red for vector along with the appropriate speed and power settings.

If nothing else, this may help find the error.

Kevin Huffman
05-26-2005, 10:14 AM
Hey Chuck,

When you recieve a Graphic was clipped error, there is a couple of things that can cause it.
First, your page size, is it 25in wide and 18in tall?
Second Where is your home position? It has to be in the upper left hand corner. The best way to set this is to go to Layout then page setup. Click on Rulers, In the origin box, the Horizontal should be 0 and Vertical needs to be set to 18.0. If you just pull the rulers over to that spot it is going to be off, as much as a 1/8th of an inch.
Third, you image being right on the line of the page. That boarder of the paper is considered out of bounds. Putting anything right on it will cause it to error out everytime.
One of those 3 are usually the cause of it not engraving or not engraving right.

Chuck Burke
05-26-2005, 2:11 PM
Thanks to everyone who has replied.

I will try printing to a regular printer. My home postion is correct. I have started with a "clean" graphic. There are no other items on the page. The graphic is well with-in the "plate". My page size is 25 w 18 L.

I have a call into pinnacle tech support and an email. Hopefully I will hear from them today.

I'll let you know if we get it fixed, what the problem is.

Chuck

Kevin Huffman
05-26-2005, 5:10 PM
We figured it out.
We did the same file in Engravelab and it worked just fine.
Chuck followed the same steps in Corel and it messed up.
His settings were the same as mine on almost all the tabs in corel and it still messed up.
He is going to uninstall and reinstall Corel.

Chuck Burke
05-26-2005, 6:23 PM
Actually we have not figured it out. The problem still exists. I have un-installed and re-installed corel. It does not help. Any ideas or suggestions would be helpful.

We did however eliminate the laser as the problem because is does work with engravelab.

I want to go on record as saying I hold Kevin Huffman of Pinnacle tech support in HIGH REGARD, as he is very helpful and knows what he is talking about, however he must work within the bounds of Signwarehouse, which does not support Corel. I am certain that were Kevin ALLOWED to support Corel, the problem would have been solved.



Thanks
Chuck Burke
American Pacific Awards

Jerry Allen
05-26-2005, 6:57 PM
Just a few thoughts-

1) do you have the color manager turned off?
2) are you using the laser color set?
3) are there any clipped bitmaps in the file?
4) what settings are you using in the driver manager?
5) is the upper left hand corner of the 25x18 plate 0,0?
6) is the laser table set at 0,0?
7) Have you tried a test in B&W 3D and Manual Color mode?
I assume the file must be okay, since it printed with Engravelab, but maybe someone else should have a look or try it for you.
Maybe something got screwed up in the registry settings or ini files for Corel or the driver, and reinstalling is not overwriting it.

Chuck Burke
05-26-2005, 7:54 PM
Jerry,

I have checked ALL those items you suggested.


I'm attaching the corel file I am trying to turn into a stamp. The problem is the laser immediately cuts the vector line then stops. It does not "engrave" the stamp. This is a new problem, as it has worked before. I have tried un installing and re installing Corel twice to no avail.

Using Engravelab it works, so the problem lies not with the laser.

Any thoughts or ideas you may have, I would be happy to entertain. ( Lettuce Entertain you)

Whilst I await the collective wisdom of this wonderful and supportive forum, I will go do battle with EngraveLab.
Thanks
Chuck

Jerry Allen
05-26-2005, 8:48 PM
Not exactly a complex file.
I just ran a test on a piece of 1/8" birch ply. I set my machine to 5S100p for the red, and 60S100P, 500DPI, stamp mode, bottom to top. I don't know how to set up a stamp so I didn't mess with that tab.
Anyway, the job ran just fine.

Memory problem?
Glitched ROM in the laser?
Bad printer cable?
Corel trying to help too much?
Corrupt file in the print queue?

Chuck Burke
05-26-2005, 10:15 PM
Memory problem?
Glitched ROM in the laser?
Bad printer cable?
Corel trying to help too much?
Corrupt file in the print queue?

Jerry,
A self diagnostic of the hardwared did not indicate a memory problem. I have even reseated the simms. I have purged all files from the queue, Bad printer cable? Maybe but unlikely, the laser works in Engrave Lab.... the laser works well with Corel in all other aspects....... Corel trying to help too much? LOL How the heck could I find that out? ( insert laugh here)

Thanks
Chuck

Gary Shoemake
05-26-2005, 10:25 PM
Maybe it has to do with Corel trying to deal with the shoulders of the stamp?


Gary

Chuck Burke
05-27-2005, 12:54 AM
Gary,
A good thought, but I have set the shoulders this way before and it worked before.
I am still not convinced it is not a hardware problem...but because sign warehouse does not support corel, I have no way of being sure. Yet by the same token, it works in engravelab so that would seem to predicate the hardware is fine....however SOMETHING has changed..... I just know not what.

Chuck

J Porter
05-27-2005, 12:59 AM
hmmmm.. I saved your file. Opened it with Corel 12. Set parameters of stamp mode, page size, speed, and power in the print driver and sent it to the laser. It lasered just like it's supposed to.

I'm using a Pinnacle M25 and Corel 12 on XP Pro. Everything I have is strictly stock and out of the box with no fancy doodads.

Now what parameters would you like to compare to find the problem. Did you say what version of Corel you're using? I'm a Corel dealer and have several versions to play with if necessary.

Chuck Burke
05-27-2005, 1:06 AM
hmmmm.. I saved your file. Opened it with Corel 12. Set parameters of stamp mode, page size, speed, and power in the print driver and sent it to the laser. It lasered just like it's supposed to.

I'm using a Pinnacle M25 and Corel 12 on XP Pro. Everything I have is strictly stock and out of the box with no fancy doodads.

Now what parameters would you like to compare to find the problem. Did you say what version of Corel you're using? I'm a Corel dealer and have several versions to play with if necessary.


Well, where do we start? I have Corel 12, I am using XP home. I have a dell with 512 megs and a Pentium 4. This has worked before with corel. For Raster I set my power at 100 and speed at 10 ( this for depth) For Vector I set pwr at 100 speed at 2. ( I find it necessary to cut the laser rubber). For stamp mode I have only two bars besides the black ones, and I reduce the shoulders to a minimum. I set the drive to "normal" ( it has worked this way before) as opposed to "vector sorting"..... what else can we compare?

Thanks
Chuck

Jerry Allen
05-27-2005, 10:01 AM
I don't know much about stamps, so I didn't mess with the settings when I did the test, but right off, I have 15 levels, 2 black + 13 blue. Obviously you have tweaked the original settings, although I can see no way to delete bars. Sounds like an anomaly there perhaps. Especially if the file works in the other modes, B&W, 3D, etc.

I just went back and looked at the driver. I can see that you can delete bars by increasing the pitch. Did you try reducing your pitch to .004 to see what would happen?

Kevin Huffman
05-27-2005, 1:43 PM
Hey Chuck,

Have you tried converting everything to a bitmap? Then creating vector cut square around it. Maybe it has something to do with it being a vector fill, I know it should have anything to do with it but maybe.
Also what firmware are you using? The newest one is 2_24_01.

Let me know,

Kevin Huffman
05-27-2005, 3:09 PM
You have email chuck.

J Porter
05-27-2005, 9:26 PM
I'm beginninng to search for straws on this one.. lol..

When you did your re-install of Corel, there's a proper procedure to remove Corel but it's a wee bit different if you want to also remove user files and settings. If you didn't remove EVERYTHING, I suggest your read the ReadMe.html file that's in the Corel Graphics 12 directory. Keeping user files can sometimes be a real headache, since a subsequent install doesn't really give you a totally new beginning.

The only real function that I'm aware of concerning the Stamp mode is for it to create the shoulders which give a rubber mold its' strength to last longer since slopng side walls of letters give some support and letters won't rock side to side when you roll a stamp on.

I don't recall you saying whether or not the cdr file lasers in regular print mode. The way you describe your settings, you've all but eliminated the shoulders anyway. So this may be a dumb question at this point, but does the file print in regular print mode aka Mode Setting = Black & White?

And correct me, but is this the single thing that's different is that Mode Setting = Stamp Mode and it's doesn't print?

Chuck Burke
05-27-2005, 10:13 PM
SIGH!!!!!!
Well, I have udated the firmware. I have udated the print drive. I have uninstalled Corel including the user files. I have reinstalled Corel. I created the file from scratch thinking maybe the file was corrupt. I deleted and reinstalled the printer driver like I mentioned. I rebooted........ NOTHING seems to work.

So.......... the next step, but not today, is to format the hard drive and re install everything clean......if that does not work, I will get a new printer/parallel cable.....if that does not work, I will throw the entire mess in the landfill and buy a universal and a mac.

I KNOW it is not the laser because it works in Engravelab. Unfortunately EngraveLab in MY opinion is a DOG of a program. Even MORE unfortunately, there will be ice in Sades before Sign Warehouse/Engravers Warehouse/Pinnacle EVER supports corel..... so I cast my fate to the collective wisdom of the forum....... This WILL pass and it WILL be fixed, because NOW I am on a MISSION!!


Chuck "The Frustrated" Burke

Chuck Burke
05-27-2005, 10:16 PM
J Porter,
When you ask if it prints in "regular" mode, are you asking that if I send it to a regular printer does it print as pictured? Yes, it does. If not, could you please clarify your question so that I may answer it?

Thank you.
chuck

Gary Shoemake
05-27-2005, 11:44 PM
Hey Chuck

Did you think about trying a Laserpro dealer that might also support Corel? I agree that Engravlab is hard to work with but anything that deals Cadlink can be a bother.

Good Luck and keep us posted.

Gary

Jerry Allen
05-27-2005, 11:52 PM
Chuck,
J Porter means did you try the file in B&W, Manual Color, or 3D mode as opposed to Stamp mode? Also did you try setting (or leaving) the pitch at .004 on the Stamp tab?

I wouldn't format the drive. That's a lot of extra work that probably won't help.
We have mentioned that there is stuff that does not get deleted when you reinstall Corel. You should delete c:\documents and settings\your user name\application data\corel\ -- the entire folder and its contents and maybe some of the crap in the registry. Like J said, read the ReadMe.html file.

J Porter
05-28-2005, 12:14 PM
Like Jerry said... regular laser engraving... not Stamp Mode.

You seem to have gone to extra trouble to create this stamp. Let me outline my procedure for the computer to do more of the work:

1. Draw an outline for the stamp. This will be in red and hairline so it'll cut.
2. Draw everything I want inside the outline, letters and maybe a graphic in Black
3. Set up print and check 3 things: Stamp Mode, Invert and Mirror.
4. Set the laser parameters for speed and power based on what I want rastered and what I want cut.
5. Send to laser

did I leave out anything? Since I'm going from memory... :)

This might shorten your cycle somewhat. Allow the laser to do the work of reversing and inverting. This helps me when I do a stamp and want to show the customer a proof. I can print it without the Stamp Mode, Invert and Mirror and get a picture of what the stamp will do.

Chuck Burke
05-28-2005, 4:51 PM
Like Jerry said... regular laser engraving... not Stamp Mode.

You seem to have gone to extra trouble to create this stamp. Let me outline my procedure for the computer to do more of the work:

1. Draw an outline for the stamp. This will be in red and hairline so it'll cut.
2. Draw everything I want inside the outline, letters and maybe a graphic in Black
3. Set up print and check 3 things: Stamp Mode, Invert and Mirror.
4. Set the laser parameters for speed and power based on what I want rastered and what I want cut.
5. Send to laser

did I leave out anything? Since I'm going from memory... :)

This might shorten your cycle somewhat. Allow the laser to do the work of reversing and inverting. This helps me when I do a stamp and want to show the customer a proof. I can print it without the Stamp Mode, Invert and Mirror and get a picture of what the stamp will do.

J Porter,
No you did not leave anything out. I have tried it that way also. To no avail. I have reformatted my computer, and I am currently re installing everything. When I am done, I will create a new stamp and try it. ( I am afraid of using the old file in the event it is corrupt. ).
I wll let you and everyone that has been so helpful, know how it turns out.
Thanks
Chuck

Chuck Burke
05-28-2005, 6:15 PM
Ok,
I have reformatted my hard drive. I have re-installed EVERYTHING from scratch, so all in all I have a brand new system. I created a NEW file in Corel, I downloaded the latest laserpro driver for the mercury 3.44 ( I got this from www.jorlink.com because the only one I could find at www.laserpin.com is 3.42)
So, here we are. Upgraded firmware, upgraded print driver, formatted computer, brand new installation of ALL software, to be sure there are not corrupt files. New file created..... SAME !!@#!!!@#$@!@!!!!!! Problem.
As I heave this machine over my head ready to throw it into the street, my wife says to me, why not try it without using "stamp" mode.... I do it works as it should, but now I have no control over my stamps........
So it has something to do with the "stamp" mode of the driver.
Also, I need to know if there are any PINNACLE users that are using Corel. You may be my only hope.

Thanks
Chuck

J Porter
05-28-2005, 8:58 PM
I guess you didn't read my earlier post closely. I DO have a Pinnacle M-25 and Corel 12. Stamp Mode.. no problem.

~Joe Porter

Gary Shoemake
05-28-2005, 10:07 PM
Hi Chuck

I tried your stamp on my Mercury going from Corel 12 directly to the laser and it did just fine. The only thing that I did was to group the objects to move them to a different part of my stamp material (odd shaped remnant). Then I did ungroup them so that it would be the same as the orginal. I didn't adjust the shoulders from the default, I am using firmware 2.16 maybe that's the difference.

HTH

Gary

Chuck Burke
05-28-2005, 10:19 PM
I guess you didn't read my earlier post closely. I DO have a Pinnacle M-25 and Corel 12. Stamp Mode.. no problem.

~Joe Porter

Joe, what driver are you using and what firmware are you using?

Thanks
Chuck

Maybe I have to get a new parallel cable.

J Porter
05-28-2005, 11:05 PM
My Pinnacle M-25 says the Firmware is 2.16.

The print driver says it's DV 3.42.

HTH.. ~Joe

Chuck Burke
05-29-2005, 1:11 AM
My Pinnacle M-25 says the Firmware is 2.16.

The print driver says it's DV 3.42.

HTH.. ~Joe


Joe,
This problem appeared in an earlier version of the FIRMWARE. I have upgraded to driver 3.44 from a website OTHER than pinnacle.

It has been suggested that I try an even earlier version of the driver. I will do that. I am coming to the conclusion it is a driver problem. What I don't understand is why it happened so suddenly. It worked once, for one file, then when I created a file with 8 stamps, it didn't......it is odd.... I just don't get it. No Sir, I just don't get it.

Chuck
P.S. did you get my pm?

Jerry Allen
05-29-2005, 1:05 PM
I have an M25, Corel 12, Driver 3.42, Firmware 2.24_01, and did not mess with your file or the Stamp tab settings. Engraved and cut fine.

Now we're getting somewhere: Stamp mode. I'm thinking that maybe the software is doing some kind of trick to produce the fillet which overflows if the setting is too drastic, or that the commands sent to the laser are somewhat different than normal and that one of the the printer/cable pins is misfiring in that mode.
I have an M25, Corel 12, Driver 3.42, Firmware 2.24_01, and did not mess with your file or the Stamp tab settings. Engraved and cut fine.

Once again, are you still tweaking the Stamp Tab settings and if so what are the settings you are using? Did you try using the default setting, i.e., .004 pitch, and not mess with the levels?

Side note: I have heard from Kevin H. more than once that the driver and firmware are different for regular LaserPRO, and need to be properly matched. Hard to believe it would make a difference, and that GCC would use the same version numbers, but he has verified that is the case. I know that the older driver and firmware show up online at Pinnacle but the current version should be available for the asking.

Chuck Burke
05-29-2005, 4:17 PM
Jerry,
I will try today to run it without messing with the shoulders....and let you know.
When I got my laser from Sign Warehouse, it came packaged in a LaserPro crate.... the un packing manual was Laser pro.....it is my undrstanding from the sales rep at the time that the ONLY difference is the name......but I have not gotten that from Kevin or Eddie both of whom are extremely helpful with in the bounds of the Sign Warehouse policies.

I'll let you know how it turns out with just leaving the stamp mode alone.

Thanks for your help
Chuck

Jerry Allen
05-29-2005, 5:35 PM
Chuck,
I hope there is some change. However, this morning I tried to jack up the pitch and mess with everything to see if I could get it to screw up on an open lid run. I could not.

Rant:
I believe Kevin when he tells me that GCC makes certain changes at Pinnacle's request. I find it strange that the version numbers don't identify that. I also think that it is a good idea that when he says so, you should use the matching firmware and software. There are certain things like the overrun on the 0,0 initialization that are different. However I don't think the hardware is different. All of my packaging and laser had LaserPRO markings also. Therefore, I think you could use LaserPro software if you also use LaserPro firmware.

I have been happy with my choice to do business with Pinnacle/Signwarehouse/Engraverwarehouse. I got a good price, excellent response to a problem with my cutting table, and feel like they are there for me whenever I call or contact a tech. That is except for the Corel issue which is absolutely asinine. That would be as if IBM who sells PCs with Linux telling you that they won't support you if you use Windows. Just stupid marketing in order to promote a specific product that they know the majority don't use. Even among those folks using Engravelab, many use Corel also.
Go figure.

Chuck Burke
05-29-2005, 7:18 PM
Jerry,
Ok, I tried it today by selecting the "stamp" mode, but not changing it from the default. It worked. HOWEVER, I cannot create a stamp with enough depth to be of any use, so it does me no good.
When I changed the setting by "one" mouse click for pitch and shoulder, then it did NOT work.
Also, I tried to enter .004 and it will not allow me to. The best I can do is .05 I can go no lower.
I agree that Sign Warehouse is being asinine about the Corel issue, and I have written to the owner who is (or was) quoted in his catalog as saying that "We want you as a customer for life and will do what it takes to do that"... I pointed out to him that to keep me as a customer ( and quite possible others) he should support Corel. The short answer is no, which is a pity because as I have said before and will say again, Kevin Huffman and Eddie Larue in the SW tech support dept. ( Actually I think they ARE the dept.) are nothing short of magnificent, and in my opinion the ONLY saving grace for Sign Warehouse/Engravers Warehouse/Pinnacle.
Were they ALLOWED to support Corel, I believe this problem could have and would have been solved a long time ago.


Chuck

Chuck Burke
05-29-2005, 8:10 PM
We are getting closer.......

Some had suggested trying an earlier version of the print driver. ( so many people have offered help it is hard to keep track). So I did that.

With the earlier version of the driver everything works as it should. When I go back to the newer version ( which I just downloaded from the Sign Warehouse support site) it does not work.

So now I ( we ) know it is an issue between "something" and the 3.42 version of the driver.... now if I could only figure out what that something is.

I'll keep you posted.....and a HUGE thank you to everyone that has patiently offered their advice and help with this problem.... you guys are great....

chuck

Jerry Allen
05-30-2005, 10:24 AM
Chuck,
I'm glad to hear that the problem is getting closer to being resolved.
What firmware are you using? Which software version worked?

Here's a potential address for help (GCC):
http://www.laserproi.com/en/laser_contact_support.html

Chuck Burke
05-30-2005, 1:18 PM
Hi Jerry,
Thanks for the link. I have sent a lengthy email to GCC.
The firmware I believe is 2.20.?? I do not know the driver version number, but it is the one that came with my laser. It is the one that does NOT have the ramp function.
Thank you for your help support and interest. I appreciate it.

Chuck

Jerry Allen
05-30-2005, 2:03 PM
Glad to help.
My disk that came with my laser has 2.20 firmware on it also.
But my machine came loaded with 2.24. I thought I saw the file somewhere and will forward it if can find it. Otherwise, Kevin will. I am still using 3.42 software, although I think 3.44 is out. But that may be only for LaserPros. I'm sure another rev is in the works.

Jerry Allen
05-30-2005, 3:19 PM
http://www.jorlink.com/page.aspx?page_id=49 (not pinnacle)

Kevin Huffman
06-01-2005, 2:50 PM
Hey Guys/Gals,

It has been a long weekend and I was gone an extra day. You guys were pretty busy posting all weekend.

http://www.engraverswarehouse.com/support_pinnacle_m.htm is where you can download the driver from our site. Just click where it says "M Series Drivers and Firmware" right under the Drivers, Firmware & Videos section. Then click on the version of driver you want.

I am not saying you can't try to talk to GCC but almost all the time, they look up in their data base who the laser was sold from (which distributor) and forwards the email to them. They usually don't talk to the general public.

There are many good reasons why we don't support corel draw and all the other programs out there.

First and foremost we don't sale it. Why would we support a program that we don't sale, when if something goes wrong we can be blamed for it and made to pay for the damages. I am not saying Corel can blow up your laser or anything but we have been in similar situations were supporting an unsupported software has caused someones computer to crash and they loose a lot of date, past jobs and such. Customers aren't to happy about it and want us to pay to replace them. Not saying you would do that to us, just that it has happened before.

Second, some people out there aren't using completely legal copies of programs. I am not saying you are using a pirate'ed copy of corel but everyone knows someone who isn't using a completely legal copy of some program or another. They have to change how the program works to make it where they can run it without a key or activation or whatever. But the changes they make can effect how the program runs.

Third, Any programer can make software, if we supported corel we would also have to support all the other programs out there. Even that one that some guy made in his closet in Addis Ababe, Ethiopia, Africa. Not only would we have to know most major programs but we would have to be programers and be able to intrepret the code that makes a software. NO company in the world is going to do all that for a program they don't sale.

That is only 3 reason's I could come up with about another million, but enough about that.

When you are sending the job to the laser are you turning raster or vector off in the driver for either red or black? Eddie says he remembers you doing that when you were here. I would suggest turning them both on and seeing if you get the same thing. We have ran into a couple of people who were getting erronious errors by having raster or vector turned to no for black and/or red. You don't have to worry about it vector cutting a black line as long as you don't give something a black hairline outline or worry about engraving something with red power/speed as long as you don't give anything a red fill.

Let me know if this helps.

Jerry Allen
06-01-2005, 3:39 PM
Kevin,
The firmware rev on that site is not current (2.20). He needs 2.24.

I hope the suggestion you gave helps Chuck, but I do both and have never gotten an error. Of course I don't do stamps. Don't you think it's a little strange that he is not defaulting to .004 pitch.

I won't make a big issue here, but there are different levels of support and no one expects you guys to support every bit of software. The fact remains that the users of Corel and LaserPro are probably the majority.
Some examples of support that are already in place:
Color palette for Draw on support site and driver CD.
Settings for Draw in manual, etc.
GCC's .cdr file demo files
No one expects Pinnacle to be responsible for a program they don't sell. But there is a lot of info available that couldn't hurt to pass on. You can use disclaimers to avoid problems. There are lots of products like Cermak, chemicals, and things that can damage your lungs, laser and it's components, and materials, yet you guys still support questions about using those third party products.

Kevin Huffman
06-01-2005, 4:05 PM
Hey Jerry,

Chuck does have ver. 2.24. I was on the phone when he installed it.

We do have a lot of info on our Setup CD which pertains to Corel, which every customer gets. We even have a video to show people how setup their page size. We have a corel draw color pallette and a video on how to set it up.

Yes they are 3rd party but we do sell them so we do support them. We don't sell corel draw so we don't support it.

I hope it works too, I want to see all our customers up and running.

Chuck Burke
06-01-2005, 4:22 PM
Kevin,
I have made sure, and double sure about my settings. I have even gotten on the phone with pinnacle/laserpro uses that do use corel, ( and there are many) and compared settings. Some can duplicate the problem some cannot.
As you should have seen in my emails to you directly, there is not a problem when I use the original driver that came with my laser, but it exists when I use the 3.42 driver. My TEMPORARY solution is to use the original driver for stamps.
This tells me that the problem is not necessarily Corel.
I still believe that asking Sign Warehouse to support corel in these issues is NOT asking too much. I'm not asking you to teach me or anyone else how to use the program or anything like that. And no, I agree with you that Sign Warehouse should not have to support ALL the softare packages out there, however this is a customer service issue, and again, while I commend you and Eddie, for your help,( and I have and will tell anyone the you and Eddie are magnificent) were you ALLOWED to support Corel, I am sure this problem would have been gone a long time ago.
Your hands are unfortunately tied, by a company policy that is not particularly customer service oriented.
What Chris Gripp the owner said in the catalog blurb, "We want you as a customer for life and we will do what it takes to make that happen" is simply not true.
As usual Kevin I thank you for your help, and I hope that my honest opinions will not diminish the support I have received from you and Eddie. The three year warranty on the machine, and "lifetime" support is worthless if it cannot be gotten.

Thanks
Chuck

Kevin Huffman
06-01-2005, 5:36 PM
Hello Chuck,
I have never said that problem was with corel. You said that on the phone the last we talked, I just didn't argue with you.

When they put out a new version of the driver I will email it to you to see if the problem is resolved.

My suppport for the products we sale is forever, that will never deminish.

Chuck Burke
06-01-2005, 7:30 PM
Kevin,
My reasoning for saying that is because you said, " you are not going to like this" then we muddled our way through EngraveLab and it worked. So I assumed it would be Corel. It never occured to me that it could be the driver, but I'm still left sort of haning, becuase of the Corel issue.

I'm glad I will always be able to count on your support.

Thank you
Chuck

Kevin Huffman
06-03-2005, 10:23 AM
Hey Chuck,

Set your DPI to 600 or 1000. With verison 3.42 and 3.44 there is an issue with the stamp mode and dpi being set to anything lower than 600. When I do stamps I automatically set my DPI to 1000 because I want more lines in there so it will engrave deeper in a single pass. I did run a couple of test's but was unable to replicate it, all because I automatically set it to 1000.

GCC is aware of this issue and are preparing a new driver to remedy it.

Chuck Burke
06-03-2005, 12:01 PM
Kevin,
I have tried that. It does not make a difference.

chuck

Matty McQuilkin
06-04-2005, 8:37 AM
I have been reading this post with interest, I have a mercury and we do a large number

Of stamps on the laser. 50 a day +.

Over the 5 year period the problem you describe has been an on going problem.


What has worked for us if we get a file that wont engrave.

<O:p

Reset the page setup within Corel.
Do not mirror the text manually, make sure the mirroring is checked in the Stamp driver. “Laser Driver”
Convert the file you want to stamp engrave to a bitmap 300dpi or above.
Make sure your color pallet is RGB.
<O:p></O:p>

Works for us

Chuck Burke
06-04-2005, 2:41 PM
Matty,
What version of Corel are you using?
I will try mirroring with the driver instead of manually and let you know if that works.
As for page size, mine is set to 25 x 18. To what should I reset it?

Thanks for your interest.

Chuck

Matty McQuilkin
06-04-2005, 3:44 PM
I'm using corel 12 but have had the problem happens in 9, 10, 11

Make sure that your laser print driver is set as default printer in the windows
conrolpanel "printers & Faxes"

Then in corel select the "Layout tab", "page setup", then "set From Printer".

This will set the table size.

Chuck Burke
06-12-2005, 2:08 PM
Matty
Thanks, I'll try that. Nothing else seems to work, but I am glad to know that I am not an isolated case.

Thanks
Chuck

Peter Vasic
06-12-2005, 5:48 PM
Hi Chuck,

This is a longer running saga than "Blue Hills" ( old Aussie soap) Days of our lives....

So whats the next installment....how did you go ?

regards

Peter

Chuck Burke
06-12-2005, 8:33 PM
Hi Peter,

Yes, unfortunately it IS a long saga. So far, I have a "work around" by using an older driver for the laserpro (pinnacle), but I do not have a fix.
This is why I asked you if SignWarehouse Australia is related to the one in Texas, and if THEY support corel. I believe it is a driver issue and it worked before, but suddenly stopped working. It works with EngraveLab, but not with Corel, and since my supplier does not support Corel, I am pretty much left to my own devices, and am VERY thankful for the existence of this and that other forum we hang out on.
I'm looking forward to "shouting" you a brew when we meet next year at the ARA show.

Thanks
Chuck

Kevin Huffman
06-16-2005, 9:53 AM
Hello All,
I just recieved an email from william (GCC Tech) stating that the driver fixing the stamp mode issue will be released to us in 2 weeks. We will test it for a couple of days and then post it on our website.

Kevin

Barbara Buhse
06-25-2005, 7:10 PM
I took your file and had the same problem engraving it until I decreased the size of the page. The stamp you created took up only a small space in the corner. If you are engraving only that one stamp, make your page in corel smaller, (obviously match it in your print setting). It will still print in the upper corner. I took it down to 12 x 10 and it worked. I don't know much about software or the engraver drivers, but sometime my machine will not work properly when I have the size set to the ultimate limit.

Chuck Burke
06-26-2005, 12:39 AM
Barbara, that is very interesting. As you probably saw, I am able to make it work with the older driver, however I will try doing as you suggested and see if it does make a difference on my machine. I might provide a clue.

Thanks for your interest and input.
Chuck