Corel or Illustrator, and preferred version?

[David Somers]

Evening all!

It seems like most everyone here is using a version of Corel Draw for their engraving work, regardless of the engraver make?

I take it Corel is the preferred software? Any particular version? And did you get the suite or do you not use the other tools in it to warrant that?

Any reason the Corel X6 Home and Student package would be inadequate for this type of work?

I ask because it has been years since I used Corel. I have all Adobe Products at this at this point. No problem going to Corel if that is the best tool, but also no need to add another item to my repertoire if it isn't needed.

Thanks everyone!

Dave

[Scott Shepherd]

What laser do you plan to use it with? Illustrator works fine with most mainstream machines.

[David Somers]

Scott,

Haven't picked a laser yet. I am still digging and trying to decide between doing the "buy a Chinese Laser from a US company" route or the "Buy a Western made laser from a US company" route. In general though I have been looking at Epilog, Universal, Rabbit, Trotec, Hurricane, etc. I may also find I am better off hiring my work out rather than purchasing. A non answer, I know. Sorry.

[Chuck Stone]

One thing to keep in mind is that since most people here tend to use Corel,
you're more likely to get hints/tips and help if you run into a snag... because
most will be familiar with what you're using. But some use AI too.
Heck, most of the time I use Photoshop.

and I stopped playing the 'version' game .. I'm still on XP and Photoshop 7,
Corel 13 and have no plans to change till they force me to.

[Chris J Anderson]

I'm using full version corel x6, but havent used anything else so cant make a comparison for you.
Having said that, I am finding Corel, and the wealth of available info on it, to be very nice to use.

My only concern with going student version, is that you cant do vba macro's, which is very helpful in future if you do repetitive jobs, especially if you import data, text etc.

cheers,
Chris

[David Somers]

Chuck,
Thanks! That was a point I was considering with this. I am used to working with graphic artists who are pretty heavily into Adobe stuff so it was curious to me to run into this niche where everyone seemed to be using Corel. I will likely go with Corel and just see how much of it I remember from long ago. (cuniform was one of Corel's standard fonts at that time..<grin>)

By the way...Microsoft is not going to be providing security updates for XP in a short while. If your machine is exposed to the internet, or exchanges media with machines that are (CD's, thumb drives, etc) then your risk of infections will increase over time. If the machine is pretty isolated that is not a big deal. One tactic you might take to protect yourself and allow a quick recovery would be to install something like VMware and use it to create a virtual machine image of your working system. Make a copy of the virtual machine file and store it off system. Then if the virtual machine were infected you would simply delete the file, duplicate your copy of the virtual machine back in place and viola! You are up and running again without the virus. That might buy you some time, and give you a very fast recovery mechanism if you got infected.

Thanks again!

Dave

[David Somers]

Chris,

Thanks! I hadn't considered macros. Appreciate it. I don't picture myself being a production shop, but you never know.

Dave

[Dan Hintz]

My only concern with going student version, is that you cant do vba macro's, which is very helpful in future if you do repetitive jobs, especially if you import data, text etc.

If you plan to run a business with the laser, the TOS for Corel Student Edition doesn't allow for that. Something else to keep in mind.

And a lot of the plug-ins you might find useful as you get into things require VBA, so you've automatically hamstrung yourself.


By the way...Microsoft is not going to be providing security updates for XP in a short while. If your machine is exposed to the internet, or exchanges media with machines that are (CD's, thumb drives, etc) then your risk of infections will increase over time. If the machine is pretty isolated that is not a big deal. One tactic you might take to protect yourself and allow a quick recovery would be to install something like VMware and use it to create a virtual machine image of your working system. Make a copy of the virtual machine file and store it off system. Then if the virtual machine were infected you would simply delete the file, duplicate your copy of the virtual machine back in place and viola! You are up and running again without the virus. That might buy you some time, and give you a very fast recovery mechanism if you got infected.

If you're running WMware, there's no need to delete, just restart the VM.

I've never tried running these machine from a virtual environment... I do know a lot of CNC machines would not enjoy that setup if they rely on strict interrupt timing. Even the Chinese laser machines shouldn't be that rough, but something to keep in the back of your head as you're putting it all together.

[Steve Clarkson]

I import .ai files into Corel all the time.......why not just do all your designing in AI and then pick up a cheap version of Corel (X3?)....then import and print?

[Frank barry]

Hi I am with Steve on this if you know AI and can get help with it I think that is the way to go I am from Ireland and bought corelx6 but very few people here use corel so I decided to go with Adobe as I can get much more help with it I don't want to have to learn both but am sure I will use corel to convert files and the like Frank

[Jason Hilton]

I'll stick my nose in and third the advice Steve made. I've spent my entire adult life using graphic and visual design software. If you're already super comfortable with Illustrator, stick with it. In my opinion it's much more powerful and more intuitive that corel.

[Doug Griffith]

My 4th vote for sticking with what you know. Most Corel questions posted here are about how to use the software and are not laser related. I've been using an Epilog for many years with only Illustrator. No Corel on any of my systems.

[David Somers]

Thanks everyone! Appreciate all the info!!!

Dave
PS....I was browsing back through a bunch of threads regarding Chinese vs Western Lasers. Including the most current. I know many of you cringe each time one of those topics gets started since they can degenerate into something akin to religious wars. But for what it is worth...I have been finding them to be pretty useful. Once you get past some of the vitriol each new effort at the topic has added more info and thoughts that have been quite interesting. Just wanted to say thanks for everyone participating in those even though I know a collective groan goes up with each one.

Anyway...just wanted to let you know all the sharing and efforts are very appreciated.

Dave