Cutting fabric - software recommendation

[Scott Marquez]

Hello everyone,
I just sent off payment for a Rabbit RL-60-1290, thanks to my research that started here I didn't purchase my machine from Nevada. The staff at Rabbit have been a huge help, cutting the samples that I sent them.
I design, prototype and sew nylon gear for hunting and military use, as a one man shop I am looking for time savers. My bags and pouches are fairly simple but it does take a fair amount of time to mark and cut each piece of fabric using cardboard patterns.
Since my primary use of the machine is for vector cutting with future ideas of rastering, I'm curious as to what "simple" program you would recommend. I'm planning on purchasing a laptop to run this machine and at this point I'm looking towards Coral Draw, but before I spend the money on that I wanted some more input.
Thanks, Scott

[Samuel Espy]

Scott, congratulations on your new machine. I am still a newbie, but I will offer my opinion to get things rolling. You can't go wrong with the CorelDraw (CD) graphics suite. It truly is by far the favorite and most often used for laser engraving. The benefits of all the examples, tutorials, etc. as well as people who will respond to questions about CD here and elsewhere should not be ignored. It will serve you well for both vector and raster uses. Additionally, it is very easy to learn to do the basics with CD if you have even modest graphics experience. More advanced uses will require more investment of your time to learn them of course. So to me, the decision of whether to purchase CD for typical uses of a laser engraver is only blurred by cost considerations. As far as cost considerations, I would point out that the cost of your time using inferior or more difficult to use software may not be the savings it initially appears. If you 1) wish to explore less expensive alternatives, and 2) initially plan to use the software and machine almost exclusively for relatively simple patterns, then you might try the free software InkScape. It is purely a vector-based software. Most consider it a bit more difficult to learn than CD, but it has great vector capabilities. Good luck.

[Gary Hair]

Samuel pretty much nailed it - If you have a problem with Corel then a post here will get you an answer quicker than you can possibly imagine! It's not exactly "simple", but the part of it you need to know for lasering is actually pretty easy, comparatively speaking anyway. Don't try to save money buying it on ebay, it's way more likely to be pirated than not... Also, don't try to save money buying the Student version, it's not for business use and has limited functionality compared to the standard version.

[Jeffrey Dewing]

I got it right from amizon. They mailed it right to my house. I tried to get it from Corel first and they messed up my order. It was easyer to just get it through amizon, and faster also. Same money if not cheaper.

[Bert Kemp]

Scott I bought my Rabbit from Ray its a RL6040 upgraded to 60 watt and I'm happy so far. I run corel x5 and it does everything I need. I think for what your doing it would be fine. I don't think you'll ever need more features then what x5 has. You have a certain product you need to cut and maybe do some rastering. Its not like you need the latest and greatest to cut fabric. When you up and running if theres any way I can help let me know I'll do my best.

[Scott Marquez]

Thanks for the input guys, I'm sure I'll have more questions once I get the machine on site and running. For now I'll go computer and software shopping.
Scott

[Mike Audleman]

Thanks for the input guys, I'm sure I'll have more questions once I get the machine on site and running. For now I'll go computer and software shopping.
Scott

Well, I am not sure what exactly it is you are looking for. If you are looking for software to lay out your designes you already have, then Corel Draw would be your ticket.

But, if you are looking to make clothing type items and get some sort of pattern, maybe something like Marvelous Designer might fit your bill?
http://www.marvelousdesigner.com/

I used it for creating clothes for 3D figures in Poser. You lay out the clothes as you would on fabric then you can see them fit and flow in near real time in the rendering window. MIght help you out with your stuff? I bought MD2, it was only $99. Seems MD4 has gotten a bit pricy.

[Roy Nielsen]

Scott,

I agree what others have said about Corel Draw. The only caveat is that you may want to check with Ray about what version of Corel Draw will work well with the laser.

My G.Weike, for instance, has a plugin for Corel Draw that allows me to send output directly from it to the interface software. I've been told that feature apparently only works up to 12, X3, or maybe X4.

Roy

[Bert Kemp]

If the new laser you get runs on lasercut 5.3 I'm pretty sure that Ray will advise against the plugin for corel, as I was advised. Its pretty easy to do all your design work in corel and just import it to lasercut . Not a big deal no real need for a plugin. If you research it you'll see some people lover and it works but others can't get it to work at al. so go figure , I just never even tried as like I said its pretty easy just to import it.

[Jerome Stanek]

I just use autocad or Vectric Aspire to do my drawing in and export it as a DXF