Corel X3 VS Turbo CAD v 12 Deluxe

[Ed Lang]

I am using Corel X3 for the laser and CNC. I export .DXF files to the software that creates the toolpaths for the CNC. Folks that work with me on designs use either Auto CAD or Turbo CAD. None of them use Corel.

Is there anyone who knows both Turbo CAD and corel that can explain the differences in the two to me? The bottom line is would I be better off in the long run learning Turbo CAD before I get in a position that I need to crank out work in a hurry or should I stick with Corel....

Your opinions will help.

thanks
e

[Jim Becker]

I'm not a laser guy...but have used both Corel (in the deep dark past...) and CAD software. (more recently, but nearly "not" since adoptiong SketchUp!) For doing your own creative vector/beizer drawing as well as handling text, Corel is the right application and seems to be the defacto-standard for many folks using the laser machines. CAD is a whole different animal and IMHO, much less "friendly". If you can import DXF (given you can export it) with Corel, it seems to me you can still colaborate quickly yet use the application you know and are familiar with.

[Lee DeRaud]

What Jim said, with an emphasis that Corel and WhateverCAD are completely different animals: I absolutely hated Corel until I stopped trying to use it like I used the CAD software I was familiar with, and realized that some of the things that I had somehow managed to get my CAD software to do are trivial in Corel. Of course the reverse is also true: there are things Corel truly sucks at (like 3D modeling) that are trivial with pretty much any decent CAD software.

I don't know how well some of the CAD packages have done it, but one thing Corel has done very well is integrate its internals with VBA, making add-on widgets rather easy...at least for this particular ex-programmer.

Thankfully the import/export functionality is pretty robust on both sides, so you can use the one (1) that makes sense for the task at hand and (2) you are most comfortable with.

[Aaron Koehl]

Well, as Jim points out, Corel is the defacto standard for lasering--but mostly because of its a) print driver support, b) clipboard support, c) file import/export, and d) short learning curve.

Corel is really a great graphics tool--for print media, 2D graphics, illustrations, etc. Since, most lasering is really only one step removed from graphic illustration, Corel is the tool of choice.

Other CAD programs are usually recognized as being more powerful.. but not always. If you learn CorelScript, there are many many more things you can do to supercharge Corel. Powerful to me means being able to accomplish the task in the least amount of time possible.. because time = money.

I would venture to say that only 2% of the things I draw in Corel would be easier to draw in another CAD program, and they mostly involve the creation of programmatic beziers (curves).

[Keith Outten]

Ed,

I haven't used Autocad in a lot of years but Autocad and Turbocad are drafting programs. Corel Draw is a graphics program and there are significant differences between programs that are used to design aircraft carriers and commercial buildings and those that are used to create and manipulate graphics.

The 3D capability of CAD programs is their strong point for drafting and their weakness when it comes to graphics or 2D work. Corel Draw as you already know is the standard package for engraving. I would suggest that rather than you learn a CAD package you use a 3D program that is designed for your router like ArtCam. If you run into one of those rare times when you need to work with a CAD designer or CAD drawing ask them to export their drawings to AutoCad version 14 as it will import into Corel X3 nicely and you can work with a familier program. I have AutoCad drawings for the buildings at CNU and have imported V14 drawings into Corel X3 and been able to convert them into floor directories for engraving. These are huge multi-layer detailed drawings that Corel 12 wouldn't load.

CAD is very powerfull stuff if you are a designer and have the background and training to go with the software, most don't. Obviously, the most powerfull software that will do anything you can imagine is AutoCad as it has the most support. In the hands of a professional AutoCad is capable or any task but even so it doesn't have the automated features of many of the CNC programs that are made to run a machine as a primary feature.

My2cents