Mac compatible laser engraver

[Dave Garcia]

Dave,

No, I'm not a Mac user nor am I a LaserPro user. Sorry I can't help there. I know Kurt Koser (actually, my dad knows him much better than I do) because we were colleagues many years ago (we were both Xenetech distributors).

Best of luck w/ the LaserPro. We'll look forward to hearing how that works out for you.

Jeanette,

Got it and thanks!. The next time I speak with Kurt, I'll pass along your name and say hello for you and your Dad. People sure get around in this industry don't they.

I'm still a rookie in this field Jeanette. Basically I have to learn what a "vector" file is and why files have to be "vectored" before using them on a laser. Comments?

All models of LaserPro lasers now have a Mac driver, the only laser company that I've found that does, which is why I've elected to buy from Kurt Koser and LaserPro. But what I need to find out is what file that driver needs to work with. I'm guessing, based on everything that I've been reading is that it has to be some sort of vector file. Comments?

This is a great forum for "new folks" like me. I've learned a tremendous amount just reading through all of the postings. Thanks to you, and everyone else, for participating in this forum. It contains a wealth of information and advice.

Dave
The Wood Block, Ltd

[Jeanette Brewer]

Dave,

Has Kurt done a demo for you yet? You should go by his place (or have him do an onsite demo for you) to show you the Mac driver. I haven't had any luck finding info on the Mac driver on any of the LaserPro websites I could access so I'm not sure how the driver handles the files.

Still keeping in mind that I know nothing about the Mac driver they have, I've never heard of a laser that requires a vector file. Most (all?) lasers can easily engrave a bitmap file.

As you've already figured out, I'm not the technical person here -- the tech guys reading this message are likely cringing! I'll leave the rest of the technical explanations to those guys but still highly recommend running those Mac / vector questions past Kurt while he's doing your demo for you.

Let us know what you find out! Inquiring minds want to know...

[Dave Garcia]

Dave,

Has Kurt done a demo for you yet? You should go by his place (or have him do an onsite demo for you) to show you the Mac driver. I haven't had any luck finding info on the Mac driver on any of the LaserPro websites I could access so I'm not sure how the driver handles the files.

Still keeping in mind that I know nothing about the Mac driver they have, I've never heard of a laser that requires a vector file. Most (all?) lasers can easily engrave a bitmap file.

As you've already figured out, I'm not the technical person here -- the tech guys reading this message are likely cringing! I'll leave the rest of the technical explanations to those guys but still highly recommend running those Mac / vector questions past Kurt while he's doing your demo for you.

Let us know what you find out! Inquiring minds want to know...

Jeanette,

No, neither Kurt or his son have done a demo for me. And no, there isn't anything on the LaserPro website that states anything about a Mac driver. I got that information directly from Kurt when I called him.

Yes, i will have either Kurt and or his son do a full demo for me before I purchase the machine. Both gentlemen promised me any and all hands on training and demo necessary before money changes hands. I'm good with that.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much!

Dave
The Wood Block, Ltd

[Jeanette Brewer]

Dave,

I saw in another post -- http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showpost...48&postcount=5 -- that you had purchased the laser. Did you get your demo already? I was hoping we'd see more info about that Mac driver here since I still haven't been able to locate any info on any of the LP websites...

Inquiring minds still want to know!

[Dave Garcia]

Dave,

I saw in another post -- http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showpost...48&postcount=5 -- that you had purchased the laser. Did you get your demo already? I was hoping we'd see more info about that Mac driver here since I still haven't been able to locate any info on any of the LP websites...

Inquiring minds still want to know!

Jeanette,

I think I got the cart before the horse with that statement. I hadn't actually purchased the LaserPro as yet when I wrote that reply, but have set up a demo from the SoCal LaserPro folks for the later part of July, when the Mac driver will be available for the C180. The C180 is the last of the LaserPro line to have the Mac driver written for it. All of their other units do in fact have a Mac driver. This is directly from Kurt. Also, FYI, I'm headed to Alaska, to Reno, and then to Japan, so probably will not take delivery and actually have the unit up and running until either late September and or early November. But rest assured that once it's up and operational I'll be posting any and all the information I can in this forum for all of you and the other Mac people to read.

Once again, there is NO Mac driver info on the LaserPro web pate. That information comes directly from Kurt and his son. Please give them a call directly for any information you need. Kurt is the individual that I've been working with on this issue. He has been a wealth of information and help.

So far I have not found any other laser company that offers a Mac driver.

My focus at the moment is learning the graphic design software and how all of it works with the laser. Just to show you how much of a "rookie" that I am, I didn't know what a vector file was. Comments?

Dave
The Wood Block, Ltd

[Doug Griffith]

This has turned into a LaserPro C180 thread.

What I get out of it is consumers are making hardware purchasing decisions based on Mac compatibility. Epilog, ULS, and the other big players should take notice. There is market share to be had. I still don't know how they can ignore millions of users. Many being in the graphics arts fields.

[Dave Garcia]

This has turned into a LaserPro C180 thread.

What I get out of it is consumers are making hardware purchasing decisions based on Mac compatibility. Epilog, ULS, and the other big players should take notice. There is market share to be had. I still don't know how they can ignore millions of users. Many being in the graphics arts fields.

Doug,

You're absolutely right! Either I was looking in the wrong place or there just isn't any other company besides LaserPro that is catering to Mac people; at least I haven't found any in my two years worth of research for a laser engraver.

Mac was made for the graphic arts field. The PC is a johnny come lately in that regard, although because of its market share, the PC has tons of graphic software now written for it.

I'll be purchasing my LaserPro sometime in August and probably will not take delivery before I leave for Japan in September. Once I get back and get the C180 up and running I'll be posting everything I can for all of you Mac people out there.

FYI, the C180 is the last of the LaserPro line to have the Mac driver written for it which should be ready sometime this month. All of their other models already have the Mac driver. I'll be visiting the LaserPro folks in SoCal sometime this month to get a complete demo once that driver is available for the C180.

Dave
The Wood Block, Ltd

[Sarah Holbrook]

Dave, could you keep us updated on the demo? I was hoping to get a demo last week but unfortunately got stuck at home with the shingles . I talked to Kurt on the phone and he confirmed that the driver was planned for release later this month but of course with software it's hard to promise a deadline .

They did engrave a test file I'd sent and mailed it to me which was great. I see noticeable jaggies on the vectored "2", "7", and a diamond I had in the test file, but I understand this is quiet common for lasers even if they're run at very low speeds. Epilog just sent of the samples from my test file a few days ago so that should show up soon and I have the demo from Universal tomorrow. It will be so great to see the samples next to each other. If they're close enough I'm likely to go with the C180 for the Mac driver (and save $$ to avoid buying Illustrator again!).

[Robert Ray]

They did engrave a test file I'd sent and mailed it to me which was great. I see noticeable jaggies on the vectored "2", "7", and a diamond I had in the test file, but I understand this is quiet common for lasers even if they're run at very low speeds.If they're close enough I'm likely to go with the C180 for the Mac driver (and save $$ to avoid buying Illustrator again!).

Wow, that's the first I heard of jaggies on a C180! The reason I purchased my C180 is because it's stiff XY mechanism with naturally vibration dampening plastic rollers is much less prone to vibrations that cause jaggies. Should have seen the Epilog Mini 24 do it's jaggies, running my tuning fork test file! I have not seen any yet, and I vector 90% of my work. I have had my C180 for over a year now, and I also have 2 friends with the C180 systems that also have not had any jaggies. You should try your file on an Epilog Mini 24 to compare jaggies!


As far as the Mac Driver, that is a plus, as I use Windows now, but Saturday I was talking to Kim Vellore, who swears by the MAC, so I just might try it out. I have a copy of Corel 11 that is MAC compatible, so I'm good to go there, and I also have 2 Laserpro Venus systems, so I can get the MAC drivers for them now. Kim has me fired up on MAC now, so I just have to play with it... and Windows 7, which I pre-ordered already. Computers are another hobby of mine too.

-Robert Ray

[Rob Bosworth]

I am going to be very careful with this note (NOT).

So you are going to commit to buying a machine because there is a promise that a software will be available in the next month. A software that has been overlooked by ALL of the other companies that make similar machinery.

Mac users make up the majority of software used by the graphics industry, at least it was and probably still is. Windows based software is used by the majority of the industrial community. Engineers have learned their trade on PC's or Unix based computers. That is why all of these laser engraving systems are designed to be run on Windows based computers, because they were designed by Engineers and engineering based companies.

I have owned Windows based PC's since my early DOS based computers. Two years ago, we bought a MacBook to be used when traveling. It has been a wonderful notebook to keep connected to the outside world almost anywhere we went. We also can fire it up as a Windows XP format, to run laser engraving systems in the field. It has worked OK for that, not fabulous, but OK. I don't see a tremendous amount of difference between the two operating systems, except that I understand the names of my applications in Windows but have more trouble with the names of applications in my MacBook. Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, Word,... are pretty self evident. But I am totally confused as to what Safari means. I am getting better, but I still do a lot of stumbling around trying to figure out how to accomplish something. I can't ever remember how to do file manipulations in OSX. It just takes me forever to actually get something done with my MAC. We were getting fairly frustrated about all of the capabilities offered and were undiscovered on our MAC, so we went to the Apple Store for a 3 hour lesson. Our MacBook was three of four months old, and they spent the entire lesson showing us the great features for their new operating system Leopard(?) It was really cool to fan things out and fan things away, but I still learned so little, because I had some other animal's name operating system in my MacBook. So now I use it to find Wi-Fi and stay connected on the road. I wish I could use it for more.

Maybe someday this old dog can learn a new trick.

[Dave Garcia]

Sara,

I spoke with Parker Koser this morning. According to him, the C180 Mac driver will be in his place of business on 15 July, at which time he is going to call me and set up a demo date. Morgan Hill is just a little too far for an up and back trip. But Corona and or Walnut are just a couple of hours down Hwy 101 from me.

Parker even suggested that I take along my MacBook Pro so that we can connect it to the C180 and try it out. Can't beat that kind of service anywhere!!

As soon as I see the demo, I'll post something here for everyone to see.

Sorry that this is turning into a LaserPro C180 thread.

Oh, and by the way, Parker also told me, as did his Dad, Kurt, that CorelDraw was the software of choice for most of the lasers that they sell. I'll be using Photo Shop Elements 6 and or a couple of other Mac logo software packages.

Dave
The Wood Block, Ltd

[Dave Garcia]

Wow, that's the first I heard of jaggies on a C180! The reason I purchased my C180 is because it's stiff XY mechanism with naturally vibration dampening plastic rollers is much less prone to vibrations that cause jaggies. Should have seen the Epilog Mini 24 do it's jaggies, running my tuning fork test file! I have not seen any yet, and I vector 90% of my work. I have had my C180 for over a year now, and I also have 2 friends with the C180 systems that also have not had any jaggies. You should try your file on an Epilog Mini 24 to compare jaggies!


As far as the Mac Driver, that is a plus, as I use Windows now, but Saturday I was talking to Kim Vellore, who swears by the MAC, so I just might try it out. I have a copy of Corel 11 that is MAC compatible, so I'm good to go there, and I also have 2 Laserpro Venus systems, so I can get the MAC drivers for them now. Kim has me fired up on MAC now, so I just have to play with it... and Windows 7, which I pre-ordered already. Computers are another hobby of mine too.

-Robert Ray

Robert,

It seems that Corel Draw is the industry standard for graphics software in the laser engraving business. Unfortunately they have dropped their Mac version. So when I read your comment about Corel 11 that is Mac compatible, I have to ask the question. Where can I get a Mac compatible copy of Corel?

Thank you in advance.

Dave Garcia
The Wood Block, Ltd

[Doug Griffith]

Robert,

It seems that Corel Draw is the industry standard for graphics software in the laser engraving business. Unfortunately they have dropped their Mac version. So when I read your comment about Corel 11 that is Mac compatible, I have to ask the question. Where can I get a Mac compatible copy of Corel?

Thank you in advance.

Dave Garcia
The Wood Block, Ltd

Just because it is the industry standard does not make it better. If you plan on using an older version of Corel, I can see you having problems with the newer operating system and drivers, as well as getting support from users. Most people have upgraded. Go with whatever software the driver programmers used and confirm that works. You should probably talk to the LaserPro people and get their opinion.

[Dave Garcia]

Just because it is the industry standard does not make it better. If you plan on using an older version of Corel, I can see you having problems with the newer operating system and drivers, as well as getting support from users. Most people have upgraded. Go with whatever software the driver programmers used and confirm that works. You should probably talk to the LaserPro people and get their opinion.

Doug,

One thing I'm definitely not is someone that goes along with the crowd just because "everyone is doing it". But, I'm also not one to recreate the wheel. Because of folks like you, and the rest of the knowledgable and helpful SMC forum people, I'm getting a LOT of really good information that's just making my search for the best Mac compatible, Mac friendly, user (me) friendly laser and software package that I can all that much easier and better. Can't loose there, right?

I will be visiting the LaserPro folks towards the end of this month for a demo, not only of the machine but also the Mac driver interface. Parker Koser has also invited me to take along my MacBook Pro so that we can "attach" it to their C180 with the Mac driver and have a go with it. So, I'm not "smart" with this as yet, but will be soon, I hope.

Once this demo is complete, I'll post a full report here on this forum.

And again, thank you very much for your comments and help.

Dave
The Wood Block, Ltd

[Doug Griffith]

If you plan on bringing your MacBook with you for the demo and run a test off it, be sure to have a vector application already installed. Bitmap as well. I suggest Illustrator.