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Thread: Adventures with our new Epilog Fusion 50W laser...Corel vs. Adobe Illustrator

  1. #1

    Adventures with our new Epilog Fusion 50W laser...Corel vs. Adobe Illustrator

    I promised pictures here and there...this is the job we ran yesterday. It took about 25 minutes to set it up (in AI instead of CD--more on this in a minute) to set up the job in the software, run on both sides. They are dog tags with a logo on one side and individual names on the other.

    first_run_tag_2s.jpg

    Okay...so software.

    We did purchase CorelDraw 7 with our Fusion laser. We started off only using CD7, importing in all files (formats such as .jpg, .pdf, .eps etc) into CD and printing to the laser from there, many of them with marginal results. If we were working with native CD files (such as the templates that product manufacturers provided) then everything looks great, or if we created files from scratch in CD, those looked great too. Where we had problems with pixelation was with any files created in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop etc. Most specifically with Adobe Illustrator (which all of our store and University logos/graphics are created in) which I expected to be just as sharp as the CD files because they are all vector images. Not so much. No matter what I tried to do to change file formats, resolution, (anything!!) when I would pull the non-native vector images into CD, they immediately pixelated and engraved poorly. Out of frustration I resorted to the internet to find that this seems to be a common issue between the two software giants...they don't play well together.

    SO, I opened up AI, adjusted all my cut lines to be smaller than .0005 and made the adjustments I needed to make so that it would work the same way it would in CD and then ran the jobs. Viola!

    We will probably use both software programs pretty equally. As I mentioned...the product templates tend to be CorelDraw native files...so we will always use CD with those templates. But if we are dealing with vector files (.jpgs, .pdfs, .gifs can pretty much go either way since they will be pixel based in whatever program we are using) that were created in Adobe Illustrator we will use that program.

    I will say that I found AI to be superior in terms of setting up the large jig pictured in the photo above...It took less than two minutes. Slick. It might be just as fast in CD, but since I am less familiar with that program at this point, it was nice to be able to do this so quickly in AI.

    That's our update for now...happy engraving!
    Central Washington University
    Epilog Fusion 32 50W
    Microsoft Windows 7 64 bit
    Corel X7

  2. #2
    Michelle, how about attaching one of the ai files (you might have to zip it to upload it here), and let us try to see the issue you are having. I've been using both for a while now and I tend to do a lot of artwork in Illustrator and then open it in CorelDraw to run the router or laser, so I'd like to see the issue you are having.
    Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
    Printers : Mimaki UJF-6042 UV Flatbed Printer , HP Designjet L26500 61" Wide Format Latex Printer, Summa S140-T 48" Vinyl Plotter
    Router : ShopBot 48" x 96" CNC Router Rotary Engravers : (2) Xenetech XOT 16 x 25 Rotary Engravers

    Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.

  3. #3
    If the imported .AI files pixelated when importing into Corel Draw then they obviously aren't importing as vector. If they have jagged edges on curves, then it sounds like the bezier curves are converting to polylines. It sounds to me like there's just a learning curve when importing into CD.
    I design, engineer and program all sorts of things.

    Oh, and I use Adobe Illustrator with an Epilog Mini.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Suwanee, GA
    Posts
    3,686
    I'm with Doug on this. I import ai files many times a day and they import in just fine. Granted, I'm using X6 but I don't think I have seen any issues where X7 isn't importing the files properly. My guess is that there is something being missed in the save/export or a setting on the import. Post an ai file as Scott suggested and we can see what may be the problem.

  5. #5
    I attempted to upload the ai file and received an error message from the message board saying it was an invalid file type. It isn't huge even though it is a vector file, it is a small logo.

    Are there other options available?

    I did try to upload the eps file, but it does say it is too large...it is a little over 1 mb.

    I would appreciate it if you guys can figure out what I did wrong! I tried exporting it as an eps file, a pdf file, and I tried importing as .ai and .eps--tried various settings both in the saving and the importing--all with the same results. You are probably right, probably something simple that I am missing.
    Central Washington University
    Epilog Fusion 32 50W
    Microsoft Windows 7 64 bit
    Corel X7

  6. #6
    Michelle, you need to zip the file and then upload it. They allow much large zip files than normal files on this forum.
    Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
    Printers : Mimaki UJF-6042 UV Flatbed Printer , HP Designjet L26500 61" Wide Format Latex Printer, Summa S140-T 48" Vinyl Plotter
    Router : ShopBot 48" x 96" CNC Router Rotary Engravers : (2) Xenetech XOT 16 x 25 Rotary Engravers

    Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Baltimore, MD
    Posts
    13
    I print directly from AI only. we just use AI and PS for everything. Mainly in AI, TIFF, or PDF formats.

  8. #8

    Zipped files attached--I think!

    wildcatshop_logo_4_dogtags-01.zipwildcatshop_logo_4_dogtags.zip

    I didn't think about zipping! Sorry about that...too many things going at one time. I believe I Have attached them! One is eps the other is ai.
    Central Washington University
    Epilog Fusion 32 50W
    Microsoft Windows 7 64 bit
    Corel X7

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Suwanee, GA
    Posts
    3,686
    I opened it up in Illustrator CS/3 and also imported it into X6 - both looked identical to me. Neither looked good, the curves aren't very "curvy", but they are the same. It was created in a newer version of Illy than I have, that may cause the lines to look bad but I'm not sure.

  10. #10
    You had to setup the dig in the software? You couldn't do it in the control panel? Duplicate number x and y?

  11. #11
    I'm seeing the same issue Michelle. I'll try and get some time today to look into it a little more and see what I can figure out, but it's smooth in Illustrator and jagged in Corel when it's imported.
    Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
    Printers : Mimaki UJF-6042 UV Flatbed Printer , HP Designjet L26500 61" Wide Format Latex Printer, Summa S140-T 48" Vinyl Plotter
    Router : ShopBot 48" x 96" CNC Router Rotary Engravers : (2) Xenetech XOT 16 x 25 Rotary Engravers

    Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.

  12. #12
    The Illustrator file looks fine to me besides a few simple design tweaks I might suggest. One thing I did notice is that many of the blacks are not 100%K. It looks like they've gone back and forth between RGB and CMYK. I'd convert the file to B/W and make sure all blacks are 100%.
    I design, engineer and program all sorts of things.

    Oh, and I use Adobe Illustrator with an Epilog Mini.

  13. #13
    Last night I opened it in Illustrator, saved it as an eps back to CS5 or something like that. I opened it, saw the jagged edges in Corel. Came in this morning, it was still on the screen in Corel, looked at it, still jagged. Went into Illustrator, saved it again, as the latest version in eps, imported it into Corel, then saved it as a PDF and imported that into Corel. Both the latest saved version (CC) and the PDF came through smooth.

    My guess is it's a version issue. What version of Illustrator are you using and are you saving the ai file as an ai file, or an eps, pdf, or what? Try saving it as a pdf and see how that imports into Corel.
    Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
    Printers : Mimaki UJF-6042 UV Flatbed Printer , HP Designjet L26500 61" Wide Format Latex Printer, Summa S140-T 48" Vinyl Plotter
    Router : ShopBot 48" x 96" CNC Router Rotary Engravers : (2) Xenetech XOT 16 x 25 Rotary Engravers

    Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.

  14. #14
    When you say "jagged" do you mean pixelated or is it converting to polylines?
    I design, engineer and program all sorts of things.

    Oh, and I use Adobe Illustrator with an Epilog Mini.

  15. #15
    It's weird Doug, I've never seen anything like it before. It looks jagged. Not pixelated, but jagged, like trying to drag a straight line on an angle and it can't resolve it at that resolution, so it stair steps the graphic. Almost like it's aliasing it (did I say that right?).

    If you look at it in wireframe, it looks smooth, look at it normally, and it's jagged.
    Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
    Printers : Mimaki UJF-6042 UV Flatbed Printer , HP Designjet L26500 61" Wide Format Latex Printer, Summa S140-T 48" Vinyl Plotter
    Router : ShopBot 48" x 96" CNC Router Rotary Engravers : (2) Xenetech XOT 16 x 25 Rotary Engravers

    Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.

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