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...you could import both vector and bitmap images with-in the same file?
...you could actually use version 9 files?
...Omega would just keep bitmap images created in Corel in the Omega file you've just created, instead of linking it to the file where it was created?
...More than one tech person has ever worked in Corel?
And the one thing that would make my life soooo much easier...
...you could install Gerber's color and vinyl pallets into Corel, so that when you import into Omega, all of your fills are set up correctly and not CMYK?
------------------ Tom & Sharon Giampia Creative Image Design Port Chester, NY
Posts: 285 | From: Port Chester | Registered: Mar 2001
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Tom..I know nothing about Omega..But if it will let you see what the CMYK makeup is for their colors then you can create your own accurate palette in COrel using the CMYK colors.
------------------ Dave Grundy AKA "applicator" on mIRC "stickin' sticky stuff to valuable vessels and vehicles!" in Granton, Ontario, Canada 1-519-225-2634 dave.grundy@quadro.net www.quadro.net/~shirley
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Thanks for the reply, but the problem with the color pallets isn't assigning accurate CMYK values. What would make importing into Omega effiecient would be if Corel (Or any other design program) could identify acual vinyl, PMS, and Foil colors used with "The Edge". Corel uses .CPT files for it's colors. Omega uses it's own file type that is not convertable.
------------------ Tom & Sharon Giampia Creative Image Design Port Chester, NY
Posts: 285 | From: Port Chester | Registered: Mar 2001
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Tom, that would be a good thing to be able to install a digital color library to your computer. But, there are so many variables involved that the only way to have an accurate color model on your computer would be to make it yourself. The problem is that colors vary from computer to computer, and from monitor to monitor...even the type of lighting you have and the location of your computer monitor in your shop will effect the colors that you see onscreen.
We make our own custom color models to match laser printer output to actual vinyl colors. Even though the printer we're outputting to cost in excess of $60,000, it's not unusual to have to tweek colors from week to week. What is a perfect match one day may be off the next day.
I could attempt to explain the process of creating a custom matched color library, but since I use Adobe Illustrator, the difference in terminology plus the probability of differing program features would likely make you more confused rather than help. It's probably one of those things that you would have to see somebody do in order to translate it into something you could easily do with Omega.
Don't know if I'm any help to you, but thought I'd at least offer an explaination of why commercial color libraries are so unreliable and probably not worth whatever they'd have to charge for them.
(It's possible that "accurate" is a relative term here, too. Where I work, the colors in our printer output are required to be dead on right. In fact, at the bottom of our conceptual layouts, we print digital color chips of the colors used in the layout, then offset those with ACTUAL color squares cut from the vinyl we are proposing to use. The printed output and the actual vinyl chips have to be perfect matches before we send out the printouts to the customer for approval. You may well not need a system quite so exact.)
By the way, Adobe Illustrator does allow vector and bitmap files to be imported into the same file. Is that different from other programs? I just drop the bitmap file onto the Illustrator program icon to open it into AI, then copy and paste that bitmap into my vector file..then I can trash the original bitmap file, because it is embedded into the vector file. (Before I figured out how to do that, I used to have to keep the original bitmap file on my HD and whenever I opened the vector file, I'd have to wait for it to be imported. A real pain sometimes, particularly on the occasion that the original bitmap had been trashed in the meantime.) This isn't meant to be an advertisement for adobe illustrator, but sometimes something I can do on AI will translate into something you can do with Corel. Just ask Dave Grundy! We've found a couple tricks that I can do that turned out to be things that he could do with his program. Sometimes, there are features that a program can do that aren't in the books.
------------------ Don Coplen aka "SaintPete" Coplen Designs St.Petersburg, FL dcoplen@mindspring.com
[This message has been edited by Don Coplen (edited April 01, 2001).]
Yes...wouldn't it be nice? I've just written my solution to the Oy-mega problem in Dave Drapers post. In essence...dump Oy-mega and go backwards to Graphix Advantage. Do your designs in Corel 8 and then export as .CMX into GA. I've done this myself. I've given up on Oy-mega and gone back to GA...and I'm a happier man for it.
------------------ Louis A. Lazarus Milt's Sign Service, Inc. 20 So. Linden Ave. #5B 650-588-0490 fontking1a@aol.com
Posts: 560 | From: El Granada, CA | Registered: Apr 1999
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I am just curious...NOT making any judgements at all..How much does Omega cost? Why do folks use Corel if they have Omega? Won't Omega do anything that is required to make signs? I have no knowledge about the Omega program so I am curious.
------------------ Dave Grundy AKA "applicator" on mIRC "stickin' sticky stuff to valuable vessels and vehicles!" in Granton, Ontario, Canada 1-519-225-2634 dave.grundy@quadro.net www.quadro.net/~shirley
posted
Steve, I also left "Omega" on the shelf for over a year because of all the patches that they were issuing. Then I bought an "Edge" and i figured after a year of fixes, it would be O.K., but they have released 2 more since I installed it.
Glen, I'm glad to here that someone is having consistant sucess with Omega, It gives me Hope! I'm Curious, are you printing large format or edging graphics with Omega? Also, what programs are using with it; Corel, Adobe,etc..?
Dave, Omega upgrades go for about $1,200.00. And yes you can do everything you need to do to design and cut vinyl. Corel is a much stronger design program. The thing that sold me on Omega was the assurance of how compatible it was with Corel, I haven't seen it yet.
------------------ Tom & Sharon Giampia Creative Image Design Port Chester, NY
Posts: 285 | From: Port Chester | Registered: Mar 2001
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My understanding of the paranoid "upgrade" installation process is that it first disables (renders useless) the dongle used by 6.2, afterwhich the USB dongle is substituted.
That sounds like a one way street to me.
Unfotunately, this is part of a pattern of GSP putting their software into the marketplace before it is ready, and then 'fixing' it through endless patches on OUR dime (and our time).
------------------ Purcell Woodcarving & Signmaking spurcell99@mediaone.net Cape Cod, MA
Posts: 902 | From: Cape Cod, MA | Registered: Oct 1999
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Well..It seems to me that if Glenn has no problems with the program then it must be owner/operator problems?
I have no idea why I am even interested..but I am.
The program I use has it's own glitches with each upgrade and I end up finding "work arounds".
Nothing is perfect in this computer related world, I guess!
------------------ Dave Grundy AKA "applicator" on mIRC "stickin' sticky stuff to valuable vessels and vehicles!" in Granton, Ontario, Canada 1-519-225-2634 dave.grundy@quadro.net www.quadro.net/~shirley
I'm "Edging" with Omega. I don't have the market for large format (yet). As for importing CDR files from Corel into Omega, Gerber does need to get on the ball and update its filters to include versions 9 and 10. Its ridiculous for Gerber Omega to only read version 8 properly.
I used to think it would be nice to include the actual bitmap image in Omega's PLT file the same way Corel does, but I've changed my mind. I'm working more and more with 80+ meg files and when you have several of them in Corel's CDR file, it takes forever to open the file and/or edit them due to the huge resources that are required on the computer system. I do wish Gerber would improve the display quality of bitmaps to that of Corel's. Omega's current display capabilities appear to be a holdover from GA. It was bad then and its bad now.
As for Corel vs. Omega (or Casmate, SignLab, Inspire, Flexi, and so on), we are comparing apples to apples. Corel is an "illustration" program. Omega is a vinyl cutting/thermal printing program. Each is designed for a different purpose. Granted, you can cut from Corel. But Corel lacks the refinements vinyl cutting software provides. I challenge anyone using Corel (any version) to type out the word "Someone" at 3" tall and then apply an outline (contour for Corel). An outline in a "VCS" will provide smooth curves and transitions. Corel's outline function leaves flat spots in its curves with must be manually fixed. Also, the shadow option in Corel doesn't do well for vinyl cutting without manual adjustment as compared to VCS.
Steve, The chip in the dongle is re-written when you upgrade to Omega. It can be re-re-written back to GA if you like. You just need to call your Gerber distributor (if he has a technical support staff like Advantage Sign Supply or Hyatts) or Gerber tech itself. The Tech can walk you through it without any problem.
quote:The program I use has it's own glitches with each upgrade and I end up finding "work arounds".
Nothing is perfect in this computer related world, I guess!
Why is it that we, as end users, allow ourselves to accept blemished software and justify it because “it has always been that way?” And I’m not referencing just sign specific programs, but all programs in general. There is some pending legislation (US) that could make this situation worse than it is already. This probably should end up being it’s own thread.
posted
I too love my Omega, and have minimal problems with it. I may crash, oh I'd say twice a week now... and usually its because I have 10 or more programs open at the same time... I have no problems with it... I myself do not do any Edge Printing, but I do lay Edge prints out, and run em down the block to a buddy of mine who prints them for me, he too has Omega, and has no problems... I don't know... maybe you are right, maybe it is operator related... Later Yall
------------------ Christian S. Slager's Budget Signs Bradenton, Florida BudgetSigns.Graphics@verizon.net
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OK Glenn, I took your challange and typed out the word "Someone" at 3" tall and applied a contour, I even went as far as to cut it out, now what? Looks fine to me. I'm like Dave on this, why the need for both programs, shouldn't the more expensive one do everything?
------------------ George Perkins Millington,TN. goatwell@ionictech.com
"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"
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I'm very happy with my Omega some problems take a while to get used to but over all I think it's great. I do have a problem with having to cick on the nodes before you are able to see the pull bars or what ever you call them. This really slows my editing down.
------------------ wayne Zawacki
Posts: 15 | From: Victoria B.C. Canada | Registered: Oct 2000
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I tried it and I came up with 5 flat spots that required editing. I made the same challenge on another site the other day and the respondent got the flat spots as well. What's your secret?
Wayne, The node editing you are refering to is identical to the old GA software. Personally, I think Gerber could have done better in this area.
****
By the way, I got Adobe Illustrator 9.0 recently. The darn thing will only open Corel CDR version 8 or older files. Dagnabbit.....Adobe and Gerber must be in collusion with each other. Speaking of Illustrator, how the heck does anyone get any work done with this thing?! No wonder people need a second monitor just for all the dockers. Good Grief!!
If you haven’t heard thru the grape vine already, revamping Node Editing (Detail Editing)is high on the priority list. I was told that it would be more in line with other programs on the market.
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I don't think I have a secret Glenn, actually if I do it's ignorance. I don't even know how to set it to type at 3", I work at 200 points and scale after I get done. I learned in ver.4 working small sometimes screwed things up but in 4, 3" was plenty big enough. I have run into certain fonts that gave trouble contouring, which one were you using?
------------------ George Perkins Millington,TN. goatwell@ionictech.com
"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"
Where I work, the colors in our printer output are required to be dead on right. In fact, at the bottom of our conceptual layouts, we print digital color chips of the colors used in the layout, then offset those with ACTUAL color squares cut from the vinyl we are proposing to use. The printed output and the actual vinyl chips have to be perfect matches before we send out the printouts to the customer for approval. You may well not need a system quite so exact.)
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