posted
I have Casmate. I can make Casmate do anything I want it to do except prevent crashes when I rip complicated images, or when I ask for imports and finer bitmap work that it just can’t do since its a windows 3.0 program. The fact that I need something more powerful and stable and (hopefully) supported by SignLab and upgraded regularly is without question. I bought Inspire, I thought all the bugs were my fault, and hated it. It is in the discarded pile, I could not make the switch to learn it. I have Corel 9 and Cocut and Smart Designer, I don’t hate them, but they are not what I want and are resting peacefully with Inspire I am now considering buying the Signlab E6 . Its not that I want to just throw out money by rejecting the other stuff, but its pretty critical to get something I can make music with the way I can with Casmate. What in your opinions is the harder transition, from Casmate to Corel or to SignLab. I am not the computer whiz my kid is, who cannot understand that I can’t get in the groove with Corel and can't learn the stuff more easily. I also can’t afford another bomb (be it me or the software).
I downloaded version 5 demo, and am playing with it, and I like the feel of it. It seems learnable to me. But it does not have the help file with it (duh!!!!) I noticed by accident, and then could not find it again, that it may have a font matching program??
Any answers will be very much appreciated.
------------------ Myra A. Grozinger Signs Limited Winston-Salem, NC V 336-722-1033/F 336-723-6112 signslimited@triad.rr.com
Posts: 1244 | From: Winston-Salem, NC USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Myra, I have Signlab 5.63 and have been a user for maybe 5 years. It is a pretty easy program to learn, especially compared with the others. It is much easier than Corel and has some often used right click tools. Their support has been timely and good. There are a few things I do not like, for example their true type font management but it is a program designed for production and I have made good use of it.
I am considering the move to e6 myself although I don't rip and don't know how theirs compares with others.
------------------ Artworks Olympia WA
Posts: 797 | From: Olympia, WA | Registered: Nov 1998
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What are you ripping to? An Encad or something like that? The type of printer you're using may drive your decision on software. Inspire's rip is actually quite good, and very fast. Another program will no doubt cost more, but may not resolve your grief.
Also, you mentioned "making music" with CASmate, while throwing most everything that followed onto the trash heap. That causes me to believe that you are still in a "CASmate world." And truth be known, CASmate really isn't a Windows 3.0 program. It is for the most part a DOS program that was implemented in Windows 3.x. And its interface is unlike other typical Windows programs.
All current programs are very "Windows-like." Hence, you'll have a readjustment period no matter which newer product you buy. In particular, if you dislike CorelDRAW, you're bound to be frustrated with Inspire, FlexiSIGN, SignLab and Gerber Omega, since all would seem have borrowed from Corel's interface ... IMO.
I'd advise that you tough it out with the programs you already have, since nothing you can buy today will make music in the same way CASmate did, or even similarly. You're going to be frustrated for a little while, but at least you won't be spending money while you're at it.
If ultimately you get the hang of Corel and/or Inspire, but find they lack features that SignLab or some other software offers, then I'd say: "Heck yeah; buy it!"
My 2 cents
Jim
------------------ Jim Doggett Vice President Summa, Inc.
Seattle, WA USA jim@summusa.com
Posts: 500 | From: Sherman, TX USA | Registered: Mar 2000
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Thank you - good thoughts and zeroing in on my concerns. I'll take your points under advisement as I struggle on. Does anyone know what that font identifier is I think I saw, or thought I saw in the SignLab program as I was fading fast last midnight? That would be a bonus and something I could really use. Thanks for taking the time to help me think this through.
------------------ Myra A. Grozinger Signs Limited Winston-Salem, NC V 336-722-1033/F 336-723-6112 signslimited@triad.rr.com
Posts: 1244 | From: Winston-Salem, NC USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
The font identifier ( the name escapes me) was demonstrated by Rob Ivers in the video as easy, but the little I used it was no luck. Like all these programs, the more time you are willing or can put into them, the more use they are to you. I never seem to get beyond probably 50% of it capabilities but that is far more than I need to do all jobs. Now as to my brain use, I don't even approach that, and as we know,with ignorance bliss can't be far behind. Stay with what you have unless you are sure it will do what you want. Too costly if you aren't sure.
------------------ Wright Signs Wyandotte, Michigan Since 1978 www.wrightsigns.outputto.com All change isn't progress, and all progress isn't forward.
Posts: 2787 | From: Wyandotte, MI USA | Registered: Jan 1999
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