plotter and software?

[corey]

Decided with my income refund to buy a plotter. Just a couple of questions.
Ill be buying the roland 24.
My questions are
What software is easiest to work with
i.e. coraldraw adobe illustrator etc.....
Do all the files need to be vector?
How thick of materials can I cut with the plotter?
I would like to naturally do vynil and masks but also reusable shields.

Any help is appreciated.

[shane]

well man, i use illustrator, i is a lot easier for me any ways, i don't like the selection tools in coral very much and the tool layout isn't as easy for me to navigate, but i was taught by hr so she uses illustrator so that's what i ended up going with. there is some hard stencil material in the store that cuts great and its not a lot of money ether. its not as thick as the stencils you buy but it works great, fact i like it better it is easier to flex around curves and what not!
hopes this helps :taz:

[Head Roller]

The choice of software is pretty much a preference issue... the Corel / Illustrator argument is as fruitful and the Ford/ Chevy debate.

I prefer Illustrator.
Mike prefers Corel.
Both work perfectly.

Yes... all files that you wish to cut need to be in vector format (.cdr, .ai, .eps etc)

The GX-24 cuts up to 7 mil pretty easily with the right blade and settings. I have cut up to 10 mil using some advanced designing techniques.... lol.

Let me know if you need any more questions answered!

[mark walker]

mate, ive had me roland 4 about 6 months now, i got a program over here (australia) called signblazer pro, probaly something simalaur to what u guys use?? it seemed daunting at first but i sat down at nighttimes for a few hours a nite took me about 2 weeks to get the basics on it (i'd never really done much comp work before) i'm now amazed at how far i've come, i should have bought it years ago !!!!!

[corey]

thanks. Ill probable go with the coraldraw since my wacoms have a coral photoshop so I dont end up with differant brands on my computer.

[shane]

thanks. Ill probable go with the coraldraw since my wacoms have a coral photoshop so I dont end up with differant brands on my computer.

One thing i have found Corey is, its really nice to have both illustrator and coral, i know were talking about a ton of cash but as soon as some one puts up a cdr. format file and you cant open in cause you only got illustrator you'll see what i mean, or you do a complete set of flames for some one and all they have is illustrator and your runin coral, well messed up again, I know you can save your stuff as a ai. file in coral, but its just a extra step and most of the time i forget so then i got it saved in 2 formats!!!! and I also know you can save it as a eps file, but man that takes a ton of space after a while, I hope it helps man, i wish i would know 1/2 this stuff when i was first startin out, it would have saved me a ton of head aches, and thank god Diana started to help me cause i would still be flounderin around, I don't know it all for damn sure but I'm so much farther ahead! :46:

[corey]

How much is the illustraor?