Dimensional/V-Carved signage...

[Circleville Signs]

+1...

A lot of doing the dimensional signage is practice, and knowing what works...and a lot of that comes from experimentation. If one of my customers sent me a rout ready file, I would be very skeptical, considering if they miscalculate a depth (expecially on v carve), and it goes too through the material, into my backer board, and into my table, possibly damaging my bit, I'd be tissed...

I'd find a good supplier, and develop a relationship with them, so that you can explain what your after, and let them decide the best way to achieve the look your after. You can concentrate on selling the next dimensional sign...

So those of you who do this type of work would rather have to set-up the 3d stuff yourself than get a cut ready file? That is so foreign to me on the wholesale side that it's almost hard to fathom

If that is the case, then cool - I'll just use PS/Illy to create what i want and see what type of quotes i get back from y'all

 

[WildWestDesigns]

So those of you who do this type of work would rather have to set-up the 3d stuff yourself than get a cut ready file? That is so foreign to me on the wholesale side that it's almost hard to fathom

If that is the case, then cool - I'll just use PS/Illy to create what i want and see what type of quotes i get back from y'all

While my experience with routing CNC machines is more under the category of hobby, compared to commercial what I have found out that it doesn't differ as much in the production as much as people think compared to embroidery.

They each have their unique disadvantages, but they also share some as well.

I go through that preamble, because my examples are going to be more with embroidery, but it shares a lot of commonalities with CNC routing.

The biggest thing with just getting the software and not having the production knowledge is that you can create awesome designs on screen, but it doesn't work out in the final production. The angles that have to be taken, how the corners are shaped, the depth that you are going, speed etc. Then for routing, you have to worry about types of bits and their pros and cons. With embroidery it's different types of thread (poly, metallic etc).

Now, one thing I am not too sure with regard to software, I know with embroidery software, you have to be very much concerned with the rendering "engines" and how good they are. I would imagine that it's the same with routing CNC software, but I'm not to sure about that. Reason why I bring that up is that, I have yet to see a good rendering engine for an embroidery software for under the $800 mark and you are wanting software in the $200-$300 range. If that is an issue with CNC routing software, be mindful of that.

Before you start submitting CNC designs, make sure you practice not just the design, but the output as well. Know how to map the areas, determine a sequence. Designing for this type of output is very much different then design for print. This is probably the biggest thing. There is one local woman here that was doing cheap digitizing and not only was her designs ruining her machine, but those that bought her designs as well.

 

[letterman7]

If I were wholesaling, I'd still want to set up the 3D toolpath from the provided vectors. The programs themselves will calculate the toolpaths, so there is very little maths involved.. mostly. With Vectric and I'd imagine EnRoute has something similar, you get to preview the rout before you send it to the machine. Takes some of the guesswork out of what you'll get. I think you can download a trial version of Vectric to get a taste of what it offers... once you get into dimensional carving you'll wonder how you got along without it!

 

[SolitaryT]

We use ArtCam here, and while it's pretty functional, I haven't really had the best experience with it. It seems to think in a very basic sense and doesn't make leaps like Illustrator or even Composer. However, it's the first and only CNC program I've ever used, so maybe it's typical? All I can say for certain is it's kind of difficult sometimes to make it do what I want it to.

 

[letterman7]

ArtCam and EnRoute are pretty high-powered programs and you really need to dig into them to get the most from what they can do. For the bread and butter v-carving, I design exclusively in Corel and export the design into VCarve (Vectric's program). From there I can select which parts of the design to carve, trim or cut out. Very simple and user friendly.

 

[TheNewKit]

I'm coming in a little late on this. Having received tens of thousands of sign designs and files from sign shops around the country selling, designing, and installing carved and dimensional signs, I find almost any program that creates a vector file (not pixilated) works. Including Microsoft Paint. We've even worked with a WORD document design!

If you can create a sign shape and add lettering and a logo you are good to go with us. It does preferably; need to be able to be exported as a .pdf file, .eps or .ai.

The best programs for sign design off the shelf are Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw! for your dollar spent. There are many sign specific programs like FlexiSign that are amazing but pricey.

There is no need to "3-D" a design you are sending to wholesaler. That will be done by them. We choose a variety of bit angles depending on the size of the letters or logos to give the sign a look as if it were hand carved. Not with texture but with a pleasing depth to letter width. We use Enrote to automatically create the 3-D with the bits angles we choose for each line of lettering. That program cost $$$$ and is useless unless you have a router.

When we carve letters they are fundamentally unchanged in shape. In fact, you could use your original file to cut a vinyl outline on your plotter and when we return the finished sign to you the outline would fit exactly around the carved letters.

When you get enough business going then is the time to buy a router and all the programs.

Hope that helps you.

 

[Joe Crumley]

I have both Inspire and Artcam. There exceptional 3D programs both having forums which are very helpful. My first software purchase was Insignia and it's a dream to use but now V Carve Pro seems to be the program of choice for 2.5 D. I go back and forth between the 3D programs

For design and layout Flexi is my choice.

Joe Crumley

 

[xxaxx]

Not sure how well this applies to routing, but Google Sketchup is a free and very powerful / easy to use 3d modeling program that would be good to play around in for designing your signs.