FlexiSign-Pro Question

[Mike_AART]

my company recently aquired a copy of FlexiSign-Pro 8.5. I was hoping to use it as a replacement to Casmate and from reading around it was basically Sai's replacement to the old Scanvec software.

anyway, i have software that came with my machine that i use to actually design and interact with my controller. what im looking to do with flexi is use it as a means to create HPGL files (.plt) of logos so that the engraving machine understands how to engrave it. I looked through the help file that assured me there was an engraving setting under the effects menu...which there clearly isnt.

what im looking to do is create a hatch fill on a logo. first thing i did was take the jpeg and vectorize then the bezer option (i think is how its spelled) and now there is no option anywhere to hatch fill. if anyone has any clue the help would be much appreciated!

 

[thewood]

If I'm not mistaken, you will need SAi's "EnRoute" to do that.

 

[Mike_AART]

ahh i was afraid of that. some things i found on the internet pointed to needing it. Ok looks like we will have to pick that up.

no possible way other than that though huh?

 

[OADesign]

oh its there....
you just need to know where to look...

and file > export. to get your .plt file.

 

[Mike_AART]

its quite possible im losing my mind, but heres a screenshot of mine. Maybe the problem lies in what im doing to the logo first?

 

[OADesign]

Weird...

wish i could help more....

i have 8.5 v1

 

[Matt-Tastic]

what software are you using to communicate to your engraver? I know Artpath will let you select a path and carve out the inside of it, so you wouldn't need to do the hatch pattern.

The easiest way to do it in flexi is purchase the engrave option. call your vendor (Advantage Sign, Grimco, or whomever) and you should be able to add it to your key (or softkey) without buying a whole new software package. once you pay for it, you should get a password and be up and going in no time.

if you want, you can create smaller and smaller inlines (using the outline tool, with negative offset) to fill in the object with additional paths for your engraver to follow, but thats time consuming. best to just get the engrave option.

 

[P Wagner]

I believe that the later version(s) of FlexiSIGN-Pro have taken the engraving routines, such as hatch patterns, and moved them to an engraving product called FlexiENGRAVE. You should be able to use a nested series of inlines, with one offset inside of the next, until all of the space is eaten up. This would not always produce straight hatch lines, but might work if you are not interested in purchasing the Engrave product. Here is a link to the feature sets in various Flexi products:

http://www.saintl.biz/Features55.asp

Bob

 

[Mike_AART]

well our store had aquired the contents of another store. The product was free (well aside from the bid we placed on the contents)

it had a version of flexiengrave on it, and the process worked flawlessly, however when i went to export it said it was the demo version ....

its weird though that OADesign has flexi pro and the engrave function is also there, we both have 8.5 v1

there was also an older copy of flexisign 7.6 or something ill try that maybe ill have luck

 

[thewood]

oh its there....
you just need to know where to look...

and file > export. to get your .plt file.

Cool. I don't have that option in my version. But that's good to know.