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MACs and sign cutting software

Gebo

New Member
I have iMac G5. Going to purchase Graphtec CE5000 from Ordway. What are my software options for cutting vinyl? Is it between just Flexi and Illy?
 

d fleming

Premium Subscriber
Something ordaway should be telling you. Check to see if signlab will run on a mac, then do your own comparison between them, flexi and whoever else you want. They might give a trial offer to help you choose, corel will. The main focus should be that you already have the mac so everything else needs to function flawlessly on that.
 

Gebo

New Member
Something ordaway should be telling you. Check to see if signlab will run on a mac, then do your own comparison between them, flexi and whoever else you want. They might give a trial offer to help you choose, corel will. The main focus should be that you already have the mac so everything else needs to function flawlessly on that.

Ordway said to use Illy with their plug in. I'm good with that. I just want to know what other options are out there. Signlab won't run on a MAC according to my research.
 

Vinylman

New Member
Illustrator CS2 or CS3 will runn on any Mac, and with the addition of a cutter program { I use SignCut X2} you can do almost anything FlexiSign will do at less than 1/10th the cost.

P.S. do some research on this forum about the NEGATIVE feedback from current and former Flexi users. It was a real eye opener for me.
 
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Gebo

New Member
Yeah, I've been searching for the past week an it sure seems a lot of people aren't happy with Flexi.

Where do I get SignCut X2? I'm gonna do a search. Thanks a bunch!
 

Gebo

New Member
Illustrator CS2 or CS3 will runn on any Mac, and with the addition of a cutter program { I use SignCut X2} you can do almost anything FlexiSign will do at less than 1/10th the cost.

P.S. do some research on this forum about the NEGATIVE feedback from current and former Flexi users. It was a real eye opener for me.

What does SignCut X2 do that I can't do with the Illustrator and Plug in from Graphtec? What is my advantage in using it? I couldn't get the video on their www to open.
 
S

Sign-Man Signs

Guest
Yeah, I've been searching for the past week an it sure seems a lot of people aren't happy with Flexi.

Where do I get SignCut X2? I'm gonna do a search. Thanks a bunch!

People that are not happy with Flexi usally have a problem understanding how to use it. Me, I hate Corel because I too am to lazy to take the time to use it properly.
Flexi is high in price but for the money it's great sign making software. The new Corel 4x is out now and I understand it rocks and is much cheaper.
 

Vinylman

New Member
GeBo:
I am new to using SignCutX2 but from what I have learned since putting it to work on my Mac along with my Ioline plotter, I have saved a TON of money on vinyl because {SignCutX2} lets you use some neat tools to "nest" parts of your artwork. This allows you to also cut your artwork by color. You can export your Ill. file directly to SignCut, and then plot by color. The SignCut software lets you choose colors right from within the plot program. There are many other bells and whistles packaged in this great little program. I got a "license" to use the program from the main web site for only $99.00 USD. for THREE years. They provide full updates FREE during that time, plus have some great people who work in their tech support.
 

FatCat

New Member
Ditto what Vinylman said. I ran SignCutX2 all last year on a DP G5 and just installed it on my new 24" imac and it also runs flawlessly. I design in Illustrator and then export to SignCutX2. $49/year or $99/3 years. You can even download and try it out for a week - FREE!

I'm using a Roland cutter, just check and make sure your cutter is supported.
 

Bill Modzel

New Member
Just try Graphtec's Cutting Master plug if first. It's free for pete's sake and it works just fine. I've been using it on my old G4 for 5 years or so and have a new copy on my MacPro 266 quad.
The only thing I'd check on is it might not be updated to CS3 yet but I know it works fine on CS2.
 

csilvia9

New Member
A bit off the subject

I run Flexistart to send stuff to my cutter on my G5. I design in Illustrator because I have been using it for the past 10 years. My only gripe with Illustrator is you can not get a nice warp of text around a curve.
Does anyone know of a Mac frinedly program that handles this?

Thanks
Christopher
 

Rodi

New Member
Csilvia9,
do you have an example of what you mean? I'm having a hard time visualizing it, but I think you mean text going around a circle?
 

Bill Modzel

New Member
text on curve

Is this what you are referring to?
 

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schurms

New Member
I have Flexi starter for a mac and use Illy for design. Its Flexi starter 7.5 I think. Works good. It was a $79 program. Can't do any design in it. For 79 Dollars was OK.
 

smdgrfx

New Member
Have you looked into Gerber or Sign Wizard?

I started with Gerber back in 1996 and never looked back. Of course, I started with a Gerber Edge and a HS15 plus, so I needed to have better capabilities than what other software offered.

Since then, I have kept Gerber Omega current and have purchased Signlab and recently Flexi 7.6. I do lots of design with Corel and Illustrator, but for straight up text and lettering, I stick with Gerber Omega and Flexi. I like being able to open the file back up and altering it and then cutting. I can't do that if I design in Corel or Illustrator. Well, not without having to import/export. More work seems like. Save yourself some headache and buy a proper sign software. I did everything with Gerber for 7 years before buying into the others. You can always upgrade your Gerber or Flexi as well.

I am using Flexi to run my Mimaki and it works great on my other plotters. I'm planning on getting Flexi 8 in the next couple of weeks.
 
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