Open Source signmakers!

[chorca]

Hey everyone!

I just thought i'd ask around a bit. I'm still extremely new to all this kinda stuff, only in my first month playin with my GX-24, and so far it's been a blast.

Just before I got my plotter i'd started playing around with Inkscape. I've spent a lot of time working in it, gotten pretty good at working with it and quickly throwing together little designs, mocking up pages and even using it do design page layouts. Now, it's my main design app for the RTA decals I sell.

I'm wondering how many others out there have found Inkscape or other open source software (such as GIMP) out there useful, or who use it in their everyday business. I see a lot of names like Flexi and Adobe Illustrator and whatnot, but i've found Inkscape to suit my purposes well for the simple stuff that I do.

Look forward to see what ya guys use!

 

[GK]

Well, I can't say that those are what we use for production, although the boss probably would like the prices of those much more. However, I do a lot of beta testing and have worked with the GNOME Foundation on several projects (GIMP) and was amazed of the features in their software. Google's Inkscape is going to get a lot more funding though in the future I believe simply because well, Google has way more resources.

 

[Replicator]

Welcome Chorca . . . I have Inkscape, but mostly my kid uses it, it's fun . . . but it's not an ideal (serious) piece of design software.

You should at least invest in something that will grow with you and your skills . . . I would recommend Corel X3.

 

[Bogie]

At the same time, it generally doesn't hurt to have those programs available. I keep Open Office installed simply because I get files which were created with it...

 

[jiarby]

When you work in this business for a living you want the best tools for the job, not just the cheapest.

Mechanics can buy a socket set for $9.95 at walmart, or $500 at Snap-On. Which set would YOU want if you were a mechanic?

Photoshop, X3, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, & Office Professional for me. But, like Bogie, I keep an Open Office download on my pc... but have never used it.

Go sell a bunch of RTA's, but when you want to start doing more than cutting peeing calvins and skin decals you'll want to explore other software packages.

 

[chorca]

That's cool. Thanks for the info guys. While i'm very small right now, and only have about 10 people who i've actually sold things to so far, i'm going to be trying to start working more on signs and whatnot. I've done some practice stuff with layering and i've been playing around a little in Illustrator, it's pretty easy just all the tools are in different places, heh.

Perhaps i'll look into things like Flexi or something similar in the future!

 

[gpzjack]

I love inkscape. Easy for me to use and the price was right. LOL