Back in the day (late 90’s and early 00’s), i owned an Epilog Legend 32 and 32EX. I used Corel Draw exclusively with the Epilog printer drivers. Haven’t touched one since '04. Took the class and the Thunders all require that the jobs be sent via RD Works - so… the question is… What are YOU using for design software for you laser projects and would you recommend it?
The big player seems to be Adobe Illustrator (or CC suite) but at $55/month that’s a tough nut to swallow but I’d get everything. I can get Corel Draw as SaaS for $16.50/month. I do plan on using the zing for a lot of things as well, but pretty much anything can print to pdf these days.
Based upon this post …
… I decided to start using Fusion 360. I’m in the midst of my second project. So I’m still learning / making mistakes. The jury is still out.
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For ‘artistic’ stuff, inkscape. DXF export works flawless for me as long as I’m paying attention to units. For dimensional stuff, I use CAD software. Fusion 360 or Solidworks are good ones.
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I’m with Matt. I use inkscape (free). I save as svg and then convert to AI on the laser computers. Or for precision, I use fusion 360.
I forgot that @motopilot had found a plug in for fusion to make it easier. I need to give that a go.
Reasons:
- free / open source
- dimensional / 2D constraint solver
- relatively straightforward
- no install, only .exe; download the .exe and run wherever, forget it until next time and download it again
- export 2D to DXF or to PDF
I actually prefer Solvespace to Solidworks / CATIA for 2D work at this point.
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