My husband is now running his own business using a Plasma CAM (CNC machine). We are making customized products for people. The main problem is that most files have to be converted to bmp, then sent to the Plasma CAM software and once there it looks horrible. At times, husband will trace the picture with a pen and paper, scan, convert to bmp, still redraw & redraw, and so on. It's very, very time consuming (time we do not have right now)
On a CAM forum, many have recommended Corel Draw for converting our files to dxf for CAM use. However, the latest version of Corel Draw is $500 We are just starting up and on a very tight budget so I was wondering if someone here could offer some advice on this?
I have found a version of X5 on Amazon.com for $55 but the reviews say it's a stripped down version. I also read about people purchasing Corel Draw from third party sellers and I'm a bit unsure of all that.
I am hoping there will be a CAM user out there who understands my needs :-D Oh and the things I read on the Plasma CAM forum referred mainly to versions 9 and 12 but I am learning those are older versions--I do not know where to purchase these.
We need something easy to learn & use. Husband is not totally PC savvy. I used to have a version of Corel Video Studio and found it very simple to use. Thanks in advance for any advice on this.
whatagem said:We are just starting up and on a very tight budget so I was wondering if someone here could offer some advice on this?
Some might say that if you can afford a PC, and especially a CNC plasma cutter, they might suggest the cost of CorelDRAW is another factor - it's the cheapest of all three.
whatagem said:Husband is not totally PC savvy.
He'll need to become that way for best results. For this reason: the best computer, software, or plasma cutter in the world all mean nothing if someone doesn't know how to create smooth or accurate curves in the first place. Machines only output what's sent to them.
I use the commercial technique here, it applies to many programs.