Many sign makers use Signlab, Flexi Sign etc, Signlab full cut and print can cost £2400 per copy.
A lot of the time files that Signlab is struggling with, Corel does exactly the same in a flash no problem, more power for a fraction of the cost.
Other issues for Signlab, cropped images, CMYK images can't be clipped and rendered and kept in CMYK, the only real advantages dedicated sign making software like Signlab is automatic kerning for letters like WA and number 1 cap I etc given the space that suits it not the same space a W would have etc which just looks outright odd, see it everywhere, it's horrible, plus all the support for plotters and printers, decent quality fonts too so used at any size no surprises as you can get with system fonts.
Corel is practically there but not quite and they have said if there is enough interest from sign makers they will consider developing the software to suit sign makers needs, and what a day that will be where we can all avoid importing and exporting back and forth and relying on the coding written by a couple of guys in a shed for Cadlink.
Even then all prints done through Signlab and it's Visual Production Manager has a green hue, that was there in version 8 and in Version 9 it's still there, so when they've come to bring out the new version, they still hadn't cracked the previous one and carry the faults into the new build.
So if you would like to see a CorelSign or Corel Draw with built in features to accomodate sign makers, then make yourself known.
SignLine said:So if you would like to see a CorelSign or Corel Draw with built in features to accomodate sign makers, then make yourself known.
Why? I use CorelDRAW X6 for signs every day, I use a RIP based work flow and EPS, PDF or TIF file formats.
David Milisock said:Why? I use CorelDRAW X6 for signs every day
SignLab had some great features but I can pretty much do it all in Draw (and more), even though I miss for example smart weed lines.Regarding the automatic kerning in SignLab, I'd say it is a hit-and-miss feature. Sometimes the result was pretty good but other times it still called for some manual kerning afterwards. Prefer to use the font's built in values and do some manual adjustment when needed.
Finally, yes I would like to see some additional sign specific features added to Draw.