Designing programs

[Janet1137]

Has anyone successfully used designing programs other than SCAL with your SB.? If so can you please tell me which program you have used? Did it give you designing options that we're not available is SCAL?

[MeFlick]

You can pretty much use any designing software that you want to “design�. You just need that designing software to be able to export out to a format that can be cut with a program that communicates with your cutter, in this instance, SCAL. Most true “designing� programs do not have the ability to communicate directly with a drag blade cutter. They were developed to create images and objects that were to be “visual� in that they were to be seen online or printed, not cut out. Then when the drag blade cutters were introduced to the crafting market (they existed previously for other purposes), software had to be developed to take those “visual� images to be “objects� that could be cut out. Thus SCAL, MTC, and other programs were developed. Some “design� elements that designing programs create cannot always be “cut.� Some can, but only if they are converted in some way first. There are people who use AI, Corel Draw, Inkscape, Paint programs and many other “designing� programs that are then converted or exported out to send to a cutter via its cutting program. The key is knowing how and what must be done to do so.

The difference with SCAL and MTC and other “cutter� programs is that they allow you to design with the knowledge that the desire is for the end product to be “cut� out. As a result, everything you create with them is already optimized for “cutting.�

Is there something you are wanting to do that you either cannot do in SCAL, or perhaps it can but you may not be aware of it? If you give us a little more information as to why you are asking about other programs, we can perhaps give you more detailed answers.

[Gigi]

Thanks Melanie - fabulous answer and so thorough. I have nothing to add! (that's a good thing!)

If you have other questions let us know.

[mmhockeyfan]

Hi,

I use Adobe Illustrator (AI) for design work and SCAL 4 Pro for cutting and other adjustments/tweaks to my designs. There are some things I find easier to do in SCAL than in AI and, frankly, I think AI and SCAL are great partners.

Which one to chose? I think it depends on what you plan on designing. If you are going to primarily design relatively simple cut files and cut *.*svg files made by others, you could probably just go with SCAL 4/5. If not, it maybe worth it to learn AI. I'm having a ball learning AI in my spare time and applying what I've learned to create and cut my own *.*svg files.

Just a few differences between AI and SCAL 4 Pro (note: I don't know if some of the following features are available in SCAL 5 since I don't have it. I'm sure someone will chime in and set the record straight ):

You can enter fractions in a shape's height and width boxes and add to/subtract from existing measurements in the shapes height and width boxes. In other words, AI does the math for you when you're playing in the craft room at 1AM!
Outline stroke-this feature allows you to convert a line of any width to a path. For example, this feature is very handy if you would like to create designs with swirls of a certain width/thickness.
You can get some fun and crazy shapes by using the Pucker and Bloat Feature in AI. I've created some fun designs just by playing around with this feature.
AI handles front minus back and similar features much better than SCAL. In my experience, SCAL freezes if you have too many shapes. For example, creating a stencil filled with circles.
Shape Builder Tool-This allows you to combine shapes with ease

Some features I think SCAL does better:
SCAL can create hatch fills to fill in shapes (e.g.-if you want to fill in a shape with foil. Ok so I'm currently obsessed with the Foil Quill ). I don't think AI has hatch fill or a similar feature. At least I haven't stumbled across it yet if it exists.
The Lattice Feature (IMO so much easier in SCAL than in AI)
Knock out feature creates a shadow around your text and subtracts the shadow from a shape with one click (IMO much easier to do it in SCAL than in AI). You can use the knock out feature with shapes as well. I primarily use it with text.

Hope my two cents helps and good luck with your choice!