Where to begin...

[christine]

Hello Everyone, looking for some advice if anyone can help. :o)

A friend and I have decided to try out a ShopBot and make signs. He has many years experience in signmaking but I have none, his experience doesn't include using the ShopBot. My role in this venture is to learn the program and do the graphics.

I have downloaded the Project Wizard, Parts Wizard and the Control Software, reading through the Control Software Users Guide I noticed the mention of Corel Draw and it's seemingly easy transfer to the ShopBot.

Is there any particular graphics program someone can mention that has given them great results? Either way I go, I will need to learn a graphical program somewhere along the line, so if anyone can suggest a good program that we can use for graphics I would greatly appreciate it. The program itself doesn't need to be easy to learn although that would be nice, I want to learn the best one out there to use so I can start it right from the beginning.

Thanks in Advance,
Christine

Edit: Sorry for the bad Subject line, I have tried to edit it to something more descriptive but can't seem to figure it out. My apologies.

[harryball]

Download and try VcarvePro from Vectric.com They have a new 4.0 version due to release any moment that has many additional features. It allows design and CAM (creating sbp cut files). Very powerful program.

Beyond that, Corel X3 is a great graphics program that can give you even more design tools.

Robert

[jamesgilliam]

I agree with Robert about VCarve Pro. We have just started doing carved signs and it is a simple and great program. The new release will only make it better.

James

[christine]

Thank you both for the comments on VCarve. I have downloaded the demo and will be testing it out as soon as possible.

I will letcha know how it goes.

Thanks a bunch,

Christine