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a complete newbie here, without a clue

115 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  GraphicsFactory, 
S
Hi everyone. Well my husband and I thought buying a vinyl cutter and a t-shirt press from our friend would be a great idea. I have been working with the software, off and on for nearly a month, and I'm still not completely sure what I'm doing. Not to mention, I have someone wanting me to start making the t-shirts for his 2 companies. So, I guess I will be checking around the forum to see what all info. I can find on the Vinyl Express cutters and LXI software, along with the Adobe Illustrator (for which I just figured out a week ago, we will have to buy the Adobe Illustrator software). Anyone with any advice, help or info., I will take all of the help I can get.
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GraphicsFactory
Welcome!

First, I would recommend you not take on any jobs until you are familiar and comfortable with the equipment (I learned the hard way).

Be aware that Adobe Illustrator is expensive. It is used to create VECTOR art files, used by the vinyl cutter. There are less expensive alternatives, including CorelDraw, which is much easier to use and also exports Illustrator file types. Also, check out older versions and used software here and on the auction sites.

Mike
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S
Thanks for the help Mike. The software that we are using LXI, said the graphics that we do needs to be in AI, would CorelDraw still work?
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ODEEWorld
I'm not sure whether Corel Draw would work with LXI. Adobe Illustrator is expensive and will take a while to learn, but I'd recommend going that route because it is quickly becoming the industry standard for Vector art and if you learn it you'll have value in several industries for years to come.

I do agree with Mike to be careful not to take any jobs you don't think you can fulfill.
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Thank you Kirk. I have downloaded the trial version of AI, and I have been working with it. It seems like I learn a little more each time I play around with it. I'm thinking that AI will be the best way to go, I just don't really care for the price of it.
Sheri
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GraphicsFactory
Hi Guys,

Illustrator has always been the industry standard. As far as I can tell, LXI is a stand alone program. You would only be using Illustrator to create vector graphics, which again, CorelDraw is much easier and cheaper. Also, if you check out the website for LXI they actually recommend CorelDraw. But, if you prefer Illustrator...that's OK. It's just after using Illustrator and CorelDraw for more than 15 years, I find Illustrator unnecessarily complicated and expensive.

Good luck!
Mike
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