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View Full Version : What software do you use? What is the must haves?



hetzerguitars
02-26-2008, 12:03 AM
Three part question.

#1. What software do you use with the CW software. For image editting, etc..
Corel? Adobe? Paintshop Pro?


#2. What program goes best along with CW ?


#3. If you were going to draw shapes you wanted to have routed out on a board. How would you do it?
Draw it in image editor? Export at 300 DPI? Import it in CW?
or
Redraw it in CW?

- Jim

PS. Sorry I realized I put this in the wrong group. But I can't find a way to move it.

deemon328
02-26-2008, 07:22 PM
My opinions are based on my experience, and I imagine there will be many different solutions offered.

#1. What software do you use with the CW software. For image editting, etc..
Corel? Adobe? Paintshop Pro?

Photoshop CS3, Strata 3D and a fractal generator like Quadrium (all Mac versions in this case)

#2. What program goes best along with CW ?

A program that can export PNGs. A program that can easily create a greyscale heightmap. A program that can create more complex shapes than the built-in tools in Designer.

#3. If you were going to draw shapes you wanted to have routed out on a board. How would you do it?
Draw it in image editor? Export at 300 DPI? Import it in CW?
or Redraw it in CW?

Depends on the shape. The fastest is to draw it in Designer. If Designer doesn't have the tool I need or the correct depth profile, I'll move over to Strata 3D if I need a heightmap layer, then I'll use photoshop to tweak it and then export to PNG at 128DPI. 128DPI is the target resolution that converts 1:1 from photo editor to Designer Import.