How substantial are improvements to Centerline text feature???

[Ton80]

Hello and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Ok.. I've looked over all the features of 2.0 and I'm going to be honest.. the ONLY thing I see myself benefiting from is the improved Centerline carving because that is about all I do is import images and formatted text through image fonts imported using the Centerline function.


I do wish that was offered as a separate feature upgrade for Centerline but.. I can cry all day long about that and nobody is gonna care, I get it.

Has anyone done any comparisons using the SAME project but carved it using Designer 1.18x and Centerline VS Designer 2.x and Centerline? Is there a big improvement? By BIG I mean is it a close to $180 improvement ( while on sale until the 6th ) ???

Obviously it's not going to be worth $180 but it really needs to be a major step up from what Centerline can do now for me to be happy with making the investment in 2.0. I won't use any of the font tools now present in 2.0 and I won't get into why but all my text curvatures and following of paths is done in GIMP and sent into a font file as an image and that is the only method that works for the projects I build which is why I say most of the new features are just not big selling points.

I downloaded 2.x to give it a look-see but obviously I can't run any jobs so I just won't be able to determine if the improvements in Centerline are going to leave me disappointed in the cost of the upgrade or give me a warm and fuzzy feeling

[bergerud]

I am not a big text user, but from what I have heard, the centerline improvements are to do with carving efficiencies. No so much jumping around while cutting. I would have to say, for you, 2.0 might not be worth it.

[Capt Bruce]

I was curious about the same improvement so I did lay out a project in 1.187 that primarily uses Centerline text and a few elements carved as Vector line designs. I tried loading it to a card first with 1.187 and then after that, opening it by loading it into 2.004.

I did not do the carve in 1.187 but it estimated the time at 2 hr 48 min. Same same in 2.004 showed 2hr 29 min. Curiously a lot of the letters being formed in 2.004 did the basic letter form half way and then traced back over the letter shape such as the bottom of a capital B, up off the board before plunging down to complete the letter from that original point. The lettering looked the same finished quality as past Centerline fonts from what I watched. Hard to say if it was more efficient in operation but I did notice it did not skip whole letters and then go back later and add them in. That always drove me crazy if I watched a job in progress.



I guess I'll have to keep watching over time to see if this is an improvement. Happy New Year All

[brdad]

When version 2 was pushed I took it as centerline was supposed to be faster and better quality. On the website it currently states "The Centerline Text algorithms have been rewritten to make cutting much faster and cleaner", so I guess that is up to interpretation.

I use a lot of fonts and make my own wingdings as well so it looks like I'm in the same boat as Ton80. Any other features of V2 I might make use of (preview, text on a path) seem buggy at best so I think I'll stick with 1.187.

Still, it'd be nice to see someone with both versions to run the same line(s) of text through on the same board one version right below the other to see if there are any visual improvements. Personally I think centerline in 1.187 comes out pretty clean anyway so it might be hard to tell.

Also, V 2.003 release notes state "Previously centerline text carvings were limited to no more than 256 paths. The limit has been removed", so that may be a small plus.

[Ton80]

When version 2 was pushed I took it as centerline was supposed to be faster and better quality. On the website it currently states "The Centerline Text algorithms have been rewritten to make cutting much faster and cleaner", so I guess that is up to interpretation.

I use a lot of fonts and make my own wingdings as well so it looks like I'm in the same boat as Ton80. Any other features of V2 I might make use of (preview, text on a path) seem buggy at best so I think I'll stick with 1.187.

Still, it'd be nice to see someone with both versions to run the same line(s) of text through on the same board one version right below the other to see if there are any visual improvements. Personally I think centerline in 1.187 comes out pretty clean anyway so it might be hard to tell.

Also, V 2.003 release notes state "Previously centerline text carvings were limited to no more than 256 paths. The limit has been removed", so that may be a small plus.

That is interesting but I will say I've run some fairly complex Centerline jobs. Not sure how many paths there but that is an interesting point but I guess if there's a limit, I haven't hit it yet. I'm not going to get into beating up 2.x and what I see as clearly missing features that "would" have pushed me to buy it but having played with it a bit and knowing that I wouldn't see much added value for me, I am skipping it. If at some point the features that I think are more important are added, I'll revisit the idea of purchasing.

Thanks for the responses.. Happy New Year to all and may this year bring more making of wood chips your way

[lynnfrwd]

Ton what features would that be?

[Mikewiz]

"Still, it'd be nice to see someone with both versions to run the same line(s) of text through on the same board one version right below the other to see if there are any visual improvements. Personally I think centerline in 1.187 comes out pretty clean anyway so it might be hard to tell."

Hey brdad,

I was curious myself so here is the comparison you requested. Both routed with v90 Bit, Same size, both the same font non-bold. No sanding, fresh off machine. I formatted memory card to the version of designer for each test. I do notice that 2.004 routs are not as deep as 1.187 so you notice less burn marks on lettering. I do notice the the routing is a little more crisp in 2.004 verse 1.187. But that is my opinion. You still have to decide if the difference is worth the expense. Hope this helped. Mike *Added info: 2.004 took about 2 minutes less than 1.187 to complete project.*

[brdad]

Thanks, Mikewiz.

I can't say as I see a lot of difference there. I'd almost guess the difference in depth is not the version but a variance in the softness of the wood where it touched on the board. I generally place a piece of brass shim stock under the bit when it touches down to prevent that, especially with softer woods.

2 minutes difference on that small of a centerline project is quite substantial, and if it's proportional on a larger project that would be nice.

Good to see a comparison anyway, thanks again.

[Ton80]

Ton what features would that be?

Connie,


For me those items would be:

These are the two biggies -

1. Ability of Designer to import closed Vector files so images can be carved without the need to manipulate them into a font file so Centerline can handle them. My poll on the forum from several month back showed that the overwhelming number of users that took a moment to answer it also thought so.. don't recall but it was over 90% want this feature.

2. A fix for the way vector images are carved if they are placed in such a way that they are split across two project boards. As of now, the machine will try to carve all that vector information that is hanging off the edge of a board. This happens with Centerline and vector lines drawn by the drawing tools in Designer. By direct comparison, hanging a raster pattern over the edge of a project board so that the second half is carved on another project board carves ONLY the part of the pattern that is supposed to be carved.. That is how vectors should be handled also, at least in my mind. <--- This alone would make Designer 2.0 worth it to me since I build cabinets and all of my work is split across a set of doors. Having Centerline images carve without all that dancing around the cutter does on the edge of the board would eliminate the process of having to cut my images into two files in GIMP and then create two font glyphs, one for each door. Someone did test this for me and Designer 2 has not fixed this issue.. which may only be an issue for me a handful of others which is why it's still there I suppose. Techs do know about it because I posted a thread in the past with video and the answers I got were they did not intend to deal with it at that time.

Smaller but still important items would be:

Ability to have the cutter spin at a lower speed if I am running a hardwood and a deeper vector carve... A human operator of a router would not try to plough out as much wood with the bit spinning at max RMP like the machine tries to do, at least if they are experienced and understand what causes a bit to burn the wood. This could be predetermined by Designer during the loading of the program during which you could specify the characteristics of the wood you intend to load.

The grid system is nice but I would also like to be able to quickly measure items on the board relative to an edge or another item.. i.e. the Tape measure tool in Sketchup where I could click the edge of an item and drag that out to some other point and get a measurement.

If it's not there in 2.x, a button to turn off all attachments at once. I can't tell you how many times I've had some pesky attachment made somewhere and it takes me 5 minutes to track down where in the hell I made it before I can move a group of items together


These are the things I would like to see and I think I've post most of them in the wishlist thread somewhere over the years.

Thanks for asking!
John

[cestout]

There are other things also that tend to make me want 2.04. The ability to puff raster text, and the ability (I read) to reshape patterns. I put money in the bank today, so tomorrow I should be able to order it + some bits (not the long ones yet) and a board sensor. I have had the V bit drag across where it shouldn't on some fancier sworlie fonts. I have to keep 1.187 for project and pattern development.
Clint