Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Vinyl Sign Cutting Software for Linux?

Posted by Cliff on from the yet-another-niche-for-the-penguin dept.

prpplague asks: "a large but often over looked business in the United States is that of making vinyl signs. A Windows application to do the layout and run the plotter/cutter will cost you at least $250. I've been unable to find a Unix based application that does the same thing. Anyone out there working on something to replace this business sector's dependency on Microsoft based products?"

1 of 32 comments (clear)

  1. Not sure I see your point ... by ip_vjl · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm not trolling, but I'm not sure I see the point here. I used to do a lot of vinyl sign work, and I don't really see the 'dependency on Microsoft products' being an issue in this sector.

    Typically, the sign design stations are dedicated boxes as when they're not in use designing, or driving the plotter, they're not making money. Your typical setup will cost you thousands of dollars for a good plotter - so the OS really doesn't add a lot to the total cost.

    If your problem is that there isn't any free sign design software - that has nothing to do with MS. MS doesn't make ANY sign software - but most sign software is written for Windows (some Mac too).

    The Roland cutter I used to work with would accept HPGL files that were sent to the serial port, so you may want to start there, but the problem isn't just getting data to the cutter. It's in having a good design program to work with to generate the information.

    If your purpose is to get rid of the 'reliance on MS' then maybe you can get an older copy of FlexiSign, CASmate, or CADLink Signlab (which all started as Win3.1 apps) and get them to run under Wine.

    If that doesn't suit your purpose, then it means your question was mis-stated and that your care isn't in removing a dependence on MS software ... but instead to get sign software for free. Maybe you can get in touch with the maker of a piece of cheap sign software ... and offer to partner with them to do the porting to linux for them.