Coming from MTC, evaluating SCAL...

[klkitchens]

So have been a happy MTC (Make the Cut) user for the past two+ years with my Silhouette Cameo 2. Had not been to those forums in some time and yesterday went to look and see if they'd support the Cameo 3 yet and learned the software was (probably) no longer being updated.

Stumbled across SCAL when looking for more specs on the 2 vs 3 Cameo and was pleased with some of the features I saw as improvements.

So now I'm evaluating and hoping to purchase, but have a few questions.

1. Is there anyway to directly load MTC files into sCAL? I know I could export SVG and import that way (pretty sure anyway), but I'd lose all my layers etc.

2. Is there a concept in sCAL (never even thought to see if there was in MTC!) like Visio where you can lock shapes together on an edge or a vertex, so that if you resize one shape, the other shape shifts to stay locked on that edge/vertex? Sometimes with like a box, you want to resize each dimension without scaling the entire thing. If not, not a deal breaker, but thought I'd ask and see if I was missing something obvious.

3. Does it work with the dual pens of the Cameo 3 natively? I understand it will work with the Cameo 2 and prompt to switch tools, correct?

4. How accurate is the Print and Cut?

5. Is there a better machine to upgrade from the Cameo 2 to? Does sCAL work with KNK machines?

Thanks in advance!

[SandyMcC]

Here are the answers to your questions:

1. No. You'll need to export as SVG in order to import a file that was created in MTC. The good news is that you won't lose your layers.

2. No. And there's no feature in MTC to do that, either.

3. It appears that SCAL does work with Cameo's dual tool capability. I'm not a Cameo 3 owner but I just added the Cameo 3 to SCAL and you can assign layers to be cut or drawn with a Tool 1 or a Tool 2. The same setup appears with the KNK Force, except that we refer to the two sides as "Left" and "Right".

4. Can't answer this one as I don't own a Cameo 3. I can say that on the KNK cutters that I support, PNC is just as accurate from SCAL as from other programs.

5. Yes! SCAL works with all of the KNK cutters including the latest models: Zing Orbit and the Force. KNK also offers a discounted price on SCAL4 when purchased at the same time as a KNK model.

Let me know if you have other questions.