Craft Edge

Has anyone else seen anything on this new software? I just purchased SCAL last month and am having a hard time with cleaning up images and using inkscape totally. I can work with some really simple images but thats all.

With MTC, it seems like you don't have to use inkscape at all. I'm not sure of all of the differences, but wondering if SCAL will be making changes to be comporable with MTC. I have debated about SCAL for over a year & finally got it, then a few days later hear about a new software that is so much easier to use.

I just hope that Todd is on top of this & there won't be charges to upgrade to these changes if they happen. If I would have heard about MTC sooner I probably would have gone that route. The only consolation I have is that everyone has spoken so hight of SCAL's customer service.

So Todd - please make SCAL comperable to MTC.
Thanks,
Lori

I don't have the MTC but on their website it states you can use any svg. You will really need to ask the makers of MTC. They most likely can tell you. Unsure why you would need both though because MTC and SCAL2 have most of the same attributes, and both will work directly with your cricut.. I have been reading and nothing is said about deleting nodes or being able to tweek/clean up your files, although it says editing them, unsure what that means. There are a few things that scal doesn't have like preview the svg files. I do that in Inkscape though when I make sure it is a compatable svg file. And of course the MTC indicates it saves as svg and not the scut format that scal uses. I don't use the scut files, I just import my svg's into scal and place like I want it to show on the mat and cut. I hear there is no shadow feature.
I love Inkscape and Scal and they would have to go along way to get me to change.
You might contact MTC and ask about the cleaning or tweeking the files so they will cut properly. It is very vague on their site on if it can or can't be done. ONe other thing there is a short message on the intergrated svg gallery coming soon.

The good thing about the MTC though there are no complaints on how it works. But didn't it just come out on Dec 22?
Good luck in deciding
Grammy, SCAL lover

One thing it showed that you can do is break apart, layer, delete parts, color the seperate images in different colors, etc, all in the program (not using inkscape). They have a library of svgs already imported into the program just click & it's there. Some of the tuts that i have seen just make it look so easy. Not sure what else it does or if SCAL even does some of this.

Like I said, i just got SCAL at the end of Nov. I used it for some simple things, but i had so much Christmas crafting to do I haven't had time to really play with it. I am just having a very hard time understanding it all. Hopefully it will all come to me & be easier to deal with.

Lori

MTC lets you download a trial version so you can see if you like it without having to buy it. I downloaded the trial version and played with it for a half hour and decided not to buy it. In my humble opinion, it doesn't live up to all the sales hype. (Most of the people who are posting about how great it is, sell it on their blogs so of course they will rave about it.)

When I tried to trace a simple 5 color image, it looked terrible. I adjusted all the numbers both up and down and after several minutes of fooling around with the trace I gave up. Checked the help section and all the features and it doesn't have the ability to edit nodes or clean up the ragged edge and spotty traces. Didn't see anywhere on the site that they plan to add any upgrade to clean up traces so I don't think they should be making the claims that this feature of their software is so great. Also had problems with some fonts that wouldn't work in MTC that work fine in SCAL2. Couldn't find the blackout feature in MTC either.

To be honest, I don't know why it's being hyped as being better than SCAL2. I did not find it easy or intuitive, just frustrating. There's a learning curve to it just like with Design Studio or SCAL and I am certain you would have to use Inkscape to clean up traces on any images other than REALLY simple images.

Overall I wasn't impressed and they would have to add some really special features to it that SCAL2 doesn't have before I would consider spending any money for it.

Deloris wrote:(Most of the people who are posting about how great it is, sell it on their blogs so of course they will rave about it.)

Thank you. I was thinking the same thing when I read some of the comments.

I have a detailed comparison chart on my blog
http://cleversomeday.wordpress.com/2009 ... omparison/

I see that they did an update. Seems like I made the correct choice after all. I am learning slowly, but learning anyway more about SCAL and am starting to love it. It may take a while, but I hope to get to be more creative with it, but for now even the simple things are more than I could do before.
Lori

I got SCAL2 for Christmas and have been comparing it with Make the Cut trial version. Scal2 does a much better job at tracing. I wish my Pazzles program traced as well as SCAL2 does. I do think the interface is a bit easier to use in MTC; but, overall I still like SCAL2 better. I do have a hard time breaking/ungrouping images in scal. That is the one thing I do like better with MTC. You can trace and break apart almost anything which allows you to remove pieces of the tracing. It could be that I am just missing how to do this properly in SCAL. At this point, it is not worth giving up the clean trace that I get with Scal - so I'm happy.

Brens_designs wrote:I do have a hard time breaking/ungrouping images in scal. That is the one thing I do like better with MTC. You can trace and break apart almost anything which allows you to remove pieces of the tracing. It could be that I am just missing how to do this properly in SCAL. At this point, it is not worth giving up the clean trace that I get with Scal - so I'm happy.

Have you tried selecting "Break Apart Outlines" (#5 in the image below) when you trace an image? That puts each closed line into its own layer. If you have updated to 2.006 for Win or 2.004 for Mac you should be able to break it apart after the trace too, but everything will be on the same layer. I have more info on tracing in SCAL2 here on my blog.

Thank you heather. I love your blog and will be practicing your steps. I knew there had to be a way! Thanks again!!!