# Please - I've boiled it down....which software system for rhinestone templates does the best job with letters and script? This will be my main use.



## leapoffaith (Nov 8, 2009)

Okay, I've read about all of this until I can't see straight. Changed my mind several times. Here's what I've learned....each system for making rhinestone templates has their own pros and cons. DUH!!

So I"m trying to simplify my decision. My main use for equipment that will make rhinestone templates is going to be NAMES in print or script. School names, company names, people's names.....

1) Which cutter/software system does the best job with me typing in a name, selecting the font, and creating a rhinestone template of this name?

2) I would also like the machine used for making the templates to be a good vinyl cutter for jersey letters and numbers (and other vinyl cutting stuff as well.)

3) I would like the software to be fairly easy to figure out and have a place to go for questions that arise.

I have narrowed it down to:
Roland GX24 w/ studio wear
KNK Maxx Pro w/ ACS
or the DAS System (except I really can't afford this one)

Any advice/suggestions? All this stuff swimming around in my head about these different systems kept me awake last night! I'm ready to decide and move on. 

Thank you.


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## DTFuqua (Jun 26, 2008)

For just script and letters i'ld say none of the above I personally like my Graphtec CE5000-60 and the centerline trace in Coreldraw X4 does great with almost any font I've tried it with.


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## leapoffaith (Nov 8, 2009)

DTFuqua said:


> For just script and letters i'ld say none of the above


 
AAAAAACCCCKKKK!!!!



Just kidding. Thanks for the input DTFuqua; I'll add it to the list.


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## Ronald Bastian (Dec 15, 2009)

As far as I've been able to tell none of the system have Lettering done right. Lettering seems to be the holy grail of this process. Until someone has true single line fonts this process will not be complete. I agree with DTFuqua I'll stick to CorelDRAW X4 and my Cutter.


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## SandyMcC (Jul 23, 2009)

ACS Studio comes with over 30 single line fonts and it's a piece of cake to add the circles to them. Plus, the center line tracing works fairly easily as well. I don't know how you define "complete" but so far, I'm finding it pretty straightforward to do lettering designs without much tweaking needed.


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## Ronald Bastian (Dec 15, 2009)

Do they sell the fonts alone or are they included with the system?


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## Lnfortun (Feb 18, 2006)

Spray or Blend tool in Corel Draw X3 or X4 will do just fine. Terry mentioned the CenterLine trace in X4. It is not cut and dry but with some time spent cleaning it up will do just fine.

Check these videos which can be done with Spray or Blend tool as well.
YouTube - Faith Hope And love dot pattern

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrBl80kdoKE


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## SandyMcC (Jul 23, 2009)

Ronald Bastian said:


> Do they sell the fonts alone or are they included with the system?


They are included with the systems.


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## allhamps (Mar 15, 2007)

I believe about 60% of what I do in rhinestones involves some lettering. That's the easy part. NO ONE HAS THE FONTS I LIKE. That's the hard part. I finally had the opportunity to try the centerline trace in x4 with a font, and it was so-so. Some of my favorite fonts did not work so well (it could be me), and some of them worked great. I think it would be a mistake to place the bulk of your decision on what software has the best fonts, or seems to handle fonts the best. Just like the 4,000 font CD I purchased a while back, I can count how many of those were the ones I WANTED. Sure ACS comes with 30 or more fonts (not knocking the software), but are they going to cover your every need? I agree that the fonts are the area that is lagging behind in the rhinestone software development. I would recommend that you focus more on getting a system that you can EXPAND with, and where the company will continue to expand it's capabilities.

Don't fool yourself into thinking you can't afford DAS. That's what I said, and I more than tripled my income in the 3-4 months after I purchased the system. I was able to repay the money I borrowed to get the system (and I needed EVERYTHING), within 6 months. I just recently got TWO stay at home moms to help me fill orders (it's actually just me running the business part time). In November, I had a $10,000 month. Now that may be small potatoes to some of you, but for someone who started this as a HOBBY, AND actually has a full time day job, I was pretty proud of myself. That's what my DAS has done for me. I'm not saying you can't be successful with one of the other systems, I'm just saying don't sell yourself short. If you're going to get into it, then get ALL the way into it.

Good luck, and just make the choice that works for you.


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## CyberSultan (Aug 25, 2008)

I make all my own rhinestone font sets. Personally, it's worth the time for me to make the exact font sets I want. As I have any downtime in work, I spend some of that time either creating new designs or making new font sets.


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## DTFuqua (Jun 26, 2008)

allhamps said:


> I
> 
> Don't fool yourself into thinking you can't afford DAS.


If you don't have the business, you can't afford it. I would love to have it but my business is on hold due to prolonged family illness. Unless you want to sub out enough work to me with enough profit in it for me to pay it off?


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## allhamps (Mar 15, 2007)

Ahhh, Terry you do have a point. Maybe I've been lucky. But I will keep that sub thing in mind. It's still only me and now some occassional help. If I have to turn down an order, I might as well direct it to a reliable source. What goes around comes around.


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## DTFuqua (Jun 26, 2008)

Thanks Slick but I was just kidding. I wouldn't have the time to put into making any kind of production. have fun and someday maybe I can have some fun again.


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## allhamps (Mar 15, 2007)

Hopefully things will get better for you. I'll keep you in my thoughts


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## leapoffaith (Nov 8, 2009)

Terry, I hope you're able to have fun again. Sooner than later.

Okay, this font thing is bad news to me since that will be my main use of it.

I think I will be alright with printing out school names, team names, etc. and adding rhinestones to that. I'm not terribly picky about my font for that....something basic will work.

But I was hoping to import my logo in the font that I use (a combination and tweaking of two different fonts) and being able to add rhinestones to that for wearing to craft shows, etc. And I was planning on using the font of other business logos and pressing those in rhinestones.

Can you not import....copy and paste.....or some process.....your own font and add rhinestones to that? In any of the systems? If you can only do this in one system, that will be my deciding factor. YAY!!!! A deciding factor -- that would be wonderful.


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

Not sure about DAS but I think so and most definatly with the ACS software.


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

Either of the three main systems being discussed, DAS, ACS or R-wear from Roland will allow you to use your own customized font. You may need to vectorize it...all three allow this..

Now you are back at square one!...


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## SandyMcC (Jul 23, 2009)

You can definitely import your logos into ACS Studio, auto-trace them, and then add the circles. Or if you already have them designed in a vector graphic format, then you can skip the auto-trace step. If you want to send me one of your logos, I'll do one up and even make a quick video to show you how it's done.


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## DTFuqua (Jun 26, 2008)

About the only thing the others will do that Corel Draw doesn't are different fills and there are some plug-ins (macro) being developed to work with the rhinestones to take up the slack for that. That is one thing that I'm becoming aware of with Corel Draw is the ability to get anyone that can do some of the most elementary programing to make something to make your tasks easier. Right now, there is one developed for LEDs that could be re-written to allow more than just a "grid" type fill and different size circles. And we would be very remiss in not commenting one one being developed by another member here, Luis. He has shown us some pretty good work he is doing as well as all the videos and PDFs that he has made available for us to teach us some pretty good tricks.


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## DTFuqua (Jun 26, 2008)

Really, the decision still comes down to what you want and what you can afford. How many bells and whistles do you want to automate this process? How quickly do you need to be up and running with this once you start? How big an impact is this going to have in your business and how long will it take for this new addition to your processes during the learning period to become just like any other part of a days work. If you were to go with plain jane Corel Draw, I can bet you'd have a couple of hair pulling events before you got good enough to just breeze through it. I can't say how good or bad the learning curve is for the others but you have been given all that information by people that actually have hands on experience with both the systems and the support.


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## janner113 (Jan 4, 2010)

You might check out Design Solutions. They have a rhinestone system with single line font templates. I purchased their system but have not used it yet.


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

You have a link?


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## janner113 (Jan 4, 2010)

Sorry, I meant digitalartssolutions.com


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## DTFuqua (Jun 26, 2008)

DAS has some very good products and I would love to have their rhinestone solutions setup. This is one of those situation where "if you have to ask, (the price) you probably can't afford it". ACS also have some good products but alas, I can not afford to spend even that little right now. If I had only gotten the last one to start with, my Corel Draw does good enough for under $100.


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## sportkids (Aug 22, 2007)

I bought the ACS Software for Graphtech Cutter. It does everything it promises for way less $$ than DAS, Eagle, Roland, etc. When you are ready, I would tell you hands down to look at ACS. Sandy McC connects to your computer and gives classes. She is a fabulous teacher and extremely attentive. She calls you back immediately, and if she doesn't know the answer she will find it out for you. She went the extra mile and borrowed a friends' Graphtech Cutter so she could be of more assistance. However, I bought it going into my busy season. YOU HAVE TO KEEP AT IT and LEARN IT, which requires time that I don't have right now. I haven't been keeping up with the forum since early fall, but BobbieJo did lots of research on the various systems, pointing out the pros and cons. She was like a detective! Search her posts, and that should help you as well.


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

sportkids said:


> I bought the ACS Software for Graphtech Cutter. It does everything it promises for way less $$ than DAS, Eagle, Roland, etc. When you are ready, I would tell you hands down to look at ACS. Sandy McC connects to your computer and gives classes. She is a fabulous teacher and extremely attentive. She calls you back immediately, and if she doesn't know the answer she will find it out for you. She went the extra mile and borrowed a friends' Graphtech Cutter so she could be of more assistance. However, I bought it going into my busy season. YOU HAVE TO KEEP AT IT and LEARN IT, which requires time that I don't have right now. I haven't been keeping up with the forum since early fall, but BobbieJo did lots of research on the various systems, pointing out the pros and cons. She was like a detective! Search her posts, and that should help you as well.


Haha did you mean me Debbie ? hehehe. Glad to hear that you have been busy  Thats always good. That is awesome that SandyMcC borrowed a graphtec to help you. She is definitely awesome at what she does for sure.


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## Mistyann (Dec 28, 2009)

I just ordeed my knk maxx with the acs software...can't wait to get it and learn everything!!!! I'll keep you posted on how it goes!


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## ashamutt (Feb 22, 2008)

Mistyann said:


> I just ordeed my knk maxx with the acs software...can't wait to get it and learn everything!!!! I'll keep you posted on how it goes!


 
COOL!!! 
Did you get the maxx or the maxx-24" ?


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## Mistyann (Dec 28, 2009)

I got the Maxx 15. I want it to do the rhinestone templates. Hopefully no one will need a shirt transfer bigger than 15 inch..LOL


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## ashamutt (Feb 22, 2008)

Mistyann said:


> I got the Maxx 15. I want it to do the rhinestone templates. Hopefully no one will need a shirt transfer bigger than 15 inch..LOL


lol...probably not. 
If the design is over 15” wide but not over 15” tall you’ll be safe…. Just turn the design sideways in the software program.(it will cut using the length of the roll) (_hope I explained that right...but I am sure most of you know what I mean. lol_)
...but if the design is OVER 15" wide AND 15" tall , then just chop the design in half in the software and cut two different pieces of sandmask(RhinestoneTemplateMaterial) then piece them back together on the backer board.


I can't even imagine a rhinestone design over 15" x 15"!!!lol!!! I could not even fit that on one of my t-shirts! Not to mention what the weight of the rhinestone design on the shirt would be!!! LOL!
(however... I am sure that there are rhinestone designs out there that large and even larger)


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## SandyMcC (Jul 23, 2009)

I also cannot envision a design that large! That would cost a small fortune in rhinestones! 

But if you ever did have a need for something larger than 15" x 15", I could get it cut for you and then mail it.


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## allhamps (Mar 15, 2007)

I did my Lion King in, I believe it was 15x21 for a guy with a 5x shirt.  That's the largest I've done.


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## Mistyann (Dec 28, 2009)

Holy-smoke-a-doodles!


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

allhamps said:


> I did my Lion King in, I believe it was 15x21 for a guy with a 5x shirt.  That's the largest I've done.



Wow that is huge hehe. I bet that was a challenge


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## ashamutt (Feb 22, 2008)

allhamps said:


> I did my Lion King in, I believe it was 15x21 for a guy with a 5x shirt.  That's the largest I've done.


WOW!!! 
YOU my dear "_can_ BLING anything"!!! 

P.S. thanks for the super-duper fast shipping!!!(and super-duper price!!!)
...the stones are BEAUTIFUL!!!


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## sjidohair (Apr 9, 2008)

allhamps said:


> I believe about 60% of what I do in rhinestones involves some lettering. That's the easy part. NO ONE HAS THE FONTS I LIKE. That's the hard part. I finally had the opportunity to try the centerline trace in x4 with a font, and it was so-so. Some of my favorite fonts did not work so well (it could be me), and some of them worked great. I think it would be a mistake to place the bulk of your decision on what software has the best fonts, or seems to handle fonts the best. Just like the 4,000 font CD I purchased a while back, I can count how many of those were the ones I WANTED. Sure ACS comes with 30 or more fonts (not knocking the software), but are they going to cover your every need? I agree that the fonts are the area that is lagging behind in the rhinestone software development. I would recommend that you focus more on getting a system that you can EXPAND with, and where the company will continue to expand it's capabilities.
> 
> Don't fool yourself into thinking you can't afford DAS. That's what I said, and I more than tripled my income in the 3-4 months after I purchased the system. I was able to repay the money I borrowed to get the system (and I needed EVERYTHING), within 6 months. I just recently got TWO stay at home moms to help me fill orders (it's actually just me running the business part time). In November, I had a $10,000 month. Now that may be small potatoes to some of you, but for someone who started this as a HOBBY, AND actually has a full time day job, I was pretty proud of myself. That's what my DAS has done for me. I'm not saying you can't be successful with one of the other systems, I'm just saying don't sell yourself short. If you're going to get into it, then get ALL the way into it.
> 
> Good luck, and just make the choice that works for you.


I think to be fair this should be cleared up,, my ACS does not come with 30 premade rhinestone fonts,, ready to type. it comes with 10.
They are
Ano Dot
Dot Array
English Dot
Matrix Dot
03 Dot
One Line Expanded 
One line Dot
Pointed Dot
Station Dot
Two line :sot

It does come with engravers, fonts, to transform into rhinestone Fonts, easily.. single and outline and multiple line
If there has been improvements in the software , I am not aware of it, and I could be wrong, and If I am please correct me.
Just want to be fair..

Rolands R-wear converts Fonts single line and multiple line effortlessly.

Das, converts Inline and outline all at once effortlessly.

MMM


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## allhamps (Mar 15, 2007)

Honesty appreciated Sandy Jo.

Ms. Bacon, those stones are flying off the shelf. Looks like I may need to order again within the next month!!


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## ashamutt (Feb 22, 2008)

allhamps said:


> Honesty appreciated Sandy Jo.
> 
> Ms. Bacon, those stones are flying off the shelf. Looks like I may need to order again within the next month!!


AWESOME Mrs Bling Anything!!!

I will make sure to give you a heads-up before I order.


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