I think they want it for half tone generation.
Illustrator seems enough to do most things we do in the space.
If one license can cover 2 PC’s then great, laser and one other is a must.
1 Like
There is a difference between a graphic style and a practically usable half tone, but we should wait for the screen printers to explain why they want photoshop but that is immaterial to this conversation about illustrator for the laser cutter.
Obviously illustrator doesn’t do photo manipulation which is another possible reason.
I’d have thought an old one-time purchase version would be fine?
It does seem a shame to ‘waste’ an entire Illustrator licence on the machine that runs the laser cutter when it should only be used for tweaking files that don’t cut exactly as planned.
Ideally we’d have a couple of PCs that people could use to design files on Illustrator that could then be sent to the laser cutter pc to be cut
1 Like
We used to do quarterly financial statements with line items per area but none since I stepped down as director (cough cough ahem 
)
2 Likes
Yeah those were really good actually. Super important.
Time for more directors or further delegation of roles?
We used to have 5 directors.
2 Likes
Does the trotec support network usage, i.e. could you send a file via wifi?
No
I did it for the meeting after you stepped down, and should probably get back on it!
1 Like
Exactly this.
3 Likes
Photoshop is for picture manipulation in pixels
Illustrator is words manipulation in vector, from my understanding. You can obviously use illustrator to work in pixels but they don’t work in the same way.
I used photoshop for lasercutting also when working with pictures. I’m also aware of other members that had photoshop files to use on the laser cutter that had to work in illustrator instead.
It seems a vote on the different options should be presented and majority rules. It seems a few people going back and forth. A vote seems more sufficient in this situation.
Yeah, I used photoshop to engrave the slates I was doing with the pics of Battersea Power Station. For some reason, I couldn’t get illustrator to do what I wanted. I’m guessing that’s more reflective of my lack of skills than a lack of functionality in Illustrator…however, it also shows how much more user-friendly photoshop is if someone like myself can muddle their way through successfully using it.
Is it a VITAL tool for the space? Probably not. Would it be a GOOD tool? Most likely.
Again, I still have access to the programme, so don’t have reason to press for this to be licensed within the space, but I do think it should be considered carefully before deciding.
Illustrator, on the other hand is a must. As @lewisss said - relicense our one and see if it works on 2 PC’s, then upgrade to two if the need arises.
1 Like
Our current licence will only work on one concurrent pc/mac would absolutely require purchasing a new license
I think the question is two pcs but only one at a time ?
Courty
1 Like
We have a single CC license here at work. Installed on multiple PCs but only one will work at a time.
2 Likes
How come ours works on the Mac and the pc at the same time?
probably because it is logged in on one or other with a members account.
I’m a pretty new member (I don’t even have an introduction post yet, I really should fix that), so perhaps I shouldn’t wade into this, but the following is my 2p anyway:
I can see that there is significant benefit from having Illustrator on the laser cutter PC, because this allows people who use it to open files on the PC that is connected to the laser cutter. I don’t think anyone is arguing that it shouldn’t be renewed for that.
A side benefit of having it on the laser cutter machine is that it can be used on other machines in the space when it isn’t being used for the laser cutter.
The benefit of having other seats for it seems to be that people can use it ocassionaly, but not have to pay the full license cost. This is like having tools that they could not afford otherwise, except that in this case, it is software, and it is rented*. This seems like a fundamentally different use of it. It seems to me that it would make most sense to discuss this separately if possible.
I asked an Adobe sales rep in the online chat, and he said that if you want to add apps, you can basically cancel your old plan in favour of a brand-new plan for more apps with a new 1 year commitment from the date you add an app. This means there is no benefit to deciding on other apps at the same time as renewing the Illustrator license. If you want to add licenses, I’m pretty sure they would have different renewal dates if they are individual licenses (rather than business ones), which seems to be allowed for this type of situation (I described the situation, but did not mention the organisation I was asking for obviously since I obviously have no right to speak for the space).
Since the only benefit of deciding now about Photoshop or extra Illustrator licenses is that the renewal dates would all line up, I propose that discussion about whether we need Photoshop or extra Illustrator licenses be delayed and be based on how often people need Illustrator on another machine but can’t use it because it is in use on the laser cutter machine, or on what people think about Photoshop (for Photoshop, there is a subscription version, Photoshop CC, and a cut down stand alone version, Photoshop Elements), and that, since there doesn’t seem to be any objection, the Illustrator license is renewed.
*renting seems to be the only real option for Illustrator. Yes, you can buy an old version from before they switched to subscription pricing, but this means that people would have to have saved their work in a different format on their own PC before they can open it on the laser cutter, and potentially face incompatibilities and issues (the standalone versions stopped 5 years ago I think), making it no better than using the open source tools really, so I don’t think that is a sensible option.
I’ve heard that at a friends friends work* they have a single licence and they can run the software simultaneously if you just select “sign out of other machines” when it warns you you’re signed on on another machine. You click that, log in and you’re good to go. The software running on other machines doesn’t close or stop working. On macs and PCs. Or so I’ve heard.
*maybe this is my work. Maybe not. If you’re an adobe employee, definitely not.