I am considering getting the Premium service and have a few questions of those of you that already use it.
Shapes – what shapes are available for engraves, cutlines, etc.?
Fonts – can they be applied in arcs or curves, or are they strictly straight lines?
Designs – I do most of my own artwork. How easy or difficult is it to replace the engrave artwork, modify the design to make the end product more unique or original, etc.?
The access to the Upgraded servers – how does that in actuality compare to the original functionality under the existing servers?
Is the 20% discount on proofgrade materials ongoing or is it a time constrained offer?
Fonts – (edited) see below, they added quite a bit of functionality since I had a trial.
Designs – You can swap out or insert graphics or other SVG files into any existing design. Premium has no advantage.
The access to the Upgraded servers – Made no noticeable difference when I had it on trial. It only affects the “processing” time after you hit print.
Is the 20% discount on proofgrade materials ongoing or is it a time constrained offer? - Only support could answer that.
Premium is good for people who don’t know how to use a real design app. It offers unlimited cloud storage but that locks you into their infrastructure if you don’t save your designs locally. If you sell products and use Noun Project clip-art, they cover the licensing. You’d need to sell a heck of a lot to justify the expense, you can buy license for individual icons for just a few $$.
A while back Premium was upgraded to include some Font Styles. Though markedly less than one’s ability to manipulate fonts in a program such as Illustrator, still better than “a poke in the eye with a sharp stick…”
They added features to the fonts. You can do arcs, circles, slants, waves; all kinds of stuff now.
The 20% discount is ongoing, but each month you receive a unique code. So your code is good for that month, until your next month when they send you a new code.
I don’t see a huge time difference from regular to premium servers, but most of the stuff I make is simple and didn’t take long to begin with.
For designs in the catalog, the artwork can be toggled off, or with the new group/ungroup fuction, you can select it and delete it or move it. So I think for engraved designs, it’s quite easy to replace with your own.
For shapes, I see line, square, circle, star, and polygon.
Me too, well, not Power Point. Power Point has changed so much since when I first used it, that I can barely figure out how to add a slide. Actually, I haven’t had to use it so I never bothered to keep up.
I have been using premium all along so I am not sure what is premium and what is not, but one thing I have noticed is the steady increase in available manipulations that what is now less valuable will be increasingly valuable over time. I do most of my work in Inkscape and many of the new toys are possible to duplicate in Inkscape but those designing know of these capabilities as well and work to make it easier or more flexible.
Also while you could certainly draw a specific object in an hour you can have a dozen to choose from in a couple of minutes. I have found that a basic concept can be very original but the decorations don’t have to be and will be chosen from a range of possibilities that your choice will further reduce the likelihood of seeing repitions of similar designs.
Thank you all very much – I really appreciate it. Do any of you use the cutline outline feature and if so, how do you like it? I have done that up until now in Illustrator, but it is a little cumbersome to do and was wondering what you thought of this this feature?
All the shapes and modifications to them.
Text as described.
Objects and images from the Noun project that can easily be exported, modified and reuploaded
The speed increase is not particularly noticeable in my opinion.
I think it’s just OK. The outline isn’t as smooth as if you did it in design software, like for a round edge, I noticed the outline it produces is a bit blocky. But not super noticeable when I’m cutting something small.
I use the outline feature often to cut shapes for painting project surfaces, to make earrings or keychains or other charms that require a hole to be attached to something. It is very simple to use and easily adjustable for the offset you want in the outline. You can have the offset at zero or to 1 inch (maybe bigger, but I haven’t used it) or to a negative number to be inside the shape.
I find this, too. I also use PowerPoint and Visio if needed. I’m no great shakes, but I made do. Wasn’t super impressed with the Premium offer. I think mostly because GF won’t ship any proofgrade to Canada, which makes the discount offers useless to me.
But while I had the free trial offer active I did use a few of the ready-made graphics and the text editing is something that would save time. It was convenient, but not necessary.
Like others have said, I think I’d have to either have a lot of extra cash or bring in a lot of business to justify it.
Hands down premium is worth every penny! Saves all my past print history every item I’ve done is in dashboard $$$ off proofgrade material like promos sent to my email each month just do it! U won’t disappointed
I think it’s too expensive at full price, but I don’t agree that it’s only good for people who don’t know how to use design software. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to alter/manipulate things at the last minute.
I also like the unlimited storage rather than having older designs removed. I like the free files… there are some really nice designs now. I don’t think it saves any real time with the processing speed.
Also, if you want to be able to sell your own designs, it’s required.
I really like the free designs. Even though I can make my own, the catalog is filled with things I normally wouldn’t design. It makes for great last minute gifts, and I think the commercial rights makes the cost totally worth it if you just want to hit the ground running, say in like, an earring business. Lots of variety without having to take the time to make your own.
Personally, I like the designs of the month. Though…this numbers and letters one…I could really do with a folder…
It is possible to drop in an image and have Outline draw a cut line around it. For speed and ease, not much beats it. If I have a round piece that I want to be a pendant I can add an ellipse at the top, make an outline, then make the ellipse smaller, and viola I have a pendant.
If you’re using the machine commercially the included license to sell on all the imagery is a huge bonus. If you find yourself buying stuff from the catalog, the free-with-Premium includes a large percentage of the designs. The never having to remember to download your designs because they won’t be auto-erased after 30 days. I think the shapes and fonts are one of the least impressive parts
I have GF Pro and I got free Premium for a few months. Right now I don’t have it anymore. It takes a lil bit more time to upload designs but I can wait.
I use Photoshop to create designs (logos, fonts) and transfer them to SVG.
Max what I’d pay 5$ per month yearly sub only for uploading speed. Other features not useful for me cuz I use other apps.
But for people who buy materials would be cool to have extra 20% off.
Actually, I haven’t had to use it so I never bothered to keep up.
just do it! U won’t disappointed 