I am an idiot! Help with Inkscape or Affinity

Community Support
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#1

Hi, I am a newbie and just messed up big. I have been using Inkscape for design and spent the time from when I ordered my GF to when it arrived in late February. Things were working smoothly and I was learning lots. Even got my first order!

But when I went to engrave my order, something wasn’t working right. Everything was incredibly slow. Placing the repeated design where it needed to be was taking minutes to move fractions of an inch. So I rebooted, then updated my Mac in case that was the problem. FORGOT TO CHECK IF INKSCAPE WORKS ON OS 11 BIG SUR. It doesn’t, which I found out after installing and reinstalling Inkscape. So now I have NO working design app.

My college student’s boyfriend says that he can take my Mac back to Catalina in about a 1/2 hour. Googled that and it involves putting everything into the cloud and wiping the hard drive. I am TERRIFIED. My other option would be try to reinstall and learn Affinity to get the order filled. (I used the trial in December but liked some aspect from Inkscape better).

If it were you, what would you do?
Does Affinity work well with GF?
The design is mostly text? Should I expect problems with printing?
Thanks for hanging in and reading this far! If you have any crumbs to throw my way, I sure would appreciate it!

1 Like
#2

There are a number of us here who use Affinity for designing. :slight_smile:

6 Likes
#3

Good to know, a reason not to go to Big Sur. I have a hard copy of PhotoShop CS6 extended i have used for years. I got a new Mac with Big Sur and it’s no longer supported. So sad, now i have to go upstairs to do any photo work, very inconvenient!!

2 Likes
#4

I also use Affinity. Actually, it’s not a matter of whether it “works well” with the Glowforge. The GF doesn’t care what design app you use, it only cares about the format that is presented to it.

4 Likes
#5

One small bit I can say is to try and do all of your step and repeat in software before loading it int glowforge. That always seems to be a killer.

1 Like
#6

Thanks, I was thinking that was part of what was going on. So I need to learn how to place everything in the designer according to where it sits in the jig. That is a challenge for me. Time to learn something new.

#7

I am using both Inscape and Affinity Designer on Big Sur, no problems with either.
Inkscape version 1.0.1 works for me, and Affinity Designer 1.9.1 both are very stable.
I have several projects posted in the free projects sections that were all designed in Affinity.
Good luck.

4 Likes
#8

What? I would really like to do both. But I get this message:monosnapinkscape I am using Mac iOS 11.2.3. Is that what you are using? My Inkscape version is 0.92.2.

I went ahead and bought Affinity today too. It is 1/2 price right now.

#9

I am using Mac OS 11.2.3, you need to update Inscape to the latest version 1.0.2
( Inkscape 1.0.2 - macOS : disk image (dmg) | Inkscape ) is the latest as of 2021 and you should be fine with inscape.
Catching Affinity on sale is also good.

4 Likes
#10

I’m sorry that you ran into trouble with Inkscape. I’m glad to see that you received some excellent advice from our other community members. Thanks folks!

Did the advice they shared help you get back up and running with Inkscape?

1 Like
#11

It did! And I also purchased Affinity so now I have options. Everyone was so helpful and I was back up and running with my order filled today.

5 Likes
#12

That’s wonderful to hear - thank you for following up!

If you run into any other trouble, please let us know; you can start a new topic here in the community, or you can email us at support@glowforge.com. Thank you!

1 Like
#13