Software

This page is a review of what I have learned regarding different software packages.  It is a journal of my thoughts and experiences of various software packages and is not meant to be an endorsement or official evaluation reference.  Hopefully this page will serve as a launching point for people who are new to this area and are trying to just get your brain around everything.

Design Programs

A "Design Program" is one in which you graphically design your item and there are many of them out there.  Some are simple while others are more complicated and some are free while others have a cost associated with them.

• Easel - This is the software Inventables provides to go with the X-Carve.  Easel will let you design an item, generate and export g-code, and send g-code to the final destination device.  While many people use it and find it a good design tool, I have not used Easel much for my design work.  
• VCarve Pro - This program is one I purchased and started using at the same time I started with my X-Carve.  It does have a bit of a learning curve but there are many very good tutorial videos.  I use this program to design my items and generate the g-code file.

G-code Generator Programs

What I refer to as a "generator program" is a piece of software that takes an image representation of an item and converts it to a set of g-code commands.  These commands are saved to a file and then sent to the CNC/Laser/3D Printer via a Sender Program (covered below).  Depending upon that final destination, the g-code contents will vary.  For example, if the destination is a laser engraver then there will be commands to turn the laser on/off along with possible power level commands.  

In in the world of VCarve Pro, this inclusion/exclusion of commands in the final g-code file is controlled by a Post Processor (PP).  (Other design software packages may also refer to them as PP...at this time I do not know one way or the other.)  The PP is a file which defines the mapping of commands and is specific to the final destination device.  For example, there is a PP specific for laser on the X-Carve and one specific for CNC on the X-Carve.  There are even PPs for Metric vs. Imperial so it is very important to make sure you have the correct PP selected when generating the g-code.

The Laser PP I use is here, the GRBL - No Z Version (X-Carve, Shapeoko 3, etc).

G-code Sender Programs

A "sender program" is one that sends the g-code to the X-Carve.  Here is a list of all the sender programs available for the X-Carve.  Following is a discussion of a few I am familiar with:

• Easel - It is not limited to sending only the g-code it generates as it will also load g-code from a file and send it.  JTech, the company who made the laser I am using, recommends against using Easel as a sender program with a preference to Universal G-Code Sender instead.
• Universal G-Code Sender (UGS) - This one is very popular, free, has a large user  base, and is one that I use for my laser stuff.
• PicSender - This is another popular sender but has a small cost associated with it.  It is suggested for when doing image engraving. This is one I am interested in trying but will do so later after I have learned some stuff and gotten more comfortable with what I am doing.