Epilog Drivers on a Mac

[R. A. Mitchell]

Hello Creek Members. I have been lurking on this site for weeks, and thanks to the things I have gleaned from your discussions, will be getting an Epilog Helix with a 75 watt tube in the very near future. You people have created a great community, and deserve to be commended.

Now for my first question. I would like to know whether anyone out there has used a MacBook Pro to run a laser, specifically an Epilog. I know Epilog doesn't provide an OS X driver, so I assume you run the laser using Windows either in Parallels or Boot Camp. What I would like to know is what environment you are running under and whether you have had unforeseen issues with either your driver or the software. Also, do you use Vista or XP in the Parallels/Boot Camp environment?

As background, I am pretty proficient with Corel 11. About 6 months ago, though, I switched over to Adobe CS3 because I found it better to manage website, photos and drawing. I don't want to spark a Ford v. Chevy war - suffice it to say I'm confident I made the right call. At the same time, I also purchased my first MacBook Pro. Until Feburary, all I have used was Dell computers. I still use a Dell XPS for my "main" system, and I have an older Dell Dimension that I was thinking about hooking up to the laser (it will run elsewhere in my studio). However, I would prefer running the laser from the MacBook Pro. I anticipate using both Corel in its latest release and AI to run the laser, depending on my needs or the needs of my clients. Therefore, if anyone has any suggestions or advice about running these programs on a MacBook in a Parallels or Boot Camp environment, I'd be very grateful.

Thanks!

Rob

[Scott Shepherd]

I don't have any experience with running a laser on a Mac, but I will say this in hopes all the big names are watching. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE start developing Mac friendly drivers.

Saying your laser runs on a Mac and meaning "if you have a Intel based Mac and can run windows and you switch over to Windows when you want to use the laser" is not exactly what the rest of the world considers "runs on a Mac". Having to buy an entire operating system to install on the Mac just to get the laser to work defeats the reasoning people buy Mac's in the first place.

I started my computing on a Commodore 64 plugged into the tv and I've run PC's ever since them, but I'd never buy another PC if the laser companies would develop some real Mac drivers. With Apple's being sold in more and more retail stores, I hope someone will pay attention and get some drivers out.

Please?

p.s. I'm not saying one system is better than the other, I'm simply stating my preference would be to use a Mac instead of a PC, and that's purely my preference. You may have a different preference.

[David Lavaneri]

Scott,

My sentiments exactly! If there were such a thing as a multiple-author posts, you've created one.



I'm not positive, but I think Universal Lasers have developed, or are developing, true Mac compatibility.

David "The Stunt Engraver" Lavaneri

[Dee Gallo]

I have an Eclipse (Epilog) which is about 15 years old and it is compatible with Mac (sys. 7.1 ). They recommend software called "Freedom of the Press", which "intercepts the laserwriter print commands and adjusts them to be compatible with the engraver" <quoting the manual>. You print through the HP Laserjet 2000 driver, which is the same if you use windows 98. When or why Epilog stopped this ability is unknown to me. I have had to maintain older system and software (corel10) to use the laser, but they all work well together. I just ran the Epilog for about 30 hours straight and the thing won't die, even though the bulb was replaced 5 years ago!

Now that I bought a Mini, I have to learn everything all over, but it looks like it will be a lot easier, since the HP print driver is fussy about settings. My Mini should be hooked up this Thursday! I anticipate it will be like going from cave painting to airbrush... more speed, ease and power!

cheers, dee

[Brett Halle]

Rob,

Both Universal and Epilog drivers work just fine within Parallels or VMWare (I have found VMWare to be a little better than Parallels, but both work great). I run all my lasers, engravers, CNC machines from within VMWare running XP Pro. I have run successfully from an iMac, Mac Books, and Mac Book Pros.

Hopefully all of the major players will have native Mac drivers. Until then, VMWare works just fine.

BTW, if you are running CS3 Illustrator you can print the Illustrator files in Windows XP running the free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader without any conversion.

[Phil Sanders]

Rob:

I also am a lurker for the most part at this site. And thank-you for your post so I can add my OT remarks to your thread.

It is my understanding that a few MAC OS releases ago, Apple started to move their core OS closer and closer to the Berkeley Software Development (BSD) standards. BSD is the father of BSD, UNIX, Linux, and now to some extent to MAC OS X. The printing in a BSD derivative is not like printing in Windows. For example see this Apple Link

MAC machines would be a great asset to the file creation, edit, and other functions for a laser business. But my personal opinion is that running a laser from a MAC is a waste. Better a used Intel machine running a distro of Linux with a Graphical User Interface Gnome (which is so much like MAC OS it becomes effortless to make the transition.)

Link to Linux Distributions

But I digress, in short any major effort to create a MAC print driver will almost provide a Linux driver by default. Then with the free Linux OS, the free vector graphic application (OpenSource) Inkscape, the CorelDraw file Or Adobe CS file, could be imported into the Linux box which would drive the Laser.

Just don't hold your breath for that to occur any time soon (if ever!)

The creation of a MAC print driver (or BSD / Unix / Linux ) print driver would open up support problems that you cannot possibly guess at for the makers of the Laser machines. Why would they want to spend the money on support if a HUGE percentage of users want Micro$oft drivers?

Aside: I am not claiming Linux is "BETTER", cause it is not. It is only:
free for anyone to use,
runs without the extra un-needed processing of Windows system,
less virus attacks as of today,
and can run on an older machine to save cost of hardware.
---But Linux has a learning curve that will bust your gut.

Phil

[R. A. Mitchell]

Brett,

Thanks for mentioning VMWare. I forgot about that one.

I don't understand your last comment. Why would I want to print to Acrobat Reader from AI first? In a VMWare environment, wouldn't I be able to print straight from AI?

Thanks again,

Rob

[R. A. Mitchell]

One important reason why companies should want to develop a Mac driver is to differentiate themselves from others. In my case, it would have made the difference between Epilog & Universal. If Universal's driver for its PLS series worked under OSX, they would have had another sale. Likewise, I wouldn't have struggled so long before I settled on Epilog if they had a native Mac driver.

If the top companies don't come out with one, you can bet the Asian companies will. My belief is that there is a substantial untapped market out there of graphic designers using Macs that would think about laser engravers more seriously if they were compatible with their equipment. Time will tell.

[Brett Halle]

Rob,

The reason to use Acrobat Reader is so that you don't have to have a Windows version of Illustrator in addition to your Mac version. If you have a valid Windows license as well, then there is no reason to use Acrobat Reader.

[R. A. Mitchell]

Thanks, Brett. I understand now. As it happens, we have both a Windows and a Mac version. The CS3 license allows someone to install on two machines (Desktop/Laptop) as long as only one machine is using it at a time. However, that arrangement doesn't work for two platforms. That required us to purchase a separate license for AI for the Mac in addition to the CS 3 license for Windows. The end result, though, is like owning 4 licenses (two for each platform) for the price of two.

[Jason Lippert]

As well as driver support I would be very pleased to see Corel return to the Mac. The last version that was OSX native was 11 (and it was dog slow too). I liked the ability to work on some projects at home on my Mac and then come to the shop with a native file instead of getting mixed results with an import. It should be much easier to make a version of Corel for Mac these days after the switch to Intel. Xcode from Apple has done a lot of work to help with that. Hopefully our resident Corel employee will see this and post some good news for us Mac people

[Peck Sidara]

Rob,

One of the laptops we use in the sales & marketing department is a MacBook loaded with Parallels using Corel X3. Connected via Ethernet and works great.

From what I understand, the MacBook Pro is no different that the standard MacBook other than cosmetics and a few features? That's what I've heard at least. If so, you shouldn't have any difficulty.

Dee,

In regards to your Eclipse being able to run from a Mac, that's because it used a Windows based basic print driver that only sent the data to the Eclipse and had no controls of basic functions like power/speed/raster/vector and about a dozen other features that are currently available on the latest laser systems.

The Eclipse had the power/speed controls on the front control bezel itself. Reason why it worked was likely because Mac offered the same driver.

Keep talking, we're listening.

[James Mooney]

Rob,
Keep talking, we're listening.

Having just purchased an Eliplog, one of the areas that slowed my decision to make the jump was the unavailability of Mac drivers/support. Up to this point my entire production setup in the office has been mac based and the minimum amount of pcs (2) in admin. The running costs/ tech support costs of the macs is a fraction that of the pcs before you even bring in the down time/unproductive time which plagues the pc into play. So you can understand my reluctance to add another pc into the mix.

If macs were supported I would jump at it in a heartbeat!
For what its worth (and probably more importantly) I think it is absurd that the print driver offered cannot estimate the run time of a job prior to printing. It brings an unnecessary and unwanted element of guesswork and delay to estimating.

You did say keep talking didn't you!

[Doug Griffith]

Rob,
Keep talking, we're listening.

I am also a Mac user that is forced to use a PC to run my Epilog. A Mac driver from any of the American made laser manufacturers would have weighed very heavilly in my purchasing decision. I'd bet it would help sell machines and possibly get current owners to make the switch when upgrading.

Also, while Macs are but a small percentage of the overall computer user base, they are a high percentage in the graphics fields where many lasers would like to find a home. It's true that printing can be done from Windows on a Mac but it is not as simple as control-p.

As for estimating cut times, there are already Illustrator plugins that calculate path lengths which could be combined with laser IPS and traverse times. I think raster times would be more difficult because there are so many variables. I'm sure it could be done though. This feature would also help sway sales.

Cheers

[Peck Sidara]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I do agree with time estimation and a direct Mac driver for the number of graphic artists that prefer and have used Mac's thruout their schooling and career.

Suggestions will be forwarded to management & engineering for consideration on current and future development.