Hi guys, new to the CNC world. Anyone using Carveco as their design software, used to be art labs I believe. Looks decent and considerably cheaper to get started than vcarve pro.
Dan.
I just did a search because I had the same question, and this was the only thread to pop up. Apparently, no one in this group does. I might try the FB group and see if there is a hit.
I went with Carveco Maker to start out because of the price point and I really like it so far. I haven’t used vcarve at all so I can’t really compare the two but from my reasearch maker seems to have more features than vcarve pro and maker+ is pretty close to Aspire. The deciding factor for me was maker doesn’t limit your table size like vcarve pro. Training videos are great and Leighton has responded to my questions in the facebook group within seconds so really good support. I just finished setting up my longmill so I haven’t run anything out of maker yet but artcam has been around for 25 years or so, so I doubt I’ll have issues outside of the normal learning curve.
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Just a small correction. VCarve Pro does not limit the table size or carve size. The lower cost version, VCarve Desktop does make you tile anything above 25 x 25 inches.
I had Desktop and upgraded to Pro but still want to try Carveco.
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My bad, I got confused on the versions. If you give it a shot I want to hear your comparison. I figure I’ll upgrade at some point, either to maker+ or aspire. So far my only complaint on maker is the lack of an illustrator style pen tool. It has a node editor with the traditional handles for adding curves but as far as I can tell you have to make your lines and then add curves in node editor instead of adding curves as you go.
I am using Carveco after a few months with Carbide Create. Good software and good support.
Just wanted to add to this thread in case anyone has the same issue with Carveco as I did. I went to cut a sign that was made mostly of arc patterns. I saved the Gcode using the GRBL inch postprocessor. When I tried to run the program through UGS it gave me an error 33 and paused the machine. I found in the facebook group that this is caused by the GRBL post processor only using 3 decimal places instead of 4 with throws off the G2 and G3 arc patterns. Emailed carveco support and they sent a new post processor UGS GRBL (inch) and it worked great. Hope this saves someone the day long headache.
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I am waiting for my 30x30 and like the idea of Carveco but in the compatibility list Longmill or Sienci does not appear. What setting to you use or is it a generic gcode setting to connect to the 30x30 control?
Alex
Carveco was interesting to me because of the Artcam connection. The price point is certainly enticing.
I have a problem with monthly/yearly subscriptions however… I prefer to own my software outright, and to be able to keep my work computer offline as much as possible.
I was curious about a few features in Carveco Maker, regarding cut size, and was informed there are none. However image sizes are restricted to 2000 pixels in both Maker & Pro, and full Carveco is limited to 4000. Since I am a longtime Blender 3D user, I understand what that means- to me, its a pretty big limitation. I have converted numerous images to meshes in Blender, and usually I dont use images less than 4k(though I can go higher in Blender3d until I run out of memory, there are no limitations). I have tested image importing in VCarve desktop trial version, and it doesnt compare to Artcam capabilities at all. It does a decent job creating vectors from bitmaps, but Inkscape does a better job, with more options (although there is a lot of cleanup required).
Unfortunately, full functionality of the artcam features are only available in the full Carveco program version. In Maker & Pro, only the entire model can be raised or lowered or smoothed, not selected regions that one would ‘paint’ upon…and it those jagged edges & spikes around the edges that I want to smooth out the most.
Carveco support was great - prompt & to the point. However their user forum was difficult to access and very sparse.
Since it is possible to perform Artcam-like functions in Blender3d, I think my goal will be to get VCarve Desktop for now, until I get a job that calls for a larger carve size, and the deposit on it can pay for the upgrade to Pro.
Blender 3D is not for everyone… it has a steep learning curve in early days, and requires memorization of many keyboard shortcuts, but its open source and free, and can run on any machine provided you choose the version appropriate for your machines capabilities (I use version 2.79 because newer versions require GPU acceleration).
Sorry about the long post, especially from the standpoint of someone who has not actually used Carveco products.
Carveco got in touch with us about having folks use their software with the LongMill. They’ve given us a link to offer 1 month free for their subscription of Carveco Maker (https://sienci.com/product/carveco-maker-subscription/), and we are added to their list of supported machine tools: https://carveco.com/carveco-software-range/supported-cnc-machine-tools/
If you want to read more about Carveco/Vectric, check out this post here: https://sienci.com/2020/11/19/vectric-vcarve-desktop-vs-carveco-maker-which-should-you-choose/
I read in another forum a work around on the 25*25 limitation in VCarve. Since you are working with vectors, you can simply scale down your projects by x amounts, and make everything as you like. Then you can export the SVG, and open it in another CAM-program. Like Carbide 3D’s: Carbide Create.
Do you still have that PP file? I am having similar issues. Thx
It’s been a while since this post. I just signed up for Carveco and am struggling to get my tool paths out and usable. What are you saving them as and, what are you using to run the gcode? UGS or something else?
Hi Andy, Sienci or Longmill are not listed and I am having difficulty exporting the tool paths.
When I use the Longmill logo file, it ran fine.
When I create something similar in Carveco, I can’t get it to run. I went line by line and compared your Longmill logo file and the carveco file.
You need an % at the beginning.
I have to delete the T1 selection.
Using the IoT power relay, when you start with M8 the file continues to run but the router stays in one place.
Any recommendations?
I use GRBL mm as the post processor for all my toolpath files and have never had an issue.
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im using carveco maker. easy intuitive interface with a down to earth price point, makes this my go to software buy. So new at this cnc thing i need simple and easy.
I use Carveco most of the time.
I have used Carveco Maker for the past few months, since I began using my CNC. It has worked great for me but I have only scratched the surface of stuff I want to learn to do.
Let me know if I can help with any of the simple stuff…
I am using Carveco and G-Sender (ugs before).
I am torn apart whether to spring for VCarve pro or stay with Carveco.
I just installed Vcarve Pro Trial 10.5. Kind of nice and pricy for me at the moment as I think it is in USD and I am in Canada so convert CDN => $850 cdn approx or more. 
.
Has anybody worked both softwares, pros & cons (besides price) ? (Vcarve doesn’t support Longmill in their post processor also)
@astro4000 I have not used Carveco, but Vcarve does support the Longmill in their post. You can use either grbl mm or grbl in. Both work perfectly.
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