projects in progress

Yup, and when doing it by hand gets old - which I'm sure it will after a while - I can splurge on the CAD program and really appreciate it!

-Liz

I don't have a Windows OS or I'd have done that long ago.

Win98SE was more than capable of handling both USB 1.0 and USB 2.0. Quite often the older motherboards did not have USB ports on them but they could be added by use of plug-in boards (I had to do that on one of my 98 boxes).

The dot matrix printer is almost certainly going to have a LPT connector on it and most modern motherboards are now shipping with no LPT port available (but again they can be added via plug-in cards). In theory Win XP could talk to a dot matrix printer provided that there are drivers available for it (and there are companies that write drivers for old printers long after the original manufacturer has abandoned support). I remember when XP first came out and people were dumping their printers and buying new ones because the old ones would not work on XP because of driver issues. Now XP has been around for a few years and driver files have been written for a lot of the older printers it is much easier to get the older technology to 'handshake' with XP. I would imagine the same thing is likely to happen when the new 'Vista' OS comes out as it is a marketing scam by MS and the OEMs to make all the old stuff non-compatible as it means that those that simply *must have* the latest and greatest software have to fork out for new hardware too!

Incidentally, I don't fall into the above trap as I only recently moved three of the four computers here from Win 98SE to Win 2K Pro! I am not even running XP yet and will probably stick with 2K until support is totally abandoned (or I win the lottery, whichever comes first ;-) ).

BINGO!..........It makes life so much easier when companies follow industry standards instead of re-inventing the wheel! ;-)

Just so you know dress shop will run in Mac here is what they say.

"Dress Shop software was not designed for the Mac. It runs on Mac computers using Windows emulation software such as Virtual PC, but it runs very slowly. Before purchasing Dress Shop to run on a Macintosh, we would encourage any prospective purchaser to download the demo and run it, to make sure the operating speed is satisfactory."

here's the link if it's helps to have a try at the Free Demo

Beg a couple of ours of computer time with someone who does: I think you'll answer a lot of the questions playing with it. Or try running it on Virtual PC.

I haven't done any corsets for awhile but I'm sure going to take a look at that, thanks! Basically, what I've done in the past is use one of the available, mostly Edwardian and Victorian, patterns (Heidi Marsh, Past Patterns, etc) and just alter them. I've never done one with a high back or wood busk.

Despite your short time with the software, you obviously have a good working knowledge already. For someone like my daughter, measurements can be misleading. I use a sloper heavily with her and vary the details a lot. But I've also learnt what styles are more forgiving for her. It's taken a good deal of time to learn how to adapt things but it's been time well spent and, overall, it's contributed to my set of skills. Thanks for sharing your experience with the software.

Phae

And getting square wheels because they are cheaper to produce...

Now I see. :) Since I am a collector, I tend to think of having to store all my patterns. So the idea of throwing one away never occurred to me. Now I understand if it's so easy to reproduce!

Phae

Virtual PC is pathetically slow, especially with graphics. The Intel Mac route is definitely the way to go since it can run Windows natively. Some of the folks who want to digitize embroidery are starting to use Intel Macs too. I'm far more interested in patterns.

Take a look at the two I did on my web site: one when I was really fat, and the other more recently - the black velvet bodice. Victorian and Edwardian ones give you a completely wrong shape for the earlier eras, and Drea's generator is really good. My next Drea will have the tabs, and I may use it as a base for a WG frock experiment... I also have Margo Anderson's patterns, but have yet to find time to play with them!

And being dyslexic really does NOT help! I have trouble transferring numbers from one place to another, trouble processing them (I am a visual rather than linear thinker!), and difficulty telling left from right... Actual DRAWING is no problem - it's all this technocrap that goes with drafting that I don't handle well! Drea's generator was surprisingly easy to use, and the instructions were built for dippy number-phobics like me! ;)

Phae

Well, Phae, if you can create them yourself, there is an excellent pattern editor in the program that will allow you to do just about anything.

Oh. *feeling-sad-for-you-that-you-can't-try-it look* I guess that explains a lot.

Exactamundo. WG also sells commercial software for garment designers that will grade patterns and everything, so that's probably why they are more oriented in this direction.

Do they still have that nasty, ghastly MSIE interface?

Oh, you collect them all right -- but you collect them in files on your hard drive, that's all.

Not only will you appreciate it more, but you will know better how to use it, especially the pattern editor.

I expect so