Let me first say that I am new to CNC land. I am not new to technology. I have pretty good knowledge of CAD software (Autocad, 3ds, etc.). Easel is about the most primitive design software I’ve used. It’s like using a piece of chalk to lay out a precise design. Even Sketchup is far superior. I understand making it easy to use for novices who want to engrave their house numbers, but come on, can you even make it snap? And I’m not talking about right angles on the X and Y axes. I’m seriously considering the expense of Vcarve Pro just because the Easel design interface is so juvenile and bereft of features. I love my Xcarve. I am sorely disappointed with Easel.
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Fusion360 is free until your making over $100k, then its $500/yr 
- you’re
I rest my case.
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You sure about that?
One Im not Inventables staff, so youre barking up the wrong tree fella.
And B you missed the contraction “its” so youve rested prematurely.
And 3th can you tell i dont care if you correct my grammar, whatever it takes to make you feel betterest inside buddy.
I provided a NO COST solution to spending $$ on Vetric software, a software that based upon your own statements of your CAD abilities you should be fully prepared to master in minutes.
And that, THAT? THATS how you respond? Correcting a contraction.
Some peoples children, I swear.
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Hey Ed,
it’s not so primitive, maybe you just need to upgrade from windows 95.
After you upgrade you can save some money go here Aspire Product Page | Vectric
FYI: They don’t have a payment plan so you might have to keep using that primitive software 
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Ok, I am going to jump in here as an objective party and lowly X-CARVE user…
I think we all need to just take a deep breath and calm down a bit.
Yes, Easel is not on par with AutoCAD with respect to certain aspects. However, it is extremely easy to use, and one can create some pretty nice designs with it. Should someone not want to use Easel, they can choose to use the software of their liking.
One very poignant thought is that Autodesk, Inc. has approximately 12,600 employees, and I would guess that among those numbers are a great many software engineers/computer science majors. Also, Autodesk, Inc. was founded in 1982. Inventables has roughly 50 employees in total and was founded in 2002, so keep those things in mind.
{:0)
Brandon Parker
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Easel has been a quick set for us for simple quick milling. We use Vectric Aspire, but if you just need a quick pocket or simple object cut. We just jump on Easel. Though for 25.00 a month, there should be more features. We also use Bantam software for our Micro CNC and cost comparison is just a few dollars more a year and it’s loaded with features specifically for the Bantam CNC.
If you are so familiar with CAD/CAM, then don’t use Easel, but for entry level people coming into the world of CAM, Easel makes it easy. I just don’t see it worth 25.00 a month until they really upgrade alot of features.
Ed. You have a “pretty good knowledge of CAD software”. I think that is really where Easel shines and fits the bill. People from all backgrounds get into CNC and many have ZERO CAD knowledge. With a few minutes of playing around…they can get some shapes going and probably get their X carve going too. As a former middle school technology teacher, if I were still teaching 7th grade, I’d be using Easel with the class because of its simplicity. I use Rhino3D now with a few other Cad programs which I learned before easel was even developed, but every once in a while I import a DXF into Easel and use it. Easel has its place in CAD/CAM software world. As always… YMMV.
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Easel definitely has it’s place. I used Easel and TinkerCAD for the first couple years because it was easier and less intimidating than learning a full blown CAD package. I eventually moved onto Solidworks, OnShape and F360 once I gained confidence and started to outgrow the abilities of Easel and TinkerCAD. I also switched to using UGS rather than Easel as a G-Code sender. That being said I will still use Easel if I need a simple cut or design as I can do that in my shop on the CNC laptop. My CNC laptop is not powerful enough to effectively run a big CAD program, but it runs Easel and UGS just fine. I think a lot of non-technical people would not get over the learning curve if they needed to learn a whole CAD/CAM package in addition to running a CNC for the first time. Just look at this forum, it is filled with people struggling to get their CNC working with Easel.
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Hi Ed,
If you don’t like Easel then why not do what they recommend for Facebook. If you don’t like it keep scrolling we don’t need to read your negative comments running things down.
Not all of us has had a great education or can learn from books etc some us learn by asking questions nd learning by our mistakes like me. I use Easel and well must admit I can’t quite grasp Carveco maybe because so many videos just run thru it so quickly. However I getting the graft of LightBurn thru the The Louisiana Hobby Guy who slow’s it down for dummies to learn from.
So if you don’t have anything nice to say then please put your head in the dunny and flush it.
Rant over
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Thank you. Some one has finally said it. The premium art you pay for when you get the paid version is no more than emojis, nothing more. I got a couple years free when I bought my machine. Unless it grows up I won’t be resubscribing to it that’s for sure.
Well said. I am still trying to figure out how to use my SketchUp designs. SketchUp is so easy, now WTF is wrong with Easel designers.
just get the Dxf extension for SketchUp
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Go ahead and search “Flourish” or “Wreath” & let me know if those are “not more than emojis, nothing more” ??
you have to use rudimentary very short terms, and spell correctly or you get very few or no results… but there’s more in the library than people often realize, probably due to the strict search term rules.
but you don’t really need to announce your departure, this isn’t an airport 
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I understand your feelings about your work being criticized, it can be disconcerting even angering to find out someone didn’t like it and expressed feelings about it. I do apologize if what I stated angered you.
It is still my opinion that I don’t think the value is there for what’s being charged annually but I even understand that cost because I bet you have far more people that like and are content with the free version that you aren’t being compensated adequately for and you should be compensated for your work that is liked by so many people, but I’m not one of them and neither is the OP it sounds like. Good luck in your endeavors.
I’m not an employee of inventables and have had no workings in its creation, so I’m not sure if that makes you want to change up that last comment at all, but whatever.
As a user of the software and a memver of the general public, just like yourself, i simply identified flaws in your statements and thought you should know about them. Possibly even gain the skill to operat the search function.
I’m sure Zach wouldn’t let staff talk to customers the way that I do, and I’m kinda glad that I have the freedom to tell people off sometimes
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Oh, well it looked like you took the OPs original comments personally. Sorry I assumed incorrectly. Why would I search when I scroll through them all in their categories. Do you get more on a search than you see scrolling through them? Nevermind it don’t matter. I don’t like the use the program for CNC any longer other than looking at inventables projects. The comments you identified as flaws, are my experience using the program, you get what you get. Anyway, off to reading more forum. Good conversation. Thanks.
Hey Ed, I’m part of the lowest common denominator the team thought of when they wrote the software. Sorry/not sorry you are offended they market their product to someone like me. Maybe consider purchasing software for one as sharp as you or go all out and buy a high end unit to go along with the advanced software.
It’s a shame you lower yourself by your tone and your comments. This community has such an overwhelmingly positive and helpful bunch of users that the X-Carve owners were nearly as big a factor in my decision to buy as were the price and the purported ease of use of Easel.
Mike
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I think people are getting pretty defensive about the OP’s comment. He makes, in my opinion, a couple of fair points
The 80/20 rule will tell you that most people use a fraction of the features available. Nobody, almost nobody, uses all the BS that they include on subwindow 5 of Photoshop or Premiere or Fusion 360.
There is much to be said for great usability. Simpler gets learned and used more.
But Easel seems to have quit there. I don’t need much, but snapping, and being able to create a segment that is exactly 5.25" long, etc., is just basic.
Easel doesn’t need to be perfect. It needs to aim for more than the bare minimum.
If I worked at Inventables, I’d plot a course to 15%, and communicate that you are aiming for that, and then get cracking, because otherwise, the rest of the market will.
Ed, yes, Easel should not be seen as a software that should be used to construct complicated structures. That should be made with any software that produces SVG or DXF. There are some very good ones for free and open source. However there are ways to construct precise structures, rather simple ones, but precise: instead of placing lines etc with the mouse the structures can be very precisely placed and sized with the manual method of entering positions (edges, centres…) and sizes. Ed, when you are used to use Easel you would be surprised what Easel can do. It is just another concept, simple, foolproof, and good: as with anything else one must know what a tool can do, and, sometimes more importantly, what a tool cannot.
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