Commenting on the decision Sean Plunkett, ArtCAM North America Sales  Manager said, “We know it can be difficult to get away from the shop. Not only is there a concern for costs but  time as well. In order to alleviate this as much as possible we are making our 2011 User Group Meetings more convenient to our customers by offering four different locations, each on a different day of the week.” Plunkett continued, “We are confident that by attending one of the ArtCAM User Groups, you will enhance your skill  and knowledge in ArtCAM, so you can produce your work with greater speed, efficiency, accuracy and cost
effectiveness, gaining maximum return on your investment.” 

The dates and location are Tuesday Oct 4th in Toronto Ontario, Friday Oct 7th in Orlando Florida, Saturday Oct 15th in Grapevine Texas and Thursday Oct 20th in Santa Monica California. Each location will be a full day packed with a combination of techniques, tips ‘n’ tricks, business benefits and new features.

“I’m really excited about this year’s ArtCAM User Group venues”, said Plunkett. “We have tried to pick venues  that are not only easy to get to but exciting as well. Each location has its own unique flare giving attendees a  full day of ArtCAM as well as an opportunity to tour the area or see exciting new things with ArtCAM.” 

 The options range from customer and partner sites, MST Bronze and NextEngine, (Toronto Ontario and Santa Monica California respectively) to vacation spots and vibrant locals (Orlando, FL and Grapevine, TX).

Some of the features that will be shown include a number of new options for higher quality results. In  particular, “contour blend” that can improve the quality of text that can be produced, help with texture effects especially those that intersect or overlap, and aid in producing complex borders on items like picture frames.

Another significant improvement is in the quality of vectors generated directly from bitmaps imported from 2D drawing packages such as Corel Draw, or scanned from artwork or photographs. With earlier versions of ArtCAM, it could take some time to clean up the vectors but the new release gives much better results that require minimal editing. Once vectors have been created, it has been made much easier to edit them into exactly the shape that is required. The node editing tools have been enhanced with the ability to move points and automatically produce smooth curves around the shape or to maintain any sharp angles. 

In addition, mid- points can be displayed automatically on any curve to simplify the creation of more complex geometry.

One of ArtCAM’s most important benefits has always been the ability to create a library of reliefs for use in different designs. This process has been made easier with the introduction of the “cookie cutter” option. This allows the user to define a relief with its vector boundaries, and then cut and paste it between models or into the clip-art library for future use. The range of standard clip-art supplied with ArtCAM has been extended with 130 extra reliefs, including architectural, floral, frame and texture examples. These are just a few examples of some of the new features in ArtCAM that will be demonstrated at the 2011 ArtCAM User Group Meetings. To register for a user group email Jackie@delcam.com

Side Bar- ArtCAM by Delcam is a complete CNC software package for woodworking, signmaking, engraving, mold making and jewelry. For more information on the ArtCAM family of products go to www.artcam.com