I have finished a fairly major release of Lamination PRO which is the first of the new Version 3.2 of the software. This will still be a free upgrade to existing customers who have purchased Version 3.0 or 3.1. My intent of this release of Lamination PRO was to make it easier to use. It is undeniably an extremely powerful program and perhaps has even too many features. I have not taken any of those features away, though, and have even added a few more. What has been removed is complexity of the User Interface.
I started by removing buttons that were redundant. The toolbar buttons flip, flop, decline and incline were removed since they are also part of the Actions Panel (the left column). I also removed the Details button because now the details button is always pushed. It is now an overlay that takes up just part of the screen, not the whole screen as before. It only displays when the context is right. Also removed was the Clipping Region button which was confusing as to when it should or should not be checked. Now it is checked all the time and simply displays when the software deems it necessary.
There's a new section is in the Actions Panel which only displays the panel that is appropriate for the Laminations, Radial/Disc, Southwest and Frame views. The Laminations panel is completely new and it now contains data that was on the Details page. It has a new entry that shows the width of the board that is currently being displayed. This a calculated number that takes into consideration the current generation and the angles that were used to cut prior generations. This will be very helpful for the Southwest view as you will see. The Actions Panel has been changed to hide buttons and sliders that should should not be clicked at the current state. This will keep users from taking actions that are not appropriate.
There is also now a red rectangle that continually shows the image that will be exported to either Woodturner PRO or to your hard disk. As before, it is controlled by the Clipping Region.
A significant addition is to the Southwest View. Before, it was very confusing to switch between the view of the design and the sub-view that showed how to cut the board to make the design. This has now been merged into a single screen so that both the construction and the resulting design are shown simultaneously. Now, as you change parameters, both the design and construction are immediately updated. There are now instructions as to how to remove the Center Strip from the board. This is done by starting with the width of the current board, subtracting the current width of the center strip and dividing by 2 and using that number as the distance the fence should be moved from the table saw blade. I am hopeful that providing this information will show how simple it is to make a Southwest design in the shop.
Finally, I've made sure that it installs correctly, creates the shortcuts on the desktop, the Start Menu and the Tile display for Windows 10 users. I've also made sure that if you click a valid .lam file, it will open it and zoom you to the same state as when it was saved.
EDIT:
The new version of Lamination PRO is now out of beta and is now the official installer of Lamination PRO. You can get it by clicking this Download link.
END EDIT.
The best news for all of us that the software will now be easier to maintain which means that updates can happen more frequently and much more quickly.
While the changes you see might seem modest, they required completely new architecture and six weeks of nonstop effort. I'd appreciate your comments as soon as possible and please be frank and honest. I intend to send out a Newsletter soon and want to have the software working correctly and as simply as possible when I do. There will soon be an upgrade to Woodturner PRO which will have some new functionality and a patch for issues relating to some Windows 10 installations.
Thanks!
Lloyd
I started by removing buttons that were redundant. The toolbar buttons flip, flop, decline and incline were removed since they are also part of the Actions Panel (the left column). I also removed the Details button because now the details button is always pushed. It is now an overlay that takes up just part of the screen, not the whole screen as before. It only displays when the context is right. Also removed was the Clipping Region button which was confusing as to when it should or should not be checked. Now it is checked all the time and simply displays when the software deems it necessary.
There's a new section is in the Actions Panel which only displays the panel that is appropriate for the Laminations, Radial/Disc, Southwest and Frame views. The Laminations panel is completely new and it now contains data that was on the Details page. It has a new entry that shows the width of the board that is currently being displayed. This a calculated number that takes into consideration the current generation and the angles that were used to cut prior generations. This will be very helpful for the Southwest view as you will see. The Actions Panel has been changed to hide buttons and sliders that should should not be clicked at the current state. This will keep users from taking actions that are not appropriate.
There is also now a red rectangle that continually shows the image that will be exported to either Woodturner PRO or to your hard disk. As before, it is controlled by the Clipping Region.
A significant addition is to the Southwest View. Before, it was very confusing to switch between the view of the design and the sub-view that showed how to cut the board to make the design. This has now been merged into a single screen so that both the construction and the resulting design are shown simultaneously. Now, as you change parameters, both the design and construction are immediately updated. There are now instructions as to how to remove the Center Strip from the board. This is done by starting with the width of the current board, subtracting the current width of the center strip and dividing by 2 and using that number as the distance the fence should be moved from the table saw blade. I am hopeful that providing this information will show how simple it is to make a Southwest design in the shop.
Finally, I've made sure that it installs correctly, creates the shortcuts on the desktop, the Start Menu and the Tile display for Windows 10 users. I've also made sure that if you click a valid .lam file, it will open it and zoom you to the same state as when it was saved.
EDIT:
The new version of Lamination PRO is now out of beta and is now the official installer of Lamination PRO. You can get it by clicking this Download link.
END EDIT.
The best news for all of us that the software will now be easier to maintain which means that updates can happen more frequently and much more quickly.
While the changes you see might seem modest, they required completely new architecture and six weeks of nonstop effort. I'd appreciate your comments as soon as possible and please be frank and honest. I intend to send out a Newsletter soon and want to have the software working correctly and as simply as possible when I do. There will soon be an upgrade to Woodturner PRO which will have some new functionality and a patch for issues relating to some Windows 10 installations.
Thanks!
Lloyd
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