Exact-Cut vs Neon Wizard

Exact-Cut is design-and-cut software for logos, shapes, lettering, pinstriping, and vinyl or card projects. Drawing tools include shape welding and a freestyle pen with automatic smoothing. Contour tools outline objects, shapes, and text, with controls for offsets, holes, insets, and contour bleed. It supports more than 100 materials, including vinyl, cardstock, heat transfer material, paper, fabric, leather, felt, and cork. A free clipart library provides project shapes and ready-to-cut box templates. Cutter connections include wireless Auto-Connectivity, USB, and U-Disk; the site also mentions smartphone wireless use. Exact-Cut works fully offline. It is free to download and use with supported cutters, but is included only with supported cutter models. Listed requirements are Windows 10 or later or macOS 10.16 Catalina or later, with at least 4GB RAM and 500MB disk space. The maker is Jinan Eternal Software Technology Ltd, based in Jinan, Shandong Province, China.

Neon Wizard is software for designing and producing full-scale neon patterns for signs and graphics. Sign businesses can use it to prepare patterns for glass bending, either on its own or alongside other design and output programs. Version 6.5 imports and exports PDF files, improves AI and EPS imports, imports Adobe Type 1 and OpenType fonts, and provides anti-aliased rendering. Auto Tube Layout lets users set tube diameter, tube count, edge clearance, and gaps for channel letter layouts. The program displays current and total tube length, measurements the maker says can support quoting, job costing, and transformer selection. Neon Preview can show a group as a whole layout. Standard, Plus, and Pro tiers have different capabilities; Plus adds scanning and vectorizing, image manipulation, advanced neon layout tools, and per-letter tube length summaries. Channel Letter Return Plots come with Plus and Pro 6.5; Standard can add the module for US$300.00. The software supports Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11, and the maker describes running it on Mac through VMware Fusion or Parallels. Designer licenses cost $350 as a one-time purchase for Standard, $450, paid once for Plus, and $600, paid once for Pro.