

Choose from laser cutter, knife cutter (plotter), sublimation printer, laser image printer, or export to embroidery machine software.

Use the layers to have different versions of the design e.g.Create ideas from scratch using a wide range of drawing icons.Trace over a sketched image that is brought in as a background.I soon became very impressed with how much was achievable within one piece of software.įrom a textiles perspective 2D Design can be used as follows: It was a different way of working but I soon got used to being far more precise with my drawings and saw this as a real plus and obviously critical if I was to get good results when cutting out shapes. However, it did prompt me to explore more fully the potential of 2D Design as I knew it was already in so many schools – so really it was simply a case of students transferring the skills they had learnt in other lessons over to textiles.Īround this time I started working with TechSoft, so thoroughly getting to grips with 2D Design became a necessity.

At this stage though, I was only using the software to design the nets and cut them out of spunbond polyester (Vilene S80). They showed me how to create nets in 2D Design and send them directly to their laser cutter. Whilst Illustrator and Photoshop are still industry standards, they require an investment in time for both teachers and students to learn and there simply isn’t enough curriculum time for this to happen.īack in 2011 when I was developing my Lantern project, I had started to dabble with 2D Design through my colleagues at Finham Park School, Coventry.

Having worked with SpeedStep since its introduction as part of the D&T Association CAD in Schools program, I knew from training teachers and working with students that there was a need for software that could support designing and decision making within textiles education. However, it is seldom regarded as a natural choice for developing textiles work – until now. 2D Design V2 is well known and well used in Design and Technology departments nationally.
