Overview
This program occupies a specific and genuinely underserved place: the workshop with a router or an engraving machine, where the work is signage, decorative carving, furniture parts, moulds and inlay. It is neither an engineering package nor an artistic sculpting tool, it is a production tool that takes a drawing and produces something a machine can cut, and it does that better than either category does.
The professional build here has the license applied, which unlocks the unlimited sheet size, the full rotary and multi sided machining, the job setup for double sided work and the complete relief modelling toolset. The clipart library and the post processor collection are both included, and everything runs locally with no license server involved.
From flat artwork to a relief
Vectors are drawn in the program or imported from any of the usual formats, and there are node editing, offsetting, filleting and text on a curve tools that cover the drawing side adequately without pretending to be a full drafting package. Bitmap images can be traced into vectors, and the trace handles both line art and photographs with different settings.
The relief modelling is where the program earns its place. A closed vector becomes a shape with a chosen profile, dome, round, angle or a custom curve, at a set height and base. Shapes combine by adding, subtracting, merging or taking the higher of two, and by building a stack of these operations an ornate carving is assembled from simple parts. A photograph can also be converted directly into a relief by brightness, which is how lithophanes and portrait carvings get made.
Toolpaths and machining strategies
Two dimensional toolpaths cover profiling with tabs so parts do not move when cut free, pocketing with several clearance strategies, drilling, inlay with the allowance calculation done for you, and v carving, which varies the depth of a v shaped bit so a letter comes to a sharp point at its corners without any manual work. V carving is the single most used strategy in sign making and this program's implementation is the reference one.
Three dimensional toolpaths rough a relief out with a large flat tool and finish it with a ball nose in a raster or offset pattern, with the option to restrict finishing to areas the roughing tool could not reach. Rotary machining wraps the model around a cylinder for turned work, and the double sided job setup handles flipping the material with correct registration.
Simulation, output and the workshop
The toolpath preview renders the finished result on the actual material colour and texture, which is close enough to reality that it is used to show customers what they are buying. Cutting time is estimated per toolpath, and problems like a tool too large to enter a corner are reported before you get to the machine.
Output goes through a post processor for the specific controller, and the included collection covers the common hobby and professional machines. Posts are editable text so an unusual controller can be accommodated. Sheet layout nests multiple parts onto a piece of material automatically, which on expensive stock pays for itself quickly.
What you get
- Vector drawing, node editing, offsetting and text on a curve
- Bitmap tracing for both line art and photographs
- Relief modelling by combining profiled shapes with add, subtract, merge and highest operations
- Photograph to relief conversion by brightness
- V carving with automatic depth variation for sharp lettering corners
- Profiling with tabs, pocketing, drilling and inlay with allowance calculation
- Three dimensional roughing and finishing with rest area restriction
- Rotary machining and double sided job setup with registration
- Material rendered toolpath preview with cutting time estimates
Inside the archive
- Aspire Pro installer, offline
- Clipart and relief model library
- Post processor collection for common controllers
- Tool database with preset feeds and speeds
- Install notes covering post processor selection
System requirements
| Operating system | Windows 10 version 21H2 or Windows 11, 64-bit |
|---|---|
| Processor | Quad core, 3 GHz, clock speed helps toolpath calculation |
| Memory | 8 GB minimum, 16 GB for large high resolution reliefs |
| Graphics | 2 GB VRAM with a current driver for the preview |
| Storage | 8 GB free |
| Display | 1920 by 1080 or higher |
Installing it
- Unpack the archive to a local drive.
- Disable real time protection for the length of the install.
- Run setup, then install the clipart library and the post processor collection.
- Select the post processor matching your machine's controller before creating any toolpath.
- Run a preview on a sample job to confirm the material rendering works.
Mirrors
| Route | Region | Note | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct, primary | Europe | No wait, resumable | Online |
| Direct, secondary | North America | No wait, resumable | Online |
| Torrent magnet | Global | Direct is usually faster at this size | Online |
Release history
- V carving calculation speed improved on text heavy jobs
- Additional post processors added for recent controllers
- Fixed relief resolution dropping when a model was resized
- Rotary machining wrapping reworked for smaller diameters
- Nesting improved on irregular part shapes
- Previous cycle, kept for existing jobs
Questions about this release
What is the difference from the cheaper edition?
The relief modelling toolset. The cheaper program does two dimensional work and v carving well but cannot build three dimensional models, which is the entire reason to use this one.
Does it include post processors for my machine?
The collection covers the common hobby and professional controllers. Posts are editable text, so an unusual machine can be accommodated by adapting a similar one.
Can I import a three dimensional model?
Yes, meshes import and can be converted into a relief, though a model designed as a relief from the start usually machines better.
Why is my carving losing fine detail?
Usually the finishing tool diameter rather than the model. A ball nose cannot enter a feature narrower than itself, and the preview will show exactly where that happens.
Comments
Built an ornate panel by stacking simple shapes. Took an evening instead of a week of sculpting.
Post for my controller was in the collection. Cut the first job without editing anything.
Comments are read before they appear. If a build stops working, say so here and it gets rebuilt rather than quietly left up.
V carving on this is still the best implementation anywhere. Sharp corners with no manual fiddling.