Moving Forward...

Over the weekend, I got several e-mails and pleas for help in regards to the eCraftshop Pro software.  Right now, I think everyone is in agreement that the software is not what we were hoping for.  As I stated before the software was released, this software was not going to be great right off the bat.  No software is.  A lot of us, myself included have made lists for Craftwell on what we experienced with the software.  We know that an update is coming, and so with that, we need to prepare ourselves for what we are likely to see in this update, and what we will not see.

FIX THE ISSUES
Clearly Craftwell's priorities are going to be in fixing the known issues that exist in the software as it is currently designed.  Don't expect to see any major re-design in the software, but I will expect to see some of the features already in the software to be functioning better if not completely functional.  For example, the shapes menu.  There are 12 shapes available in this menu that do not cut correctly.  I would expect that this is something that can be fixed in the first update.  In fact, I believe that a lot of the problems that we are having with the software are due to a rendering issue that is also causing problems with SVG functionality.  I believe that this is most likely Craftwell's priority and if they get this fixed, a lot of the problems we are having will be resolved.  I hope that this underlying issue can be fixed with this first update, but be prepared that it may still be a bit sketchy.  It will be even more important that all of us, report the issues we have after the update, because that will direct future updates. 

ENHANCEMENTS
With this first update, I think it is important that we all understand that Craftwell will probably not be adding any additional features.  Whenever you are working with software, it seems like the best course of action is to focus on fixing what is there before adding anything new to the mix.  I have stated that I believe this program should have a split/breaking feature, but I don't expect this feature to happen in this update, and it may not happen in the next few updates.  I will lobby for these enhancements, but for the time being we need to let Craftwell focus on fixing what is there.

FINAL THOUGHTS
I look forward to the update with much anticipation.  I stand by my original statement that the software has good bones.  When the update comes out, we will see what Craftwell does to those bones.  I would have to think that Craftwell is not going to give us an update that doesn't correct a fair amount of the issues, because that would severely hurt their reputation.  Based on how well the eCraft is designed and manufactured, I would have to believe that they intend to give it their all in the software.  Right now in the crafting community, users are viewing the eCraft machine and the eCraftshop Pro software as ONE product, and if they do not deliver a great end result on the software, it could hurt the success of the eCraft machine.  That would be a big shame!  I have so thoroughly enjoyed the machine, and I really want to be able to open up the horizons on this product.  I plan on sticking with it through thick and thin, but I will always be honest and truthful on my opinions.