For me, who is not the fabricator, but the designer, the challenge has been providing files that their machines will accept. A couple of years ago, Rich, you called Illustrator "Etch-a-Sketch" and said it could not work. I've no problem with that, but for fabricators who work with designs that may begin with a photograph of hand-drawn sketch, figuring out how to get that to g-code that works with a cutter is the challenge. I don't need to learn how to work the plasma machine and wonder if I need to learn how to design (and I'm not talking about machinery) in AUTOCAD; I suspect not, AS LONG AS there is a fairly clear path between a vector file from Inkscape or Illustrator or whatever other program and the requisite format for the machine cutting the steel for the sign in the park. There are obviously a lot of moving parts to the path from, for example, a photograph of a mountain lion, to a vectorized line drawing, to a file that will guide the plasma machine. And just as the plasma operator need not know the first few steps, I hope I need not learn to operate the plasma cutter.
Thanks again for your help.