Thank you Roy.

I'm a living testament to how people can benefit from your "over-the-shoulder" observations.

You've visited so many shops throughout your career that I don't expect you to remember the day you came to G&W Trophies, in No. Hollywood, CA (my alma mater). I believe you were a rep for Newing-Hall at the time.

Here's my recollection:

Sitting at the Newing-Hall machine, you asked me to create a layout. The first thing I did was blow out all the machine's default margins etc. I was never very pleased with the way autolayouts spaced lines etc.

I then quickly sketched proposed sizes of lines onto a piece of paper and used a calculator to establish my baselines.

You asked, "Why don't you let the machine do the work?" I said, "I don't like autolayouts."

You said (paraphrase), "Even if that's the case, you can let the machine create an overall layout, then tweak it to your liking."

It was one of those "DUHH?" moments, and one that's embarrassing to confess before the forum :-)

Thanks to your over-the-shoulder advice, I still have ultimate control over my layouts, but I'm saving a lot of time and paper :-)

Thanks again,

David "The Stunt Engraver" Lavaneri
DGL Engraving
Port Hueneme, CA