Stained Glass Software
Choose the Best for Your Glass Patterns

This page is dedicated to those of you who want to spend a few dollars on stained glass software and take your art projects to another level.

There is no denying that this will provide you the ability to improve your designs before you actually start the glass making process.

Some of you will want to skip this section as you enjoy doing it by hand, tracing, and creating that way. There is nothing wrong with that, but this wouldn't be a full stained glass site if we didn't cater to the technology-oriented folks who want to design their patterns by utilizing more advanced tools.

So, we are in the process of researching, reviewing, and determining which stained glass software is useful and which ones are just a plain waste of your hard-earned money.

There are only a handful of programs that are even out there (at least ones we've seen). Either someone doesn't realize there is a large number of us enthusiasts that could use this tool or there aren't enough people who want to buy it, so why make it?

So, let's not waste time by chit-chatting. Let's get down to business and figure out if/which stained glass software will help you.

Tip: If you are going to sell your art or build a business around this and you aren't the best with the pencil and paper or want to do this at a quicker pace, software may be a "must have" piece of your arsenal.

There are a number of art-specific software programs and we'll get into those as we go.

If you find one that you want to review, let us know. The list below is not all-inclusive, but stained glass software that we have seen, used, or heard good things about.

Photoshop:

Photoshop is an excellent graphics editor from Adobe. It has been around a long time and you can do much more than glass patterns with it. My brother, "The Graphic Designer and Young Professional," uses it extensively for designs, patterns, pictures, and much more.

You can get the most bang for your buck if you utilize all of it's features. Give yourself time to learn as it is not for the amateurs. Also, there are many versions, so be sure to read the features/benefits of each product before you decide. I believethey also offer trial versions.

Photoshop is a book in and of itself so we won't go into the details here - just know it's a viable option.

Glasseye 2000:

This stained glass software can bet pricey (upwards of $450+), however when it comes to the best, this seems to be it. DragonFly software created this program for us in mind. There is a trial version to test it out. This software really has everything you need.
Check it out here.

Read our Dragonfly software review here



Rapid Resizer:

We have found a wonderful glass art site that offers this amazing program which allows you to easily enlarge patterns to any size - Free 14-day trial.

With this program you can take a pattern and print it to whatever size you desire. You can also fill in images with glass like colors to determine colors before you produce the stained glass. Plus, the computer helps you determine the amount of glass you will need for each color. Test drive it to see how it works for you and report to us if you'd recommend it or not.



Pattern Wizard:

This goes along with the Rapid Resizer above, but we wanted to mention some benefits to using it. With this program you can design and alter easier than a paper drawing, draw lines no matter if they are straight, circular or curvey, and fill in the colors or change colors until you get the look you want.

Also, you have grid lines and a ruler so you can number your glass pieces that you print which will help with cuts and shaping. Two other great points is you can change anything you want or correct mistakes and trace a picture from a file which will help your glass pieces come out professional and clean looking!

Plus, don't forget the trust of the old pencil and paper. Be creative with your patterns. That is what this art is all about.

We do have a couple software programs through our current supplier we are giving a shot. This includes a rapid resizer software, glass tool kit software, and E-Z fuse software program.

All of which look very promising, but we want to be sure before we put our seal of approval on them.

Bare with us and perhaps we'll be able to get you a nice glass software program at great pricing!!