Is there a recommended way of using Inkscape to make it more user friendly?
I hear so much love for Inkscape but every time I've tried to use it for laser cutting or 2d design I give up and go back to Illustrator. I feel like I'm battling Inkscape to do even the most basic things. I'm a very casual/occasional user (of either program).
I'm happy using Gimp and Blender over Photoshop and Maya/Max for my home use cases but Inkscape is defeating me.
Have you checked out Affinity Designer? I'm a near 20+ year user of Illustrator and I find Inkscape 'a bit' of a mess, but Affinity's offering, whilst paid for (but cheap), is much more honed. I can't wait 'til I can transition over to it 100% and unshackle myself from Adobe (just not quite there yet, sadly).
+1 for Affinity Designer. I actually prefer it to Illustrator because it can do both vector and raster (they call it Designer and Pixel Personas). At $55 one-time price it's very reasonable.
From what I understand, they had experienced Illustrator users in mind when designing the interface. Same with Photoshop and Affinity Photo. It seems to have paid off.
I hear so much love for Inkscape but every time I've tried to use it for laser cutting or 2d design I give up and go back to Illustrator. I feel like I'm battling Inkscape to do even the most basic things. I'm a very casual/occasional user (of either program).
I'm happy using Gimp and Blender over Photoshop and Maya/Max for my home use cases but Inkscape is defeating me.