The Upholstery Forum

Needs:
A means of creating Digital Patterns of door panel parts for precise laser cutting of vinyl/leather. The idea is to create a DIY kit for re-sale for a particular model car to cover, with minimal seams/stitching that can be glued to plastic door panels with perfect alignment. From my pics, these panels are made up of mainly flat planes. The 3d modeling software I'm playing with seem way over complicated for my needs. ExactFlat cost is not remotely an option considering my budget and it would be overkill for my needs. Each door panel comprises of 3 parts. Upper, Lower and pocket. I'm playing with many different 3d modeling software but think I'm making the process overly complicated.
input from you pros would be much appreciated.

I am pretty sure very few of us on here use computers to aid our work. I know what you are talking about when it comes to cost of exact flat. I am of no help but others may be.

We've looked into Prodim and it has a lot going for it. After a demonstration it was clear that it's not for me. I can make patterns in about half the time using clear shrink wrap and a sharpie. We do boat covers, upholstery and enclosures so absolutely everything is custom, so being able to use a pattern more than once rarely happens for us. In addition, it's not enough just to have the Prodim patterning set up, now that you have your patterns you need to have a cutter/plotter such as an Eastman to send the pattern files to be cut. Eastman takes up a lot of real-estate too. Total investment is in the $50-60k range. Have found used setups for $30-40k. Just isn't justifiable for me. But if you are repeating the same patterns, have the budget and the space it's the cat' ass!