Hi, All,

I just got a Da Vinci 1 3D printer, and I need it primarily for one project, to create raised transfer patterns.  I want to 3D print a flat plane with raised ridges that correspond to my designs/line drawings so I can transfer them (in reverse) to other physical media. 

I was going to work on the project at my leisure over the next 8 weeks of "vacation" (I'm self employed, and this is my slow season), but I got a call to help a friend with a work crunch  that will cut my free time down to a few hours a week until I need to get busy with my own work again.  As a result my time to get to know the software is crunched down to practically nothing.

I have legal copies of Silo 2, Shade 10, Hex 2.5, Carrara 8, Pegasus, Curvy 3D, Blender, etc. (all legal) that I purchased some time ago, but haven't had any real time to become familiar with.  

My main question is "Would Hexagon lend itself well to easily converting my drawings to a 3D mesh of a raised (very low relief) transfer plate?" If not, what software would work simplest and best? Any resulting files need to be saved as STL files or converted to print.

Any hints or suggestions would be appreciated. 

Thanks  ~Jerry / leather-guy