For me, EQ8 is as important as my rotary cutter. I use it on almost every quilt. But you do have to invest some time in learning the program. I started with EQ6 and upgraded to 7 and 8. Each had major improvements. When 9 comes along I will invest in it too. The lessons built into the program are excellent, and I've found that I can use google to find out how to do just about anything that I've wanted to do so far.