I am looking for suggestions for software, hopefully free, to create files for use with laser cutter/engraving and for vinyl cutter.
Secondarily, what should the resulting file be for each of the machines?
You can design in Inkscape which is free and export as an SVG, and then upload to the laser software on the computer in the laser room. I’ve also had luck using Figma which is an online vector design software that is free as well, which is nice because it doesn’t take up space on your hard drive. The software for running the laser cutter is called Lightburn and is not free it looks like.
Lightburn, which we have available on our laser cutter, but isn’t free, can also export DXF. You could make simple files there as well for either tool
Can I piggyback on this one? How about software to create files that we can import into the software that drives our CNC in the wood shop?
The best free option to get up to speed on would be Onshape. its all online and tons of videos on how to use. then export stl file import into Vcarve to generate the gcode for the CNC.
Seconding Inkscape and Figma for creating SVG files then importing into Lightburn.
For anyone looking for 3D CAD software, I recommend FreeCAD. It’s somewhat annoying to get the hang of using but video tutorials from Deltahedra and MangoJelly really helped me get up to speed. FreeCAD is parametric so I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re making something like a 3D model for a TTRPG miniature. It’s much better suited for anything that requires some sort of dimensions like woodworking or CNC.
Just to add, this wikipedia article has a HUGE list of free software for just about everything.