MacImprint....

[SignShopGal]

Hi!

Alright, first off, this post is going to sound a lot like a gripe/rant but please PLEASE bear with me, I have a real question that I have first looked for answers for here and other places.

MacImprint: I can't find a download, does it even exist still?..With the consideration the last thing I could find on the web was that it ran on OS9...ACK! Is this still viable software? Is there a newer version somewhere where I can download? Do I have to write a letter with a pen and paper, stamp it and send it to Gerber and tell them what a bunch of horse$&%*#&% I think it is that they corner all their software and equipment and make it impossible to use with any other platform or design software. I like the gerber plotters, I have a dinosaur EDGE. I want to use it!

Why on gods (or diety or non-diety of your choice) green earth can't I plug it into (pin to usb cord already purchased) my laptop, bring up a magnificent vector logo for my company, assign a color profile on the program I use, Adobe Illustrator CC2014, and voila, print, yada yada yada?? WHY does it have to be any more difficult than that????? It shouldn't be. It's a bunch of commercial elitist bs. We are talking about printing color stickers. STICKERS! The stuff we started sticking on our foreheads when we were 2 etc. The Stuff that's supposed to be fun to create and make. Thanks Gerber for shredding my hopes and dreams.

I'm bout to get all crazy up in this joint or the EDGE is going in the dumpster along with all the other nightmare GERBER crap. Sick of it.

Don't judge me-Seriously frustrated with how I can't just do one simple thing. I've got two operating systems: PC with Omega 3.0(Full version yes but not the VERSION that will let me design in color, hence the need to want to use Illustrator...which is on my mac). I suffered through this for the past few months...I can't output to the EDGE from the PC, I can't output to the EDGE with my Mac.

I want to cry or quit.

AND, Why is finding information on this stuff so illuminati like?? Gerber website has a lot of info but says so little about the HOW's and WHY's! It's infuriating!

 

[SignShopGal]

Post can be deleted

I simply do not care any more. Gerber wins. I give up.

 

[JoeBoomer]

It has been a few years since I had to deal with the "EDGE" (not the U2 guitarist). I used to design in illustrator and save as .eps file. Then import into Omega (I just threw up a little thinking about having to use that horrible horrible software again). The computer I used also had a serial port so we could connect the edge and the 15" gerber plotter.


I was not able to find a work around using current hardware or software.

 

[SignShopGal]

It has been a few years since I had to deal with the "EDGE" (not the U2 guitarist). I used to design in illustrator and save as .eps file. Then import into Omega (I just threw up a little thinking about having to use that horrible horrible software again). The computer I used also had a serial port so we could connect the edge and the 15" gerber plotter.


I was not able to find a work around using current hardware or software.

I might have been a little harsh, but yes, the software isn't friendly, the amount of time it took me to relearn how to do all the same things in a different program was ridiculous...no rotating handles...I guess I can't bash something until I've had the chance to drive the newest and latest but truly, I work at a company that sells and rents barricades and signage and I make custom and regulatory signs. Seems Gerber program for sending basic things to my plotters is the best, easy, simple, primitive. Time for upgrades.

Never mind time for any kind of art. Guess that's why it's called a nine to five.

I don't even know why I care if I can get the Edge to work with what we have, would make it worth it, having all the supplies for it still, just to see the machine run one time, my last hoorah before the thing goes away.

Sigh.

 

[Bill Modzel]

I'm probably the only person here that still runs MacImprint. I was a beta tester of MI back in 98. It was and still is a simple but effective way to run the edge directly from Illustrator. Unfortunately, Gerber dropped the program a long time ago. I could go into the whole story but it's not worth the time repeating it and the details just get me ticked off. I gave up that fight a long time ago.

Basically, you still have to have a pre-Intel mac, G4 or G5 will work, and OS 10.4 and Illustrator 10 and of course, the MI plug in. I've gone through a half dozen G4's over the years and now have two G5's. One running my Edge and another spare on the shelf as they're getting scarce.

MI is so simple compared to Omega it's ridiculous. You can do Spectratone overprints, step and repeats, paneling large prints, all right from the Illustrator environment using .ai files. It's really a shame. Gerber could have sold a bunch of Edge systems with a bit more support from their own distributers but most of the, (I'll exclude Advantage Sign Supply from this list) just refused to market it. Me being in some of their promotional material, I ended up answering your same question for years to many Illustrator users across the country. Got tired if beating my head against the wall getting GSP to upgrade it.

Good luck, it would be very hard to set up a system with the needed specs anymore. My Edge still cranks out may thousands of dollars on specialty decal every year, and that's in spite of my main HPL26500 unit also.

 

[SignShopGal]

I'm probably the only person here that still runs MacImprint. I was a beta tester of MI back in 98. It was and still is a simple but effective way to run the edge directly from Illustrator. Unfortunately, Gerber dropped the program a long time ago. I could go into the whole story but it's not worth the time repeating it and the details just get me ticked off. I gave up that fight a long time ago.

Basically, you still have to have a pre-Intel mac, G4 or G5 will work, and OS 10.4 and Illustrator 10 and of course, the MI plug in. I've gone through a half dozen G4's over the years and now have two G5's. One running my Edge and another spare on the shelf as they're getting scarce.

MI is so simple compared to Omega it's ridiculous. You can do Spectratone overprints, step and repeats, paneling large prints, all right from the Illustrator environment using .ai files. It's really a shame. Gerber could have sold a bunch of Edge systems with a bit more support from their own distributers but most of the, (I'll exclude Advantage Sign Supply from this list) just refused to market it. Me being in some of their promotional material, I ended up answering your same question for years to many Illustrator users across the country. Got tired if beating my head against the wall getting GSP to upgrade it.

Good luck, it would be very hard to set up a system with the needed specs anymore. My Edge still cranks out may thousands of dollars on specialty decal every year, and that's in spite of my main HPL26500 unit also.

I just don't get why they wouldn't want to include the other spectrum of designers and printshop owners into their client base, wouldn't it make more sense hire a developer to write the program for them? If Mine Craft can write a program for PC and Mac AND iOS and ANDROID, seriously...might be worst example but really, gamers and developers have been writing multiple platforms of their programs for years and now in 2015, it's mandatory, if you (royal/general "you") want to compete and stay up with consumers.

LOGIC vs....Who-gives-a-crap-we've-taken-your-money-now-beat-it-buster Gerber.