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What does that even mean? Standard TTF, T1 and OTF font files are garbage? A good quality commercial typeface, such as the Gotham family I mentioned previously, is going to have a lot of kerning pairs, proper hinting, etc to make the OTF files "glitch free" anyway. I don't have SignLab or any...

Unless the customer has an existing logo and branding scheme it's usually best to not let them dictate what fonts are going to be used in a sign project. They don't have the expertise. Very often font requests from clients can be pretty stupid -like wanting a thin, connected wedding script for a...

It's not surprising to hear anyone having issues importing Illustrator-generated artwork into Flexi. Certain effects, like art brush or pattern brush effects applied to line strokes, have to be expanded before exporting to PDF or EPS. Flexi won't read certain object fill effects properly. That...

In Adobe Illustrator I almost always use the Path Offset tool to generate outline effects around source objects. It avoids the double inline/outline paths when expanding line strokes.

Yeah, we don't leave it up to customers at all to get installation permits. We work the permit costs into the sign quote. But we handle all the red tape leg work ourselves. I can't imagine any customer even wanting to deal directly with getting a proposed sign approved by the local city...

The permitting process is supposed to allow the city to verify a proposed sign complies with the sign code before it is installed. It's a lot easier to remedy code conflicts before a sign is built and installed rather than afterward. Enforcement after the fact always creates far more heartburn...

Sign permitting is a very frustrating topic. Our company does business in a lot of areas across Oklahoma, Texas and some points even farther away. We check sign codes and permitting requirements when the project is in the initial design, planning and bidding stage. Selling and building a sign...

You're saving all the files you export for RIP purposes? If so it seems like a waste of disc space to me. I certainly keep the original master file and any related original assets for a certain project. But files exported just to RIP or send to a routing table usually get trashed unless there is...

I've been watching the notebook market closely for the past couple of years. My current notebook is getting pretty old, old enough that a number of components can't be replaced anymore (such as the battery). So many models, including Apple's Mac Book Pro line, have had thermal issues, making...

Design the artwork at 50% of full size. Really it doesn't matter what scale you use as long as it's easy to enlarge back to full size in the RIP before printing. If you like using line strokes in artwork (rather than actual outlined paths) make sure any of those strokes are set to scale with the...

Our company still produces neon in-house. But our neon guy is getting up there in the years and isn't far from retirement. It's really depressing how little demand there is for neon in most places anymore. There are some "oasis" spots with lots of new neon signs, like The District next to...

"CAS" software developers like SAi, Gerber and others have to realize their industry-specific software does not exist in a vacuum. General purpose vector drawing programs have slowly been eating into their territory for a long time. It's feasible to do large scale design, like full size sign...

George H.W. Bush once famously said, "read my lips, no new taxes!" He was misunderstood. He clearly said, "read my lips, know new taxes!" Most schools, both public and private don't base teacher pay on student performance, particularly test scores. You can have an outstanding quality teacher...

While no one is really attacking anyone, I will take the opportunity to attack one idea being floated in this thread: that the broad misuse of certain words in our culture is a failing of English teachers. Sorry, but I think that's a bunch of bull$#1+. The student has to apply himself in class...

"Most tech youtubers"? What does this claim even mean? If I'm going to go by what the professionals use I'm going to be looking at real video production studios and visual effects firms. They're mainly using workstation level stuff and Quadro based boards, not consumer cards tuned for playing...

I personally haven't had any serious problems with Dell systems. That's what we usually but not always buy at my workplace. I've bought multiple Dell systems at home. But it deserves a bold asterisk that I buy much more on the expensive end than anything "mainstream" and "affordable." The first...

Not necessarily. Look back at my example of the Razer Blade Pro 17. Their 17" system with 16GB of RAM and a UHD screen (along with the nVidia MaxQ video card) weighs over the $3500 barrier. The Dell 7740 Precision Workstation with double the RAM, a 100% Adobe RGB UHD screen and a 6GB Quadro card...

I'm not really all that fond of Microsoft's Surface notebooks for two reasons. The first is they're pretty expensive compared to similarly equipped models from other companies. The second is the stylus could be better. It doesn't work as well as the pen with Wacom tablets or Cintiq screens. The...

A long time ago I was an avowed desktop user; I thought notebooks were a ripoff for what they cost versus desktop machines with similar CPU, RAM and video card capabilities. But then I developed a hatred for having to sit at a computer desk at home. After 8-plus hours sitting at a computer desk...

It hasn't happened in a long time, but I've been burned a few times. Anyone who works in the sign business long enough will have to deal with others who try to steal/plagiarize their work. As I said in my last post you have to do what you can protect yourself. But that doesn't mean following the...