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100% Apple Computer based sign shop, Anything i need to know?

J

john1

Guest
Hey guys!

Looking for some information here about converting my work station and everything to run on a Apple computer and do away with PC's.

Now i am aware of parallels software which lets me install windows on a partition and run windows only programs inside the Apple OS but that's not really my concern.

My concern is the amount of ports in the back of the iMac computers, There seems to be only a few and was wondering if anyone had adapters i could buy to increase the amount of ports so i can hook up my cutter, versacamm and desktop printer. The cutter takes a serial cable which there is no serial cable slot in the back of the iMac so i am guessing theres a USB adaptor to that also?

Another concern i have is software. I use flexi, quickbooks, versaworks, adobe suite and graphixcalc. I don't know what to do about alot of these programs including versaworks and my estimating software since estimate doesn't offer a mac version and either does graphixcalc that i found. I really want to stray away from installing Windows through vmware fusion or something but i guess if i have to i have to.

I know it's alot but anything you guys can do to help me get a grasp on what is needed to make my work station work well on a Apple set up would be much appreciated.

Thanks!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
ForgeInc

ForgeInc

New Member
Not sure about extending the ports on your computer, a google search should answer that for you really quick but wanted to metnion If we hadn't started our rip stations with onyx initially, we would be a 100% mac shop. (we recently switched to caldera and already had some powerful PCs that ran Onyx, so are running Caldera on linux.)

Well, I take that back. We do run one PC server station so we can all access Cyrious estimating software from our macs. Other than that, we are apple all the way!
 
Mainframe

Mainframe

New Member
I use Parallels every day on my imac, I have a serial cutter and use Flexi, Windows runs just like another program on the Mac, my set up is exactly what you are describing, I have been using it for years. You can get a usb hub, they work great, I use bluetooth keyboard, Magic mouse and trackpad, My flexi runs on the Mac side, I think you can contact Adobe about switching your software to the mac., The only thing I use windows for is Versaworks. What you are describing you want to do is very doable.
 
iSign

iSign

New Member
don't fix it if it ain't broke!!

speaking of broke... you ain't anymore?
Sounds like a costly & time consuming idea ya got there...
 
FatCat

FatCat

New Member
Personally I am a bigger fan of VMWare Fusion vs Parallels. (Personal preference) All my Adobe and misc software runs on the Mac side and the Fusion side runs Quickbooks, MS Office, GraphixCalc, etc...

No worries - what you are doing is nothing to worry about.
 
WildWestDesigns

WildWestDesigns

Active Member
Mainframe said:
I think you can contact Adobe about switching your software to the mac.,
Click to expand...

One user on here had suggested that it should be as simple as downloading the MAC version of their software and putting in the serial number that you have for that.

I don't know if that's true or not, just relaying what one user on here had mentioned in another thread about converting to all Macs.

If you aren't used to the Mac OS at all, there will be a learning curve. How much of a curve depends on how quickly you adapt to it. The one thing that will take a little bit of time is the shortcut keys if you use those a lot (or at all).

One thing that I have to wonder is why are you switching "mid-stream"? Doesn't matter to me which direction you are going (PC to Mac or Mac to PC), just wondering about the switch in general.
 
SignManiac

SignManiac

New Member
Personally my 25 years of Corel knowledge isn't worth switching to Mac. Not to mention the investment I have in all my other software. I'm sure they make a nice box, but I finally am happy with the PC setup I'm running today. Ram makes a huge difference with a PC and it's cheap to buy.
 
The Vector Doctor

The Vector Doctor

Chief Bezier Manipulator
i applaud you for trying but why not have both? If it has worked fine up to this point, keep your PC and gradually upgrade your software to the Mac as you see fit. That way in case something does not work as expected, you have something to fall back on. Having both platforms makes more sense than all 1 or the other
 
Tim Aucoin

Tim Aucoin

New Member
For what it's worth, I had the same mindset you have back when I started switching everything to Mac. I got rid of ALL my PC's and quickly discovered that I was not being realistic. Sure, at the beginning, when all I needed a PC for was to run my Simply Accounting software, using (at the time) Parallells worked just fine.

Not too long after getting rid of the last PC, I acquired my first wide format printer, which came with ColorBurst RIP, and much to my delight, it was a Mac compatible RIP! I was all set... right? Yeah, right!! Soon thereafter I purchased an Epson DiskProducer which required a PC for its software, then I purchased a Brother StampCreator Pro which required a PC for its software, then came my Fargo HDP 5000 card printer and you got it... PC software! It was all running under Parallells, but I had nothing but problems with finding compatible drivers, crashing, etc... I heard about VMWare Fusion, so I tried that instead. Much better, so I was all set (again), right? Yeah, right!! :banghead:

Say hello to my new Roland (using VersaWorks), my new Gerber gear (using Omega), and Estimate Software... ALL PC based software! Soon, VMWare Fusion was being put through the tests and failing miserably on a regular basis. :frustrated: I had enough and decided I needed to bite the bullet and bring in a PC dedicated to PC based software that I was FORCED to use if I wanted to keep my business running smoothly. Well, long story short... I ended up having THREE PC's in the shop when the dust settled, as I had various pieces of equipment in different rooms and it was just more convenient to have more than one PC. That was then (about 18 months ago), and now since my complete re-organization, things are a little more settled. My current set up is:

1 MacPro with OSX 10.7.1 (Lion) with Adobe CS5 and a bunch of other cool stuff I do!
1 iMac for my business partner
1 iMac for our employee
1 Mac Mini Server which houses all of our artwork files and backs up to our Drobo array daily. Mainly, our print/business management software (EFI PrintSmith) is housed on our Macs. The master is on the Server and the workstations are on the workstations!
And finally, I have ONE PC running Windows 7 that I use for:
- Simply Accounting
- Epson Total Disk Maker (CD/DVD Publishing)
- Stampcreator Pro
- PosterShop (for our HP L25500)
- Gerber Omega 4
- Estimate 2011
- CorelDraw X5
- Xante iQueue (digital envelope printer)

Based on this list alone, it's clear that I NEED to have a PC dedicated to running PC software. It has made life so much easier and although I'd love to be absolutely 100% Mac, I realize that it is just not really practical in the real world... at least not for me!

The one fortunate thing is that I belonged to the Adobe Solutions Network for the years it existed, so I was always able to get the latest Adobe software for both the PC and Mac. When I heard that it was coming to an end, I made sure that I had the latest version (I believe it was at the time CS4) downloaded for BOTH platforms. I don't use CS on the PC at all, and I just pay for the updates on the Mac platform now. And to answer a question I saw on here... PC and Mac versions do use different serial numbers!

Going all Mac is a great idea in theory, but do yourself a favor and keep PC programs on a PC. You'll be happier in the long run! But, that's just my opinion!
 
HulkSmash

HulkSmash

New Member
T3 said:
Only if the Signs101 IDIOTS are awake this early and have nothing better to do than crap all over a perfectly good thread. Why entice this kind of crap anyhow? You bored? :banghead::banghead::banghead:
Click to expand...

Not enticing anything. You've been here long enough to know outcome of threads like this, No matter if it's said or not. I personally haven't ever put my 2 cent in about which one is better, cause I could care less. They're both good OS's.
 
OldPaint

OldPaint

New Member
2 thing come to mind here...........
1. a fool and his money are soon parted.
2.more equipment dont make you a better designer.
like doug said, it it aint broke..........also i cant think of one advantage mac has over a PC.
also RAM DOES MAKE A BIG DIFF...i remember back in the day when a PC with 4 megs a ram was std,it was $100 a meg back then, i saw a demo of a MAC with agfa scanner scanning pics and printing. one pic took 15-20 min for a 4X5!!!! BUT THE MAC was running 20 megs a ram!!!! @$100 a meg!!!!! so yea it was doing more then most PC's of that time. i also lived in sarasota fl, home of RINGLING SCHOOL OF ART. every student that went there..USED MACS in the school. so i got to play with a few, was never enthralled with anything i saw on the MACS. to this day i dont see any advantage.
 
John Butto

John Butto

New Member
T3 is right about having both PC & Mac / years ago everything in the sign business end was PC so a lot of software was in that format. Now since they use the same Intel processors the speed is about the same, and you can get PC laptops so cheap that it is worth buying those instead of new software for the Mac. To be honest, I have never used a PC and use Shiraz RIP for the printers and all Adobe products for art and SignCut for the plotter.
 
HulkSmash

HulkSmash

New Member
OldPaint said:
2 thing come to mind here...........
1. a fool and his money are soon parted.
2.more equipment dont make you a better designer.
like doug said, it it aint broke..........also i cant think of one advantage mac has over a PC.
also RAM DOES MAKE A BIG DIFF...i remember back in the day when a PC with 4 megs a ram was std,it was $100 a meg back then, i saw a demo of a MAC with agfa scanner scanning pics and printing. one pic took 15-20 min for a 4X5!!!! BUT THE MAC was running 20 megs a ram!!!! @$100 a meg!!!!! so yea it was doing more then most PC's of that time. i also lived in sarasota fl, home of RINGLING SCHOOL OF ART. every student that went there..USED MACS in the school. so i got to play with a few, was never enthralled with anything i saw on the MACS. to this day i dont see any advantage.
Click to expand...

See? And i doubt he ready my post.
 
HulkSmash

HulkSmash

New Member
I'll actually throw in some input into this one. John, why do you want to switch? Is there a specific reason? I love macs, and I love PC's. I think design software crashes much less, and works a bit smoother on macs. But as for general workstations, and rip machines why spend the money on a Mac? There's no point. If you gave me 2k to spend on a computer. You could buy an ok mac, with decent specs. But if i took that 2k, and spent it on a pc that i would custom build... it would possibly blow the mac up. possibly 3-4 times the power. IMO, you get so much more for the money in PC. This is not me supporting either one, this is me suggesting the best bang for your buck. Unless PC's are actually causing you problems, spend your money another way in bettering your business... Good luck on any decision you make.
 
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