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? about Flexi software

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Dothan RaceShop

New Member
We are relatively new to the vinyl cutting business. Currently running Flexisign Pro 6.5.. Allthough automotive vinyl sounds easy for the most part it does involve alot of TEXT , we still have the need to import logos and art from other sources. Also the 6.5 doesnt have the ( beizer feature ). Our shop may never really be into the designer side of this business so thats not as important to me right now.

Problems I have with 6.5
Can't import alot of files . AI , Coral , ect.
Can't do a productive job of tracing images .
Missing features that an update would help with.

My question is should I stick with Flexisign PRO or go with the Flexi 10 starter? I can upgrade to the 8. series for around 400 , but the sarter 10 is 130. ??

Our shop may never be a high volume sign company that needs Manager , Estimator or inventory we allready have this for the automotive side .

Thanks for any help-----------Rick
 
SightLine

SightLine

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If you can upgrade to Flexisign Pro 8.5 (8.6v2 is a free update from 8.5) from 6.5 for $400 I'd jump all over that. Much greater feature set (and able to run other equipment) than the starter edition.

8.6v2 is a good stable version of Flexi and opens even Illustrator CS5 ai files just fine as long as there is no funky stuff like mutiple transparency levels, etc. I'm not sure even version 10 has perfected that....
 
Techman

Techman

New Member
get corel draw and then the cocut plugin. You will never again have to worry about any updates.
 
V

vwnut

New Member
Flexi 8.5 has a cool feature that I like for tracing (enhanced curves) that is priceless to me! Auto trace don't work nearly as good for me?
 
Fred Weiss

Fred Weiss

Merchant Member
The version 6 series was a bit of a mess because it was influenced so heavily by the takeover by ScanVec. Version 7 was much better and version 8 also improved. But, frankly, it sounds like you haven't taken the time to learn the software. There never has been a problem opening an AI file unless the version was too high for the version of Flexi being used. And the drawing/tracing tools have been excellent since before version 6 as well.

But if you can get the upgrade to pro version 8 for $400 you will get a lot more out of that than the starter version 10.
 
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Dothan RaceShop

New Member
You guys have me worried now, the upgrade may be a pirate version or not the real thing ? If I find the add I'll link it to you. It's in a classified add on another forum .
 
visual800

visual800

Active Member
flexi will open AI files as long as those files are saved back to earlier versions of AI. as far as corel those are aggravating unless you have corel. Flexi has a awesome trace tool as long as what your tracing is clean. upgrading will not change any of the items you mentioned. I worked with your version of flexi for several years i am now up to version 10 and the only difference i see is that i can open the latest Ai files
 
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Dothan RaceShop

New Member
visual800 said:
flexi will open AI files as long as those files are saved back to earlier versions of AI. as far as corel those are aggravating unless you have corel. Flexi has a awesome trace tool as long as what your tracing is clean. upgrading will not change any of the items you mentioned. I worked with your version of flexi for several years i am now up to version 10 and the only difference i see is that i can open the latest Ai files
Click to expand...

You hit the nail on the head ! I can open some older basic AI files like clip art of ( FOR SALE, YARD SALE ect ) but anything made with the latest AI it only opens a box.
I agree tracing is easy but when I have to use a bad image from jpeg it's really not productive.
So do you think I need to try and save the latest version of AI back to an early version and just work with what I have ?
 
Fred Weiss

Fred Weiss

Merchant Member
Dothan RaceShop said:
You hit the nail on the head ! I can open some older basic AI files like clip art of ( FOR SALE, YARD SALE ect ) but anything made with the latest AI it only opens a box.
I agree tracing is easy but when I have to use a bad image from jpeg it's really not productive.
So do you think I need to try and save the latest version of AI back to an early version and just work with what I have ?
Click to expand...

Yes. If you have a recent version of Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW, that will open your file, then all you have to do is to save it back to an earlier, legacy version of AI or EPS and you should be able to open it in you current Flexi. AI or EPS version 3 works best for compatibility.
 
WildWestDesigns

WildWestDesigns

Active Member
Dothan RaceShop said:
So do you think I need to try and save the latest version of AI back to an early version and just work with what I have ?
Click to expand...

It's been my experience when having to save Ai files in a legacy format that EPS 3 tends to be the most widely accepted format.

I don't use Flexi so I can't say that it would work right off the bat, but just based on my experience EPS 3 would be a good place to start. You just have to make sure you don't have clipping masks, I don't think those are supported in 3, EPS 8 I think they are and that seems to be the next best format.
 
SignBurst PCs

SignBurst PCs

New Member
@ Dothan RaceShop - Please contact me and I can help you with your Flexi questions. We are a Flexi reseller and yes, your $400 sounds very fishy, but I may still be able to help you out.
 
Rodi

Rodi

New Member
WildWestDesigns said:
It's been my experience when having to save Ai files in a legacy format that EPS 3 tends to be the most widely accepted format.
Click to expand...

I Like .eps from Illustrator 8, it holds spot colors and other stuff, I recall that Illustrator 3 did not.

So did you got get Signlab CutPro or what? We are all waiting :)
 
visual800

visual800

Active Member
there have been time when saving back in illy and being able to fix in flexi. always remember flexi ias used for vector art, illy is for design, the images are gonna be a lot different. i wouldnt waste the money on an upgrade just demand all files are clean and saved to your workable version
 
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